Cracking, sinking, falling apart: KSL Investigates structural issues in multiple new homes

[@toddmathis7484]

This is what happens when builders are allowed by local governments to build unchecked. These homes are slapped together as quickly as possible so that developers can make as much $$$ as possible and crooked Utah politicians can collect more property tax revenue.

[@carlatamanczyk3891]

Maddening but true.

[@productreviews691]

Yep exactly. Todd you saw what I saw 3 years ago. These homes didn't belong where the built them. All of these areas were washes where people rode ATVs. Should have put a ATV park there like it was before.

[@JennyWren333]

Exactly true! Happening now in California cities like Redwood City. Greed is bad, actually. City officials stink and your comment is spot-on!

[@natasha09179]

Inflated home prices in general are encouraged by municipalities because tax revenues are higher. My neighbors pay $400 in property taxes but I pay $8,000 in my state because of Prop 13. This means the city is excited for my boomer neighbors to die/sell, so they can get their hands on current market rate taxes (which for their house would be around $7,000/yr.).

[@toddmathis7484]

@@natasha09179 I agree with you 100%

[@triciac1019]

How sad for these homeowners! That contract should be null and void. Edge Homes should be held accountable.

[@GoldFeather-li8zm]

Boo hoo how sad big mouth you better pay extra tithing this month. For crying.

[@caliopeknows844]

Actually they can be. Insurance companies have departments called "Construction Defects". The buyers have legal recourse.

[@michaelatkin9649]

The construction company will just close up shop. Theres always new home building companies popping up because they do bad work, pay off the inspector and sfter a few years of this and denying claims they'll file bankruptcy. I guarantee its all the same contractors with different company names just shifty around. You wont see the govt here investigating anything substantial because theyre getting paid off too

[@sunshinegal4294]

Fully agree and even though edge says they’re taking care of these families, they aren’t. The families say they are still having to make their house payments even when the home is not livable or has been destroyed.

[@tw8464]

You're absolutely right

[@TheDeathM]

It is not just Edge Homes. I live in a 2015 Fieldstone home, about 18 months after we moved in we had huge cracks in our basement, walls, I could see from the garage into the basement though the concrete foundation splitting. I paid for a new home inspection, and a soil study and took it to Fieldstone Warranty service. Fieldstone had there own guy come out, said it was 19 inches lower in the front right of the house to the back left. Then they hired a crew to take out all of my basement, down to soil. Left a few of the footings and releveled the home. It took months. Then they started on my neighbor's home across the street, then the house north of me. Then a few more on the block. Both homes are built by Fieldstone and Flagship Homes.

[@my.little.80]

At least they fixed the problem bud

[@productreviews691]

That was all Forrest in that area . They deforested the whole area. So all of the springs and washes run down thru the area where the trees were. That's why I'm the empty corn field after a big storm you see the water rush down.

[@pepethepatriot7524]

Edge has a non-disparagement clause so you can't even leave a negative review about their horrible company! Never do business with any company that makes you sign a “non-disparagement” clause. You will get burned every time!

[@sundancer3700]

That would tell me to walk away quick.

[@elkskiutah8204]

What would the penalty be?😢

[@Landis_Grant]

@@elkskiutah8204 Edge will sue you for defamation.

[@tw8464]

Yeah these "nondisparage" "nondisclosure" "noncompete" bottomless pit of "trickle down" no limits unaccountability nonsense needs to be made illegal by the legislatures

[@clintjensen7814]

Contractors are largely protected from any remedy the owners may pursue. This is what you get when your politicians are all developers as well!

[@sundancer3700]

They are far from protected, they are licensed by the state and will have to answer to them. Many cities have inspectors that are worthless and not certified to do the job.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

YES!

[@rockyBalboa6699]

Well said!!

[@SteveBoyer10]

One reason these three areas are experiencing the problems is they all have very shifty soil. Gee I wonder why they haven’t been built on before? Maybe because they really shouldn’t be. I know that Draper neighborhood, up at the top of Suncrest. It’s a beautiful spot, but the last row of houses required a TON of dirt movement to make it buildable. That was super greedy.

