Treated Foundations?

[Charles R. N. Crooker]

Does anyone have or had anything to do with Treated Wood Foundations, pros or cons, what to look for and any concerns, Have to do an inspection Wed. 2 pm and the agent says in the listing (allowing for warm winter basement), (cool summer basement). Thanx

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Originally Posted by ccrooker

Does anyone have or had anything to do with Treated Wood Foundations, pros or cons, what to look for and any concerns, Have to do an inspection Wed. 2 pm and the agent says in the listing (allowing for warm winter basement), (cool summer basement). Thanx

Try here Chuck will see what else I can find /...... Roy.
http://www.nachi.org/forum/f23/pressure-treated-wood-basements-7128/

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

And another . Good luck . Roy .
http://www.canply.org/english/products/pwf.htm

[Charles R. N. Crooker]

Originally Posted by rcooke

And another . Good luck . Roy .
http://www.canply.org/english/products/pwf.htm

Thanx Roy!

[rwand1]

Be very careful with PT foundations. The ones I have inspected in my area are fraught with problems. Mainly water entry problems or piss poor installation methods.

[Vern Mitchinson]

This item relates to what happens to wood basements and was discussed on this thread, http://www.nachi.org/forum/f48/homeless-homeowners-6593/
There is a link the news report on that thread if you want addition info.
I'm scheduled to inspect it tomarrow.
I do not like wood basements. It's a wood product and fungus, mould, and bugs eat wood. You can put make it poisonous but at some point the poison is neutralized and then the bugs etc. start to eat it and you now have a mess on you hands.
Check for moisture behind the insulation at the bottom of the walls. Is the floor concrete or PTW. Check for moisture on floor as well. If the MC is high make sure your client understands the risk of buying.
Some banks will only give morgages for the remainder of the 40 guarantee. So if it's 25 years old you may not get more then a 15 year morgage.

[Aulden Reid]

Hi Vern,
Aulden from Lloydminster, I have a wood foundation in my place. The original owner in 1984 decided to skimp out on the floor by putting a plywood floor in instead of a concrete one. The result is very obvious. The bottom of the foundation walls have kicked in and the whole house has shifted. The doors are out of plumb in a couple of rooms so they have become self closing. Pay attention to how strait the walls are and how plumb they are. In my case the house seems to have only shifted shortly after being built and I have taken care of the floor problem. Having said all that I would not be quick to condemn a wood basement as they are easy to repair and seem to stand the test of time if done correctly. They also make it east to penetrate the wall cavity when necessary such as when bringing in water lines etc. I just inspected one this week and found no noticeable problems.

[Vern Mitchinson]

Originally Posted by areid

Aulden from Lloydminster ... I just inspected one this week and found no noticeable problems.

How old is it. The house I'm talking about was built in 1975-76.
and it has been declared uninhabitable because of mould.

[rwand1]

The PT homes I have inspected in my area exhibited water entry problems.

[Charles R. N. Crooker]

Well we got the home inspected, real nice home,2200 sq. ft. 18yrs. old, needs a roof, the finished basement was not the same size as the house, on the North side was a unfinished area with a floor over a crawl space that had the sump pump in it and braces for the wall, some of the parging was loose on the out side, a small area in the cold storage area and furnace area did show signs of moisture and will need further invasive investigating, the west wall (foundation only not the bricks above) was bowed in and with the bricks being straight would think that the bowed wall was because of being back filled and not braced enough and told them to keep a good record of any movement of the wall, some grading issues but not bad.

[rwand1]

Given what you have stated above, and the fact it is PT foundation this would lead me believe the building is in distress and given that it is wood it is failing and its only 18 years old and with water entry, I hope they proceed cautiously.

[Charles R. N. Crooker]

Originally Posted by rwand1

Given what you have stated above, and the fact it is PT foundation this would lead me believe the building is in distress and given that it is wood it is failing and its only 18 years old and with water entry, I hope they proceed cautiously.

I think that distress and failing are very strong words to discribe this home and foundation. THe bracing is for the main walls of the basement and to allow a floor over the crawl space and keeps the sump pump out of the living area. THe small area of moisture would be do to the slope of the garden out side this area much the same as any other foundation, but yes must be looked into.

[Aulden Reid]

Originally Posted by vmitchinson

How old is it. The house I'm talking about was built in 1975-76.
and it has been declared uninhabitable because of mould.

Vern,
I haven't quite caught on as to how to reply to threads as they are referred to, so I hope this is correct. The house I inspected was built in 1997. Again I would say that if the wall have remained straight and plumb I would think that they are serving their intended function, that of holding up the house. I would be more concerned about the mould. I am looking for good training material for mould so if anyone has any ideas let me know.
If there are any exposed walls inside it would be a good idea to probe for rot/moisture. I would like to read more on PTF 's from those who advocate their use. It seems to me that most of the inspectors who are discussing them seem to have a negitive view of them.
Aulden

[rwand1]

http://www.cwc.ca/applications/foundations/

http://www.woodfoundations.com/

http://www.woodbasement.com/

http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/cbd/cbd234_e.html

[Aulden Reid]

Thanks for the info. Only the first website is working however. Here is a site I found that cantains a 202 page, 9 chapter course on Mold. I am just beginning to go through it so I can't speek for it yet. www.epa.gov/mold/moldcourse Check it out, it might be helpful.