You are under contract. The inspection turned up a cracked beam in the basement, a floor that slopes, a crack in the foundation, screw jacks somebody added, or a line in the report that says "recommend evaluation by a licensed structural engineer." The seller says it has been like that forever. The contingency runs out next week and you need to know whether this is a house or a project.
I'm Travis Busch, a licensed Connecticut PE. I come to the house, look at what was flagged and what it connects to, and write you a sealed letter you can take back to the table.
A home inspector looks at everything for a few hours and is not licensed to tell you what a structural finding means. I do the opposite. I go to the items that were flagged and follow them: the beam and its posts and what the posts stand on, the sloping floor and the sill under it, the crack and the framing above it and the ground outside it. I measure what can be measured, run numbers where numbers answer the question, photograph what you will want to show the seller, and go into the crawl space and the attic where that is where the answer is.
Send me the inspection report before I come. I read it the night before, and I show up knowing what the inspector saw and what I want to see for myself.
Some houses cannot be answered one item at a time. An 1800s house with a dropped sill, a rebuilt chimney and three generations of posts is one of them. If that is what I hear on the call, I will say the whole house needs to be looked at and price that instead: a whole-house structural assessment.
A signed and sealed letter from a Connecticut PE, about the conditions you asked about. It says what is there, how serious it is, whether it is still moving, what the repair is in enough detail for a contractor to price it, and what I would want to know next if anything is still open. It is written so your agent, your attorney, the seller and a contractor can all read it, and it is the document a seller cannot wave away.
The opinion is written only. I do not give a verdict on the phone or at the front door. That protects you as much as me: the thing you are paying for is a letter with a license number on it, not a guess in a driveway.
One fixed price, quoted on the first call before any work starts. The price covers the visit, the letter and your questions about it.
Tell me the contingency date on the call. I will tell you straight whether I can meet it. I do not publish a turnaround on this page because the honest answer depends on the week and the house, and I would rather give you a real date on the phone than a promise on a web page.
You do not need me for the inspection itself. A home inspector does that, and does it well. You also do not need me if the inspector flagged something cosmetic and said so. Call me when the report says "structural engineer," when something in the basement is holding the house up and should not be, when the floors tell you the house has moved, or when the seller's answer to a structural question is that it has always been like that.
It means the inspector saw something structural and is not licensed to tell you what it means, so they are handing it to someone who is. Sometimes it is a real problem. Often it is an old house doing what old houses do. The letter is how you find out which, with my name on it instead of a guess.
No. The opinion is written, after I have looked and run the numbers where numbers are needed. I will tell you on the call when you will have it, and I take the contingency date seriously, but a verbal verdict in a driveway is not something I will stand behind and you should not either.
The item flagged, and everything it connects to. A cracked beam is looked at with its posts and the floor it carries. Some houses cannot be answered one item at a time, and if that is what I hear on the call I will say the whole house needs to be looked at and price that instead. See the whole-house assessment page.
Yes. The letter says what is there either way, and both sides can read it. Tell me who is paying and who the letter goes to when you call.
The letter tells you what the repair is, in enough detail that a contractor can price it. Construction prices are the contractor's to give, not mine, and a number from me would not be worth much to you in a negotiation.
A buyer's structural assessment of a timber-frame house from about 1790. Temporary posts doing permanent work in the basement, a girt the inspection report called a split joist, and a sound old frame.
Call or text (860) 519-6009. Tell me the town, what the inspector flagged, the contingency date, and whether you are the buyer or the seller. You get one price and a date on that call. Text or email me the inspection report and whatever photos you have before then.
Related: A whole-house structural assessment · Foundation cracks · A sagging or humped floor
