I moved into my brand new house 15 June 06. The basement is what the builder calls 'floating'. Each of the vertical metal beams have been put on pier points and they can break away from the basic basement slab (big circles). They have and are. This has caused the door that goes from the garage to the house to be extremely hard to open. (this has been fixed somehow by builder). The basement door hardly opens, I can see in the corners to the stairway to the basement which is finished is separating at the corners and where the ceiling meets the wall. The dry wall on one side of the stairway is starting to buckle in the middle. There are other problems. The solution the builder wants to do is to put in a floating wall. (where, they have not shown me). Damage has already been done to the flooring between the main floor and the basement based on the door problem. I am afraid there are structural problems that the builder thinks will whisk away if he installs a floating wall, as he said, so it won't happen again. Should I hire a structural engineer to look at the damage? I don't want a cosmetic fix, I want it fixed correctly. This is a brand new house and I don't intend on living in it forever. All I can think of is how can I resell a house that has foundation problems?

hi it,

sorry about problems

yes, and maybe call 2-3 S E`s

http://www.hobb.org/

What region or state is the house located in?

I am very very suspicious of "floating" things. Under normal circumstances there is no reason for things to "float".

I suspect you are in a region which has expansive soils. If so, I have little experience with them, as I work primarily in the northeast, where there are few such soils. Expansive soils are soils which increase in volume in the presence of water, and in so doing, they can and do push up basement floors.

Normally, with expansive soils, the basement floor slab is poured in small sections, so that if one heaves, it can be removed, the soil level corrected, and replaced. Any partitions in the basement are usually constructed to allow about 1 1/2 inches of slab movement without affecting the partition or the floor above. Maybe this is what the builder is referring to when he speaks of a "floating" wall. If so, one wonders why such walls were not provided initially. But all this is conjecture at this point.

In any case, I would definitely recommend retaining the services of a competent architect or structural engineer before anything else is done, to advise you, translate terms for you into everyday English, and direct the remedial work.

If you can provide any more information, such as region, or information about the soil type in your area, please post it and we can perhaps discuss the matter further.

Richard. Thank you. I should have provided that. I live in Kansas. The basement floor indeed is sectioned. I was told so that if the floor cracks (which is normal) it would crack where the concrete is divided. I have found that when I used to walk over the sections, it was flat. Now I can feel the floor is uneven (the two sections tend to arch up where the divided section is). I was told the floor is not a load bearing floor and that it would give and take and rise and lower with the soil changes. Well it certainly moved, but I don't think the weay the builders thought.

I was informed before I moved into the home that part of the wall in the basement that backs up to the stairwell is 'floating' so that if the floor moves, it will give and take not not damage the structure. However, from what I can see they are going to have to take out part of the walls to repair this damage to the drywall and perhaps the framing (don't know about it at this time). The dry wall is starting to buckle in the middle on one wall. I am afraid they think they are just going to gloss over it and make it 'pretty' without repairing the problem. I asked them more questions as to what if it continues and how they are going to fix the problem and they haven't seemed to be able to answer me.

Personally, I think this will be a continuing problem. My basement was poured with four or 5 others. The home next to mine (we are at the end of a block) is still in the basement phase. When I asked why the house hasn't been built, the builder told me it is because they have not sold the lot. However, there are at least 3 or 4 homes that are being constructed with big "available' signs in front. So I don't quite buy their story.

I forgot. The soil type is mostly clay. This home was built on an old pasture. (as most of Kansas) When I purchased the lotit was just land and had not been dug out. They dug the basement, poured it and then backfilled. We have had some really rainy times, but I have a sump pump, which is on the opposite end of the house where the problems lie. Most of the weather has been hotter than hades though. I hope I have provided enough information. If not, please let me know. Thank you for taking the time to assist me. I truly appreciate it. I am intelligent woman, but I just can't know about everything.

Expansive soils predominate in the southwest, but they could extend to your region, and also, some clays have similar expansive proerties.

