anyone familiar with pressure-treated-lumber house foundations?

[Muttocracy]

I'm househunting, in the low end of the housing market, which means the houses in my price range tend to be far from work and/or have some issues. I'd guess that 9/10 of the houses I see have some issue with water in the basement due to the cool damp climate of upstate NY, and the fact that I'm mostly looking at houses built 1860-1940 (think rock piles with a little mortar for foundation walls). I say that to clear up why I don't just say no to houses with water issues in the basement. I've said no to bad ones (small creek running under house, basement cement shifting underfoot, severe mold) but if I say no to any water problems, I'll continue to live in my basement apartment, running my dehumidifier.

I am considering a house that's been on the market for a while. It had foundation problems, so they took it off the market, replaced the foundation, and it's back on the market again. I was kind of suprised because I've said no to several houses where foundation repairs would not be worth it (more cost effective to tear down the house and start from scratch). Anyway, I went to go see it. Odd thing is, the new foundation is made from pressure-treated lumber. This gives me pause for 2 reasons.

First, I know CCA-treated lumber has been mostly phased out, though I'm not sure if I can verify what kind of lumber was used in the house since it's already been done. Living over a bunch of arsenic is just not that appealing; makes me nervous that it could be considered officially hazardous down the road, or that it would just be an environmental turnoff for future buyers (this would not be a house where I would live the rest of my life).

Second, I'm very worried about the durability. An inspector previously told my realtor that treated wood foundations don't last as long as masonry, but are easier to repair if needed. But the whole thing makes me nervous about warping, mold, shifting, rot, etc. I'm also not convinced that the water problem itself has been fixed. There is a sump pump and a sort of French drain going around the basement, but there was water around much of it today, and it looked to me like it was wicking up the wood in some areas.

The main house itself is a charming 1930s house with lots of original features, in good condition, only a few wall cracks from the foundation issues and fixing. But the foundation makes me very nervous. On the other hand, I'm looking at it in comparison to houses with other foundation issues.

Any advice?

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

1. Yes pillar and post

The treated lumber may not have arsenic in it. First of all find out where the lumber was purchased.Than find out what method of treatment was used. If that wood is a brown color it may have been treated with the right stuff. There is a considerable difference in cost between one method of treatment and the other,meaning the cost per length and thickness of the material.

Out here I run into pillar and post foundations all the time,and they are still standing fine. Of course unlike Buffalo we don't see six mos. of winter U.B.
You can hire a engineer to look it over before you close in on the deal. The engineer can tell you in your location what is what. The only real way to fix the existing foundation as you know is to jack up the house -,or demolish it and rebuild.

Were concrete supports poured? And find out just who inspected the work and passed it.

I have textured walls and ceilings ,lath and plaster in many old homes, it seems to bring back the beauty of the walls and ceilings. As a matter of fact last year I did a house built about the same period. They love the texture.

Before you lock in ,have a expert opinion of the foundation work.In other words if the price is right ,don.t run away from it. And get a look at the construction contract.In fact,get a copy of it. Do the back round research on that.

When you hire somebody to do the inspection of the foundation,that professional is under contract to you,not the owner of the house or the Realtor.And remember the average building inspector for hire are or were building inspectors ,many of them were tradesman . All connected, the gray ares that remain gray. You want a independent with no connection to the politics of all that.In the state of New York, I know you know what I mean ,like I said, U.B., University New York at Buffalo.But that was a long time ago! As was growing up there.And find out how long wood foundations last! What does not last as long in relation to time. What does that mean. That's what you want to know, exactly what does that mean.

Good luck!

[Muttocracy]

2. thanks - I'm trying to make a list of questions so that helps

I'll definitely have a structural inspection done. NY licenses inspectors now, and my realtor has a lot of experience with inspectors and contractors and knows who is reliable and who isn't (she also specializes in older houses, which is part of why I chose her). The last inspector I used did a really detailed inspection of a house and I backed out of the deal (made me really sad, but the house needed too many things - would have been great for a contractor or real handyman to work on).

Most of the foundation wood is a very dark brown, so maybe that's a good sign. I'm not sure about concrete supports, and that would be a good thing to check. I'll try to look up the building permits and such. It's in a village so a bit more regulated than if it was just out in the country. I wish I had driven past while construction was underway - at the time all this was going on, I was looking at other houses.

It's not quite as cold and snowy here as Buffalo (I'm further east) but still the issues of freeze/thaw and glacial soil and lots of shale.

They're not common here, so it's good to hear that they're found elsewhere.

[Warpy]

3. Offhand, I'd say the pressure treated lumber wouldn't be

that big a problem unless you took up gnawing it.

A bigger concern is whether or not they just sat the pillars on the cement floor without pouring footings. That's the one thing you want to check into and why you need to hire a structural engineer to look at the place.

If everything's structurally sound, there's no reason this house shouldn't last you a good while, although I'd work on that drainage problem, up to and including regrading the lot.

[Muttocracy]

5. thanks - the grading is my biggest concern - that they haven't fixed the root of the problem. nt

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

4. a real handyman in Washington is

a general contractor. Most contractors are not interested in the little things!
At the same time most contractors are not concerned about the customer for life! It is difficult to build up that kind of business.
But the benefits in the long run outweigh the difficulties, especially when the cost of advertising becomes zero per year.

I would do some research on wood foundation homes in your area.some friends bought a farm house built in the 1850,s back there. The carpenter ants are the fear about it. But pillar and post homes do tend to stand firm when the method is done correctly. Carpenter ants go after wood where ever it is.And concrete deteriorates like anything else.
Like the last post says, check out the concrete support that was most likely done. Even though pressure treated wood is rated ground contact-What holds up the house does not sit on the ground.Pillar and post!