leilaniamber
New Member
We've lived in our home for 5 months. It is brand new and under a one year warranty. The builder was fixing the front porch and instead of using a jack hammer to bust out the concrete, he used the bucket of a back hoe to smash down on the concrete in front of my front door. Needless to say there was significant damage done to the property's foundation. (see attached photos).
We know we have to take legal action as the builder claims the damage is minimal. We've had a structural engineer come out and investigate and he says the damage is way beyond minor. Not only that, but now we will have to disclose (when we sell) that the property has had structural damage.
On top of all this, when the engineer evaluated the foundation he saw water damage from when there was water standing under the house for weeks and weeks. The builder finally fixed that problem, but apparently it wasn't soon enough.
My husband wants to ask that the builder pay us the total purchase price of the home ($284,000) PLUS all the things we have added to the home like landscaping, security alarm, gutters, etc. which total about $30,000, PLUS aggravation for having to find a new home.
My questions are:
Are we entitled to all of that? If not, what ARE we entitled to?
What type of lawyer do we need to hire?
Do we need to go ahead and make a claim with OUR insurance and then just have the builder pay us back?
Thank you so much for all the help and comments.
We know we have to take legal action as the builder claims the damage is minimal. We've had a structural engineer come out and investigate and he says the damage is way beyond minor. Not only that, but now we will have to disclose (when we sell) that the property has had structural damage.
On top of all this, when the engineer evaluated the foundation he saw water damage from when there was water standing under the house for weeks and weeks. The builder finally fixed that problem, but apparently it wasn't soon enough.
My husband wants to ask that the builder pay us the total purchase price of the home ($284,000) PLUS all the things we have added to the home like landscaping, security alarm, gutters, etc. which total about $30,000, PLUS aggravation for having to find a new home.
My questions are:
Are we entitled to all of that? If not, what ARE we entitled to?
What type of lawyer do we need to hire?
Do we need to go ahead and make a claim with OUR insurance and then just have the builder pay us back?
Thank you so much for all the help and comments.
