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Poured concrete foundation build 24" too low

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Dropstone

Registered User
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
44
Location
Marietta Ohio
I am a homeowner now of this house that was being built when we bought it. I always thought the house sat too low in the dirt to have correct drainage and slope so would talk to my residential building contractor here in south ohio where no building code enforcement exists and he would blow smoke. We closed on the house before it was done and that was a huge mistake. His mindset changed and he cut corners like crazy. He graded the house so that the water would flow directly into it(built on a slope) mostly, because the wall height was 24" too low in one spot under the attached garage and 12 inches low along the entire front. Its also got electrical easements keeping use from dropping the entire grade down. So I got an engineer to report and she reports the codes pertaining to foundation height and grade and slop and drainage. The contractor says that he won't come back to fix it. So I checked a lawyer and the lawyer thought I had no case because in my contract with him, it does not say 'house will be built to Ohio Residential Code. Fantastic.... So now I am looking for anything that might give a leg to stand on which says he needs to come back to fix this. Now, I'm not unreasonable. I thought heck, maybe we can make this a positive thing! How about a short poured wall just out front of the entire up slope and we make a wrap around porch out of it. We will back fill higher up to get the grade, slope drainage correct and enjoy an addition. I don't need him to pay for the entire thing as its an addition, but just be a normal human being and help me design this thing and possibly pay for some concrete or something. I'll cover the roof extension and porch walkway. That should do it. He wants to fight. oh well. So my question is, what can I possibly do to get this guy to comeback. I see he signed an exception for disclosure saying that its a new build. Wouldn't a builder still need to disclose construction defects if say, a wall was poured that ended up having a huge crack but they try to sell it anyway. Seems like he should still be required to disclose even though its a new build and never been lived in. I mean, he build the darned thing, he knows what's wrong with it. All I'm standing on is a basically hand written contract that says the house comes with a dry basement warranty which shortly after rain started coming over top of the wall into the basements was voided due to improper construction. Even my engineers structural report has no leverage because there's no contract saying he must build with out defect. Maybe there's something to do with his residential building contractors license that controls his ethical business practices? I could use some help.
 
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Welcome sorry
Two options become a forum supporting member, and you can up load from your phone

or make the picture a link and post the link

or use flickr or similar program
 
For posting pictures directly you need to be a paid member at around $40 for a years worth of hearing that we can't help you. Or you can use Flickr for pictures. You can post a link and I can change it into a picture.
 
Talk to a different lawyer. I believe that you will find that there are some implied warranties. It sounds as if your attorney is not familiar with this area of law.

Would also find an architect, possibly with the help of your engineer. The idea is that your engineer and architect could develop a plan to correct all of the problems which you will have to deal with in any case. This will also help you to determine how much it will cost to correct the problems.

Talk with the contractors licensing board in your state. There may also be bond money that you can tap into.
 
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Dropstone,

Welcome to The Building Code Forum ! :)

Thank you for sharing your story..........IMO, ...the Contractor in your story
WILL NOT come back and do anything unless he is forced to........You will
need a good attorney who is familiar with Residential construction codes
and all aspects of constructing residences in your area.

Have you talked with the local municipality about your situation ?......I
would at least discuss the issue with them and get their input.

Please come back here and let us know what the outcome is.

@ @ + @ @ + @ @
 
ICE said:
Yelp
Click to expand...

"Ouch" and then some, after the fact is often the worst mirror to look into.
as you can see from previous comments to make it right will probably have to come out of your own pocket.
Pay the attorney and take your chances or pay for the corrections and swallow your pride as a "lessson Learned"
 
The question is is this a spec house or a custom house? If this is a spec house then regardless of the fact that local code enforcement is MIA federal law of implied warranty of fitness applies. UCC 2-315. 2006 Ohio Revised Code - 1302.28. (UCC 2-315) Implied warranty; fitness for particular purpose.
 
