Foundation and other structural movement causes serious damage to Colorado homes and other structures every day. It is usually the result of expanding or collapsing soils, and it usually shows first in the finishes rather than the concrete. With enough force the foundation itself cracks, which lets water into the home and starts a second round of damage.
Johnson Law has handled hundreds of foundation movement cases across Colorado, for single homes, whole neighborhoods, and entire associations. The consultation is free.
Signs your foundation is moving
- Drywall cracks, especially at door and window corners and along the ceiling line
- Doors and windows that stick, drag, or will not latch, often changing with the season
- Visible cracks in foundation walls, in the garage, or in exterior brick and stucco
- Floors that slope or feel uneven from one room to the next
- Separation between the chimney, porch, deck, or garage and the main structure
- Water entering the basement or crawl space through a crack that was not there before
- Windows that have cracked glass with no impact to explain it
Why foundations move here
Foundation movement generally traces back to poor site preparation, an inadequate geotechnical and soils analysis, negligent design, negligent construction, or some combination of all four. Groundwater levels across a community sometimes fluctuate in a way that activates the soils and produces the same result even where the home was built reasonably well.
The failures we find
- Piers not drilled to the depth the engineer specified, or not carried into bedrock where the design required it
- Void space beneath grade beams crushed, filled with debris, or never formed at all, so swelling soil bears directly on the foundation
- Foundation walls without the reinforcement shown on the plans
- Backfill placed against the wall and never compacted
- Drainage, damp proofing, and perimeter drains that were not built the way the plans showed them
- Grading that was final graded toward the structure, or that was correct at closing and then destroyed by landscaping
- A soils report that was never obtained, was prepared for a different lot, or was ignored
Watch out for the inspect and wait strategy
No matter the cause, builders and their insurers routinely fight these claims by appearing to help while never actually making or paying for repairs. They ask for inspections. They send someone out to look at it. They tell you to keep an eye on it and give it another season, or they perform cosmetic patching and ask you to see how it holds.
All the while your statute of limitations (the deadline that bars a claim if you wait too long) keeps running. Once it expires you lose the ability to sue for the money it will take to fix your home, no matter how bad the defect is or how clearly the builder caused it. We have watched homeowners get monitored right past their deadline by the same company that caused the damage. If your builder is telling you to wait, that is the moment to talk to a lawyer.
What a real repair involves
Repairing a moving foundation is not cosmetic work, and the cost is exactly why these claims get resisted. Depending on what the investigation shows, a proper repair can require:
- Underpinning the structure, or adding and deepening piers
- Re-establishing void space beneath grade beams
- Removing and replacing slabs and flatwork
- Over-excavating and replacing soil around and beneath the structure
- Rebuilding grading, perimeter drains, and downspout discharge
- Repairing the drywall, trim, tile, doors, windows, and utilities the movement damaged
Who can be held responsible
- The general contractor and the developer
- The geotechnical and structural engineers
- The excavation, grading, foundation, and concrete subcontractors
- The architect, where the design itself failed to address the site
- A seller who knew about the movement and failed to disclose it
Johnson Law has handled hundreds of cases involving foundation movement and can assist you in getting your home or other structure repaired properly. Please CONTACT US for an evaluation of your potential claim or case, or call (303) 586-4829.
Johnson Law does not guarantee any results. Each case is different.
