19 replies to this topic

[AdamB]

I am going to leave the names of the builder and developer for obvious reasons. I need input on what my neighbors and I need to do.

I live in a new Fort Worth community where everyone on our street lives on top of a hill. All of our homes are moderately priced in the upper 250,000 to 300,000 range. Our house was built just over two years ago. There are three other affected homes that I know of so far. Two were built in the last year one was built at the same time ours was. The land behind all of our houses is a greenbelt that moderately slopes down. As a result our backyards consist of a retaining wall (for some homes two retaining walls) and a backyard that has been partially built up with fill dirt during construction. Our yard consists of two 3'-4' walls. We do not know exactly how much fill dirt was used by the developer when developing the lots however we know that we are probably sitting on quite a bit.

About a year ago we noticed evidence of foundation problems. Sure enough the settling kept getting worse and the builder ended up putting in 26 piers under the back of our home. The foundation repair was done around mid april and about the same time during the repair an 85' long crack in our back yard started to form. It went parallel to the house from one fence to the other. Over the months the crack expanded at a slow to moderate pace. We and the builder assumed this was due to pressure being relieved in the soil and the builder proposed that they come in and regrade with dirt.

Well, over the last five days the crack has expanded from a 4"-6" at best to a FREAKING CANYON. Our back wall has sunk, not slid, an estimated ten feet. The iron fence and yard has sunk about two feet below the top of the wall and along the 3'-5' wide crack there is about a 5 foot vertical displacement. Our crack has expanded to our neighbors yard and their wall has broken veritcally and is now sliding downhill at a rate of about 6" per day and seems to be accelerating. The lot on the other side of us is vacant however the cracks are now starting to form in the yard of the two homes on the other side of that vacant lot as well as another house down the road that we know of. Their walls are starting to fail as well.

We have been in contact with the builder and many reps of the builder have been out to see it over the last five days and the VP of the company is coming out Monday to look at it. However, we view this situation as not being resolved quickly enough or appropriately. Reps of the builder are also making comments here and there that this is a home insurance issue and they will do what they can to help us or that they dont know exactly where the fault lies.

My thoughts are that this is a cass of negligence where the builder should have put piers in our foundation to begin with but didn't and also where at least a little bit of care should have been given by the developer and builder when planning the lots. Oh by the way, we just found out that these issues have happened in our community before with another builder and our builder was aware of these issues.

This is our first home and it has been an absolute nightmare with all of the issues. It makes me want to go back to renting forever. I desperately need some guidance and need to know who to talk to.

Now I know we have had a lot of rain for Texas, but I don't think we have had so much rain that basic construction and our lots should be sinking like this.

[safly]

Agreed ^^^

Especially relatively NEW construction. Well, if they had FOREknowledge of these particular misfortunes taking place in other similar lots/homes, then they should have made everyone aware of the concerning possibilities and consulted (at the very least) sometime ago on how to resolve this issue or prevent it from occuring(especially at this rate and magnitude) again. Do you know of other community lot owners who have had similar occurence and had the same recourse of action by the developer or builder?

I would demand that the VP house you and yours FREE OF CHARGE in a hotel or condo property of choice until this matter gets resolved, or some sort of monetary compensation for the repair work and materials. It is your home and dream and some possible NEGLECT by the builder/developer may have possibly played a role in ruining it.
*It may be best to consult with your insurance provider in this case beforehand. Worrying about the premiums is secondary in this situation, IMO.

Keep us posted. So sorry.

[360texas]

Good Lawyer on standby

Building Contractor apparantly acknowledges soils issue by doing foundation repair. Note legal term - "Latent Defect" where defect was not reasonably noticed during construction but occured later during post construction period.

Depending on retaining wall heights [4 feet ?] the wall construction design must have been designed by a state licensed engineer. His Professional Engineer stamp must be on the wall design drawings before the wall construction. City building inspection approval tag should be available in the city planning office.

Good Soils Engineer
Soils test report during construction
Soils compaction reports for backfill during construction

Freedom of information Act
City Underground Utility Permit in your residential development
City Inspection reports and approvals for those utilities
City and Contractor Building Inspectors reports and approval tag's for Soil backfill, foundation and structural work
City Code Compliance reports for your residential development area

No I am not a lawyer. There maybe alot of other items you or your lawyer might dig up.

[Dr Quest]

Probably the only thing I can contribute to this board (other than restaurant reviews) is homeowners insurance knowledge. I can't think of any reason this would or could be covered under a homeowners policy. Your HO policy does not cover the land, only your home so it's not going to pay for stabilizing the land. The settlement and movement that you are experiencing is specifically excluded in your policy. That's not to say you shouldn't contact your insurance agent to have an adjuster investigate and formally deny your claim. I feel this is too big an issue to go at alone, I would have an attorney deal with the builder. 360tx brought up some good points and there are probably several other things to consider plus an attorney will fight harder and with less emotion attached...after a long fight the builder counts on the fact that you'll get so beaten down that you'll just settle for less than what you want or deserve.

