Westin Home Foundation/Structure settling issues in less than one year. (Post: sales, real estate)

[CdSlc]

Hi,

I just moved into Westheimer Lakes North less than a year back and my home was built by Westin. When we got a home inspector to do the inspection before the one year completion date, he found lots of cracks inside the house and doors not closing which could not be just accounted for house settling down.

He checked the exterior of the house and he found cracks outside in both horizontal and vertical direction. The cracks outside the house corresponded with cracks inside the house and doors not closing fully in that area of the house.

So, according to him, the foundation/slab was not built correctly and there was not enough tension that was put into the foundation. He has diagnosed it as "Stress from foundation and structure settling down". He thinks that we will have to re-tension the foundation, because it is unevenly stressed out.

Has this kind of issue happened with anybody else with Westin builders? Were they helpful in this regard or did they just ignore this big issue? Any suggestions on how to approach this issue with Westin?

Thanks.

[RCH99]

Originally Posted by CdSlc

Hi,

So, according to him, the foundation/slab was not built correctly and there was not enough tension that was put into the foundation. He has diagnosed it as "Stress from foundation and structure settling down". He thinks that we will have to re-tension the foundation, because it is unevenly stressed out.

If this ^^ jibberish is 'exactly' what his inspection report reads.....you really ought to consider hiring a competent foundation engineer to determine what the actual issues might be. The typical "home inspector" has no qualifications whatsoever to make such determinations. It is no more difficult to get a TREC inpectors license than it is to get a real estate saleperson license.

If you feel you actually have a foundation issue, save yourself a lot of time, money, and grief, and hire a proper structural engineer to assess the foundation, and it's performance. More than likely, you are experience nothing more than normal movement that will be present in any new structures built from lumber. The big swings from extreme dry soil and saturated soils, that have been the norm around here, will take a toll on all homes built anywhere to some degree.

[City Love]

Hire a structural engineer to review it and then take the report to Westin. The report will be anymore from $350-$500. The foundation should be covered under Westin's structural warranty. Definitely sounds like costly foundation issues and you shouldn't have those types of issues within a year.

Good luck.

[yo-mama]

I'm with City Love. You need to have the drawings reviewed and actually get the footings checked. It sounds like that either they were built poorly or designed poorly. You shouldn't have that much cracking yet or for that matter doors not lining up. Most house inspectors would only be able to say you have an issue which should be enough but you will need someone more experienced to really find the issue and then you will know what has to be fixed.

If it is wide spread that is not a good sign nor an easy fix. Good Luck.

[HoustonRonnie]

Originally Posted by RCH99

If this ^^ jibberish is 'exactly' what his inspection report reads.....you really ought to consider hiring a competent foundation engineer to determine what the actual issues might be. The typical "home inspector" has no qualifications whatsoever to make such determinations. It is no more difficult to get a TREC inpectors license than it is to get a real estate saleperson license.

If you feel you actually have a foundation issue, save yourself a lot of time, money, and grief, and hire a proper structural engineer to assess the foundation, and it's performance. More than likely, you are experience nothing more than normal movement that will be present in any new structures built from lumber. The big swings from extreme dry soil and saturated soils, that have been the norm around here, will take a toll on all homes built anywhere to some degree.

Bingo. If he didn't say a word about tendons, they he's not qualified.

Ronnie

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by CdSlc

Hi,

I just moved into Westheimer Lakes North less than a year back and my home was built by Westin. When we got a home inspector to do the inspection before the one year completion date, he found lots of cracks inside the house and doors not closing which could not be just accounted for house settling down.

He checked the exterior of the house and he found cracks outside in both horizontal and vertical direction. The cracks outside the house corresponded with cracks inside the house and doors not closing fully in that area of the house.

So, according to him, the foundation/slab was not built correctly and there was not enough tension that was put into the foundation. He has diagnosed it as "Stress from foundation and structure settling down". He thinks that we will have to re-tension the foundation, because it is unevenly stressed out.

Has this kind of issue happened with anybody else with Westin builders? Were they helpful in this regard or did they just ignore this big issue? Any suggestions on how to approach this issue with Westin?

Thanks.

