Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 3 month nightmare help comments or prayers please

That Sir... is excellent.

I hate Code... I have always seen it as a minimum... and a "One Size Fits All Solution" that really really wrecks logic.

On my buildings in WV (no code)... I dug ZERO footings... a total violation of "Code" everywhere...

Why?

The soil is SOLID ROCK with massive virgin compaction bearing.

Any footing would have "loosened" that virgin compaction. No Wacker Packer would have gotten me back to even 50% of virgin compaction.

Frost heave... that was dealt with by other methods.

LOL... not at all Sir...

If the guy isn't a licensed/bonded general contractor, and/or the state doesn't regulate unlicensed 'contractors', then he was a hired superintendent. If his 'business' is an LLC good luck suing him.

Wherever this is it's bazaar going by what's explained here.

Kent

H5farm read the the very top again......good insight.....bob

krp....I will take a guess and say there is some good old fashioned settling going on ....fix the settling and the reasons for it then the house is fixed......sounds like poor soil prep and water drainage...bob

I understand that, I've done concrete for 40+ years. I'm talking about the 'contractor' situation, either he's a licensed contractor or superintendent. One you have recourse against with the state, the other you hired and it's you who are the contractor.

Kent

Is this in Canada or where is this?

Kent

About where I am as well... but pics will tell much more.

OP... make up a random Gmail account. Any name you want.

In that account, top right... there is a

In that pull down... is link to "Google Photos".

Make an album and post pics there...

Then...

LINK that album... like this BS link of my WV buildout.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/D3EVwsEsLJMVdgDz9

Without pics there is no way anyone can help you here.

Mid Missouri

If your general contractor subcontracted to these other companies, I'd say that he is primarily responsibe if he hired them, insuring that they followed the building plans, and that the materials and workmanship is to spec. That's why you hire a general, to manage the project in a professional, competent, manner.

If you personally hired any portion of the job done, other than hiring the general, those portions were you're responsible to manage and insure quality control. I always hire a general and never let any contractor do anything without having a hard copy of his license, his proof of insurance, and the building permits if he was responsible for getting them.

Any deviation from the original design should have been fully documented as to what was done, why it was done, who recommended it, and who approved it. As with many things, the devil is in the details. Building contractors are in business to make a profit and if they can cut a corner and keep the money, their profit is greater. Better yet, if they can get you to approve the cutting of a corner then any liability falls on you, not on them. I grew up in the concrete business and we were sued many time because we were thought to have deep pockets, but we always poured to spec and wouldn't pour if the general and the masonary contractors wasn't there to approve the pour in writing. The standing order for the drivers was to dump the load if they couldn't get those signatures and if they made the pour without signatures they would be fired on the spot. I think that during the 28 years that we owned that company, we fired 2 drivers for taking it upon themselves to make the pour without the necessary signatures. By doing so they put the company in a bad position if anything had gone wrong, so they lost their jobs. Those firing weren't lost on the rest of the drivers. My Father was quite happy the day that we sold the delivery side of the business off to one of the senior drivers, as now the majority of any potential liability fell on his company, no longer on our's.

Your story is sad and it appears that you were inexperienced in the construction business and trusted people who weren't worthy of you trust to make some decisions that weren't in your best interest.

IMO, you need to hire a good attorney to navigate the legal system for you.

There are 515 soil types found in Missouri.

https://dl.mospace.umsystem.edu/mu/islandora/object/mu:355185

https://www.gardenguides.com/13406954-what-type-of-soil-is-in-missouri.html

Some will bear excellent when re-compacted... and some will not.

Ok a quick search...

To get your general contractors license in Missouri, you will have to apply for approval at the local level. Similar to specialty trades including electrical and plumbing, Missouri does not offer a statewide general contractors license, so your application process, requirements, and fees to become a licensed general contractor will depend on the local issuing authority of your city. As you can see below, getting a contractors license in Kansas City will be much different from becoming a general contractor in St. Louis.

To further convolute things, business entities operating in the state of Missouri will need to be registered with the Missouri Secretary of State as well as have obtained all tax ID numbers, a certificate of insurance, and contractor bonds for all projects. Additionally, if you are aspiring to perform contracting services in St. Louis, you will need to meet the city’s contracting business requirements to do so. Many factors will have to be accounted for when becoming a licensed general contractor in Missouri, but knowing what cities carry which requirements can make becoming a general contractor much easier.

Just to confirm... was he a licensed general contractor?

Kent

I know you have.....got it about the contractor situation......bob

Help us out. What State do you live in and what has been the rain fall since the house was built ?

kwg

I see it now, mid Missouri. You get a lot of rain there. I see you built on a slope. That should of helped. Someone was just inept. I think your biggest beef is not getting the piers you paid for. 24 instead of 45. My bet is someone got a kickback on the concrete. If you can find that guy you need to get him to confess and sue the concrete guys. I hate to say it but you should of been out there every day making sure they were building to plans. You need a good attorney. Good luck.

kwg

He doesnt have to have a license in our area. Only St Louis and Kansas City. No he does not have a State License on file only commercial builders have them on file in our county. There is only two home builders who have them on file with the State that I know of. Everyone can be a contractor here. He also lied at the beginning and said he had insurance. I guess looking back I should of requested a copy in writing. General Liability Ins for him would have been less than $1k a year. No one would believe he didnt have it. People I have told do not still believe he does not have it.

I've seen crappy homes built that met "code".

Code is "minimum standard" and only means a home is "built to minimum standards".

Ok, liability insurance is for injury and property damage while building. A bond would be for completed work integrality.

(business entities operating in the state of Missouri will need to be registered with the Missouri Secretary of State as well as have obtained all tax ID numbers, a certificate of insurance, and contractor bonds for all projects)

Check that out, see if he was really a business, pursue a bond if he was.

I have a bad feeling he wasn't.

Now that you know what needs fixing concentrate on that, a bitter pill for sure.

Kent

Well, the International Codes that many places have adopted sure seem minimal when compared to the Uniform Codes that they replaced. All part of the NWO so that we may assimilate somewhere into a lower standard of living.

H5farm. It’s not hard to see who the good guys here are. I’m blown away by the time some have taken to offer their respective expertise.

Without a doubt you need specialized legal support. Why? Every state and locale operates under different laws, codes, etc. which equates to different levels (for lack of better terms) of legal culpability.

Secondly, I expect that legal team will need a team of experts (I’d call them subcontractors, but that would be a cruel joke) that would advise as to specifics such as the piers, floor joist span, drainage requirements, etc.

I’m a visual guy so I’d say visualize a storyboard from a police or detective show where they put photos of all the bad actors on the board and then list what each is responsible for. Also a flow chart and timeline. When all this is filled in you’d have an overall strategy for your approach.

This obviously is an over-simplified explanation and description because there are so many other activities to be captured such as the steps you’ve taken, the time you’ve expended, and the crisis actions you’ve had to take to get you to this point.

Lastly, and I know you know, this is just f’n exhausting and like working a second full time job, so you’re going to have to have a laser focus and the tenacity of a bulldog. You’ll hear a lot of people who will want you to settle for less that a full win. While that is your decision to make, I say BS. Go for the jugular on every one of them. I’d be owning all the property the guilty owned. But then I’m an ornery old bastard.

Best of luck.