cracks in a home caused by washout under the foundations-dpcon
It is a question asked by owners facing a problem as serious as this one
This is not fiction; it is a real case of some owners who asked us what they could do in a situation like this.
It concerns a duplex in a residential development of 125 homes and, suddenly, when the home was 8 years old, cracks began to appear all over the home, not only in the external walls of the patio but even, and most worryingly, throughout the interior.
Large longitudinal cracks appeared, running from one side of the duplex’s internal partitions to the other, and these cracks went right through the walls, showing up on the outside of the home as well. In another area of the home, stepped cracks appeared and kept widening: plaster tell-tales were installed to check whether the cracks were opening further, and the plaster tell-tales broke within a short time.
The end result was that all the foundations subsided, and this caused all the walls of the home to break.
But what happened to cause such construction defects?
In this case, there was a burst in the main pipes serving the development of 125 homes, which happened to be buried close to this home. This led to an excessive amount of water entering the ground and, consequently, to the ground on which the foundations rested being washed out. The result has already been seen: subsidence of the foundations and cracks throughout the home, seriously compromising its stability and safety.
How was the problem detected? Obviously the cracks appeared, which was a clear sign that something had happened. In addition, the homeowners’ association paid an exorbitant water bill, which showed that there were leaks somewhere in the pipes, and in the end there were major bursts in the area of the home.
And who is responsible? As the pipe network is an installation belonging to the local water company, that company is responsible and is the one to sue, but there is a very important point: you must claim within one year of the incident. And you must be able to prove that there was an incident, for example with the excessive water bill, a formal demand to repair the pipes, the water company’s work reports and any document that clearly shows the date from which the problem was known. Then you will need to file a lawsuit against the company responsible.
If this is your situation, or something similar has happened to you, do not hesitate to tell us about your case and we will advise you so that your home is repaired.
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