noshow_nogo

I've been reading up online as much as I can about causes of wet basements, but nothing in regards to how to tackle the issue in brand new homes. ie. legal action. I reside in a town near Paramus, NJ for the purposes of locale.

I've been residing in this new construction home since Oct 2009. It's been through its heavy rainfall in 2010 and this past winters' snow hell. Just this past weekend as well as the previous heavy rainfall about a month ago, the basement had a trickle of water running down the middle of the floor. It seems to be coming from the files of the finished basement. I gouged several holes in the drywall to see if any mold may have spread on the interior walls, but nothing. The sump pumps are working fine, I have a main + backup in the furnace room as well as another one outside.

After the first leak, I resealed the exterior joint where the foundation meets the ground sealed with concrete caulk. I also replaced the main sump pump with a bigger one and swapped the battery and warning systems at the same time. Then this past week came along and found an even larger pool of water down the middle of the floor. Sump pump was working fine, and the water seemed to seep from the same spot.

I've notified my builder who quickly says well it's probably the sump pump. I said no. He hasn't returned my calls. My next two steps are to attempt to go through the NJ New Home Warranty program (which has been less than stellar) to see if this is an issue covered under sewer/plumbing. If that doesn't work, I'll contact a lawyer. meanwhile I'm in for a wet spring as it seems now. I've come here for real life experiences and troubleshooting methods I am overlooking.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

take a picture of the sump pump's "sump" next time it trickles in, to show that the pump is indeed working (for records and later legal issues; also preferably try and get a shot with the trickle/stream in, with the sump not being full), and there are other issues (basically making sure the sump is not right to the brim overflowing)



as far as legal action, you might need to, depending on how the warranty thing goes


as far as fixing it, i am woundering if they did not coat the outside of the foundation with that black tar like stuff, that you see on the outside before they backfill around the basement walls; which would basically mean removing all the dirt from around the house (which means $$$,, so you probably want to make sure it gets covered) and spraying that sealer stuff on (the inside coated stuff does not work as well, and why settle for less then what a new house should have had done already)

also there was a huge settlement here in colorado, for cracked foundations, and the builder had to pay for all the repairs, i will try and find it for you as "reference"

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

the lawyers i think for that lawsuit near me http://www.vsss.com/CM/Articles/laws...fects-full.asp

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

also these might help for making sure the basement gets fixed right
http://www.basementwaterproofingfact...rproofing.html

http://www.concretenetwork.com/found...fing-drainage/



also make sure you do your research too, the better informed you are in the processes of waterproofing/seepage issues, the better off you will be



btw the reason why i say the outside sealing would be prefered, is because the water will actually PUSH the coating harder against the wall, so basically it can't peel off, because it just gets squeezed tighter and tighter
also i would say it's better to keep the foundation concrete walls dry, instead of damp (which would also raise your heating costs too, due to the heat in the basement being able to move more readily into the surrounding ground, since water is not a very good insulator

dallison

Notate all contact with the contractor and take lots of pictures.

hornyleprechaun

FWIW my friend had a leak in his basement, and they were able to have the drywall removed and spray a solution/mixture/etc on the wall to seal it instead of digging up the dirt from the outside. Doesn't really help your problem, but it may be a solution you can look into.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

as kinda mentioned, digging up the outside would be the preferred method, but yes the inside coating can work at times though

Street Spirit

However it is fixed, make sure it is fixed well and properly...not just a patch-job or a cheap repair. Get it done right. A rotting foundation and basement is about as bad of a problem as you can get.

noshow_nogo

Thanks to those that replied. I wish I went back to renting a condo.

friesm2000 . Thanks for all the info and links. thru my research in fix-its, it was almost never a good idea unless you were OCD about it to paint the inside foundation walls with Dry-Loc type of paints.

I did find out from the Builder that the soil the home is built on was more like clay. from what I know clay retains much more water and for alot longer than regular soil. Reading the first few lines about the case in Colorado where homes were built on bentonite, a specific type of clay/aoil... Wondering if I can get the soil tested and see what it is 6-8 feet under surrounding the foundation.

