HELP...New house, water in basement...is my house going to collapse?? (foundation, heating)
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We just moved into our new home in September... The home was completely rebuilt on top of the existing foundation (the previous home was built in the 1940s).
We have been experiencing settlement issues in the form of cracks here and there, wide gaps between floorboards, cracked molding, etc. , but what frightens me most is that three weeks ago we discovered water in the basement on wall that is opposite to our sump pump. I will try to attach pictures a little later, but first let me describe it:
The basement is finished, with a tile floor, and I noticed water on the tile in one spot and upon closer examination I noticed the molding was completely soaked through to the paint!! I pulled of the baseboard molding with my bare hands...it was that soft... and the damage extends along the length of the wall into the corners of the sheet rock...
Because the home is built on an existing foundation my homeowner's warranty is for one year and covers, the roof, plumbing , heating and electric...but it says nothing about structural defects.
I called the builder, but getting him to come in and look at this is a nightmare....he keeps promising to come in and he never shows up.
Do I have to sue him? There is a french drain that was supposedly put in that leads to the sump pump, but only the one wall opposite the sump pump is affected. Of course, now I am scared of mold forming and I want to get this taken care of as soon as possible.
What type of professional would I contact to get a second opinion as to what might be happening? A P.E. to see if there is a groundwater issue?
The town issued the builder a permit to build... should they have issued it if there was a groundwater issue or a problem with the original foundation? Are they at fault too?
Sorry for the long, panicky post but I paid a lot of money for this house and I did not expect this sort of an issue, especially with a sump pump in place.... My husband is being a bit passive in all of this, and I am the one (with limited knowledge of construction) frantically trying to seek advice. Thank you everyone. I appreciate any advice you have.
New house on a '40's foundation.
Was the original a single story or two story? And the new?
Was the foundation dug out on the exterior and waterproofed? If not, that could be one issue. Foundations in the '40's were only damp proofed with an asphalt coating. After this many years it becomes brittle and cracks. And I'm sure it's a block foundation?
Was the grade re-done, changed around the original foundation- was there any addition added to the original foundation? Are the foundation walls plumb? In other words, not bowing in.
When you say sump pump- is this an interior tile drain system? Is it original to the foundation? Or was this added at the time of the new construction?
Do you know what the annual rainfall is for your area? For the month? And are you currently above or below average?
Does the house have gutter and downspout? Are there splash blocks, or are the downspouts piped to some other location away from the house's foundation? What type of vegetation is around the house? Are there large trees that are too close to the foundation?
And the list can go on- the point I'm making is without at least pictures, or better yet a physical inspection of all the things I've mentioned it would be hard to phantom a guess.
Stay after the builder- squeaky wheels usually get the oil first.
Definitely sounds like adequate waterproofing was not added to the exterior foundation. Water in old house basements, while annoying, is not unusual for this very same reason. Agree with K'ledge in that you need to take a level to he barewall and see if there is any bowing out. If there is, you have some expensive problems to fix. If not, then it is simply a matter of controlling the water. As he said, first you would need to take measures to ensure water is not building up outside your house along that wall...gutters, grading, etc. Another measure to take is to simply extend your weep tile system along that wall (sounds like it is everywhere except there), so you collect water for the pump to remove. If you are saying the drain is supposed to already be running there, perhaps the issue is that the interior wall was built on top of the drain, so the water just runs down the drywall and stays on the tile before getting to the perimeter drain?
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