Starting to look at upgrading to a bigger home. One that we are looking at is a mid 1980's build (with pretty much everything original in the house). I have a few questions for the wise members of the Home Improvement board:

1. It had foundation repair done in 2022. It looks like the work is warrantied for the life of the home and it transfers to new owners at no charge. Should having foundation repair work done 4 years ago be something to worry about?

2. It is going to need some work done to upgrade the home. The wife and I are pretty stressed about the work that needs to be done, but the house has a great lot and workshop. We will also need to make a considerable change to one area of the home. Changing a "storage" room and utility room to a master bed and bath and adding a closet. The utility room already has a shower and toilet. Give us some advice before jumping into a project like this.

Those of you who have bought an older home and remodeled/renovated, would you do it again?

only comment is on the foundation coming from someone with issues that were fixed. Every so often I call them out to recheck and level if necessary. My realtor has consistently told me all that really matters is the warranty and if it is a reputable company and established one that will be around for the long haul. They'll come level and 'fix' the foundation but any sheetrock work or other cosmetic stuff is on the home owner.

Foundation warranties usually only cover the portions of the slab that were corrected, not the whole slab. So additional movement not under warranty can certainly occur.

Some warranties also require periodic followup inspection. In those cases, if you treat it as set it and forget it, they are likely to deny claims after a long enough period between original correction and claim.

I would definitely have the foundation re-inspected and make sure any current slab issues are covered by the warranty from the previous work.

We did this. I assume if the foundation has lasted this long, it is pretty good. Depending on how much was fixed. Just check and see how much it has shifted since the fix. Maybe have a structural engineer verify the level of the house. They are not that much. Will comment later on some things to think about when remodeling old house.

We took our late '60s home to the studs and added on to the back (attached garage and added a bath, bedroom and game room up over new garage addition). Knocked the detached garage down to do addition. It was not to bad a project if you get someone good and you have another place to live. You do need to check on the work regularly. We lived nearby, so we would stop by almost every day just to look around, take pictures and question different things when needed.

Since it is an old house a few things to consider:

• Under House sewer lines. At this time the house is pretty old, and depending on the pipes, they may have rusted through or have shifted to have leaks or issues. But if you are doing a lot of work and tearing up the yard and house, that is the time to replace them so that you have another 20-50 year run. It creates a mess when they have to replace them. Expensive too.
• incoming water lines. If you are doing paint and sheetrock. Is now the time to replace all the incoming lines while everything is open or can be easily fixed when repainting.
• Electrical - Redo electrical lines. We did this as well. we added a bunch of electrical new lines and separated plugs to dedicated lines (wife blow dryer shorting the fuses to often). Also you can add a lot of new plugs. Plugs were limited in the 60s. Also wanted plugs for hanging TVs and such. May want to run cable Cat 5 etc type lines. Or security camera lines as well.

I appreciated the items listed above because it gave the house a longer run and limits redoing the house again when they break. Inside stuff is cosmetic. However, depending on your wife, builder and budget, some people will not be happy that you brought the items up. Wife - sewer lines that none of her friends see cuts into her beautiful house design budget, with no show off value. Builder - may need to use a subcontractor for sewer, thus reducing his scope of work/margin that goes to him if you have a limited budget. Budget - If you have one, it limits the fun items you can do.

Just something to think about.

1. 1973 foundation near creek, spec.house had lifetime repairs (means not forever and only in repaired areas), having problems again. We were asked to consult (no struct.eng funds to spend) on why it was rocking around again, odors from below floor. Lifetime company rep. had no solutions other than drilling floor, adding more screw piers, Not free, No discount.

Reps are not foundation engineers, they are sales and rarely Santa Claus. Nor did they get any more money in this case.

Solution was to mitigate water invasions under foundation, while fencing off varmits that would die underneath. A landscape design/build outfit established barriers, positive perimeters drainage that also required French drains. Presto chango came this fix as things dried out. That said, most residential foundations are not Owner maintenance-free. The older they are, the more fragile they become and are spared the more advanced/improved technology the newer ones get.

Drilling for new plumbing is like making a small crack in a windshield or egg, hoping it doesn't spread. Reusing the original floor sewer holes is wise. Adding on is the better option if a better, new bath arrangement suits best.

2. There are many capable design/build residential remodeling outfits with Google/BBB 5-star badges and maybe this is the route for those that need builder-known costs to rein in their design wishes. But if tailoring to lifestyle is paramount, then seek a residential specialist licensed Architect who will not spin you off to a novice/draftman in the office to cut his teeth on your dreams. Then together this Owner/pro team would shop builders for their dream plans. Most have agreed that the extra money sting (if any) is soon forgotten while the greater happiness & fit lasts forever.

I agree with above to live elsewhere and make daily checks.

Finally, those on this path to happiness are fixer-uppers, expecting old things, fixtures, appliances to suddenly expire and find joy in replacing/mending them like firemen. Others prefer new digs, hoping not to be bothered, with dreams of selling for a profit just prior to the repair years to come.