My question for Carl is, after you have lived in a newly built house, does it
take a few years to settle? Let me rephrase, if a foundation is placed
correctly in the soil, does it settle (shift) once people are living in it.
I posed this question to a builder that built 3000 sq. feet beautiful homes,
and he looked at me like I had two heads. Does the house settle?
Thanks,
Nancy.
Hi Nancy,
All houses settle sooner or later. Usually sooner unless they are built on “bedrock”, then it may be later unless there is seismic activity, then it will be sooner.
The Tower of Pisa began settling immediately, as it was being built!
How much they settle is the real question.
Most houses don’t settle enough to cause problems more serious than drywall cracks, slabs cracking or doors sticking due to the door jambs getting “out of square”.
If you are buying, or have bought one of this builder’s homes, I wouldn’t worry too much about settling as it’s obvious he isn’t.
The area where he is building these homes must be quite stable or his reaction would have been different.
If you are still concerned you can always have a licensed, registered and insured Structural Engineer give you a report.
I hope my answer settles your mind on the matter.
Carl Heldmann