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Thanks for all the advice. I am going to call the inspector who originally checked out the house several months ago and then I'll contact the builder (Centex btw).
As others have pointed out, I know it has a lot to do with the quality of construction. This is a new development with over 100 houses and they're popping up so quickly it's kind of scary. We've got it all - nail pops, cracks, squeaky floors, doors that won't shut properly. The list goes on and on.
ALL Concrete cracks. 100% of it. However there is a huge difference between normal shrinkage cracks and structural crakcs. If the crack is getting wider, do not try to repair it. It will simply continue to grow. You need to determine the cause of the crack before attempting a repair. If the house is settling unevenly, then no amount of patching will resolve the problem.
Your best bet is to get an expert who is NOT the builder to look at it. Some might be willing ot take in initial look for free or for a very low cost. If it is a serious problem get a report from the expert and send it to the builder (alnog with the expert's bill). If you do not get immediate response, call a lawyer, but be careful who you call. Do nto go by advertisements ont he radio or int he mail. try to get referrals. Many lawyers will take advantage of you and make a big issue out of nothing (which can destroy the value of your house - disclosures).
If the problem is very serious (like uneven settlement) you should probably just find a lawyer.
Read your purchase agreement and see if there are any conditions on your warranty. Be sure that oyu comply with them. Sometimes you ahve time limits under your warranty and some builders will try to stall you until the time limits pass.
ALL Concrete cracks. 100% of it. However there is a huge difference between normal shrinkage cracks and structural crakcs. If the crack is getting wider, do not try to repair it. It will simply continue to grow. You need to determine the cause of the crack before attempting a repair. If the house is settling unevenly, then no amount of patching will resolve the problem.
Your best bet is to get an expert who is NOT the builder to look at it. Some might be willing ot take in initial look for free or for a very low cost. If it is a serious problem get a report from the expert and send it to the builder (alnog with the expert's bill). If you do not get immediate response, call a lawyer, but be careful who you call. Do nto go by advertisements ont he radio or int he mail. try to get referrals. Many lawyers will take advantage of you and make a big issue out of nothing (which can destroy the value of your house - disclosures).
If the problem is very serious (like uneven settlement) you should probably just find a lawyer.
Read your purchase agreement and see if there are any conditions on your warranty. Be sure that oyu comply with them. Sometimes you ahve time limits under your warranty and some builders will try to stall you until the time limits pass.
Agree with every point raised here, but would go further and say sealing is unlikely to work in the long run. Get that expert in very quickly.
We built our last house in 1999 and the solid concrete basement floor developed a long crack, about 20 ft in length, from the corner to the other end of the house. I watched it for a couple of years, it didn't get wider, so I patched it with patch mix and never had a problem.
Meh- floor cracks don't bother me unless there is obvious signs that soil is shifting under the home.
The house we live in now was built in 1970- concrete floor areas smooth as a baby's butt and were poured in sections w/expansion joints. You can definitely tell the difference in quality and workmanship.
We try to keep the water away from the house. Drainage and proper landscaping are more important than trying to waterproof. Our house has essentially no membrane (just the black paint type stuff to seal the block). We have no infiltration at all. Even when the ground is flowing with water (we do have two sump pumps that occaisionally work full time). We have a really good drainage system, six feet of gravel and then clay on top. The clay is slopes away from the house and well compacted (be careful when compacting that you do nto crack your walls). The clay helps keep the water out to begin with. What water gets through, drains through the gravel into the drainage system.
No matter what you do, you will never waterproof your basement. It cannot be done with any lasting certainy. The trick is to keep water away from the basement walls. If there is no water built up there, it will not go through your walls. Water needs head pressure to force its way through your walls. The water will follow the easiest path. make it go where you want it and it will run right past where you do not want it.
Thanks for your reply Coldjensens, I must say I agree with all the measures you take to combat water ingress however we take into account water gas too and if we relied, over here, just on the measures you take we would soon smell the damp in our houses.
Well, the builder agreed that the cracks were too large to ignore (a neighbor was told the cracks had to be at least a quarter of an inch wide for them to address). They came last week and cut through and around the problems areas and filled them in with some sort of "stuff" ... wish I knew what it was. It's silverish in color - a little lighter than the concrete around it. They filled in the large cracks and even the small ones. I am finally seeing action from the builder and feel much better about it. I was feeling ingnored and worried that they would close up shop and we would be left hanging.
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They fixed the cracks!