[@puccipower]

I am so disturbed by the lack of government oversite on development companies.

[@tw8464]

It's disturbing for sure. All these thousands of terrible shoddy "construction" and sky high prices for this garbage today is going to wind up bankrupt countless people and further wipe out the middle class tomorrow

[@at1970]

Rapid population growth and development not only ruins the lifestyle and environment but paves the way for these sorts of situations.

[@solodad7999]

Profiteering over safety and pride in work.

[@travistippetts1604]

Years ago I used to frame houses. One time we had to stop building a house halfway through because it was sinking. The house sat for a long time before they tore it down. Later that year we was back starting a new house at the same site.

[@RuizCaz]

Shame on the realtors getting 3-6% commission and having their clients signs this

[@pg_jem]

Edge homes. I'll have to remember to avoid them.

[@thomasstecyk792]

If a home buyer buys a new home, when did being a soil compaction specialist become a requirement? That is like saying that after a building is built the owner must become a carpenter? If you hire a soil compaction company, then you build on that soil and then not too long after completion of the home you have foundation and structural issues. Time to fire that company. If your foundation is solid, you are not going to have structural issues with the home. If you have cracks, they should be very thin and minute. But if you have walls pulling away from corners and huge cracks. More likely it's the foundation settling.

[@Dirtsmith]

This is insanely common for much of residential construction, they're not held to the same standards of soils testing and compaction that heavy civil construction is and the contractors or sub contractors cut corners as much as they can because it's one of the most expensive parts of the build. The best way to solve this issue is to hire your own geotechnical firm and have them do independent testing during construction, it's insanely expensive and should be covered by the builder but it never will be and your builder will probably be pretty upset at you for even trying. Alternatively, build your own house with quality contractors and quit giving these large home builders who frankly suck at building homes your money. Fwiw there's not a level floor in my new house and my foundations are cracking too, thanks to Peterson homes.

[@SteveBoyer10]

We’re in a DR Horton house. I can’t believe how unlevel the house is.

[@Dirtsmith]

@@SteveBoyer10 yep pretty common and city standards aren't up to the task of keeping them in check so they get away with it

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

There's not a level floor at my 110 y.o house, either, bub! Lol

[@KeithsTVHD1]

"Edge Homes" you will be living on the edge!

[@kyle.smyle.]

"Paid for a brand new home and living in a refurb" Exactly what I've been saying too ever since I bought my new Edge home

[@deadpanfish]

The name of that building company is HILARIOUSLY perfect!!! 😂😂😂

[@sagesufferswell]

This should be illegal but like many things in Utah, things get overlooked or swept under the rug for profit at the detriment of the people. Often the same companies, the same people, lots of money.

[@sagesufferswell]

The Good Ol Boy Corruption gets us everytime.

[@SteveBoyer10]

Getting so tired of Utah’s lax business laws.

[@geraldbull8349]

Houses are not built as good as they used to IMHO. And land chosen, And if this happened 20 to 40 years. The people that owned the builder and construction Companys care more back then. And would fix these problems right away. Or find a soultion agreeable to both partys. IMHO Edge Homes should just build them another home but on land no way near there old property. But what the owners of those crappy homes and the public opions dont matter i know. Hope they get this resolved and so they can enjoy there property.

[@mikescaffo4850]

This is not right the shady builders should be held accountable for this its there responsibility to build a good home to put up for sale for the homeowners

[@bubbasizemore4556]

Build 'em cheap and stack 'em deep. It's the Utah way.

[@samjane6267]

The same issues are happening with edge homes built in other states

[@unikornkontroller]

We'll see a lot more of these issues pop up due to the insane housing demands of the past few years.

[@solodad7999]

How many developers have inspectors on the under the table payroll. Developers are all about profits, that is all.

[@sundancer3700]

Everybody works to make money. Some cut corners and get in trouble

[@carlatamanczyk3891]

All of these quickly built homes and condos in Utah and Idaho are very cheaply built. Rockwell homes are really cheaply built too.

[@stella-gx8ne]

Don’t forget Lasvegas/ Henderson too.

