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Apparently the contractor did not follow the blueprints when I had an addition done about 8 years ago.(Please see the attached drawings). My house sits on the side of a hill and there is enough water pressure during the rainy season to wick up the plywood sheeting and edges of the floor joists. I was about to jackhammer out the concrete walk and replace it with a deck when I started to wonder if I might have some legal recourse with the contractor who did both the framing and the cement work. The building inspector never caught the change and I acted as the “general” for the job. Also, the thickness of the foundation wall marked “A” was changed from 6 inches to 8 inches for engineering requirements after the prints were done. Is a cement wall going up inside a finished wall as shown “normal”? Was it a bad drafting job or should the builder have known better? Any of your thoughts would be appreciated.
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Hi Tomski,
Moisture problems can be rectified. Eight years is a long time though. Fix the problem. As for holding some one accountable at this point..its a stretch. Particularly if you were the GC. Good luck,
Dan-O
*Having admitted that you acted as the General puts the onus on you for quality control and responsibility.Out of luck on this one.Gabe
*You were general, you are responsible.
*Now you know why we make the big bucks. ALL the responsibility. You check all the work, you decide to pay the bills for work done to spec.You eat the shit when something goes wrong. Bummer.
*Apparently my pictures didn't get through last time after using the spell check so I'm going to try again. I'm not trying to sound like sour grapes but just because I coordinated a couple of different trades to do the addition (and could therefor be called the "general") , I did have a written contract with the guy who did the framing and cement work to build it "according to the plans". Even if you think it's my problem now , I would still like your opinions on the plans as drawn with the cement wall up inside the finished wall for 6 inches or so. Is that a real wierd way to do it? Thanks all.
*Just to clarify, the bottom picture is how it was actually done.
*It's your baby. I see no notation on your print calling for the rectangle drawn in the wall cavity to be block. He probably built to the print.It is your responsibility as the general contractor (you are ) to be sure that it is understood & it is built the way intended. Yes it is an unusuall design.Who's responsibility is the grading? If your scale is close on the origonal plan, you are inviting water penatration from that hill even with the 6" of block inside the wall. There should be a swale & or drain to remove the water.
*I think I have the descenting opinion here. It's a bad way to build it. A concrete slab against plywood below grade protected by a sheet of aluminum is no good. I don't know what the agreement was that you had with the contractor but If he really did agree to build according to the plans, he didn't do that. I would have advised against floor joists below grade too. But if you insisted, I would have built it your way.That said, finding fault eight years later is too late. Where were you when this was being built? GC's got to be on site making sure it's done right.
*I'll join Ryan in dissent - the flashing detail is bad news. The concrete stem wall was shown above the nearly-ground-level slab to keep moisture away from the siding - per code in most places. The only time I've ever seen the 'ground flashing' detail was on a house that was eaten to pieces by termites and anobiid beetles as a result.Jeff
*both the original and the ""as-built "" are bogus.. and both are designed for failure....b but hey, whadda i no ?
*tom...get ready to bite the bullet... from your as built drawing i suggest you think about a major retaining wall project to get the water away from that wood!!go out at least 12' from the building and build a substantial retaining wall so you can excavate a swale at least a foot lower than the top of you masonry foundation that will drain water away from your home.trying to sell your home with this major defect is gonna be real touchy...you think you have liability problems now....wait till you sell !!
*Rude awakening tomski!You G.C. , You responsible.You've heard enough of this. Between yourself and the concrete forming contractor, a very critical detail was overlooked. At each stage of the process, from planning to building, this area should have popped up for each individual involved. With the uninterrupted downhill grade leading to the building, that curb should rise a minimum six inches above finish grade. The blueprints show this and further-more calls for a P T ledger, not a mud sill as shown in as builts.Some form of measure should have been incorporated in the drawings to deal with the issue of diverting water away from the building.This is your most urgent issue. Design a way, either by re-grading this slope to divert water away, or by catch basin or drain tiles, you need to keep water from ever reaching headquarters.
*Thanks everyone for the input. I guess I'll be digging out, and replacing with decking. To answer some of your questions, I had my "regular job" and I only vaguely remember a conversation with my builder about the water issue and the way he was flashing it. He said that was the only way he knew how to do it. I never really looked at the prints and noticed the discrepancy until I found the water problem. (I know, I know , that's why I should have hired a general ) The really hard part is the " Tim the Tool Man " look my wife keeps giving me. What the drawing doesn't show is curbing to the left of the walk and then a nearly level driveway for 15 feet or so before sloping up. There are commercial size gutters that catch all surface water so it's strictly a case of underground water pressure coming down hill. The gravel back fill also has a 6" perforated drain at it's footing but I've never seen water coming out of it . I couldn't be there as the wall was back filled and I'm wondering if too much of the excavated dirt might have been put back in, causing the moisture to wick up or clog the drain. The only reason the problem was found was when some insulation was removed to run speaker wires during the winter rainy season . It's a tiny access, wet, and kind of creepy down there.My builder was a good guy though so I'm still going to see what he says. Maybe a good price on the demo.
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Apparently the contractor did not follow the blueprints when I had an addition done about 8 years ago.(Please see the attached drawings). My house sits on the side of a hill and there is enough water pressure during the rainy season to wick up the plywood sheeting and edges of the floor joists. I was about to jackhammer out the concrete walk and replace it with a deck when I started to wonder if I might have some legal recourse with the contractor who did both the framing and the cement work. The building inspector never caught the change and I acted as the "general" for the job. Also, the thickness of the foundation wall marked "A" was changed from 6 inches to 8 inches for engineering requirements after the prints were done. Is a cement wall going up inside a finished wall as shown "normal"? Was it a bad drafting job or should the builder have known better? Any of your thoughts would be appreciated.