I’m not sure I know how to tell the difference between a spec house and a custom house.

long story short, my case is a stretch as my attorney sees it.

in the beginning we bought into this house with a sizable down payment. At that time, no contract for construction was created. I didn’t know what that was actually but I pushed for something to indicate what we were getting in this house. Builder creates a Bill of Materials which has nothing useful except a ‘10 year third party dry basement warranty’. Since water flowed over top of the foundation walls the warranty was voided by the company. So the only ground I stand on is a typed contract attached to a real estate sale contract which I’m told is not a construction contract. Never the less I created a packet over the last two weeks executed Ohio Revised Code 1312 and delivered in person with witnesses. So I believe he has 28 days to respond in writing.

please keep the legal stuff coming. I’ve decided the only way this thing makes sense to continue is to self represent. I would chaulk this up to a lesson learned. I don’t shrink when I need to admit my faults but I also can’t let this go either. Supposed hes doing this to the next person and she’s just a sweet old grandma. I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I passed the buck.
 
There is more work on this house that isn’t correct as well. The look out basement foundation only goes to a depth of 24” and in my area, what is required for frost protection is 36”. The deck was built to where the fastener holds the weight of the deck instead of chunking out a corner of the post so it sets on top. There’s 2600 square feet of flooring installed with out the correct vapor barrier. He used house wrap which isn’t not a vapor barrier on the basement floor and the flooring expanded and buckled against the walls. No breaks in the flooring and there are long stretches of it. Incorrect molding on the stairs. He used a piece a baseboard nailed to the wall and overhung the flooring onto the trim for the stair trim. Just real shortcut stuff. Put flooring in the bathroom which wasn’t rated for wet areas and now it’s very ugly looking. The latest is the 6’x6’ shower leaks through the floor into the finished basement. The list goes on. To more critical things like wiring the refrigerator and microwave together which actually fried the microwave from under voltage. Disposal is wired to the kitchen outlets branch circuit which also includes kitchen lighting so the lights dim when disposal is on. Laundry didn’t have its own circuit, was put on the lights circuit so lights dim when the machine ran. He put copper plumbing which is great but he installed in the old way where loss of pressure is felt when multiple faucets are on and temperature changes when flushing the toilets. There’s also something every concerning. The garages are double decker so one on top of the other. On the lower garage, when there’s a good rain, water comes up from the concrete floor. I’m sure he put the footer French drains on top of the footer and keyholed the pad. I don’t know why it does that. I fear he plumbed the roof drains into the footer French drains.
 
Hire a home inspector or a forensic architect to document all of your issues. How can you ever expect to sell it down the road if these issues are not addressed?
 
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Dropstone,

My father always told me people don't have to go to school to pay for a college education as only the top 1% did that for centuries, that is what life is daily, a continuous education.

I myself have paid for more than just a few college educations in my life time and no one ever went to college.

Unfortunately it sounds like you have a bunch of issues and other than directing you to seek professionals in their field, I am not sure what anyone else can do if they tell you no case. Seems odd, but the world is full of oddities.

As to making lemonade from a whole bunch of lemons, look at this from the positive side which it sounds like the direction you are taking. When you are done with this project, you might find out you learned a marketable education to others.
 
This is the result of a lack of regulation. If you choose to live in an area without any form of building codes, the best thing you can do is hire a competent individual to oversee the project for you because you control the release of money to the contractor. All of this needs to be agreed upon before you ink the contract and agree to follow a specific code so the builder is aware of his/her expectations.
 
Its been said already, the deed is done, lesson learned and the rat escapes if you choose.
If not get a professional assessment of what is needed to cure the omissions and correct them.
Unlike a lemon car you can't return it.
 
Well instead of the contractor attempting to address most anything in my 'notice to contractor' he basically claims there was no construction defect existing and followed it up with a notice that if I attempt to contact him again he will call the sheriff. This is a little nuts to me since I only contact him in business hours for only reasons pertaining to this house. oh well. However, now I sort of wonder if they have any grounds to say that a construction defect hasn't occurred. What constitutes a construction defect? I thought there was no more superior authority then the state and local building codes and a structural engineer? If both of those authorities say theres an issue, then doesn't that make it a construction defect?
 
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