[@robertm.6583]

Developers shouldn't hire the inspection agencies.

[@seamoreplant]

Stop issuing building permits. There is not enough water for the houses that have been here for 60 years. The air pollution is borderline. The roads are full!

[@jeffniderost8730]

Fast forward, they fell over. Seriously

[@dawnagiron2192]

Change your lipstick Mr Reporter 💄

[@travisgarrett9398]

This story mentioned that the home builders hire their own inspectors. I thought that cities had their own inspectors. What a complete conflict of interest.

[@sundancer3700]

Cities only do the basic stuff, framing, heating, plumbing and electrical and a few others. They are not trained to test ground for compaction, that's on the builder to hire an engineer. But guess what its expensive so most skip it.

[@calebbuswell]

The Cities did not have the man power to do inspections as quickly as the builders wanted (and enforced things the builders didn't like) so like 2 years ago the stat legislature pass a law that allows the builders to hire 'Private inspectors'

[@Paysoncougarfan.7885]

Better option, never ever buy a home from Edge Homes!

[@Suridlr]

Interesting that others have had this problem to 😮 I feel their pain, it’s rough to have your house lifted

[@rab6453]

In the small print at the end of contract it says the home buyer is the responsible party for any problems of materials or workmanship .also for earthquake subsidence or water supply or intrusion.Its basicly removes all liability for builder and puts it on buyer.

[@meredithseiss6732]

The cities should be ashamed of themselves for allowing neighborhoods in some of these areas.. it’s well known that they’re dangerous to build on. People love it because of the views and building companies love it because money and so do the cities but they’re unsafe!! I was just in Draper.. they build mega mansions on cliffs and throw up a retaining wall.. these things are about to topple over into the road and off a cliff. The city is being sketchy all for money.

[@johnjaco5544]

Need a 10 year Warranty! payments to the bank stop until house is fixed.

[@sundancer3700]

All that will do is trash your credit score, it's not the banks fault. Time for a class action lawsuit.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

​@@sundancer3700You'll be lucky to get out alive. Take the money they offer and RUN.

[@matefamily7883]

Homeowners should not have to pay for these homes. The builder should have to assume the loans.

[@johnjones3332]

I bought a house built in 2011 in the south...half the house was sinking and cracked to bad it split the tile in the living room. I could not afford repairs and sold my house. Home ownership is highly overrated.

[@cg00000]

I would be livid!!! It's the new way---shotty construction, crappy workers, cheap materials.

[@gantmj]

1:06 Isn't that one that went down the hill in a landslide?

[@ProfessorOfChaos]

Cox is literally praying nobody will notice the cracks in the foundation of our society.

[@SergeLynx89]

Here’s a cheaper investment. Don’t go through them

[@tw8464]

Thank you for investigating this! Keep up the good work! More reports on the shoddy "construction" problem

[@WarNoMoreMan]

Moble manufactured homes are cheeper and this wont be an issue

[@elslick]

Very few contractor actually pre prep there ground before pouring slabs and foundations. It's a critical step that often missed.

[@Mindsi]

I would ask for full board at the Waldorf Astoria, while they are rebuilding the house. Put this in your contract before signing, if it needs reworking, full board at a 5 star hotel ( with pool ) till fixed. Thank you!

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

Ppfft! Lol. So, you're new here, huh? Lol. That's never going to happen. You'll be lucky to get out with what you started with. ASK a RE lawyer.

[@superset7]

Earth is saying CHANGE!!🎉

[@2010somewhere]

5:22 That's a sharp looking tie.

[@richardw3470]

Wait for the spring run off - at 1:10, isn't that the house that collapsed, went down the hill along with its neighbor? Makes me wonder if "Edge Bldrs" is a - well, what, oxymoron isn't the right word, is it?

[@GungaLaGunga]

You cannot disclose or waive liability for gross negligence in legal agreements.

[@campin_sasquatch7740]

And houses are still about $500,000 here in UT oof

[@jonathanstrauss8194]

Subdivisions by Rush....great song

[@Takeapage]

Draper has had this problem for decades.

