New Home Issues - Problems with Concrete

There's never a shortage of horror stories with home builders around Greater Atlanta. In this post, we look at new home problems with concrete. Problems here can be catastrophic; everything rides on the foundation being properly installed. Unfortunately, what should be done, sometimes isn't (some would say that's routine). While a company might strive to do things according to the "book", enforcing this at the build site while managing budget, time frames and labor often means things don't always happen as they should. The problem here is that a home is only as good as the foundation it sits on.     

Badly Cracked Basement Slab

That video was a spur of the moment thing born of pure anger. That was almost a $2M home, and as I walked around I became incensed. That slab was likely a few weeks old, the home was just framed and insulated. While some cracking due to shrinkage is expected, the amount and type of cracking in this new home is unacceptable. Issues will range from uneven floors, heaving of sections, moisture issues, possibly radon and insect intrusion, and other things which might appear later. The builder does not care, I've seen this before and terminated more than a few contracts. 

Walls Not Vibrated

Here is another fairly common thing with new construction. These are voids; when the forms are up and the concrete is placed, vibrators should be used to ensure the mix completely fills the forms. Think about pouring cake batter into a pan, you hit the bottom of the pan to burp out the air. This can also be due to a poor mix; too dry, wrong aggregate, or too long between batches. This is almost always a labor and supervision issue; subcontractors tend to do only what's checked. This is compounded by stripping off the forms after just a few days, well before the 28 day mark considered as the minimum time for concrete to season. Then, they run heavy equipment next to foundational walls to backfill...this is your foundation.

Misaligned Utilities in the Slab

Building a home in the field is not like working in a lab, but....come on. Been around a home or two but have never, ever, walked up on something completely botched as this. Did anyone bother to read the plans? Check and then check again prior to placing the concrete? The floor guys will have to grind those patches, and use a leveling compound prior to the floors going in. The slab will be patched instead of monolithic; and we can see how well that was done. And PEX right out of the slab? Oh boy.

Buying a new home is no picnic. Production builders are businesses, they are about profit first and foremost. That means using the lowest bidders for labor, the lowest priced supplier for materials and making "production" the key word. They want the same few floor plans, very limited options (at tremendous mark up for buyers), and their best customer is seen only twice; at contract and at close. They are masters at getting buyers contracted, and most new home buyers (and agents) have no idea how much power that contract gives the builder. New home buyers have NO idea what they don't know.

ALWAYS USE AN EXPERIENCED BUYER'S AGENT WHEN BUYING A NEW HOME. 

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