Crumbling homes - bad construction

[JOSweetHeart]

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/angry-las-vegas-homeowners-million-163100394.html

I would be angry too if I paid a million dollars for a home that was built like this. Everyone likes to beat up on lawyers (myself included) but sometimes you may need one. Hopefully these construction companies will be sued into oblivion.

I second this. If the job isn't done thoroughly enough, those who build can only expect a lawsuit.

God bless you and the compromised home buyers always!!!

Holly

 

[Captain Caveman]

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/angry-las-vegas-homeowners-million-163100394.html

I would be angry too if I paid a million dollars for a home that was built like this. Everyone likes to beat up on lawyers (myself included) but sometimes you may need one. Hopefully these construction companies will be sued into oblivion.

I watch a few American building channels on YouTube, and the foundations would fail UK Building Regs that state -

Except where strip foundations are
founded on rock, the strip foundations should
have a minimum depth of 0.45m to their
underside to avoid the action of frost. This depth,
however, will commonly need to be increased in
areas subject to long periods of frost or in order
to transfer the loading onto satisfactory ground.
In clay soils subject to volume change on drying
(‘shrinkable clays’, with Modified Plasticity
Index greater than or equal to 10%), strip
foundations should be taken to a depth where
anticipated ground movements will not impair
the stability of any part of the building taking due
consideration of the influence of vegetation and
trees on the ground. The depth to the underside
of foundations on clay soils should not be less
than 0.75m on low shrinkage clay soils, 0.9m on
medium shrinkage clay soils and 1.0m on high
shrinkage clay soils, although these depths may
need to be increased in order to transfer the
loading onto satisfactory ground, or where there
are trees nearby.

I dig down 1 metre (3 foot) and you have to square the edges off. The building inspector checks with a spade if the ground is solid. I always pour 8" of concrete in, then build up in trench blocks to just below ground level. You have to leave a 225mm cavity from the trench block to dpc for any snots off the brickwork. The deepest I've had to dig was 7 feet and the most concrete in for a small extension was 11 cubic metres because I trench filled it.

 

[leftwinger]

I saw a big condo complex being built in the Dulles area and it looked to be built entirely of particle board.....I know particle board has come a long way but damn!

All homes are built that way out west as far as I can tell. No hurricanes or tornado.

Earthquakes? They have code to comply with. Can't even sell a home if not up to code I am pretty sure? Maybe a 100yr. Old home ?

 

[leftwinger]

Why weren’t the local town building inspectors doing their job?

They are. Every step in CA is checked. Not much gets by. Homes are not collapsing.

The foundation problem in desert homes (mentioned above) has largely been eliminated also.