How much of a lean is okay?

[GinaC]

So I've been "camping out" -- never again will I buy an air mattress -- in my house since I closed on it last Thursday, and now I am discovering that the entire house leans back from the street. At first I thought it was my imagination, but now I see that when I fill up a sink with water it is very noticeable. I am freaking out and need some advice. Help!

All windows and doors open and close smoothly, except for 2 windows. No cracks in original drywall, and the original molding is only pulling out of place in a few places, and only about 1/8" at most. No cracks in original wood floor and the chimney is stable.

My inspector, who is known in the area as a bit of stickler, saw a few cracks in the cement foundation, but he said they appeared to be old and were patched a long time ago. He gave the house a solid pass as far as structure went. USAA, my home insurance company, is sending out an inspector this week for a routine new policy inspection.

I can live with the slanted floors, it's no big deal and I'll just shim my bed. I'm just worried that I was misled about the house's condition and that it will need some major foundation work.

[Gothichome]

Gina, most old homes have a slight slant. Gothichome drops about 4cm to the back. I’m not concerned, it settled many many decades ago. But does not move now, probably hasn’t moved for many many decades. I would suspect yours is the same.

[GinaC]

Thank you so much for the response! It has been three decades since I lived in an old house, and I am just getting used to it again.

I know that most old homes have a slight slant, but this one seems larger than any I've encountered before. I've read that less than a 1" drop over 20 feet is what inspectors look for, and I am concerned because my doors look like they have a 1/4" space at the right side of the top edge. It is definitely possible that the previous owner planed them on the sides and bottom so that they swung freely. But, as I said, there are no other structural red flags that I can see. It just feels weird having to walk uphill and downhill inside. It is that noticeable. (Though of course I did not notice it on all the previous visits to the house.)

I very much need the calm voices of experience now. <3 My hypervigilance due to PTSD is definitely rearing its ugly head.

[mjt]

You can certainly hire a structural engineer to verify for certain.

We have sloping floors all over. The kitchen is the most noticeable. The dog's tennis balls always roll to the same place.

When we bought our house the inspector gave us a 40 page list of things. I'm not kidding.

We have a family friend who is a forensic architect. At the time, his company was working on a restoration project at the MN State Capitol, which is another building by our house's architect. He came over and looked at stuff with us pointing out what was an issue and what was not. He also gave us some rough estimates which have proven to be remarkably accurate.

[GinaC]

Yeah, my inspector gave me a 39 page document, but that's only because he uses a large font and photos and he repeats all the stuff that needs work at the end so you have it all in one spot.

One of the reasons I chose this place is because it came out with a lot of little things wrong, like leaking plumbing traps and an electrical outlet with reversed polarity, but nothing major. The same tenants lived here for 17 years and just moved out in November.

The bottom line is, I guess I need to just trust my inspector, and also the handyman (who is a retired inspector) who came through the day before. I just put a level up to the walls that I thought would not be straight, and they are. The floors are just sloping. You put a pen on a table and it's going to roll right off immediately.

Worst case scenario is the insurance inspector finds something, and then I get it fixed. I'm lucky that I do have the funds to do so.

[Willa]

I wouldn't sweat the slope too much. It may also lessen (or worsen) when the ground thaws.

At my old house the back door worked fine in three seasons but almost had to be kicked open during the winter.

If all the doors and windows are operating fine and there isn't major cracking in the foundation or interior walls, then I think your old house is probably okay.

[GinaC]

So yesterday somebody asked me how I got PTSD, and that got me thinking about this floor problem. I have c-PTSD from abusive parents, but also regular PTSD from working at the World Financial Center on 9/11. I happened to have the day off that day.

My thoughts about something horrible happening because the floor isn't level may very well be due to that.

And once again, thank you for your kind replies.

[GinaC]

I spoke to my handyman again today and he explained that the house was originally built on a granite wall, and then it settled, and then they lifted it up to put in the cement foundation. He said that probably the floors slope because they didn't lift it enough when they did that, and I could lift it to add another inch or so if I wanted to, but that would be really expensive and I run the risk of upsetting everything inside.

He said that it's done settling, and nothing's going anywhere anymore, so I think I'll just try to relax and just live with it.

[mjt]

I had a customer (Verizon) with offices in one of the towers. The VP I dealt with had retired the Friday before. He was supposed to be in that day to clean out his office and fortunately arrived late...

[GinaC]

I'm glad that he was spared like I was! Thinking about stuff like that really made me rethink being raised as an atheist.