From your description, I am now guessing that the "floating" wall was framed properly so that it would allow basement floor movement. But perhaps they applied the gypsum board on the full height of the wall, so that the framing may have absorbed the movement, but the gypsum board did not, thus the buckling.

I'm further guessing that the fix may be to simply patch the gypsum board and cut it back at the bottom so it does not contact the floor. I can conceive of a baseboard which will hide the gap and allow the floor and baseboard to move independently of the gypsum board.

It may be that the builder has done everything correctly given the soil type that exists, and that the only problem was in the application of the gypsum board. It may also be that when the soil beneath your basement floor dries, the slab will settle into place again.

This is still all conjecture, without actually examining the conditions, and given my own inexperience with expansive soils, but I hope it helps with your evaluation of the problem.

An update on my house. Since posting initially, the following has occurred. The stairs that lead to the basement are coming away from the dry wall. I can stick my hand in between the wall and the stair above my wrist. The joist is still being pushed by the floor in the basement and the door will not longer meet the jam, much less close. You can see where the joist is being smashed against the floor, which in turn makes the floor above bow. Some of the windows are leaning. It can be seen in the basement right below two windows in particular where the beam has started to bow. There are more cracks, the existing ones are getting wider, and some of the new ones are alarming wide. The cracks on the floor have extended and it can be seen where part of the floor has risen. The floor continues to rise and at one place where one of the pier points rest, rose about 1/2" to 3/4" in two weeks. The floor is rising too fast in that I can see more damage almost daily. The doors inside of my house are sticking, some more than others. I noticed in one of the bathrooms the trim used to hit the floor and now is getting a gap and unless it is my imagination is getting wider. My sump pump, even when it hasn't rained will run five to six times a night (I keep count) and this is concerning to me. The developer hired an independent structural engineer and his general consensus is there is no structural damage. He did suggest the problem be fixed if it continues. I believe this engineer is telling this builder (the biggest in the US) what they want to hear.

Even though while the engineer was inspecting he stated that he thought there was a spring under the house, he didn't mention it in the report. he also stated in front of the builder representatives and me that excavation should be conducted to find out the problem, he did not mention that in the report either.

The homesite next to me is still in basement form. The basement was poured with mine and two others. I truly believe the developer knew there was a water problem but chose to build the house I purchased with the hope nothing would happen. What validates my assertion is the floor to the basement site is moving and cracking away from the pier points.

I called the inspector that inspected the house before I closed and he inspected it again. He stated the cracks were normal in my basement, if the home was 5 years old, not 3 months. He was the one who pointed out the bowing beam and measured the depth in which the windows have gone 'off level'. He says the floor has lifted and shifted causing the damage. he believes, especially because of the window problems, the floor has taken the house off square. He stated unless the builder put in at the very least a french drain under the basement floor, the damage would continue. Please keep in mind this house was 3 months old on 16 September 2006.

The bottom line is the builder really doesn't want to fix the problem. They just want to fix the dry wall and the doors. They told me the bowed joist would eventually go back down and that the floor in the basement would go back to its original position. I don't believe that for a second. I can't imagaine how one of the doors will be fixed when the threshold is bowed, perhaps like they did last time - shaved off the insulating strip off the bottom. I am sure they just want to cosmetically fix the damage from the problem until the warranty has expired.

I requested the development representative to have the engineer return to reevauate because of the additional damage since the last two weeks when he first evaluated. They do not want to to do that. I have hired another engineer to conduct an inspection. When I purchased this home I was careful in that I wanted to be sure it was in an area and the type of home I could sell when I was ready to move somewhere else. At this point in time my fear, which was validated by the inspector that my home cannot be sold. Oh yes, I forgot, this house has an extensive warranty, but the builder is fighting me all of the way. I am a single woman, live by myself, have no family in the area and I believe they think because that is the case I will either be easily intimidated or just go away. Hardly. I believe this company did not disclose the potential water problem. I believe what I really want is for this company to repurchase this house and reimburse me for the improvements I have made in the last three months. Am I out of line for wanting this?