Shortly after purchasing our new construction home we noticed that our hardwood floors on our monolithic slab we separating. After walking the exterior of the home we discovered that along the same lines/areas that the hardwood flooring is separating there are cracks visible on the exterior of the foundation.
We have only been able to investigate under the carpeted areas in our home as majority is hardwoods and have located the cause of the hardwood flooring separating, control joints. We believe the 4 control joints (2 north to south and 2 east to west) are much to wide and deep (we have pictures during construction that show their placement). They are approx 1/2” wide and have large cracks in them that appear to have cracked all the way down to the vapor barrier (I'm also concerned about moisture as the hardwood flooring is splintering and separating underneath the top). This is a huge concern for us as almost every room on our lower level has a joint running through it.
The builder sent his engineer to look at the areas under the carpet (since the rest is under the hardwoods) and the engineer stated the joints should be 1/8” not 1/2” wide. He said that all the areas under the hardwoods would need to be stitched in addition some type of underlayment over the joints before reinstalling the hardwoods and the areas under the carpet would just need pressure epoxy and that we will continue to have problems unless it is addressed. He put this all in a report as well. The builder agreed to fix the issues. A few weeks later the builder and the engineer showed back up and the engineer stated he was mistaken and to disregard his state sealed report that the joints are not too large. Now the builder will not fix the control joints in the slab.
We are concerned as this seems like it would be very costly to fix in addition the 2000 square feet of hardwood flooring will have to be removed and replaced. We feel potentially the value has/will decreased as we would need to disclose this when we sell our home. This isn't a job we can afford to fix ourselves. Any other opinions if indeed the joints are too large and if the engineer's initial remedy is correct?
Thanks!
We have only been able to investigate under the carpeted areas in our home as majority is hardwoods and have located the cause of the hardwood flooring separating, control joints. We believe the 4 control joints (2 north to south and 2 east to west) are much to wide and deep (we have pictures during construction that show their placement). They are approx 1/2” wide and have large cracks in them that appear to have cracked all the way down to the vapor barrier (I'm also concerned about moisture as the hardwood flooring is splintering and separating underneath the top). This is a huge concern for us as almost every room on our lower level has a joint running through it.
The builder sent his engineer to look at the areas under the carpet (since the rest is under the hardwoods) and the engineer stated the joints should be 1/8” not 1/2” wide. He said that all the areas under the hardwoods would need to be stitched in addition some type of underlayment over the joints before reinstalling the hardwoods and the areas under the carpet would just need pressure epoxy and that we will continue to have problems unless it is addressed. He put this all in a report as well. The builder agreed to fix the issues. A few weeks later the builder and the engineer showed back up and the engineer stated he was mistaken and to disregard his state sealed report that the joints are not too large. Now the builder will not fix the control joints in the slab.
We are concerned as this seems like it would be very costly to fix in addition the 2000 square feet of hardwood flooring will have to be removed and replaced. We feel potentially the value has/will decreased as we would need to disclose this when we sell our home. This isn't a job we can afford to fix ourselves. Any other opinions if indeed the joints are too large and if the engineer's initial remedy is correct?
Thanks!
