This sounds very serious and will require quite a bit more investigation before you can even think about solutions.

I would start by asking more questions of the inspector who left the house due to "unsafe conditions". What did he see that made him leave the house? Was he concerned that the house would collapse? Was it the mold issue? I have only walked away from one inspection due to safety issues and that had to do with a large amount of standing raw sewage. By the way, if your inspector felt that it was unsafe to inspect the house, why did you feel that you could do so safely?

Yes, it is possible that the water is coming from a spring but I find that this particular answer is more often than not just plain wrong. I would think that the possibility of a broken sewer line is more likely. You need a local expert to figure that our, I am sorry that your inspector wasn't able to help you out there, but I would hope that he can at least refer you to someone who can do such analysis.

The wood destroying organism (WDO) damage you describe also sound serious and needs further investigation. Floor boards are some of the last things to be damaged, posts and rim joists are the first to go.

This sounds like a "major fixer", i.e. a structure that needs massive repairs. The danger is that in some structures, the cost of the repairs exceed the value of the structure. Or to put it another way, building new would cost less than the demolition of the damaged areas + corrections, repairs and restoration.

Your last question was: "If you were a prospective buyer, would this exceed your risk tolerance?" This is difficult to answer without more information and knowing more about the price of the house and the neighborhood... But, from what you have told me so far, I would guess that this is a house to leave for someone else.

Thank you for using the Express Service, and if you find out more amount this house, do let us know so that we can share the information with our many readers.

George

George,

Just wanted to reply to your questions. I believe that the inspector did not complete because of the mold and/or fear of eletrocution and not because of any structural concerns. To be honest, the interior of the house showed no mold/mildew problems, the attic was quite dry. I did not detect any noticeable odor under the crawlspace in terms of sewage (or on my boots after I got out). The inspector did warn me to be careful (ie don't eletrocute yourself) when I went under the house but I needed to see it for myself. We did bring in 2 contractors to look at the problem, both indicated that replacing the non-functioning sump pump, putting in an internal drain and general cleanup were necessary. In fact, one of the contractors said that there wasn't any structural damage to the blocks. Estimates ran between 5-8K.

Having looked through your site extensively, I already knew your opinion about springs causing these sorts of problems. If it isn't rainfall or damaged pipes but a problem with a very high water table or spring, will the fixes proposed by the contractors be enough?

I do want to be fair, with the exception of the crawlspace the house was in good condition with no obvious problems. Would you still consider this in the "massive repairs" category?

Thanks,

Dave

Dave,

If the inspectors concerns were related to electrical issues then I would hope that you have all the power turned off before you come in contact with the dirty water - clean water is a very poor conductor of electricity, it takes dirt to allow water to become a conductor.

I also have great concerns about the use of sump pumps to eliminate water from a high water table. Please keep in mind that what you are attempting to do is the elimination of the water from the saturated soils - all of the saturated soils including those in the yard surrounding the house, the neighbors' yards etc. That can't be done with a residential sump pump and I wouldn't want to take on the job of draining the saturated soils for the entire basin.

"Will the fixes proposed by the contractors be enough?" I don't know, but I doubt it.

George