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I live in the southeast where we have just gotten buckets of rain this year.
We've been battling water like crazy, and last week I noticed a new crack upstairs in the closet.
We had two structural engineers out to look at the house. Both stated the same thing and I want to make sure we are following the correct path.
Engineer 1: he came out prior to the new crack in our drywall and concentrated on the crack by our garage: “You’ve corrected the issue, and this is very minor settlement. If we need to fix it, it’ll be a single helical pier but we aren’t at that point. Take pictures and put a crack monitor on the crack and we’ll take another look in the Spring. I don’t think we’ll have any action from this.”
I then hired another engineer to look at both (since we had a new drywall crack), as I wanted to make sure I didn’t just have some guy that was never worried about anything.
Engineer 2: he came out last week. “Priority 1 is to get as much water flow as possible out of your lot and surrounding lots. The water table is exceptionally high in this area due to the record rains. There is a storm drain behind your neighbors back yard but it’s blocked by a tree line. Contact the county at this number and have them clean out the easement. If you can get their backyard drained (they have a pond basically after this rain) it’ll help out this water table. When the table goes down, we’ll look at it again and I don’t suspect we’ll have anything to do other than patch some cracks. But, it could take seasons or a year to fully go down. The differential isn’t severe yet and you currently have saturated ground as shallow as 6 inches”.
Is “do what you can about the table, then wait and see” the correct strategy?
This is a 30 year old house that does not appear to have had any major settling issues.
Last edited by Marka; 12-21-2018 at 11:22 PM..
Reason: per request
One other item: none of this showed up on the inspection report. There were not signs of water issues (yard was dry) besides the driveway low spot near the garage.
So ... has the city/county been to your lot at all? Did you need permits to do all that regrading, install a new driveway and add drainage swales?
I think this ^^^ is what you need to keep in mind.
You've had two engineers tell you that the crack you're seeing isn't a big deal. Is this your first home? Is it located in a flood plain?
I do not know the permit rules, but to the best of my knowledge we have not had any. This is my second home...but I’ve only been in home ownership for 3 years. I had a rebuilt 1880’s home for a few years.
I just keep googling “foundation in high water table” and I see horror stories. There IS underground water against the cinder foundation. I’m not in a flood plain but my home is relatively low compared to the neighborhood. My neighbor is actually the low spot on our side of the neighborhood.
Foundation cracks/issues tend to be slow moving, so as long as you're being proactive (which it sounds like you are), you're doing the right thing. I would do as much as you feasibly can about water/drainage issues and go with the recommendation to 'wait and see.'
Foundation cracks/issues tend to be slow moving, so as long as you're being proactive (which it sounds like you are), you're doing the right thing. I would do as much as you feasibly can about water/drainage issues and go with the recommendation to 'wait and see.'
Thank you. It sounds logical, I just hate to have lingering issues.
Well, they just upped our forecast to over an inch today so I can see if those new downspouts drain to the street.
My downspouts worked well on cutting down on pooling in the front.
I have another question, and perhaps it deserves its own thread. But, I’ll pose it here firstvto see if anyone has thoughts:
My neighbor has 4-5 inches pooled in the back yard after 1 inch of rain. All of their cutters are caked with leaves and they are receiving water from me, and my neighbor to the east. They then receive the runoff from a half dozen houses to the west. To the south of their yard is a storm drain, but it’s blocked by a Japanese maple tree line that is about 2 feet above grade and creates a clay basin of a back yard. As this permeates, the water table goes up.
They installed a new deck in the spring and it literally has a negative 5 degree grade as the south posts (furthest from the house) are sinking in.
Is their legal recourse over negligence when it is just doing NOTHING? From my research it appears it would be easier if they were overwatering or something along those lines.I know Virginia is a “common enemy” state, but my God.
You hired 2 engineers and they both told you the same thing about the crack. Even new buildings develop some settling cracks. Not big ones and yours apparently isn't something to worry about.
Since you wasted your money on the engineers and choose to obsess about this I agree you should make it right in your own mind.
I really like the thoroughness of the second engineer. I hope you got a written report and are following his recommendations.
My downspouts worked well on cutting down on pooling in the front.
I have another question, and perhaps it deserves its own thread. But, I’ll pose it here firstvto see if anyone has thoughts:
My neighbor has 4-5 inches pooled in the back yard after 1 inch of rain. All of their cutters are caked with leaves and they are receiving water from me, and my neighbor to the east. They then receive the runoff from a half dozen houses to the west. To the south of their yard is a storm drain, but it’s blocked by a Japanese maple tree line that is about 2 feet above grade and creates a clay basin of a back yard. As this permeates, the water table goes up.
They installed a new deck in the spring and it literally has a negative 5 degree grade as the south posts (furthest from the house) are sinking in.
Is their legal recourse over negligence when it is just doing NOTHING? From my research it appears it would be easier if they were overwatering or something along those lines.I know Virginia is a “common enemy” state, but my God.
You've lived there less than a year and you already are considering suing your neighbor?
Have you met your neighbor? At least start by talking to them.
Then if nothing happens, you could contact the county to see if they are in violation of any county regulations. Assuming that all the work you had done was legal, of course.
You have already done far more than most homeowners do to mitigate this issue, and it does sound like you are becoming obsessed with it. I think you need to seek some way to relax about it or you won't have any peace in your new home.
You've lived there less than a year and you already are considering suing your neighbor?
Have you met your neighbor? At least start by talking to them.
Then if nothing happens, you could contact the county to see if they are in violation of any county regulations. Assuming that all the work you had done was legal, of course.
You have already done far more than most homeowners do to mitigate this issue, and it does sound like you are becoming obsessed with it. I think you need to seek some way to relax about it or you won't have any peace in your new home.
I am certainly obsessed at this point with no peace. We seem to have encountered a list of never ending issues and it’s taken a toll on us. I will just speak to my neighbor and see what we can figure out. The county is coming over to look at the easementbanyway, so we can all discuss what to do here together.
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