Good news is the property is a 2-fam and the conjoining neighbor also has leaks in the basement so we're going to approach this together in hopes of catching twice the attention. I have everything documented via text messages, email and pictures. I hope I have my bases covered, just don't know who to turn to when it comes to finding the cause and proving fault.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

but then again you now own, and can help your money appriciate some, instead of paying somebody else, but then again the headaches come along with that also though

as said before, digging up is the preferred method, with stopping it before it ever becomes an issue


yeah some areas here have many issues with cracking foundations, and sinking in general from the soil shifting so much
forgot to mention, i use to live right down the road from that HOA, and my dad had to actually cut like a couple of inches off the posts for the deck too (~15 feet out from the deck), because the house had sunk some, and the deck was actually starting to slope TOWARDS the house instead of away like how it was originally built, with sloping away
then also when we finished our basement in that house, my mom had actually called the builder under warrenty about a raised drain next to the furnace, well they did not have one of their plumbers available, so they sent a independent plumber out, lets just say they were not too happy with him, when he had to redo the entire drainage underneth the basement floor (it was a floating floor, not concrete; think upper floors; because of the shifting soil) because it had started to crush some of the plumbing causing that drain to be pushed up some
also as far as sampling the dirt 6-8 feet down very possible, it's called core sampling, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_sample

also as mentioned in those links before, is make sure to also have the gravel installed as needed with the necessary drainage into the sump pump as needed (if you look in the sump, you will probably see some drainage pipes coming into it too)
next thing is also look at the landscaping outside too, does the ground slope AWAY from the house, to get the majority of the water away from the house?
also do the gutters discharge away from the house?
again with that previous i lived in younger,we actually had to run the sump pumps discharge away from the house too, towards the open space we had in the back, otherwise the yard would always be soaking wet (the back yard had VERY little slope to it, let alone the side yards discharging into the same area too, due to having a sloping lot, with also having a walk out basement
basically what i am saying is making sure as much water is discharged as far from the house as possible, but i think you still have an underlying drainage/sealing issue with those basement walls though, which need to get fixed properly first
so the next step will having you spending some $ but get an engineering firm to come out, and make an engineering report for the drainage issues, and such (might be worth contacting your local building department for the city/county you live in for recommended firms and such, along with the building codes too; and especially see if they have had reports of the same issues especially with the same builder


and as mentioned before documentation is going to be KEY here, for getting something done, and legal cases if it must come to that later on







btw: they also built the mall right down the road on top of coal mines too, which don't help the settling/shifting soils at all; they have had to tear down sections of a mall that is just now hitting 10 years old, a couple of years ago due to tenets moving out due to cracked walls/foundations, and basically being "unsafe" to occupy

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

also for that engineer's report (and make sure it is there is a such thing as a "certified" engineer too, and being licensed in your state to practice too), it will be alot more "concrete" evidence in court, then a he said, she said type of case



also it might be worth to just get a lawyer too, and let them deal with all the legal issues, and getting it fixed properly, shit i know getting one for my driving tickits, made it easy, cause all i had to do is forward any documents to them, and they basically just told me what date to show up, and i did, and the "dealing" bit was already done for me

noshow_nogo

yea I'm going to give the Builder 30 days from written notice to inspect/repair. If this does go as far as courts, I want to show whoever makes judgement that I was fair in my actions and requests.

As far as grading, the front and backyard have little slope to them. to the sides, there is a sidewalk about 3 feet wide, then 2 feet of grass that slopes nicely. As far as the gutters, they do not extend away from the property. The downspouts go directly straight down into the ground to what I can only assume is connected to the town's sewer system/drain.

I'm prepared to lawyer up, and I just read through the NJ State Home Warranty brochure which states that if I attempt to settle through them, I give up my rights to further pursue in the court of law. I actually took the day off Friday to get copies of the engineers reports and other blueprints in the town's records. hate this damn cookie cutter house, can't wait to sell it, if I can even sell it with all the things wrong with it.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

it might be worth it to not only get a copy of it from the city, but also to get YOUR own report made, so basically everything said will have been duplicated (basically multiple engineers have said the same thing); but also it will be for the current conditions of the property/house, instead of a couple of years ago

and yeah part of the issue with cookie cutter houses is the fact that they are so slapped together, in regards to build quality and such, that mosy everything is built to code (if it is...) and NOTHING more; basically just enough to pass