[@oldfart2413]

You need to look at the inspectors passing shoddy work. Check bank accounts of inspectors who get their palms greased.

[@rollzolo]

No piles ?

[@GungaLaGunga]

If the site work for a building is not done properly. The only way to do it right, is to tear is down, and do the site work properly, then rebuild. Same goes for Millenium Tower in San Francisco.

[@sunshinegal4294]

This is a nightmare for these owners. Edge will be going under. I will definitely tell anyone I know who’s buying or building NOT to go through EDGE HOMES! Horrible!! When all of the homes having problems all over Salt Lake- Draper, Bluffdale and Eagle Mountain are built by EDGE HOMES!

[@peter-pg5yc]

after 12 homes i never buy brand new..4-5 years yes..but never a toll brothers pos..

[@markwilde2391]

A wise builds his house not using Edge

[@Sunflower00001]

They just throwing houses up??? People who purchase these should not be responsible. These builders are crooks. Horrible.

[@emachine310]

I lost it when both of the balls went in different directions. LUL jesus christ

[@sloppydog4375]

Here where I live everyone is buying up farm land because it is cheap & close to town . They build homes out in the middle of a cotton field at ground level let’s see how these homes are in 3 or 4 years …

[@Me97202]

People should be allowed to suspend home payments when they aren’t able to even live in the home. Until the issues are resolved.

[@productreviews691]

For 2 years Eagle Mountain City let developers destroy the mountain above Eagle Mountain Peak. 1/4 of the mountain was removed by dynamite and truck. Thousands of tons of mountain hauled out for 10 houses?? What a joke.

[@williamlloyd3769]

Why hasn’t Utah AG called in Edge Homes for a chat?

[@tomsmith4066]

Sue the building inspector

[@vanishedforgotten433]

Sadly the house got demolished from. The land slide now it's gone.

[@marcamusprime9513]

This is what happens when one generation cuts corners when teaching the next…

[@Dk-qf8dd]

So basically the recommendation is to hire your own experts to do what the State and builder already did AND you are already paying for with the purchase of said home. Pay twice and hope. Wow.

[@craigwilson777]

Are these the houses which have went over the cliff now?

[@lorirogers9304]

Amherst, ny. Housing crunch in the late 70s and 80s. Building on wetlands.

[@productreviews691]

All of them built in washes and altered the landscapes. Dynamited mountains, built on shale. Deforestation in Eagle Mountain. . Homes built on washes ect.

[@billgateskilledmyuncle23]

It's not the owner's fault, but would it really be that bad to just go back to living in at 1000 to 2000 square foot house? The more abstract shapes and the bigger you make the house, the more difficult it is to build and hold together, not to mention it weighs much more than they used to.

[@lisalastnamesmith]

And now the homes are completely gone.

[@heisrisen7961]

Homes bordering on the edge of safety and insanity lol live life on the edge! Pray these people are reimbursed or moved to safety. Can you imagine if it collapsed with them inside 😬

[@thomasstecyk792]

When is the time to stabilize the foundation soil under a house under construction! This is BS. If someone pays you hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a home, then build the home and finish it right. If you can't finish the build home right, then the buyer should be able to take the builder to court. The builder is the expert here, are they not? Maybe when the homeowner gets the loan from the bank, the bank could stop payment to the builder.

[@teresacorley7874]

If a home winds up with thease promblems the builders should be responsible for the promblems if they are found in the wrong also maybey we should wait a year before buying one of these homes that our brand new homes more needs to be done when they hire out workers it's the builders job to make sure the job is done wright and the builder or the city should have to pay instead of the homeowners untill it's fixed and you have proof and a new warranty and they should also pay a relocation fee to the home owners

[@jrbarn1472]

This is what happens when you build on sandy soil and on the mountain side

[@cyrysvonnachtseite4546]

Built on sand …? Built over a landfill …? New construction of houses in sand. The lot needs to settle for a year before ground is broken for foundation

[@ritajanebrown7215]

what do you expect? My god, our poor EARTH. It your own fault. These unpleasant events are only going to get worse... I do not feel sorry for any of you., whether you are the homeowner, contractor, builder, government. So much greed, and so little Common sense .

