Our house is 5-6 yrs old. We had noticed some small "settling" issues (i.e. cracks in the brick mortar, small cracks in drywall, etc.) But about 2 yrs after the house was built, we began having problems in the basement level bathrooms stopping up and backing up into the shower. Yuk. This has occurred 3-4 times over the course of the 5 years. We finally had a plumbing company run a camera through the plumbing and whoa! Major issues. The house apparently has settled so much that all the plumbing in the basement is under water. The water, sewage, flows AWAY from the sump pump instead of toward it. What recourse do we have with the original plumber, builder, or backfiller, or city inspector, if any? Thanks!

Hello l:

Depending on what kind of warrantee you got on the house, you may or may not have recourse... You're going to need a real estate lawyer in any case.

excon

I guess I also wonder if we should just have the plumbing fixed or if we needed to have the settling issue fixed first. And that will not be cheap. I wish I could sue someone, but I have no idea of who to "go after." The builder is a friend of ours, and we would not pursue him. But his subcontractors... maybe.

You need to find out why it is happening, ( and I may also have another company run the camera in the lines, sorry I just don't trust about 1/2 of the companies out there,
Just to verify the issues before you do too much very costly repairs.

You also need to get a person to come and inspect the foundations and find why the settling is happening.

I agree with chuck. A few cracks may mean settlement but not necessarily warrant enough concern for remediation. A structural engineer who specializes in this MIGHT be a wise investment IF major settling is actually accuring.

Why in the world would you sue a plumber for your foundation settling? If your foundation is indeed settling, almost all fault lies with your friend, the builder. If they are such a good friend then they need to be helping you through this and not leaving you to find some serious advice over a simple ask website.