Any problems with moving soil? (Phoenix, Mesa: work, new home, home search)

[fotoverdi]

Okay I wrote on the general Arizona boards too. My husband and I live in Long Island, New York and are coming out in two weeks to possibly buy a second home. We have family in the Scottsdale area and have been coming out for about 10 years and absolutely fell in love with your beautiful area. I used to feel so depressed to leave and I always knew that eventually I would love to retire there. Although we are not ready yet to retire, we thought buying the second home there would be a great idea. The problem is I have been doing my homework for about a month and have appts. all set up to view all these new home developments and started finding on different websites, all these complaints about certain builders. Specifically, the problems seem to arise out of what is know as building on expansive soil or shifting soil! There are all these sites devoted to people's complaints about their foundations cracking, their walls splitting, floors shifting, etc. etc, none of which is pretty. I just don't know if this is being all blow way out of proportion or is this land really not supposed to be built on. Please help, I find a builder I like then find a site saying he cuts corners and builds shoddy housing (KB, Beazer, etc.). My husband says anyone if you research them enough will have complaints about them.

[frankie58]

I think what you are referring to is called ground subsidence and earth fissures and it is a very real problem in Arizona. Yes, you need to do your homework before purchasing a home, especially in the new home developments that have been sprouting up on the fringes of the PHX metro area for the last 2 to 6 years. Here is a link to a web site for more information.
http://www.azgs.az.gov/CLASEFI.htm (broken link)

Good luck with your home search.

[monsoon74]

Every structure ever built will have some settling, and Arizona's are no different. Being in the construction industry, I can tell you that there are very strict guidelines and procedures for compacting the soils under the foundations. Also, over the last decade, almost all of the homebuilders in Phx have started using post-tensioned slabs for their foundations. These are concrete foundations that have numerous steel cables running through the slab which hold it solidly. These are very effective in preventing the slab itself from shifting/settling. Settling cracks in the walls of homes have dramatically decreased in homes with these types of slabs.

Of course there will always be exceptions, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. There was a thread here a while back questioning the quality of a certain builder, but in truth, they all have issues and as long as you stay on top of them, they'll usually take care of the problem. The faults of a house usually have more to do with the house being thrown together hastily than the soils underneath it.

[ethurston]

Make sure you get a post-tension slab and try not to build at the base of the San Tan mountains where the most fissures are happening. That will solve the majority of the problems. All of the quality builders are doing post-tension slabs. I'd explain what it is but it's long and boring.

[AksarbeN]

I know that there have been problems in the news a while back about homes in the southeast valley: Gilbert, Mesa, Chandler areas. I also know that I’ve heard about similar problems with the homes in Anthem north of Phoenix along I-17.

You are well advised to be concerned about the problem however both the area and the builder are factors in this problem. What is funny to me is that I’ve never heard of the problem years ago seems, it has started up within the last five years or so when everyone started building further out from the city areas.

You can always check with the register of contractors and the better business bureau for information about contractors. All contractors can have some reports, but the “good ones” will take care of anything without the owner having problems, that’s why they are the good ones.