Bear Creek Village Homes And Architecture

[mumbles]

I have been looking at homes in Bear Creek Village and one thing they all seem to have in common is cracks in the brickwork. I have looked at much older homes in Spring Branch and the brickwork is soooo much better. Too bad I don't want to live in Spring Branch. I understand that rectangular foundations have less settlement problems. So is all this bad brick due to settlement problems caused by the odd shaped foundations? Is the neighborhood built on a swamp? Was it just bad craftsmanship to start with? Would love to hear the opinions of people living here and also from any inspectors that may be familiar with the area.

[rippedoff]

Do you know how old the homes are? Are they from the same builder?

[mumbles]

Do you know how old the homes are? Are they from the same builder?

They are not all from the same builder though most of them may be, I don't know. Average age is around 1977 1978. The one thing they do have in common is the strange shaped foundations. L shaped, H shaped etc. Looked at one tonight and sure enough 2 very bad cracks. Can tell the way the land slopes that water sits around parts of this home. Another common cause of foundation problems. When I was looking at one house with a foundation that had been repaired the neighbor came out and told me they had done foundation work on their home too. I did look at two newer homes, built around 84 that looked okay. One was next to addicks satsuma, too noisy and the other had a pool behind it, maybe too noisy. I really like the location of this neighborhood but seeing so many foundation problems is making me think maybe I need to look elsewhere.

[Pumapayam]

Well, that area is pretty swampy.

[TJones]

I happen to live in Bear Creek, I have absolutely no foundation problems at all, knock on wood. I bought my home back in September, and it is 30 year old construction. There's definately some settling all over the area though, the neighborhood is right next to the Reservoir. There is excellent drainage, but alot of water moves around this area. You have to keep in mind that there are very mature trees around all these homes, so some roots may have pushed themselves up under the concrete slabs, 9 out of 10 homes around here are not because of poor craftsmanship, it is because they are just older homes in the Houston area. Houston was built on a swamp Puma, just so you know, so the whole city could be called "swampy". Keep looking, you'll find one that will suit you without too much worry of a "cracked foundation", but a foundation crack doesn't mean the house is about to fall down either. This neighborhood is top notch.

[mumbles]

Thanks for the input TJ. I intend to keep looking.

I happen to live in Bear Creek, I have absolutely no foundation problems at all, knock on wood. I bought my home back in September, and it is 30 year old construction. There's definately some settling all over the area though, the neighborhood is right next to the Reservoir. There is excellent drainage, but alot of water moves around this area. You have to keep in mind that there are very mature trees around all these homes, so some roots may have pushed themselves up under the concrete slabs, 9 out of 10 homes around here are not because of poor craftsmanship, it is because they are just older homes in the Houston area. Houston was built on a swamp Puma, just so you know, so the whole city could be called "swampy". Keep looking, you'll find one that will suit you without too much worry of a "cracked foundation", but a foundation crack doesn't mean the house is about to fall down either. This neighborhood is top notch.

[mumbles]

I love this weird house but look at that roofline. A quick look in the attic and I saw the plastic on the ductwork was melted, no doubt from age and the lack of ventilation. Many houses in Bear Creek have this type of design where there is no overhang, no soffit vents. I have to ask, how do you people ventilate your attics? I am thinking Icynene or radient barrier decking when the roof is replaced will be needed to keep the heat down.

To the right of this image is the back of the house. 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The section in the middle is the living room with a high ceiling. The ceiling is a couple feet above the high windows. The next section is the kitchen dining area. Looking at the roofline. How do you think you would get the ductwork and water pipes from the back bedroom area through the area with the high ceiling and into the kitchen? Almost seems like you would have to remove the roof or cut out some sheetrock to replace things. Any ideas?

[TJones]

You need a couple of "through-roof" vents, I think that's what they are called. Instead of the spinning aluminum wonders, these are square low profile jobs. They look good and won't clash with your architecture. I have the same type architecture on the inside of my house as you, with the vaulted one sided ceilings and hig walls. Remember, I live in Bear Creek also, I have a traditional A-frame roof though, and I have ridge vents which were installed in the 90's, when the new roof was put on.

[mumbles]

Looked at a larger one today. They had turbines on the high side and the low profile vents on the lower side of the roof. Looked to me like the old roof used to be wood shingle and they had laid the newer roof right on top. Maybe they didnt need so much ventilation with the old roofs. They probably breathed better than asphalt.