We've now had 3 engineers who specialize in structural foundation designs and issues for this area, including one of the guys recommended above tell us the delay and resulting cosmetic issues are not a concern. 2 of the 3 also put their opinions in email. One was otherwise willing to stamp a letter stating that a cold joint as described would not be predictive of future failure. But he thinks the number of beams might be marginal and that his firm would have likely used 3 interior beams in each direction and that's the reason for his reluctance in stamping a letter.

I'm a P.E. but I don't do this kind of work and have to rely on those with experience in this area and so far, with the exception of this forum, it has been unanimous that the delay shouldn't be a concern.

I'm shocked, but I'm actually leaning towards accepting this. If anyone knows a PE, that does this type of work regularly and is willing to stamp an assessment letter to the contrary, send me their contact info. They don't seem to exist.

Sea Speed said:

---

OP i have a house in North galveston County for rent starting July 1st and you can park your RV at my property in SETX for the duration of the lease if you want to walk away. House has a pool.

---

Thanks for the offer. I'll share it with my wife.

I'm a Civil PE, even if an engineer is willing to stamp a letter that is ok, don't hang your hat on that. If it was my house, I dig my heels in and it gets replaced. Don't waffle, it sucks when you are a nice person. But I promise you wont have regrets. I've had these battles, 9 times out of 10 just replace it and move on is the best option.

I don't own the lot, I'm not funding the build, I have zero leverage. All I have is a contract that allows me to buy the house when it's completed. The builder can cancel the contract just as easily as I can.

GTFO!!!

Something to think about is not whether you can be OK with this, but what the inspector and prospective buyer might say about the foundation, when it's time to sell.

On the lighter side, any time I hear a seller talk about a warranty to cover a problem, I recall Chris Farley in Tommy Boy.

agcivengineer said:

---

Could you tell if the cables crossed through the area where the two pours bonded? I'd also be very concerned about the post tensioned cables busting through and that is dangerous.

---

None of the upper cables were covered in the initial pour but I'm not sure that the lower cables were 100% covered but that appears to have been their intent.

The reality is that our existing home doesn't suit my wife's needs and her quality of life will never be better than it is today. I don't want to waste the next 5 years searching for the perfect home. If this one needs $40k in repairs after the structural warranty expires, it's a price I think I'm willing to pay.

Why can't you jump on another lot? I bet it won't take that long to find a suitable home…

The cables need a minimum cover, top and bottom, to be structural.

There are methods and details to have done this right. It doesn't sound like they did any of it.

It's the last section in the subdivision and all the best lots are taken. The back portion of the section will abut the grand parkway and we worry about the noise in those areas.

TexAg1987 said:

---

The cables need a minimum cover, top and bottom, to be structural.

There are methods and details to have done this right. It doesn't sound like they did any of it.

---

They did the neighbors foundation well.

We were just really unfortunate to have the ready-mix plant go offline in the middle of our pour. We took the laser level out last night and the guys who set the forms had the slab level to within a quarter inch across all four sides. I was expecting it to be far from perfect and was basically perfect.

But I do agree with all of the construction types on this forum that this is substandard work. My carpenter could use a chainsaw to carve up a door for the top of a breakfast table and we would all agree it's **** work but it would still be adequate for its intended function of keeping our plates off the floor.

Outside of this forum, it has been unanimous that the slab should be fine. It's **** work but it should function adequately (assuming it doesn't buckle and completely destroy itself when they tension the cables.)

Chipotlemonger said:

---

I would take the forum advice. I think y'all are too attached. Take this early sign as a win and move on. Ignore any sunk cost and don't be afraid to tell the other parties involved that this is a no go.

There'll be a fine enough lot out there, or maybe even a house you don't have to wait on to be built! I'm surprised at the stark difference in opinion from here to the people you have talked to, but none of us have been a fly on the wall in those situations. You could be getting an answer based on some other aspects too, maybe even in how you frame the question online versus in person.

---

I personally have no emotional attachments here. I greatly prefer the home we currently live in but I also have to take my wife's immediate needs into consideration.

But all the professional advice we've received from local practitioners so far is that this is not an issue. Do they have a conflict of interest? Maybe. But some of their firms also serve as experts in lawsuits against builders so I doubt they're intimidated by a local builder.

I've asked for PE references on this forum and the ones that were shared don't see an issue. Even off the record, none of the professionals we've talked to have expressed any serious concern.

I'll see if the builder is willing to give an extended warranty and I'll be sure to bump the thread if there are any new developments.

Sounds like you've got your mind made up. I still think you should approach your builder with your concerns and push for a new slab.

We've contacted a dozen residential structural engineers. Of those that have responded to our inquiries, and we got another opinion this weekend, they are all telling us the interruption in the pour is not an issue.

There is no point taking a stamped letter to the builder and their engineer stating that their foundation is good. If we could find a single engineer that would tell us this is concerning, we would hire them and go get the builder to redo the foundation. But other than this forum, nobody thinks this is an issue.

The engineers can't see anything by making a site visit they can't get from photos. We've sent them time stamped drone and phone pics showing a pretty thorough timeline of the pour.

One engineer is willing to stamp a letter stating that the cold joint is not predictive of future failure. However that engineer won't stamp an overall assessment of the foundation because he didn't do the engineering and from his eye, he thinks his firm may have specified an additional beam.

Other than saying that their foundation is ugly, I have come up with no technical rationale supporting the need to take any corrective action other than applying some mortar to repair the brick ledge and smooth parts of the finish.

Or buy the home, stop talking about the damn foundation, live there for a year while you find something better and bail out. If the new buyer has an inspector that balks, maybe you can kick that back to the builder with a warranty claim? Is that an option? Make it not your problem kind of thing ?

Yeah. As someone who just bought a house that has an improperly vented fireplace from when the house was built….if who we bought it from knew about the issue but didn't care to address it or have the builder fix it because they weren't going to use the fireplace and it "wasn't their problem," they can go **** themselves.

I just mean everyone on the engineering side and the inspection side has said it's good. It's either a problem or it's not and so far all the people with vested interests in it say it's fine. So, I'd leave that to an inspector to decide, but the seller will have to decide if that's the pair of dice he wants to roll.

Either way, that builder if selling that house to someone.

We have emails from engineers stating that the delay in the pour is not an issue so if we close and have to sell it down the road, I would feel no obligation to include that in a seller's disclosure.