You have had people look at the site, how can someone on the internet comment?

You need a hand holder, not a contractor.

Ok, wow, they weren’t sure what to do other than tearing it up. The flooring guy didn’t know, so said we could just put flooring down on top of it. I’m having trouble getting people out to look at it because we are on a tight deadline and everyone is so busy. I came here looking for advice so I could potentially have some questions to ask a concrete guy we are meeting tomorrow. That’s for being so rude.

*thanks for being so rude.

Honestly it’s just difficult to even find anyone who has experience with this and I thought someone out there might have had one fixed at some point. Geez.

We have even called people on the phone to discuss it and have been told they’ve never heard of this problem. Some foundation specialists have not even called us back. Everyone is backed up because of covid. We have to let the sellers know what we are going to do in two days.

OK...lets look at the options presented to you:

1. Jack out the slab and repour the darn thing: How does an extra 100 days out of the house sound? 'Cause that's how long it will take to get the slab to cure (90 days is common...). But what to do with the house in the mean time? You will have every inch of wall/ceiling drapped in plastic. Your HVAC will be shut down. The plumbing will have to be turned off (for sure!).

Now you have many people with jackhammers inside the house busting up the floors. They will cart out the 4-6 inch thick slab with wheelbarrows ... by hand. There are very few homes that can handle a little bobcat entering the house to do some digging.

Now the concrete is gone, the ground is prepared and a vapour barrier laid over top. Hopefully they will know how to tie in an old slab (the slab walls around the envelope) and the new slab. They may have to work around the HVAC/water heater...they might not. If they can't, these items come out (and possibly toilettes etc).

Now a big cement mixer truck parks on the lawn/driveway or whichever part of the property that is NEAREST to the pour that day. The slab is laid (possible to do it in one day...but not always which makes things worse not better). Now it is allowed to cure at a rate of 1 day per 1mm of poured concrete. That works out to be (roughly) 1 month per 1 inch (25.4mm) of pour. A 4" slab is about 100 days.

Cost? I would say it is mostly likely going to be low to mid '5 digits'.

Option 2: Level the slab that exists. This involves extensive grinding (see prep above). Then ++ cleaning. They they will add a primer (spray or roll on). They let that cure then they add a bond enhancer/sealer (sometimes it is the same product as the primer). Then the new concrete is is then poured over this chemical mixture. The floor is allowed to cure for the same 1 day/1mm of thickness. It is possible you will have 2" or pour. That means about 50 days out of the house while it cures...

Cost is a lot less but NOW you have to remove the floor level trim, the doors, sliding glass doors may have to be rehung, etc. The kitchen will need to be dealt with in some fashion.

Option 3: Lay new flooring over it = wrong answer. Rigid flooring should never be put in a house in that state. It *can be done (if you don't mind a floor that always moves/bounces/) but it SHOULDN'T be done. Carpet is the PERFECT product for a house like this.

And I'm going to guess carpet is already in there, am I right?

Thanks for a decent answer. No, the owners ripped up the carpet and put down cheap vinyl. It’s horrid. We weren’t planning on being in the house until maybe oct. It needs work. But it’s sounding like if we do anything to fix this slab it will put us really behind.

I'm sorry I just missed the part about "2 days" to give an answer. I would personally back away from this situation. I know you probably have your heart set on this house, but you are looking at a major project before you get into the house.

If this house had a roof that had a GAPING hole in it, would you purchase it? The concrete slab is messed up. Someone else was willing to live with it. They then mucked it up by removing the ONE product that would have worked...and now they have to pay the price for putting down vinyl over a bad concrete subfloor.

If you put in an offer, I would include a $20K discount to deal with the slab. A full jack out an repour could easily get you into that price range. Not to mention the costs of paying rent/mortgage on TWO properties while being unable to live in the home you purchased.

And I always tell my clients: Expect 30% over run of costs and 30% over run of TIME. I know there will be builders (pros) who are going to 'tut-tut' me on the 30%:30% overrun...but even they will tell you to budget for 15%.

I like to OVER ESTIMATE a job...so that way you have some money in your pocket at the end of the day. If you are thinking "October" for this...I would suggest looking at January.

If you can't get anyone to answer your calls today, you won't get a faster response tomorrow.

Buyer be VERY AWARE of what you are walking into. And has anyone checked if you have plumbing running through the slab? Sigh...that's another cost if it is.

We’ve done a lot of remodeling with homes, so certainly are aware of problems that often pop up. I’m wary of opening anything up for fear of finding something else. This was new to me. Originally the contractor, over the phone, said it had likely settled. There are fixes for that. But this one seems to have stumped people. It may be a job for different owners, as I think we will walk away. The entire home was going to be redone, the kitchen is 1973 original, it needs an addition and another bathroom, the floor boards would have likely come up anyway. But I don’t want to get into rehanging doors. I’m fine with carpeting in the bedrooms, but want a non carpet option for the other rooms.

The trim at the floor, I mean, would likely be coming up.

Thanks for giving me more to discuss with the concrete guy tomorrow. The engineer suggested calling foundation specialists, but what do you do when people are so busy they can’t even come out to take a look for 3-6 weeks?

You tell the sellers to extend the contingency period or you will walk- and be ready to walk. If the slope is as bad as you allude to they will keep you on the hook. Also make sure to offer to pay the foundation people- this isn’t a house you own so they shouldn’t be expected to give free quotes, their quote is a negotiating tactic for you with current owner so you should pay as you would any other professional.

Thanks so much. We definitely pay whoever need to be paid for this sort of thing. I’ve owned too many homes, so fortunately, or unfortunately, have been through this before. I’m starting to lean toward walking. The location is really great, getting to be a hot neighborhood too, so homes go fast. Walkable. Has a lot going for it, but these floors....

Whew! J. So glad you dodged the bullet there! Just goes to show that if complete strangers (who have no skin in the game) keep saying the same thing over and over again, then there is something 'to it'.

I'm glad your Spidy Senses were telling you to move on. One thing you learn in this business: if you can find one that suites your needs, you can always find another.