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Sink hole from sewer

9 years ago

Need advice please!!! We have been living in our home that was built 4 months ago. We had a plumber come out because our line was backed up. It turns out, he said the had to replace an area in the line because it was cracked I believe. So they came out a replaced the area and had to dig about 6 feet deep. You can tell that the sidewalk has collapsed significantly in the area and one of our trees is slanting as well. My wife talked to the plumber and she mentioned his look of concern about the ground caving in. So where do I go from here, who do I call. Our place is still under warranty but I was wanting to get a second opinion from another company. Do I get a hold of landscaping or foundation companies. I'm just worried if the house or driveway foundation could be affected. My wife concerned because of the plumbers body language and tone when he was explaining the area that have sunk in. Thanks for the help

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Comments (6)

snoonyb
9 years ago
Call the building dept.
SparklingWater
9 years ago
Yes, like snobby said. Call your county/city building inspector (aka, code/permit) department. I've heard of this happening btw when a sewer breaks (post county connection) from shrinkage of ground due to first expansion than dry, then repeat leading to sink hole. 4months seems a short period of time but maybe the line was laid months before. Good luck.
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hippy
9 years ago
First question that needs to be ask is..

What was the house built on?
If the builder had to haul in truck loads of dirt or move a lot with a dozer and/or other equipment to build the site/seat. Your problems could only be just starting.
snoonyb
9 years ago
Were that the case, the bldg. dept. would have a copy of the 90% compaction certificate.
chrisfrankosu
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you! The foundation is a mix of dirt/sand I believe. I've emailed the builder but no response. I also contacted the county and they recommend I ask the hoa if anyone has had similar problems and how they solved the issue and he said I might want to contact an attorney. Also maybe contact the Texas enviromental quality. Since my home is still under warranty, the agent over this area for the builder said that they are going to come out out level it out but I don't think this is going to aolve the problem. We had sloping issues in our back yard that held water and they claimed thy fixed the problem but it still holds water. Is it smart to call out an inspection company as a second opinion before I proceed with an attorney? If we are already having this kind of problem with a 4 month old house, I don't want to see what kind of problems arrows 3 years down the road.. The sink hole is bad enought that is has drooped below the sidewalk slab..
snoonyb
9 years ago
If the county is playing dumb then you probably will need an attny. to get their attention.

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