Whether you’re planning to build a house from scratch, construct an addition or buy a home, a structural engineer can provide valuable information and help you avoid costly repair bills and other issues down the road.
New Construction and Renovations
If you’re planning to construct a new house, build an addition or renovate the interior of your existing home, a structural engineer will inspect the foundation, as well as the soil and other conditions that can affect the building’s structural integrity. The engineer will figure out how proposed changes to your home’s current design, such as removing a wall, will affect its stability.
The structural engineer will perform calculations to assess the forces and loads and ensure that the house’s structure will be able to handle them. The engineer will also make sure that your construction project complies with local building codes.
The engineer will provide a report detailing the findings. If any concerns are noted, the structural engineer, architect and builder will work together to address them and ensure that the building will be stable.
If you don’t work with a structural engineer and your house or addition is designed in a way that isn’t structurally sound, you can get denied a permit. If you have a new home or an addition built without consulting a structural engineer and it fails an inspection, you might have to tear down all or part of the house and start over.
Repairs
If you’re concerned about the structural integrity of a part of your home, such as the foundation, a wall or a deck, a structural engineer can figure out if repairs are needed. If your house has been damaged by a severe storm, an earthquake, a flood, another type of natural disaster or an accident, you should have a structural engineer conduct an inspection.
Home Purchase
If you’re planning to buy a house, you should have it inspected as a matter of course before you go ahead with the purchase. The home inspector might identify a problem (or a potential problem) and advise you to have a structural engineer conduct a more thorough inspection. An engineer can provide additional insight regarding the extent of the problem, issues that might arise in the future and repairs that are needed. That can allow you to make an informed decision about whether to buy the house, request repairs or walk away.
