Wood basement

[huntnfish]

Does anyone have any experience with wood basements? Wife and I have been looking at houses and have seen a few that have wood. Most have were built 10-20 years ago which makes me nervous.

On an unrelated note, does anyone know what's going on with the forums? I keep having to log back in and new posts don't show up. I also don't see the right side in the forum view. Thanks.

[kdawg]

I bought a house in 1995 that had a wood foundation. I had a professional inspection service check out the house for me. They said there was nothing wrong with using wood. We never had a problem with it, and the same house still looks good today, although we haven't lived there for 13 years.

Regarding the forums: I've tried going into the classified ads and couldn't view them. Today it led me to a page that said the domain for HSO had expired and they needed to contact their service provider. I don't know if our problems (with the forum) are related?

[Tom7227]

Long discussion about wood basements about 4-6 months ago. See if you can find it, although since the search feature is kaput it may be a bit difficult.

[outdoors247]

I believe this is the thread Tom was talking about.

Wood Foundation Thread

[nofishfisherman]

I don't have experience with them myself but I'd probably be just as nervous as you. Just doesn't seem right to me.

As far as the HSOforum issues. They are working on a bunch of stuff with the site. Fishing Minnesota and Hot Spot Outdoors used to be the same forum but they have now split the two into separate forums. Personally its driving me nuts because they both look exactly the same but the posts are different, its hard to keep track of which site I'm on. I also have a hard time staying logged into both of them. I'm sure the log in issues are just due to them actively making changes.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Does anyone have any experience with wood basements? Wife and I have been looking at houses and have seen a few that have wood. Most have were built 10-20 years ago which makes me nervous.

On an unrelated note, does anyone know what's going on with the forums? I keep having to log back in and new posts don't show up. I also don't see the right side in the forum view. Thanks.

As a Realtor I'd suggest staying away from the wood foundations. Anything abnormal freaks people out. I've been in a half dozen through the years, and they've all had problems, typically water or bowing.

[leechlake]

probably a good suggestion. No one posts a question if a concrete foundation is a good idea. That's just the reality and my dad was a concrete contractor and I'm a lumber salesman. Why try to sell the next owner on why a wood foundation is better or as good as concrete.

[Blackhawkxp]

I have a wood basement in a house built in 2003. If done right you will not have any issues. Just as in concrete and block foundations if you do it right you shouldn't ever have any water problems. I have drain tile on the inside and outside of the footings. The treated sheeting is covered in a membrane and insulation so the earth doesn't come in contact with the wood. Cost was a little cheaper when i built but not much. One of the benefits of wood if you plan to finish it is that you don't have to build another wall inside the block wall. I have seen plenty of block basements with cracks between the blocks so like i said if the builders did it right they should be trouble free. As leech said i was pretty ignorant on foundations and my contractor spelled out the pros and cons for me and wood made sense.

[Down Deep]

A guy I work with has a house about 15 years old with a wood foundation worth $225 K . Last winter the front wall began pushing in causing the whole house to shift and drop toward the front about 6 inches to 1 foot. He had a engineer and architect look at it. They both said the only fix was to jack the whole house up and put a new concrete foundation under it. They determined that the foundation was doomed from the start because the contractor failed to anchor it properly (whatever that means). Cost to repair $80,000 because it is a two story and there is internal damage to the entire house. Insurance will not cover the loss because it is a structural failure. The is no HOW and the contractor is out of business and not even in the area anymore. He's owned it about 5 years and still owes over $200 K. His only option is to let it go back to the bank and take the credit hit then rent. I really feel for this guy, but what else can he do.

Moral of story. Concrete and block have served millions and millions of homeowners for years and years. Why mess with that track record.

[BoxMN]

FWIW - I have no knowledge of wood foundations, just a regular homeowner here... and I would definitely NOT even go look at a house with a wood foundation if I was looking to buy. So it might be a great "Feature" for some people, and it likely will function just fine, but if you look down the line to when you will sell, I think you will find more people like me than people who will feel comfortable in one.

That is not a slam on wood foundations at all, and maybe a slam on myself for not opening my mind, but DownDeep post is yet another example for me. My neighbor had a new house deal go bad due to a faulty wood foundation, and I wish they would have been able to move there haha!

[muskielaw]

I just recently purchased a home with a wood foundation. Had the home inspected specifically for the foundation and they could not find any evidence that there has ever been any water damage or other issues with the foundation. My father in law built his house over 30 years ago with a wood foundation and has never had any water in his basement. Now ask yourself how many people you know that have had water problems with concrete foundations? Point is, like anything, if it is done right you will not have problems with a wood foundation. There are just as many problems with concrete foundations, (i.e. water damage, caving in) as wood and it all comes down to whether it was done right in the first place. In terms of resale, it may deter some people just for the simple fact wood foundations aren't as common as concrete so the unknown will deter them from buying. My thought is if there are enough positives about the home and an inspection reveals that there isn't any issue with the foundation the house will sell just fine.

muskielaw

[ghostranger]

I built a home with a wood basement in 2007. I hadn't seen a lot of them before then, however, I've seen lots of houses with wood basements the past few years. It's nothing to be scared of, there's plenty of bad concrete basement's out there!