Are there foundation/slab problems in Georgia? (Atlanta, Roswell: insurance, home builder)

[Mr G]

I was originally from Louisiana swampland, basically the land sunk and sunk and sunk, if you didn't have a house on pilings your house would tilt. If you did have pilings you'd have a big 3-4 foot void under your slab due to sinkage.

Then in Texas, the land was mostly clay and as it got wet and dry the homes would shift causing damage. Lots of foundations problems there.

Georgia, specifically north Atlanta has a lot of appeal to me. I have friends there and really like Woodstock, Alpharetta, and Roswell.

If you could answer a few questions for me i would greatly appreciate it.

1) Are most of the slab homes in those towns built with pilings under the foundations?

2) What types of foundation problems (if any) are exerienced there and in general in Georgia and how common are they?

3) If you buy a house on top of one of the hills do those homes have foundations issues, or issue with the mud sliding?

4) Any other types of home problems or foundation problems that i should be aware of?

thanks for taking the time to reply.

MR G

[jxu66]

I asked the same question to home inspector and buyer agent when I tried to buy home last year. I used to live in Dallas and foundation was big problem in Dallas. As I know, Duluth/Suwanee/John's Creek/Alpharatta area do not have that problem (I don't know whether other areas have this issue). In fact, when I asked the foundation problems, they all seems to be surprised by my question.

[Prichard]

I'm from Florida - land of muck and sinkholes, so we are used to foundation problems as well. I recently bought a summer mountain home in North Georgia. I asked these same questions. Looked at dozens of homes/cabins. The biggest foundation problem is moisture - due to poor slope of the land, drainage and failure to protect the subgrade block from moistur. Water seeps in through the clay into the stem-wall/basement - and if the house isn't constructed properly, this will be a chronic problem that you can't get rid of without putting tarpaper over the outside of the block.

The foundations themselves are very stable - the clay and rock doesn't shift. The bigger problem you need to think about is septic, if you aren't on sewer. That can be a pretty trickey piece of engineering, if your land doesn't lay well.

[CreditWitch]

The biggest thing to watch for is the concreate cure. If it is not cured correctly or too fast, it iw crack very badly. If you build, hire an inspector for a foundationinspection before framing.

[Mr G]

Thanks for the replies. Do they put pilings under the concrete slabs in most of the homes there? Any other good or bad foundation stories would be greatly appreciated. Thanks , Mr G

[BobKovacs]

No pilings for 99% of the sites here- just simple spread footing foundations. On occasion there may be a site that has a crummy layer of material, and they'll install helical piers or small caissons- but that's far more the exception than the rule.

Bob

[john1963]

i worked for a luxury home builder. Most of the time, they just grade the earth, put down a plastic sheet, some rebar, and pour. There are very few cracking problems. In some very rare occasions, some builders have dug a huge pit to bury construction debris or trash and if built on, the ground will settle and cause cracking, but this is very rare. Also, if on sloped land, or used with fill in dirt, the dirt must be packed properly.

[Buckhead_Broker]

The best insurance is to look for a reputable builder - ask local inspectors who may have inspected his homes. Proper drainage is key, when the foundation is backfilled with soil it often sinks close to the house as it compacts. This causes rainwater to stay close to the foundation instead of running off away from the house. When buying a house, look for an inspector who is Southern Building Code or International Building Code Certified, or both. It is an unlicensed business in Georgia so anyone with business cards can call themselves inspectors.