Hello again,
Thanks for the replies. Is there a way of posting pictures, sketches, house/plat plans? You know, a picture says a thousand words...I could have spared a few words in this post! I live in Estacada, Oregon (SE of Portland)in the foothills of the Cascade Range. The weather here can be quite extreme at times. Heavy winter rains can be continuous for days at a time. We often experience thunder storms producing hale and heavy downpours. A week ago we experienced 100+ degree weather. Today it is sprinkling and forecast to be in the low 70's. Yesterday it was sunny in the mid 80's. The cracks in the foundation are 1/8-1/4" wide, run vertical, and seem to widest at the top of the foundation. One runs along a foundation vent. The other is between two vents. The foundation is 4' deep, but only 2'is visible. Both cracks are within 15' of the back (downhill) corners of the foundation, on each side wall, not the back wall itself. The foundation was placed on 9/18/01. We noticed the first (widest crack) the following spring of 2002, which was when we first started noticing the cracks in the soil. The road below the back slope was crude and overgrown with weeds, at the time our home was constructed. Within the last year and a half construction began on homes on the other side of the road below us. The road was widened (cut in areas along the bottom of the slope) graded and graveled to provide access to the newer homes. Pavement was placed after the storm system was installed, I am guessing within the last 7-8 months. Our foundation drain is connected into the storm system in the road below. According to the neighbor across the street, whose home was built a couple of years before ours, the majority of our lot is fill material. In 2004, the deck on the back side was constructed. Deck posts are vertical and placed in sonotubes. One post in the middle of the structure leans slightly downhill. The others appear to remain vertical. I will do my best to describe how the property slopes. For reference purposes, the front of the home faces the south and the rear faces north. The neighborhood is stair stepped. The home across the street from us (south) is at the highest top step, so to speak. This home was constructed on native soil and is near the highest elevation of the slope, as the driveway slopes downhill from the house toward the street. The street runs east to west and slopes downward to the east. Our southeast and northeast corner property lines are lower in elevation, than the southwest and northwest corner property lines. Our driveway slopes downward from the street toward our home. If the street in front of our house would be considered the 2nd step, then our lot would be the 3rd step. The road below us on the back (north) side would be the 4th step. There is an 3' tall, L-shaped railroad tie retaining wall that wraps around the southwest corner of the home. The shortest part of the "L", on the south wall of the home, is a little over 8' from the foundation. The longer part of the "L" is +/-15' from the west foundation wall, and runs toward the north, ending +/-12' from the edge or top of the back slope. The railroad tie wall was constructed in the spring of 2002. There is a
4 1/2" plastic or pvc, perforated drain pipe installed at the bottom of the retaining wall, which exits at the northwest edge of the slope, longest end of the "L". We doubt this drain was installed properly as, we have never noted water running out of the end, even during heavy rain or when standing water was present. The ponding appears between the bottom of the retaining wall and the foundation. The property on the west side of ours is higher in elevation, hence the point of the railroad tie wall. I am guessing the non-functioning drain may play a role in the drainage problem. There are many plants and trees in the front, south yard and on the west, above the retaining wall. There are also plants along the foundation on the south and west sides, as well as the northern corner areas, not covered by the deck. There are pavers with low growing plants inbetween (stepables)in the area from the retaining wall to the plants along the foundation on the south/southwest corner. On the west side their was sod laid between the retaining wall and the foundation plants. The sod area has not been healthy since the year it was laid, and has been invaded by clover and dandelions. The sod wraps around the northwest corner of the home, and toward the northeast corner, at the top of the slope, even under the deck. The back northern slope had been hydro-seeded well before the home was built (pre-2001). Black erosion fabric was placed when the foundation was excavated, and buried when the backfill occured around the back foundation. Some of the fabric is still visible below the top of the slope at the northwest corner, and could not be removed by pulling...we tried. The foundation drain exits on the northeast corner, and was connected to the storm system in the road below within the last year. Until then, it projected out approximately mid point on the slope. Originally the northeast foundation corner was about 11' from the top edge of the slope. While connecting the foundation drain to the storm system (within the last year), a 2' wide trench was excavated from the top to bottom of the slope. After backfilling the trench, the northeast foundation corner is now 7' from the edge of the slope. We have also noted soil deterioration at the the top of the slope, where the trench was excavated and backfilled, but not re-seeded. The northwest foundation corner is +/-12 to 13'from the top edge of the slope. The deck posts installed on the slope are 16' from the foundation, and the deck runs 30'along the foundation, from east to west. I am not sure if this means anything, but a copy of a letter written by the engineering firm to the City before the foundation was placed, states the rear (northern) slope, which falls below these lots was stabilized at an approximate declivity of 1.5 to 2.0. horizontal to one vertical. The cut at the bottom of the slope is below our property line on the northwest corner. At the highest point it is +/-3 to 4'tall, and deterioration is nearing our property line. It is our understanding that this cut area is property of the homeowners who live in the house below ours. The Developer originally told us that he was going to put a small retaining wall below the slope. Then he said it would be more like a curb. The City tells us that the developer recently stated he plans on not doing either. We have considered installing 3-4' high block walls in a stair step pattern along the slope on our property. But do not want to invest the time/money to do this if the cut area will continue to erode at the bottom of the slope and undermine the stability of the majority of the slope, which falls on our property. I have considered hiring a geotechnical engineer, since I do not have much faith in the original engineering firm that is paid by the developer. I will save that story for another post. Let me know if you need more info or clarification. Thanks again for your replies.