[redhead]

You have not really given enough information to help, but I'll try.

First, if the soil conditions were known to have that much fill, piers would have been required by an engineer from the get-go---which leads me to believe that (despite PRIOR knowlege), the builder poured a slab on grade like "business as usual." That also leads me to believe that your builder may be a large, publicly held guy that self-insures? If not, if the builder had a homeowner's warranty company behind him (her), then that company would require an inspection prior to pouring the slab---or constructing significant retaining walls. Do you have a residential warranty company, a third party like 2-10 that insures your builder? You should have that information with your closing documents---that is extrememly important to know.

Your builder has liability under the revised RECLA law that passed a few years ago, but there may be a separate issue with the walls. I know of an incident in west FW where the builder built retaining walls behind a house and the walls gave way causing structural damage to the home. However, the builder was not held liable as the walls were built precisely to the engineering specs and a third party inspector checked every step of construction. The engineer had severly underestimated the amount of hydrostatic pressure during a wet season very much like this one.

I just read this and it's a sort of non-answer given the lack of information. Questions to ask: was the slab engineered, and if so, by whom? Was it inspected by a third party (not the city)? Is there a written residential warranty by a third party, and if so, have you done anything to negate that policy? (For example, if you re-grade and change your drainage after the inspector signs-off, you involuntarily terminate coverage related to the slab in most policies.)

I can think of a lot more questions than answers---I would definitely advise you to contact an attorney sooner than later. If the builder knows that you have already taken that step, he may be quicker to respond...Good luck---and don't give up on home ownership!

[Buck]

Some houses in Granbury have slid down the hillside lately.

The mud is definitely surprising a lot of homebuilders!

[safly]

Agree with before posts ^^^

My initial post was more of a quick firestarter, but warranty specs, engineer certificates, builders permits and the builders insurance status are all very important in this case.

We have been in contact with the builder and many reps of the builder have been out to see it over the last five days and the VP (Is that VP the building engineeer?) of the company is coming out Monday to look at it.

A lawyer who deals with RE Law should be used here. Seems like these reps and VP's (instead of problem solvers) are just keeping you satisfied that you are being listened to or putting up a strong front. Instead, they should have had someone ready to fix this problem expediantly. Document everything!

[360texas]

Yes, and document your issues by take picture of before and after. A cheap $50 digital camera with a compact flash card might pay for itself in the long run. You can use your inkjet printer. Pictures just have to show the conditions.

[cberen1]

I can refer you to a couple of good lawyers who specialize in construction law. You might be able to get someone to take it ona contingent basis.

[AdamB]

Thank you guys for all the input. I spoke with the TRCC this morning... that was worthless. Yes, please... if you know of any good attorneys that would like to help us out let me know their name and number. We have recently found out that an additional 3 houses have been affected.

To answer some previous questions... the builder is a fairly large builder in the metroplex and probably does self insure. I am sure the PT slabs were "biz as usual" to turn a quick buck. My wife has taken a ton of pictures... I will post them on here when I get a chance.

We have had further coversations with the bulder and we know that the developer is now involved and emotions have had time to settle. They seem to be more cooperative now and are finally beginning to put together some plan of action which according to them will probably include the developer coming out and landscaping/sodding theland behind us to prevent erosion, compacting the soil appropriately and the builder rebuilding the yards and installing a retaining wall with piers.

Since I wrote this last the ground continued to sink about a foot more and has since then dramatically slowed down.

[360texas]

There is a name for that type of slope soil failure... can't remember at the moment, you can probably see the same type of slope failure along the 820 and I35 after a long rainy time frame. A crack opens up high on the slope... water enters the crack, perculates down and ponds... and the triangle shaped toe of the slope slips out at the bottom.

To fix those they use scrapers to remove the overburden material down to the elevation where the slope failed. This removes all the saturated material, then they back fill with non expansive material [not black clay] in 1 foot lifts and 3 or 4 pass sheeps foot vibrator roller compactor until you reach the original grade. Sod or seed.

Hopefully you won't need heavy equipment to fix your issue.

While we are at it... how about the neighborhood roads. Are you seeing any road foundation failures... cracking in pavement or asphalt?

LOLLL, I am starting to get this mental visual picture..................

[AdamB]

That is pretty similar to what is happening. However, the land is sinking instead of sliding not to mention that all of the fill dirt is full of boulders (some up to 4' in diameter). I can't imagine this being appropriate to build homes on. It seems like there were quite a few voids in the soil and that with all the moisture those voids are causing the soil to sink.

I talked to one of my attorney friends and he is working on this now and getting some of the guys he knows that specialize in this field together. Hopefully we will have some legal representation by this afternoon and then we can really get the ball rolling with these people.

