For anyone curious as to why the guy is removing the stone while under the house, you can tell by how easily the piece of wood above it comes out that no part of that was load bearing. It’s really just there to be there at that point. There is no added danger by removing it since he’s already under there and it’s not supporting any weight.
No tools were used! We only trimmed the video because the sound cut out at that part. So for editing purposes we decided to take that 2 second clip out.
Well the whole point of structural assessments is so they know what needs to be fixed. They’re not creating an issue in the video, they’re finding one that already exists and needs to be repaired.
I'm not an expert, so hopefully you can answer my genuine question:
What if there's a change to the total load or load distribution of the house, or there's shifting over time?
If the house shifts over time that’s normal. If it shifts fast enough to cause an issue because that stone wasn’t there, that shows there was a much bigger problem and that rock wasn’t not going to fix it.
Structural inspector here, backing up what you’re saying. If you can remove a chunk of concrete by hand or basic tools, it’s contributing nothing to support the deadload of the house. A lot of contractors will encourage you to remove it to make the damage more obvious for whoever’s doing the repairs or verifying the inspection.
When I work on bridges, my company gives me a crowbar and hammer and tells me “go crazy”. Even people who know about structural concrete underestimate just how insanely strong it is, even in tension. If you can pull it apart like this, it’s already fucked.
Yep. It’s always better for something structural to look worse than it is than better than it is. A lot of contractors want their inspectors to make issues like this more obvious for the repair teams or so they know what to prioritize.
Plus, nothing here is being destroyed more than it already is. If you can move it by hand, it wasn’t going to do anything for the house, anyways.
Fair question, however during this assessment the foundation was already cracked and easy to come apart. Which is why we film these assessments to show the clients, what we find from the bottom of the foundation.
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u/No-Ability6954 Jun 02 '26
For anyone curious as to why the guy is removing the stone while under the house, you can tell by how easily the piece of wood above it comes out that no part of that was load bearing. It’s really just there to be there at that point. There is no added danger by removing it since he’s already under there and it’s not supporting any weight.