We had our house built and moved in June 1, 2006. We've noticed cracking in the cement block basement walls, a 30 ft wall has verticle cracks every 4-5 ft. All walls have cracks. We hired a structural engineer, cost $210, to evaluate and he felt were "drying cracks". He said to watch but nothing is shifting now. I check the basement often, especially after a rain. It rained yesterday and I checked it as usual, to my suprise one wall had darkened wet areas, some above grade in the top block. ( the top 2 rows of block are above grade) Those wet areas are directly below a wall with a manufactured stone exterior and we have seen cracks in that exterior stone wall. I pulled back the insulation in the basement between the cement block and floor above on that exterior wall and found black spots on the wood, I'm sure are black mold. I pulled back insulation in other parts of the basement and no black spots, just under the wall with the manufactured stone exterior. This says to me thats been wet for some time, not just 1 rainfall. I did email the builder yesterday, LDA, in Peninsula, Ohio, whom we've had numerous quality issues with. He emailed me back and said he'd have one of his workers contact us "ASAP". No contact so far today. How would others proceed? I feel even if that fake stone cracks there should have been some sort of moisture barrier to keep water from leaking into the basement blocks, isn't there? I've been running a dehumidifier constantly since mid June. We are drying out the basement for 8-12 months before finishing off. Overall the basement is not damp. Thanx for any and all advice and opinions.
betty A very unhappy new home consumer