I was hoping I could get some general advice, my wife and I purchased a 2004-built home in the PacNW a year ago. There are various signs that settling is happening. One of our neighbors confirmed that settling is an ongoing issue in the neighborhood we’re in. We’re concerned but have taken every precaution we can think of and we’re not really sure what to do now.
Signs present at time of purchase:
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- Cracks in grout in kitchen and bathrooms (fairly thin, some are hairline)
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- Several (5 or 6) vertical cracks in the foundation, thin/hairline, in various places. Home inspector pointed these out during purchase but he didn’t seem concerned. They don’t appear to have changed or widened in the last year
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- Two small (1ft circular) areas in soil against foundation where the ground has sunken, there’s a noticeable ‘dip’ of about 1-2in. These are in separate places, one is on the side away from any pipes / hose faucets.
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- An area of the hallway floor (about 2x2 ft) which has sunk away from the wall trim by about 1/3 in. We didn’t notice this during our inspection and it wasn’t pointed out
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- Various thin or hairline cracks in plaster or drywall in wall corners or around windows
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- One door which doesn’t latch all the way and is slightly crooked in frame. Shuts without sticking though and I rehung it and it now latches
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- Subtly uneven areas of flooring in places without carpet (living room and kitchen), very subtle and hard to notice unless you’re really paying attention
Recent signs which happened in past year:
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- About 4-5 new squeaky spots in the flooring, didn’t squeak before, all started happening together around the same time (just recently as winter arrived)
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- A new hairline grout crack in corner of shower, not sure when this occurred
Steps we’ve taken:
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- Inspected crawlspace several times: can’t see any signs of moisture or water intrusion, can’t see any signs of damaged/rotting lumber (we’ve actually had several people remark how healthy/dry our crawlspace was)
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- Taken photos and measurements of everything so we can monitor the various cracks to see if they get any bigger/wider
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- Fixed a drainage issue with two downspouts emptying into an underground pipe which was clogged (did this a month ago, the pipe has likely been completely clogged for years)
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- Tried to find a local structural engineer to ask advice, had a tough time finding anyone who did inspections in this area. Found one company that did but inspector seemed really uninterested and unmotivated in helping us and his advice was pretty unhelpful, we decided not to have him out to inspect
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- Had general contractor who is friend of family come and take a look at the house, foundation, and crawlspace (he didn’t seem concerned actually and told us we shouldn’t worry)
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- Even spoke with attorney about whether this was something that the previous inspector or home owners should have prepared us for since the seller’s disclosure didn’t warn of foundation issues (nor did home inspection report), but in general he said it would be very difficult and probably not worthwhile to pursue
It seems clear we have at least some settling, but our question is ‘what now?’. Are there any other steps we should be taking? Any advice is appreciated.
Thank you in advance and sorry for the long post.