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    patinPA's Avatar
    patinPA Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Mar 4, 2010, 10:31 AM
    Is the builder liable if house settling is extreme
    Is the builder liable if a house settles more than 4 inches in the first five years?
    wynndixie2010's Avatar
    wynndixie2010 Posts: 19, Reputation: 5
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    #2

    Mar 8, 2010, 08:47 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by patinPA View Post
    Is the builder liable if a house settles more than 4 inches in the first five years?
    ARE YOU SERIOUS?
    No house should settle 4 inches in 500 years!
    This is not a builder issue... who was your excavator? That is the man with the noose around his neck... when excavating a foundation, for anything... the existing ground should never be broken... in other words, they should foundate ONLY on existing, NOT backfilled earth... no matter how hard backfilling is tamped, it will never reach a point where mother nature has taken original soil over eons and compressed it... a consciencious excavation person would be well aware of this. If your house has indeed settled that much.. and you, or someone else, has not complained for FIVE years... you can probably kiss any settlement goodbye... called statute of limitations...

    There could be one other cause... and that would depend on just where this home is located... near a swamp? In an area where the ground is known to be unstable, like a fault area? Consider the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa... all about unstable ground...

    I'm amazed that no piping or electrical has disconnected. What about cracks in the walls? How could it have taken five years to decide something is wrong?
    Near as I can see, that home is nothing short of a total loss... existing on borrowed time... what will happen in the next 5 years?
    One final thought, contact your local geological office and set up an appointment!

    Good luck...
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