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Tue 2 Apr, 2013 12:26 am
I recently purchased a home through our county tax auction sale. A little background about the house. The property owner (now deceased), apparently ran his vehicle through the garage door of the house he was building. The car caught on fire inside the house causing quite a bit of fire damage to the home. The fire itself was mostly contained to the garage. My question is, I went to the building inspector's office and she explained to me that there is an LVL Beam that failed and will have to be replaced. Basically the gentleman hit the rear concrete wall (cinder block) causing a hole and caving some of the blocks. Is this something that is repairable by bracing the the ceiling with another beam and floor joists to be able to make the necessary repairs to this load bearing wall system? We purchased the house for $381 and paid the back taxes so right now we only have $3000 invested. The house new and fixed is worth $157K. Even if we have to put $30-$50k into it it would definitely be worth it.
@lizskates14,
You should consult a building contractor.
@Ragman,
Especially since the building inspector is already involved.
In any case, it does look like any conceivable expense will pay out.
@Ragman,
I know I have to get a structural engineer to come in and do a full report, but I have to wait a year before I officially take over the property. I'm just curious if it is possible to fix or if house is going to be a total loss because of this structure wall. I have been inside the house and have pics, it's not bad just smoke damage. The fire was contained to the garage and the pic I have looks basically like someone took a sledge hammer to the middle of the cinder block wall and knocked a big hole in it
@roger,
Unfortunately the local building inspector from what I have heard doesn't know a lot and most contractors have to explain things to her as far as codes and such, not very comforting. I already know we're going to have to completely gut the inside of the house and take it down to the studs and replace all the electrical. What really bothers me is I went to talk to her about the property and then a few days later a friend of mine went to ask about some of his properties and asked about the one I just purchased and she told him a whole lot more info than she told me
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