Old house buy-(2) load bearing walls removed-opinions?

 hello,

I currently have an older home under contract to buy- Monday is the
home inspection.  I noticed the front edge of the house sagging
backwards just noticeably to me- and also sagging in them middle
outside and inside visible in floors and vinyl siding lines at
foundation level)  Then my friend/contractor took a look, he found a
floor joist cut in the basement for a toilet and heating duct
installation.

This house has at least (2) load bearing walls removed, to make a
larger 9 x 15 kitchen, and to make a larger 19 x 15 living room.  (the
house is a 2-story with gambrel roof and stone foundation)

What is the maximum span you can make a room, before it must be braced
??  I read somewhere that it's 16 feet, well this on is already 19
feet- seems a long way- any suggestions ??

My question is, how difficult and/or expensive is it, to put an arching
support back in where the walls were removed ??  The seller buys/fixes
up/sells homes, he did a fairly good job of sheet
rocking/electrical/plumbing/flooring/roofing/siding- the house has new
central heat/AC, new hot water heater, new well.  Also (2) very large
outbuildings, one is a 3-bay garage, the other a 1000 sq. ft. shop on
concrete slab. Lots of potential as a money maker shop or even rentals,
but I'm worried about this house.

Finally, there's very little closet space !  My current home has (6)
closets, this one has only (2) full height closets, the other (4) are
in the eaves upstairs and not really that useable.  Any feasible way to
"add" closet space in these older homes ??
thanks in advance

househunter

  On 7 Jan 2005 11:40:49 -0800, someone wrote:

If you need to ask these Qs, you should not be buying this home.

To buy a fixer with some structural problems - at a fixer price - is a
great way for a "handy" person to buy.  But for an ignorant newb to
buy a house with structural problems, that a handyperson has ALREADY
cosmetically fixed, and is now presumably charging fixed-up rather
than fixer pricing for, is the WORST OF BOTH WORLDS.

You're paying for new sheetrock that will just have to be destroyed to
fix the underlying structural problems.  You will get killed on this,
not make a killing.  Buy a house that has not been fixed at all before
buying one that has been fixed wrong.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

 I'm not  a "newb", we built a 2 bay garage from slab to complete
structure, side sheeting, and under tarpaper in one day- we have air
nailers, huge gas powered compressor, 220v compressor, saws, you name
it- many friends in the business, we help each other, known each other
since high school.

There's nothing "mysterious" about building a house.  The local
contractors don't exactly hire rocket scientists to frame the new
$400,000 homes going up around here- they pay those guys $10 an hour

Back to original question- what's the maximum span  before a room must
be braced ??

Not trying to make a killing, the property has some real potential for
me to live in and work out of myself.  Then in my later years would
make good rental property.

I've seen much worse than this fixed.  I have a few ideas on how I can
brace that large room myself, but just wanted some other opinions.  No
problem.

 On 7 Jan 2005 15:27:31 -0800, "Househunter"


Hard to believe you have done construction and don't realize the
parameters needed to answer your question.  Are you sure your past
construction is still standing safely?

 
jim wrote:

let me answer that question with a question- why do you post under so
many multiple usernames, with the first name of "jim" but changing the
last name for each post ??  Below is your posting history link

http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?enc_author=eMWnfwMAAAC9nuSrOZ3j0u_7upaeCWJ2

now, back to the question, yes the garage is still standing- why
shouldn't it ?? there was $20,000 invested there in materials and it's
on a solid concrete frost footer and slab- and complete with utilities,
oil heat, lighting, power doors, and even TV and surround sound

but furthermore, what does that matter ?? there's many tree stands in
the woods in old oak trees, still "standing" after 30 years and being
used yearly for whitetail hunting too...you read way too much into
building skills.  basically these GC's hire young kids for minimal
wages, to bust their balls framing new homes.  How hard can it be
mentally ??  we're not talking rocket science here- many framers I've
met are high school dropouts.

finally, I killed the house deal- I wasn't asking the questions out of
need, only trying to glean some information and start an interesting
thread here- hard to do with trolls like you flying around ruining an
otherwise good information exchange

ta-ta !