Hello everyone,I am a first time homebuyer that just purchased a brand new home and I have many cracks in my foundation in the interior and exterior and in the cement floor in my basement also I can see missing mortar between the cinder blocks and sunlight coming right though and on the outside I can see the outline of my cinder blocks which looks like dampness or water doing so,then after a week or two cracks and a white substance form where the water or dampness was.also my hardwood floor is becoming unlevel and looks like its buckling and spreading throughout the house.alot of my doors are not able to close or if they do they have become uneven with the lockplate in the doorjamb and cannot lock and also the moulding around them is spreading.alot of stairs have become loose and moulding on stairs is spreading away from wall. I spoke to my builder and showed him what's going on and he says its just settling but a lot of other people tell me otherwise and I do not know who to believe but I think anybody definitely knows that's there's supposed to be mortar filling up all gaps in between each cinder block in the whole foundation.my builder has not fixed anything what so ever in my house and is very uncooperative. So I just wanted to ask whoever has any information for me to resolve my relentless stress and how to handle all my issues or if its nothing to worry about please please please don't hesitate to write. THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS EVERYONE

This does not sound like normal settling issue. I am going to take a guess that you saved yourself the $400 and did not get a building inspection done, right? I would call the city building inspector and ask him to come out and do an inspection, did this building get a inspection and a occupancy permit?

It all depends on where you live. Your new house shouuld come with a warranty. Some cracking and settling is to be expected for a new home. If you can see outside through the cracks then it's probably covered by warranty. Find out who's covereing your house warranty and contact them with your concerns, they may force the builder to fix the problems if the feel they are necessary

Yes I did get an inspector and none of the cracks were there at the time and now 7 months later the basement is covered with them.I had a friend that does a little contracting on the side and says the builder flash patched the basement till he sold it

I had the warranty people come and they said the cracks weren't big wide enough but their should be a limit to how many and what type they are.

ballengerb1,
I worked in the flooring department at Home Depot for 4 years and was the co-owner along with my Dad of a class B construction company for 6 years. I'm female but I love this profession and feel it's in my blood, but due to physical problems I'm no longer able to do it. My Dad has been a Contractor for about 40 years so I feel as though I've learned from one of the best :)
If this home is still under warranty, GET AN ATTORNY, FAST! At least retain one before your warranty runs out. I'm not sure what the laws are where you live, but here in the USA in the state of Virginia, It's a state law where the contractor has to warranty their labor for no less than one year and warranty starts at the time of the completion of the project. If all else fails, you may also want to file a complaint with your state board of contractors if you have one, I would think that you do. Contact them, file a complaint towards this contractor and let them take matters into their own hands. In order to file a complaint you may need the contractor's license number which here the contractor must have their license posted on site for the public to see. If they have no physical site opened to the public, they must present it to anyone who ask for it. The SBOC here also has a website where if you search the contractor by their name or trade name then all their company information will show up including their license number. We can also file a complaint against that contractor online. If you decide to take this route, the entire process from start to finish could take about a year to a year and a half before you'll have all your problems resolved. Here in Virginia the state board of contractors will repair anything that is not up to code and will bare the cost themselves, (Well the tax payers will.) LOL! If the state board of contractor's find the contractor liable for not upholding their warranty, then they themselves will go after the contractor in court for reimbursement. Also If the contractor is found guilty and if the manner is not resolved in or out of court, the state board of contractors WILL pull their license and they will never be able to possess a contractors license in this state again. Not even a class C. In saying all this A new house will settle. As far as cracks inside your home. You will have some fine stress cracks in your walls. This usually occurs around doors, doorways and sometimes SMALL ones will appear in the ceilings. If long ceiling cracks are found, usually this is a result in poor drywall labor. These large cracks will happen where the drywall joints meet one-another and where it's nailed, taped and mud. As far as any separation and buckling problems in your house. SMALL separations in the house like stair railings from walls and separation from the wall and the quarter round that dresses up your shoe molding are normal but should be at such a minimum that you would be able to repair these problems with very little caulk and paint or sometimes just paint alone. If your sheetrock/walls are separated from around your door molding or window openings then the drywall guy cut the sheetrock too short not allowing for house settling therefor resulting in a bad drywall job. Same thing with flooring. When laying solid wood, engineered wood, or laminate flooring. You MUST allow an 1/8"-1/4" around the edges of the walls in order to allow for expansion that WILL happen on all floors. Solid wood floors should NEVER be laid in a basement or bathroom because if wood is laid below your foundation or anywhere where moisture is abundant you WILL get buckling causing the boards to separate from one-another. Even tile floors that use mortar should be allowed about 1/8" inch spacing around the parameter of the floor and spacers should be used when laying these floors and removed once the floor is set then the top mortar can be applied. When laying Bathroom tile, 1/4" backer-board should be used for floor tile and when applying wall tile, 1/2" green gypsum board should be used. Green gypsum board is used in the bathroom because it is mold resistant and is only necessary to use in the kitchen around the sink area. If the proper board is not used in a wet area especially with little to no ventilation in the room, rest assure the wall tile will break up over time and fall off. However, I think and many contractors think that the best backing to use in the bathroom if installing tile is a product called, "Schluter Ditra." This product is usually used often these days for new home construction and home remodeling projects. It's used often just because it allows floor and wall tile to adhere better and faster and is VERY water resistant, therefor resisting mold. Ok, back to the floor spacing. Any spacing left around the parameter of your floors will be hidden when your shoe mold and trim is added. If a wood, engineered wood or laminate floor is not allowed enough space to expand this WILL cause buckling and separation of your planks. If tile is not installed correctly and parameter space is not allowed the mortar in the joints will break up. As far as your foundation cracks, if it's as bad as you're saying it is, NOT normal. However, sometimes even new homes will get some foundation stress/settling cracks but again, at a SMALL minimum and should be able to be easily fixed. I'm wonder what in the world is going on with your underground foundation? If your foundation is in-fact bad, your floor joist could be buckling as well causing all these cracks and buckling of floors, walls, steps, etc; How did the building inspector ever pass this homes many inspections and final inspection? Contractor pay off? LOL. Anyway, Sorry you're having so many problems. Just be persistent, firm and keep fighting and if the contractor continues to give you a bunch of BULL. Let them know what you intentions are. Hope I helped some.

