HELP! Contractor work caused HUGE Settlement Cracks and damage

[Banty]

Never mind Mr. Red. Those guys are just background noise :)

I'm a single female too who just recently had an involved foundation repair done, too. It went well. I had an engineer involved, though, and the mason and he discussed the job. My house was not jacked up - the old inadequate footer was partially undermined to pour a new footer under it and up to it. Other work too, but hat was the main part of it. We don't usually have piers around here.

You might consult with a structural engineer about this. And do call the contractor back.

Banty

[Banty]

Great advice. My engineer recorded the dynamic cracking problem I had as part of his investigation (frost heaving issue).

BTW, for my job there was no permit, as it is a repair. These things do vary widely, though.

Banty

[kitamaria]

I am not sure if the house is now level. Since I am on a hill (but not a steep hill --more like the bottom of a hill with a gradual slope) and my house is 50 years old, the house has shifted by 3 inches and the "piers" had shifted. The job was to make the piers straight again and since they help support the house, i guess that was supposed to help the house from shifting -although realistically the house will always move a little due to gravity. But your comment does give me hope. I will have another contractor come assess the situation.

[Red Neckerson]

"Banty" wrote

I'm a female TOO!!

Lesby friends, O-Kay??!!!

[Norminn]

I have no experience with issues like what you have described, but it seems worthy of consulting an attorney (assuming you have a good one :o) because: There may have been defects not disclosed by purchaser, damage done by contractor, or issues covered by warranty. Bring photos :o) Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

[scott21230]

I would call the contractor to inquire about the cracks in the walls.

And for what it's worth, if's really no big deal to fix them. You just dig them out, fill in, prime and paint. I'd be painting the whole wall to make it look right though.

[kitamaria]

Thanks, I wil do that. I think the damage may be worse than I thought those because one of the cracks is on both sides of the wall and also splits on the doorway. I could almost take a piece of dental floss and slip it in between the two sides of plaster now. I am having an engineer come examine it but from the naked eye it looks like the sellers had a problem in the past and removed a chunk of plaster the size of a big screen tv and painted over it and now that chunk is going to "fall out." Very annoying but I still love the house. Just irritated this happened so soon after moving in!

[Banty]

Hmmm, you may (or may not) have a disclosure issue. After you work with the engineer (and depending on what the engineer says about the structural issues and probably history) you might conside pursuing this with an attorney.

Banty

[~^Johnny^~]

Maybe you'll get a huge settlement as your attorney cracks the case and sues for damages.

[citygirl]

Hi there. I just did some renovations as well and there was a lot of settling. Some of it in the structure but also a lot of cracks appeared in the bathroom where there was a lot of new grouting. I contacted my contractor immediately and he was not concerned a bit. He said that was to be expected, fixed it, and said he'll likely have to come back again. I do think you should take pictures asap though just in case there is a problem again in the future. Good luck!