After 9 years of owning our house (it was a spec home) we decided to develop our basement. When the plumber opened the floor concrete, there was a big pool of water sitting under the concrete. To figure the reason for this pooling, my husband opened the concrete floor where the pipes from the weeping tiles connect to the city storm water. What he found was the drainage pipe that was supposed to carry the rain water to the city storm was not laid properly. Actually it was sitting about 2 inches above the 2 connecting pipes on the either end. There was no gradient and the water was not going through the pipe, rather it was getting collected under the concrete flooring. We had to replace the pipes, installed a sump pump to get rid of the water and finished the floor. Before doing this we contacted Brookfield homes regarding this and their response was dismissive. After all being done, we contacted Brookfield again with the pictures taken, their response was even more disappointing. Here is their response - “Our project manager here at Brookfield said the weeping tile installed is perforated and is not guaranteed or required to be perfectly sloped. It is designed to take moisture off the entire length of the slab, however is if there is slight slope or dip it can pool and moisture can result.
This is very typical and within the guidelines under any home. If you a have a storm connect you are not required to install a sump pump. I have looked into your file and there has not been any reports of floods or water leaking into your basement. This is not a warrantable item.”
I guess, we should have waited till had a flooding or a sink hole under our house.
It was blatantly bad workmanship and if they are telling us that it is okay for all the water collected from the weeping tile, to pool under the house as per the building codes is okay, it is very unprofessional. We showed it to quite a few experts on moisture mitigation and they all agreed that it was not natural and definitely not okay for so much of water to accumulate under the house.
Brookfield which owns Albi Homes is a reputed builder and we were happy with them, until now. They are refusing to admit their fault and take the ownership. Buyer beware.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,000.00