Wall Leaning? Wall Anchor the Answer?
Is your basement wall bowing over 2 inches? Wall anchors may be the answer. Wall anchors are simple in design with just 3 main parts - 2 steel plates connected by one metal shaft. One plate is buried in the yard and the other plate sits against the bowing wall. The metal shaft connects the two plates and the shaft is tightened to apply force to the wall. The installer knows the proper torque to apply to the shaft to hold the wall in tension against movement. The outside plate is generally about 10 feet out in the yard. The plates (anchors) are placed about 5 feet apart. If you have a wall that is 24 feet long you’ll need 4 anchors. They cost about 1000.00 each. They are not designed specifically to straighten a wall, although they may help, but more to stabilize the wall to keep it from moving further. So, if you’ve made an offer on your dream home only to find a leaning wall during your inspection, don’t lose hope. Wall anchors may be just the ticket to repair. I see wall anchor systems in the Dayton, Ohio area from time to time when showing homes and know that they can work when installed as designed. If you have further questions about structural options please reach out - I have a variety of resources to pull from.
Aug 2024 Dayton OH Housing Stats
There never is a shortage of national or state statistics on how the housing market is doing. But those broad stats can be misleading for specific cities and regions. If you live in the Dayton OH area you are probably most concerned with the Dayton, Ohio numbers. Let’s take a look at how Dayton compared to a year ago as the benchmark. Aug 23 to Aug 24 total home sales remained about the same posting just -1.05% lower this year. Part of the reason for that lower number was related to the fact that total new listings were down nearly -8% from this time last year. Many sellers fear not being able to find a replacement home and this is a big factor in the posting of this lower number. This decline in new listings (low supply) and sales has pushed our average sale price up 9.68% over Aug of 23! Year to date sales are very positive with sales up an incredible 10.25% and average sale price up 9.68%. 2024 is shaping up to be a great year and is expected to finish strong as interest rates slide a bit. I’m always available to discuss in more detail and even break these stats down to a neighborhood level for you.
Low Voltage Wiring
During your buyer’s home inspection you find out the home is wired with low voltage switches that look like this. A push button style. Maybe instead of 4 buttons there are 6 or 8 or even more on one cover plate. It’s called low voltage WIRING not to be confused with modern day low voltage LIGHTING. Light switches like these are most often seen in mid century homes and were considered state of art in the 1950s and 60s. It was typically a 24 volt system that used small gauge wire run from the switch to a relay box usually found in the attic. That activated a relay that would then direct a full 120 volts to the fixture. It was considered to be the safest way to wire at the time, especially around kitchens and bathrooms. The system also made it easy to control multiple zones from a single area. For instance, it could be set up to turn on multiple lights throughout the house or exterior, say, from the owner’s suite. A pretty cool system for the era. However, it wasn’t long before the ground fault interrupt (GFCI) gained popularity which helped lead to the demise of low voltage wiring. By the 1970’s you didn’t see many new installs. I still run into them today when showing homes around Dayton, Ohio, especially in Oakwood and older neighborhoods. Parts are still made today so if you have this system and like it you can continue to maintain it. More often than not, once it starts having problems homeowners have them pulled out and replaced with modern wiring.
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