[@JacobAnawalt]

Wow, that contract sounds like CYA because they knew things were wrong.

[@yajairarodriguez1195]

What a tragedy 😠😠😭😭 here aubiurndale Florida is the mosquito and fly infestation in flood zones building nonstop ..this has to stop 🛑

[@patroberts5449]

And in California it’s build into the rural/mountain areas and you’ll get burned out or on a fault and you’ll have it fall down. Our family in Tennessee has the scare of tornados! We just can’t keep playing cards with Mother Nature…she will always hold all the aces!!!

[@tenderkins7478]

I am glad you guys cracked the case.

[@donbeam4072]

Builders are just out to make the dollar

[@productreviews691]

Also West of Silver Lake in Eagle Mountain was all Juniper Forrest trees. Wait till another historic microburst happens. I hope I'm wrong the puddles are piling up. You reap what you sow.

[@danielboone6631]

At least there are engineers and inspectors that are doing their jobs. Of course that doesn't matter. Vacant property and all they think about is build, build, and build some more. Then when there is a problem it's the home owners fault. Didn't read the contract.

[@Sunflower00001]

So hard to buy a house yet they get this. Now they are indebt trying to fix their house. This is a horrible horrible thing. Not right!!!!!!!

[@janetleishman3776]

Called nothing more than greed on the developers

[@user-ht8oc4pc8s]

Builders getting greedy! They build a home in just a few months, they simple don't care. Rush, rush and go to next house to build....Thats sad and true.

[@elkskiutah8204]

It's not a building inspectors job to do soil testing and they don't check soil compaction. Back in 1978 I worked at a company that really cared about soil compaction. We backfilled in 12" lifts and compacted each layer. Now they just fill 10' trenches in one go, many times without doing more than running a compaction wheel on a back hoe witch provides very low force. Look at how often our newly repaired roads fail. Look at hiw5 these new housing developments build up loosely to pour the curb and gutters then never properly compact the road bed and us taxpayers pay for repairs 5 years later. There are lots of poor soil areas in this area of Utah

[@dirtdigger9000]

i have worked excavation for 20 years and never seen a 10ft trench filled in like that. most all residential guys use a walk behind trench compacter and a smaller jumping jack using > 1ft lifts. every road has some minimum over x with with required road base and testing. utah has built how many homes in the last 10 years? they showed us 3 of them. pretty good average AND come with a 10 year warranty for anything structural. we pay taxes too. i dont think you have a clue what goes on 55 years later.

[@elkskiutah8204]

@@dirtdigger9000 for The 10f5 backfills specifically I was talking about house foundations and it's rare they use and compaction device at all. In this case it sounds like they didn't did out all the unbuildable soil and replace it or a regrading of the lot wasn't compacted. I just see lots of poorly compacted things as I drive by construction sites or zones. I see lots of rework being needed on roads. Just look at the settling of the new bridges in I-15 in salt lake county.

[@Landis_Grant]

which not witch

[@clintstephens7287]

One more advantage of mobile homes.

[@profepinky5776]

Do they still build houses with no foundations in the Western world?

[@EnJayMelbourne]

Class action. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@MrBrownnn696]

NOT FAIR !!!!!!!! People work hard for their money an the Government does this ?????

[@JennyWren333]

Welcome home, now fix it?? Slapdash construction is a real slap in the face.

[@morthomer5804]

"How can this happen? " 😂 Money. Greed. Incompetent government oversight

[@alexlifeson8946]

Like the Trump Empire

[@stephenhusak6098]

Also watch out for DR Horton builders. They are just as bad.

[@productreviews691]

It's all about a buck. More rain on the way in the pacific. All these areas have homes built with springs and washes below them. In Eagle Mountain we laughed as they built some of these homes. Sad stories. Dont remove Forrest's or alter landscapes is the lesson learned.

[@rebeccajohnson5649]

All about money not about people!

[@alkinsac]

Less government less oversights less permits good grieft at least your protected in California