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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 15 Apr 2016 22:54
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Happily, a Realtor isn't involved yet. I found this on my own and researched its history. It was redone a couple of years ago, which totally jibes with the selling and appraisal history.
The only thing I can see that I'd want to pay close attention to is that it's on piers. The cabin is about 700 sq. ft. and 2 story so I'd want to ensure the foundation is adequate.
Possible to jack up a home on piers, build a block perimeter foundation, and reset it -- or if the piers are ok is it better to leave well enough alone?
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 15 Apr 2016 23:08
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Don_P
Yes, I'd definitely have a home inspection done. Foundation, electrical and plumbing are key but I'll be having work done on the latter 2 regardless as I'd be putting in solar and a greywater system.
The professionals can handle the important things. I'll deal with the travesty of someone painting the beautiful wood inside varying shades of yellow, depending on the room. 
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 15 Apr 2016 23:35
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Eh, never mind on putting in a stemwall. I Googled and found the answer. NO, lol. If the piers are meh, I could beef up the piers but replacing the foundation would be a nightmare. The soil composition has a lot of rock so I'm not dealing with a clay headache.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 15 Apr 2016 23:45
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If I was considering a house and found out the foundation was at all questionable, I'd look at another house. No matter how nice the kitchen remodel.
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 16 Apr 2016 02:53 - Edited by: Julie2Oregon
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No, no, I'm not saying anything is wrong with the foundation or that I think that anything is wrong with the foundation from the pics. Only that the cabin is on piers and I'd prefer a stemwall because I'm not all that into piers. Then there's the mice and other critters that can squeeze in via skirting. Can you do a curtain wall around the perimeter after the fact to keep out from under the cabin? Maybe by doing a trench around the perimeter rather than jacking up the cabin?
Not my first real-estate buying rodeo. I don't buy homes with messed-up foundations, outdated/unsafe electrics, or bad plumbing. The DIY attempts at fixing the latter 2 I've seen over the years have been downright scary. The Saltbox is about 20 years old and it was more than remodeled a few years ago so nothing is terribly old. (And the kitchen remodel, if one was done, isn't very nice. At least, not my taste.  ) The living room really needs to be de-antlered, hahahahaha.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 16 Apr 2016 08:28
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I figured you might have more experience with buying houses than building them, as most people do. 20 years is a good age for a house IMO, its young enough to have been built well, not old enough to have serious age problems, old enough to have had the bugs worked out of it.
Yes you can make some sort of curtain wall around the perimeter but it's time consuming work, and back breaking. I just ran sheet metal down into the dirt. Down and dirty. IYETE (If You'll Excuse The Expression)
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hattie
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# Posted: 16 Apr 2016 12:01 - Edited by: hattie
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I've never heard of a saltbox cabin but it is adorable!!! I hope things work out for you with this.
Quoting: bldginsp I just ran sheet metal down into the dirt.
An oldtimer who used to live here had rodent problems with one of his log cabins. He got some empty apple juice cans. He flattened them all out and used them to line the outside of the cabin with. It worked like a charm even though it looked a bit odd. 
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Don_P
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# Posted: 16 Apr 2016 14:38
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I'd pass on a pier foundationed house. It's one of those "here's your sign" moments. Odds are way better than average it is an indication that the builder... well, we know he owned a hammer.
In this mode, I wouldn't just be looking for small saltboxes, open it up to nice small houses and then begin narrowing from there.
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 16 Apr 2016 16:10
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Thanks, hattie! They're not very common outside of New England. I had to laugh because under "architectural style" it was described as "Other."
Don_P, Nah, I'm not limiting. I have 3 other possibilities on my list that are actually one-story gable-roof cabins/cottages. Actually, I had my "here's your sign" moment with the Saltbox because it hit my list of having everything I wanted (and more) that didn't have anything to do with architecture and it happened to be a Saltbox. Well, except a wood or pellet stove, but that's easy enough to put in.
My current home has a pier foundation. Truth be told, I wanted piers in this area because I had looked at umpteen homes on slabs that had failed because of the constant expansion and retraction of the clay soil here. I'm not sorry. I've had no plumbing or structural disasters that are common here. But I have had the house leveled and the piers checked from time to time.
I don't consider piers a deal-breaker. Not my preference but they don't mean a house isn't stable. Especially in an area where there is close to the surface bedrock, non-clay soil, and not a rainy climate. This area is remote, forested, mountainous. It would be difficult and very expensive to get a cement truck to it which is why poured concrete foundations wouldn't be done. I was going to excavate down to the bedrock and use that in my own plans (with a block stemwall, though).
From the looks of it, that's what they did -- they excavated down about 3 feet (the frost line is 2 feet). I can tell because the land is gently rolling and you can see how they cut in.
bldginsp LOL, I did a form of your sheet metal thing. I hired a company to do a small trench, build a frame and attach steel skirting to the frame and the house. It's worked a treat.
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