Builder Fail - No Foundation Pre-Pour Inspection Done on New Construction - Warranty Denied? (hardwood floor, roof)
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Go to city building department tomorrow, and get construction stopped now. Best solution, is to tear down all construction and start over, or a structural engineer to design the best fix.
Go to an attorney tomorrow. Builder will have liability insurance to go after. Usual amount is $100,000.000.
Don't give builder another cent until problem taken care of at builders expense.
Unless you love that lot best solution is to get all your money returned and have someone else build you a home.
How does a house not sit on the foundation if the plans are accurate?
Or how does the foundation not "fit" the house, if the plans are accurate?
So you have a "miss".
Are the plans accurate, or did the builder screw it up?
Ask builder to fix it by lifting the house and re-pouring the foundation (and new footings?)--likely just doubling the walls in the places where they "miss".
If he balks, or comes up with some half assed solution, then you need to get a lawyer involved.
Just hard to believe the house and foundation don't align.... but every day brings a new adventure when it comes to contractors and building houses.
Normally if a local inspector spots an issue, especially a structural one, the town would immediately issue a “stop order” until the situation was repaired and corrected.
Normally if a local inspector spots an issue, especially a structural one, the town would immediately issue a “stop order” until the situation was repaired and corrected.
I can’t imagine this not happening !
Utopian society...
Suffice it to say, most AHJ inspectors are no PE's. So, if an "inspector" were to spot a "structural issue", is it? So why would they issue a "stop work"? Immediately? Have you noticed how public works "works"?
Besides, it's not like they're just strolling by and "low-and-behold" I see a "structural issue"!
My first stop would be to get the city or county building inspector involved, and then probably an independent structural engineer or architect to determine the best fix, I wouldn't allow the builder to start doing hap-hazard / jury-rigged repairs on his own. However, I wouldn't be so quick to abandon the whole project, that sounds like a money-loser that nobody wins. Most problems can be fixed, even one as serious as this, but it's going to take the right people to put their eyes on it in real time and come up with a workable solution. If you do get an engineer involved, they should look at more than just the problem you described, they may find something (improper soil compaction under the footings, wrong concrete mix, improperly-sized footings, etc.) that the builder was hoping to "hide" by not having it inspected. Since it's such a large investment, getting your lawyer involved may be prudent as well.
Suffice it to say, most AHJ inspectors are no PE's. So, if an "inspector" were to spot a "structural issue", is it? So why would they issue a "stop work"? Immediately? Have you noticed how public works "works"?
Besides, it's not like they're just strolling by and "low-and-behold" I see a "structural issue"!
Obviously very familiar with public works, at least in the states of NY, NJ & CT, but thought this was residential, like a single family house?
If there is an obvious issue as the future homeowner mentioned, you would suspect that one of the inspectors would make mention to the appropriate person at the building department? I’ve seen it happen many times, with various trades.
Perhaps it’s not a highly visible issue so it goes unnoticed, or maybe not a problem at all for all that we know, so we just guess and speculate, don’t we.
You are lucky to catch this now. Our builder did some really horrible work. The inspector did not catch it. Ten years later, the problems started to manifest. We are out of luck. Even if the builder is still in business, it is too late to pursue them and they likely have no assets anyway. Only thing we can do is pay to fix the problems.
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