Was the Home Inspector you hired also a licensed Professional Engineer (PE)? If so then they should already have issued you a report with their engineering seal along with their determination of what is required to be done to alleviate or correct the issues. That you can use to approach the builder with for needed corrections. You should also review your home warranty from the builder to determine if the amount of movement meets or exceeds the amount that will trigger the builder to be responsible for corrections.

If the Inspector is not a licensed PE then I would recommend that you do hire one to perform a full Level B analysis on the foundation and create a specific report with recommendations that you can use to approach the builder with. The Level B analysis is both a visual inspection and a level map of the foundation to determine where possible movement occurred. When you work with the PE you will need to take into consideration that the report will contain the PE's "opinions" based on what they can see and what they know. Once the foundation is completed (concrete poured and Post Tension cables stressed) the only one that really knows what conditions are in the foundation are those that built it and those that inspected it. Did you have phase inspections performed when you built the home?

It would be interesting to see the wording in the warranty inspection report that you were provided if you can cut and paste it here or send it to me (see my profile for contact info)? If the Inspector was not a State licensed PE, and they were specific in their diagnosis and recommendations, then they might well have violated the State licensed PE laws. The Inspector might have more than sufficient training and experience to make a determination and recommendations but without the PE license they are limited on what they can state in their report. You should save yourself a lot of grief with the builder by making sure the evaluation and recommendations are in writing and from a licensed PE before you approach the builder. You will most likely run into resistance from the builder to correct any building errors so let them argue with a licensed PE's report, recommendations, and the PE.

As for foundation movement the use of the phrase "normal movement" is used extensively and IMO incorrectly. The proper phrase would be "foundations commonly move" with emphasis on "commonly". Engineers design their foundations to help mitigate the effects of "common movement" but do not purposely design them to "normally move". There are standards that PE's use to determine when a foundation has moved outside of acceptable boundaries and beyond "common movement" to a point where the movement has become a problem that requires attention. IMO the use of the word "normal" would indicate to me that a PE does not know how to design a foundation!

[ToyYot]

We had Hedderman Engineering check our foundation before we closed, I thought they put together good report. Overall differential on our foundation was 1.4" on a 45+ yr old house surrounded by 7 oak trees. The movement was termed 'moderate' in the report.

[HoustonPharaoh]

Usually you get warranty from the builder on pretty much everything in the house including the foundation. If I remember correctly you get 10 years warranty for the foundation.

Usually inspectors when they find issues like they recommend consulting with a specialist like an engineer or foundation companies, if there is an issue, I would suggest that you contact Westin homes at their sales office or their company office in Sugarland. It is across the hall from the title company they use for closing.

Foundation is a very serious issue and affects the house from the bottom going up like uncomfortable high heels shoes hurts the foot then the knees then the back then the neck

[CdSlc]

Thanks a lot for all of your comments.

If he didn't say a word about tendons, they he's not qualified.

He said something about tension cables were not tight enough when they were laying the foundation. I don't know if this equates to the tendons that you have mentioned.

Was the Home Inspector you hired also a licensed Professional Engineer (PE)?

His qualification does not list "Professional Engineer", it has "Professional Inspector", which I am assuming is different than PE.

It would be interesting to see the wording in the warranty inspection report that you were provided

Below is an excerpt of what was written in the inspection report:

************************

The one-year old house is showing excessive signs of foundation and structural settling stresses with multiple cracks inside and outside the house.

These stress cracks are mostly consistent on the upstairs and the downstairs in the same area, which indicate that the stress is very likely, passed from grounds up.

Since no squeaky floors, cracked floor tiles and gaps at grout lines are detected, the doors with latching and jamming problems together with the cracked walls serve as early warning signs about a possible weakened foundation.

Weakened foundation usually arises from improperly cured concrete (Such as hurried construction schedule, extreme temperature and weather condition during pouring and curing…), concrete strength, foundation ground-preparation, or improperly installed post-tension cable system, etc.

Consult builder and/or professional engineer for further evaluation and test (such as concrete strength and cable pulling tension…) to sort out the source of problem that caused the structural and foundation stress to avoid premature failure of the foundation.

************************

This was an inventory home, so by the time I saw the house for the first time, it was more than 90% done. So, I don't have any inspection reports that would have happened at various stages of building the home.

I am getting in touch with a structural engineer / professional engineer to get a detailed report.

Once again, thanks a lot for all the comments and feedback that I have received so far. This has helped me a lot.