Good Luck, DEXMOR :)

OOPS!! THIS WAS SUPPOSE TO BE ADDRESSED TO HOTDOG77, SORRY :)
I worked in the flooring department at Home Depot for 4 years and was the co-owner along with my Dad of a class B construction company for 6 years. I'm female but I love this profession and feel it's in my blood, but due to physical problems I'm no longer able to do it. My Dad has been a Contractor for about 40 years so I feel as though I've learned from one of the best
If this home is still under warranty, GET AN ATTORNY, FAST! At least retain one before your warranty runs out. I'm not sure what the laws are where you live, but here in the USA in the state of Virginia, It's a state law where the contractor has to warranty their labor for no less than one year and warranty starts at the time of the completion of the project. If all else fails, you may also want to file a complaint with your state board of contractors if you have one, I would think that you do. Contact them, file a complaint towards this contractor and let them take matters into their own hands. In order to file a complaint you may need the contractor's license number which here the contractor must have their license posted on site for the public to see. If they have no physical site opened to the public, they must present it to anyone who ask for it. The SBOC here also has a website where if you search the contractor by their name or trade name then all their company information will show up including their license number. We can also file a complaint against that contractor online. If you decide to take this route, the entire process from start to finish could take about a year to a year and a half before you'll have all your problems resolved. Here in Virginia the state board of contractors will repair anything that is not up to code and will bare the cost themselves, (Well the tax payers will.) LOL! If the state board of contractor's find the contractor liable for not upholding their warranty, then they themselves will go after the contractor in court for reimbursement. Also If the contractor is found guilty and if the manner is not resolved in or out of court, the state board of contractors WILL pull their license and they will never be able to possess a contractors license in this state again. Not even a class C. In saying all this A new house will settle. As far as cracks inside your home. You will have some fine stress cracks in your walls. This usually occurs around doors, doorways and sometimes SMALL ones will appear in the ceilings. If long ceiling cracks are found, usually this is a result in poor drywall labor. These large cracks will happen where the drywall joints meet one-another and where it's nailed, taped and mud. As far as any separation and buckling problems in your house. SMALL separations in the house like stair railings from walls and separation from the wall and the quarter round that dresses up your shoe molding are normal but should be at such a minimum that you would be able to repair these problems with very little caulk and paint or sometimes just paint alone. If your sheetrock/walls are separated from around your door molding or window openings then the drywall guy cut the sheetrock too short not allowing for house settling therefor resulting in a bad drywall job. Same thing with flooring. When laying solid wood, engineered wood, or laminate flooring. You MUST allow an 1/8"-1/4" around the edges of the walls in order to allow for expansion that WILL happen on all floors. Solid wood floors should NEVER be laid in a basement or bathroom because if wood is laid below your foundation or anywhere where moisture is abundant you WILL get buckling causing the boards to separate from one-another. Even tile floors that use mortar should be allowed about 1/8" inch spacing around the parameter of the floor and spacers should be used when laying these floors and removed once the floor is set then the top mortar can be applied. When laying Bathroom tile, 1/4" backer-board should be used for floor tile and when applying wall tile, 1/2" green gypsum board should be used. Green gypsum board is used in the bathroom because it is mold resistant and is only necessary to use in the kitchen around the sink area. If the proper board is not used in a wet area especially with little to no ventilation in the room, rest assure the wall tile will break up over time and fall off. However, I think and many contractors think that the best backing to use in the bathroom if installing tile is a product called, "Schluter Ditra." This product is usually used often these days for new home construction and home remodeling projects. It's used often just because it allows floor and wall tile to adhere better and faster and is VERY water resistant, therefor resisting mold. Ok, back to the floor spacing. Any spacing left around the parameter of your floors will be hidden when your shoe mold and trim is added. If a wood, engineered wood or laminate floor is not allowed enough space to expand this WILL cause buckling and separation of your planks. If tile is not installed correctly and parameter space is not allowed the mortar in the joints will break up. As far as your foundation cracks, if it's as bad as you're saying it is, NOT normal. However, sometimes even new homes will get some foundation stress/settling cracks but again, at a SMALL minimum and should be able to be easily fixed. I'm wonder what in the world is going on with your underground foundation? If your foundation is in-fact bad, your floor joist could be buckling as well causing all these cracks and buckling of floors, walls, steps, etc; How did the building inspector ever pass this homes many inspections and final inspection? Contractor pay off? LOL. Anyway, Sorry you're having so many problems. Just be persistent, firm and keep fighting and if the contractor continues to give you a bunch of BULL. Let them know what you intentions are. Hope I helped some.

Good Luck, DEXMOR

You said the builder came to look at it. The Builder and the ones who cover your warranty are different people.

Thank you soooo much for taking the time with your info I am going crazy with this house everyday its something new cracking,doors are not locking or fitting into door frame my hardwood floor gets worse and worse etc. its been horrific

Let the house come down and crumble. Then put a claim with your insurance company.


Why worry about it.