These photos are of a house which our client was considering for purchase. It is a large home on Mercer Island, and the house stands on the top of a steep embankment, on the edge of a green belt, with a wonderful and peaceful view of the raving and a lazy meandering stream. Unfortunately, the rear of the home shows signs of settling, including sloped floors, uneven framing, and cracked concrete slabs. We were called out to assess whether future problems might be expected, and provide insight into how to correct those. Another task was to assess the condition of the exterior deck, with regard to earthquake safety.
The evidence we observed indicated that most of the sloping floors and other concerns were the result of foundation settlement which had occurred many years prior, most likely during or shortly after the construction of the home about 3 decades ago. We suggested some relatively minor upgrades and improvements to the portion of the home nearest the embankment. We provided our opinion that there is no indication of possible serious future problems with settlement and related concerns. The house is a fine one, and our client did, in fact, end up purchasing.
