cracks in the concrete garage floor - water seeping in

[robphelan]

our house is about 3 years old and is backs up to a dry creek bed. there is a natural slope from the road down past our house to the creek.

the builder installed a french drain in front of the house to help drain heavy rains. the drain funnels the water down and around the house and out to the creekbed ~120 ft back.

Last year it rained very heavily (we're in san antonio) - my wife called me at work one morning reporting water in the garage. she thought it might be the hot water heater leaking. turns out that the water was seeping out of cracks in the garage floor. this only happened those 2 days of sustained heavy raining and hasn't happened before or since - however, i don't want to sell this house and have the new buyers sue me for this.

I'm worried about what kind of damage is being done and what I can do about it. I seem to recall the builder saying we have a 5 yr warranty on the slab.

I was thinking of writing a letter to the builder to inform him that I'm having a professional engineer come out to examine if any damage occurred/could occur.

any suggestions/thoughts about what I should do?

Cliffs:
newer house
water seeping through garage floor during sustained extremely heavy rains

 

[Encryptic]

If you've got a 5 year warranty and the house is only 3 years old, then get the builder out there to check it out. Why pay for a third party to come out if you're still under warranty?

 

[ironcrotch]

you can get concrete crack filler stuff, should be at home depot

 

[robphelan]

Originally posted by: Encryptic
If you've got a 5 year warranty and the house is only 3 years old, then get the builder out there to check it out. Why pay for a third party to come out if you're still under warranty?

builder came out and played it off saying since it rarely rains in san antonio like that, there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

he has an interest in not finding anything wrong so i don't really trust his opinion.

 

[Encryptic]

Originally posted by: robphelan

Originally posted by: Encryptic
If you've got a 5 year warranty and the house is only 3 years old, then get the builder out there to check it out. Why pay for a third party to come out if you're still under warranty?

builder came out and played it off saying since it rarely rains in san antonio like that, there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

he has an interest in not finding anything wrong so i don't really trust his opinion.

I see. In that case, definitely get someone else out there to check it out. :thumbsup:

 

[DeadByDawn]

Sounds like the water table rises high enough during heavy rains to create pressure under your slab. That's the only way to get water to move up through cracks. You need to get a pro out there like the others said.

 

[robphelan]

Originally posted by: DeadByDawn
Sounds like the water table rises high enough during heavy rains to create pressure under your slab. That's the only way to get water to move up through cracks. You need to get a pro out there like the others said.

structural engineer? or who?

 

[DeadByDawn]

A structural engineer will be able to fix garage floor cracks, but it sounds like you need a geohydrologist or the like. Someone familiar with ground water problems in your area. Maybe contact your local contracters association or something.