We had a new house built and took possession June1, 06. At our walk
thru with the builder we noted a 4 foot verticle hairline crack
starting below a basement window. The builder told us these hairline
cracks are to be expected and over time we may notice more approx every
10 ft. He smeared some cement over the crack to cover it up. This past
week we noted one wall has about 5 of these cracks about every 5 ft.
Mostly verticle, some may run horizontal for 1/2 or 1 block wide then
continue verticle again. Another wall, one crack is verticle for 3
blocks then horizontal for about 4 ft, then down verticle again. We
also noted the "fake" stone on a mid section of the exterior front of
the house has a verticle crack about 5 inches in from the corner and
runs about 3 ft up the house breaking thru the fake stone. After some
difficulty we located a residential structural engineer who will come
look at our cracks this Monday. I called our city inspector looking for
the name of a residential structural engineer, he knew none but stated
to me 2-3 times he would only come to our house and look at the
situation if the builder was in attendance. We are not planning to
contact the builder till we have the professional opinion of a
structural engineer these cracks are to be concerned about. Understand,
we did not sign the final papers with the builder on a good note, we
had MANY quality issues with him. If the engineer finds these cracks to
be of concern, how do we proceed? Contact the builder first, or be
prepared for some rough times and contact a lawyer first? Also, as
best I can tell, these cracks are in the same place I can see hairline
cracking on the outside foundation. Should we expect we are going to
get leaking thru these breaks? Do you think we are over reacting to
something that should be expected? Thanx in advance for all opinions.

betty

I gusee it depends on the selling agreement, but as it is a new house
you have more options then you would if you bought an older house.
find out if your neighbors are getting this same thing. you have a lot
more clout if a buch of you have this problem. in a subdivision near
the last house I built the builder was sued in a class action suit and
had to fork out some pretty big coin to every house for repairs. I
would go through the builder next. if they don't do anything (and I
wouldn't expect them too), but try to schedule it so your engineer is
present when you do this, but don't tell the builder that or he may not
show.
after the engineer gets his say in, then you can go for the legal
action, and have a real good shot of getting it done.
Empressess #124457


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wrote:
We had a new house built and took possession June1, 06. At our walk
thru with the builder we noted a 4 foot verticle hairline crack
starting below a basement window. The builder told us these hairline
cracks are to be expected and over time we may notice more approx every
10 ft. He smeared some cement over the crack to cover it up. This past
week we noted one wall has about 5 of these cracks about every 5 ft.
Mostly verticle, some may run horizontal for 1/2 or 1 block wide then
continue verticle again. Another wall, one crack is verticle for 3
blocks then horizontal for about 4 ft, then down verticle again. We
also noted the "fake" stone on a mid section of the exterior front of
the house has a verticle crack about 5 inches in from the corner and
runs about 3 ft up the house breaking thru the fake stone. After some
difficulty we located a residential structural engineer who will come
look at our cracks this Monday. I called our city inspector looking for
the name of a residential structural engineer, he knew none but stated
to me 2-3 times he would only come to our house and look at the
situation if the builder was in attendance. We are not planning to
contact the builder till we have the professional opinion of a
structural engineer these cracks are to be concerned about. Understand,
we did not sign the final papers with the builder on a good note, we
had MANY quality issues with him. If the engineer finds these cracks to
be of concern, how do we proceed? Contact the builder first, or be
prepared for some rough times and contact a lawyer first? Also, as
best I can tell, these cracks are in the same place I can see hairline
cracking on the outside foundation. Should we expect we are going to
get leaking thru these breaks? Do you think we are over reacting to
something that should be expected? Thanx in advance for all opinions.

betty