Wow. I don't see how anyone will be able to say much over the Net; you need boots on the ground for this one, IMO. Anything goes for foundations, or anything else, prior to codes and enforcement. Is it feasible to jack the houses up, install a proper foundation, and go in peace? It may even be advisable to install conditioned crawl spaces. What is the land worth, btw? Maybe you can look at it as buying land and putting up simple, new, and lasting houses. ??? Good luck, either way.
Foundation Concerns in Vacant Homes
I live in northeast Iowa, and am considering bringing back to life long vacant homes in a poor section of town. It's a rough neighborhood, but I'd like to take on these troubled properties with a dual purpose -- first, to get rid of the eye sores from the neighborhood, and second to establish a rent-to-own program for lower income residents. I've done quite a bit of remodeling previous, so am fully expecting to have to replace sill plates, rim joists, regular joists, sole plates, wall studs, etc. etc. on some of the houses, as well as complete gut and rehab of interior and exterior.
The one thing I've not dealt with is foundation problems, especially with properties that may have been vacant for years, may have had inadequate drainage for years, etc. Having toured a number of these homes with real estate agents (houses are ~$5-10K purchase price), I can certainly say most have quite sloping/uneven floors which I'm attributing partly to water/insect damage to joists and sill plate. All have had cement block or limestone block basement walls with no visual damage, but of course there's no way to inspect the foundation footings.
So my questions about the footings -- what were footings made of in 1895-1905 period houses in northeast Iowa, what damage would be reasonable to expect of houses this age with perhaps years of indequate drainage, how much uneven settling is too much when considering rehabbing an old house, etc. During the gut and full rehab, I can make everything in the house plumb and level, but I'd hate to do the work if foundation problems would negate the work.
Any advice is appreciated.
The one thing I've not dealt with is foundation problems, especially with properties that may have been vacant for years, may have had inadequate drainage for years, etc. Having toured a number of these homes with real estate agents (houses are ~$5-10K purchase price), I can certainly say most have quite sloping/uneven floors which I'm attributing partly to water/insect damage to joists and sill plate. All have had cement block or limestone block basement walls with no visual damage, but of course there's no way to inspect the foundation footings.
So my questions about the footings -- what were footings made of in 1895-1905 period houses in northeast Iowa, what damage would be reasonable to expect of houses this age with perhaps years of indequate drainage, how much uneven settling is too much when considering rehabbing an old house, etc. During the gut and full rehab, I can make everything in the house plumb and level, but I'd hate to do the work if foundation problems would negate the work.
Any advice is appreciated.
