I met a Structural Engineer today. We had a look at various parts of the house to determine why there is such a slope in the east half of the structure. We have determined:
- Concrete footings in the crawlspace had broken apart due to slumping in the soil.
- Upright supports have moved due to soil slumping, and 6×6 notched support beams have split and come away from the house.
- The living room and bathroom addition to the structure was done poorly. They cut through many of the framing members (balloon frame studs) to open up the walls. (See diagram below.)
So, to correct this, most likely:
- Screw piling will be put in the front and rear of the property.
- A beam will span this length under the house.
- An LVL bulkhead will be added to the living room / bathroom span.
I will open up the floor in the 2nd storey to expose more of those cut-through timbers and email him pictures.
I did a brief laser level check. (The laser should be 1-5/8″ above the floor, from my measurements. Funny – nothing in the manual stating this.) This shows that, in about 4 feet, the floor dips down about 2-1/16 inches. Wow!
