Geotechnical Survey...

Which is probably a fancy term for getting soil samples, which is what took place at my house yesterday. I could have termed this post Vindication times 2. Originally, Head Warranty Guy told me they would go by the soil samples taken from the neighborhood for the driveway issue. I didn't think that would be good enough and since at least two other homes had soil samples taken from around their foundations I was a little puzzled as to why that wouldn't be the case with me. Turns out I was right. Last week I got a call from Warranty Guy to say those samples weren't good enough and they would need to get samples, though they probably couldn't get me on the schedule until next month. Sigh. Then I got another call. Lo and behold, they could do my house this week. Yesterday as it turns out. The company said they'd need access to the garage and the yard. Okay, no problem, I was scheduled to be off anyway. Access to the garage was to actually drill a hole through the garage floor to get the samples.

They arrived right on time yesterday morning - 8:30 am. The driller didn't leave until after 5:00 pm and he worked straight through. Builder really ought to be better coordinated as Head Warranty Guy called yesterday morning to tell me they would be doing this this week. I told him they were already here. He paused, then asked if he could talk to the guy. Sure. End result. They wanted a sample from inside the house as well. My master bedroom to be exact. That's the picture above. Yep, they pulled back the carpet and drilled a hole through the foundation in my master bedroom. Kudos to builder guys for getting the carpet guys out this morning to properly tuck the carpet back in.

I was totally fascinated by this process. Most of what they are finding - fill dirt. And, apparently there is a clay around here that expands tremendously when it gets wet. Which would explain my problems. Also, it appears that one of the other houses that got tested about a month ago has a lot more problems than mine, including windows that have cracked due to the movement. Thank heavens I've not had that yet.

Today, a guy shows up and says they are doing more testing - apparently testing the moisture levels. So, I've got strange guys running around my house taking more samples. I'll be interested to see those results as the outside soil sample taking accidentally nicked one of the sprinkler lines, so it's been turned off. Of course, they'll fix it, but in the meantime, I can't run the sprinklers. And, we are in Texas in summer when here lately threats of rain are just that - threats. Not a lot of rain to speak off and it's been hot.