House is sinking!
- Thread starter Lanelgn
- Start date
sgip
Well-known member
There will always be settling cracks in new home builds that cease for the most part in about a year. In your new home warranty there may be some information about what the builder considers a warrantable crack. These usually get fixed without issue. I'd find out first if your home was built on "Cut" (taking a cut out of a hillside) or "Fill" (an area that was filled in with soil, then compacted). Fill tends to have more cracks than Cut, given that the soil is always settling. After reviewing your new home guide, if you don't get the answers you are looking for, consider hiring a professional home inspector.
I worked on a KB Homes infill project in the Rancho Santa Margarita area in 1999. They built riiiiight up to the edge of a cut in hillside to maximize the views and ability to add more homes. Some of the soil was not cured correctly during construction and within a year significant cracks and even some slippage occurred for a half dozen properties. The builder purchased back those lots, pumped concrete into the slipping area (from what I was told) and re-sold the homes about a year later once things stabilized. That's an extreme example of what a builder had to do for homeowners at risk of the entire home failing. Your situation may not be as dire - important, but not sliding down a hill kind of dire - however from the issues I've seen over the years, the builders for the most part will make you whole if the cracks are outside of what might be called "normal wear and tear".
Good luck!
I worked on a KB Homes infill project in the Rancho Santa Margarita area in 1999. They built riiiiight up to the edge of a cut in hillside to maximize the views and ability to add more homes. Some of the soil was not cured correctly during construction and within a year significant cracks and even some slippage occurred for a half dozen properties. The builder purchased back those lots, pumped concrete into the slipping area (from what I was told) and re-sold the homes about a year later once things stabilized. That's an extreme example of what a builder had to do for homeowners at risk of the entire home failing. Your situation may not be as dire - important, but not sliding down a hill kind of dire - however from the issues I've seen over the years, the builders for the most part will make you whole if the cracks are outside of what might be called "normal wear and tear".
Good luck!
momopi
Well-known member
Slabs in La Palma Tract Break Up : Residents of 20-Year-Old Homes Face Costly Foundation Repairs
At least 62 homes in a middle-class La Palma neighborhood have undergone or are undergoing costly reconstruction to replace severely cracked interior concrete slabs, according to city building permits issued in the last two years.
www.latimes.com