Builder and developer seem to be bickering about whose responsibility it is with fingers pointing back to us occasionally that is an insurance issue and our problem.

[360texas]

I am not soils engineer either but from experience Sinking is typical of this type of soils failure. Sinks at the top and pushes out at the toe of the slope. Or if the toe bulge swelling of the slope is not visible at the moment... it very well might in the near future ... depending on the slope angle. If there is a retaining wall at the toe.. it might push out or under. Actually I have seen a start to finish failure.. there is not much to it. For a 100 foot long "final" failure a slope 5 to 4 slope like 5 feet back and 4 feet up... is that the top crack elevation drops couple of feet.. and the bottom bulge bursts.... out at the slope toe. No big deal.. except if there is a structure at the top.

Hmm better quite talking while I am ahead. It is 5:10 pm on Monday... and it looks like the rain has started again.

[JBB]

This may seem a little cheesy, but have you thought about contacting the local media? I'm sure you're trying to keep it civil right now, but this sounds like the type of story they would eat up.

[safly]

I have noticed that as of recent, with all the storms in our area, that the local media has aired some very similar "soil stories".

Speaking of local news media. I wanted to slap the face of whoever at channel 8 ABC allowed that reporter to work and waste my precious TV news airetime with the Delaney Vineyards "story". Were they trying to gather some public sentiment here? Does DV potential Grapevine crop loss pose a major threat on the economic impact for all of Grapevine and DFW area? I like how at the end, the reporter remarked on how "the owners are not too worried though," (so what's the news here?) because they still have numerous vineyard crops in west Texas which are just flourishing in that wonderful sunshine weather. Good grief.

[SLO]

Seems like you are responding appropriately, the problems are of a magnitude that they can not be ignored. The builder is bound by State TRCC guidlines to warranty the 'major structural' items of the home for a period of 10 years. The question of the developer responsibility is a good one, often times developments have inadequate provision for groundwater and drainage. Saying that, the type of rain we have had in the last 30 days will expose any limitiations in the design. Other cases I have heard of in other parts of the metroplex, the builder may be required to buy back the house.

[360texas]

That is interesting to know " developer buy back ". Seems equitable considering the investment, risk and liability issues. Might be a good way to mitigate the whole mess.

Hmmm its raining again... at 2:pm

[David Love]

I’ve noticed that using the media as a last resort after all other appropriate avenues have been taken does seem to produce results, but only if you’ve done your due diligence and given the company every opportunity to make things right.

[Bradleto]

A couple of foundation/soil anecdotes from around the Metroplex:

1) Not so many years ago, a national homebuilder had to repurchase several homes built over in or near Cedar Hill as I recall. It wasn't slope-related as I recall but the foundations failed on several homes.

2) Also years ago, there was a landslide where the build up of dirt for an exit ramp and its associated overpass occurred and I think the soil washed down across the access road and spilled into some residential yards or a church parking lot. I-30 as I recall... In this case, when they built up the soil for the overpass and exit over the highway, they used a totally different soil type and the two never integrated into a cohesive unit to avert the landslide. Today, they often use plastic fabrics with anchors to prevent these sorts of issues.

3) There are two buildings on I-20 in Arlington, both dark red brick, one parallel and the other perpendicular to I-20 near the all night vet clinic. The perpendicular building was built on top of an underground shallow spring. A well known landscaper in the area was asked to bid on the landscaping job, noticed the wet soil, dug a pilot hole and it filled with water. He passed on the job because the owners required a gaurantee and he thought the plants would drown. The building's interior walls eventually warped so bad, maybe 12" off vertical, the building was temporarily condemned as I recall, then they "fixed" the problem by trenching and installing a massive French drain sort of system. I bet the current tenants aren't even aware of this history.

4) I believe there might have been one office building in Los Colinas that was never occupied or at least delayed because of extensive foundation issues.

5) There are well-known hotspots all around the Metroplex with really serious soil issues as regards building residential properties. Some of the notorious expansive clays are so tough on on-grade slabs that at least in a few areas and some builders have reverted to pier and beam types. At least one of these was featured on local TV where they showed how the foundation was built and mentioned that it was required because of the crappy soil in the area.

So, anyway, it could be worse for you... areas in Florida often collapse into sink holes; California homes slip off cliffs every time it rains it seems.

I'd personally consult a knowledgeable attorney pronto and it could very well be that you need to consider asking the builder to buy your house and cover your moving expenses. At some point in the future, if you sell your home, you are going to have to disclose the collapsing yard issue and it could severely affect the value of your property.

All of this rain has exposed an issue for you that might have gone unnoticed for years and years making any attempts to recover damages much more difficult for you. So, nature actually seems to be on your side.

Best of luck! Brad

[360texas]

For #2 I think it might be called Geotextile fabric. Something like this maybe

http://www.geofabric...m/buildings.cfm

We used something like this for flood control drainage channels in West Fort Worth many years ago.