Foundation Shifting—Who's Responsible?

Question

Hi All, thanks for reading.

As background on my current issue, I had significant repairs made to my slab foundation home in Austin, TX upon purchase of my first rental property 4.5 years ago. Due to my own ignorance (no denying it) and the repair company's recklessness and negligence most of my plumbing was destroyed in the repair process, costing me tens of thousands of dollars. I strongly considered suing, going as far as contacting a few lawyers, but ultimately declining not to.

Now there are cracks in some walls and a few doors won't stay closed. The foundation repair company came out for a warranty evaluation. Here's the gist of their report: "As you can see for the large part of the home the elevations are within the tolerance measurement. I also noted areas where the home is higher than it was when we finished this could be caused by the slab sagging between the beams in areas that do not have piers or they could be the result of poor drainage...At this time I can find nothing that is in need of warranty repair."

Here is the elevation key they provided:

I'm deeply suspicious of these guys and would appreciate some input from any of you out there that have more experience in foundations and what, if any, obligations the repair company has in this specific situation. Thanks for any and all help!

Marek Berry · Answer

@Neil Narayan @Danny Webber

Hey guys, thought I'd follow up on this post. I took your advice Danny and hired a structural engineer who reported that the foundation was failing. This report seemed to motivate the foundation company enough to come out and make repairs, which happened last week. Thank you both for your advice.

Neil Narayan · Answer

@Marek Berry i would recommend getting a 3rd part structural engineer to perform the evaluation that way the foundation repair company cannot refute the findings and you will get a true sense of where you are within tolerance or not.

Danny Webber · Answer

congrats

Neil Narayan · Answer

Thanks for reporting back, glad to hear that they took care of it :)

Marek Berry · Answer

@Neil Narayan @Danny Webber

FYI I asked the company what their tolerances are and this is their response: "The standard for foundation tolerance is the rule of L/360 or approximately 1 1/4 inch of deflection for each 10 feet. Our standard is our measurement should be within 3/4 inch of the measurement we recorded."

The last sentence is confusing, but I'm guessing they only have to be accurate to 3/4"?

It seems that since nothing has shifted over 1" there's not much recourse I have at this time.

Danny Webber · Answer

From my experience there is no universally accepted tolerances. The best thing to do is hire a structural engineer and have him eval the house and draft a letter.

IF...... you feel this company is reputable enough to go after and pressure some.

Neil Narayan · Answer

@Marek Berry

Hah what a coincidence, I just went to a class today and learned that the tolerance is 1.5" according to the home inspector

Marek Berry · Answer

@Danny Webber The original post-elevation report is included in the diagram in my post—the most recent numbers are the larger circled notations. I'm up .7 in one area. That seems like a lot to me. But if the foundation is rising rather than falling does that have anything to do with the foundation, or rather slab sagging between beams or poor drainage due to the all the rain last year?

And conveniently, they don't give any hard numbers in the original agreement. I now know to be asking for this. But in your opinion, what is an appropriate tolerance?

@Neil Narayan That's a good idea. Still trying to determine what an appropriate tolerance is, and if their work has anything to do with the current issues to begin with (see my response to Danny above). That will then help me know if I should sink a little $ into holding them accountable.

Danny Webber · Answer

Read your initial contract/agreement carefully and compare it to the tolerances noted. Also, if you did not stand over there shoulder while they were using their zip level it is hard to take someone's word for it. I bought a zip level years ago because i did not trust anyone measuring my foundations. It has paid me back tenfold since then. What does your original agreement say? what does the post elevation report look like after the previous work?

Foundation Shifting—Who's Responsible?

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