You Paid For It: The Creeping Street in Wentzville

St. Charles County families are threatening to take the city of Wentzville to court over a growing problem endangering their homes.

[Wentzville residents]

Well- another group of people who want the city to fix their problems. I find it incredibly difficlt to believe that the street has shifted enough to crack a foundation. Unless of course they have a 12" thick driveway that is pushing against the foundation.

It seems to me they home owners need to go after the builder/ developer who built the house in such a poor manner.

Either way- seems the city really has limited liability here, since the house is set back at least 25' from the street.

[amy]

i was so happy to see this, i left two messages on elliot davis's voicemail after watching this. we have the same issues and the city did nothing for us over 2 years ago. i would love to get in on this lawsuit , we have had inspectors and others give us bids of 30,000 plus due to our steet creep

[amy]

we did contact our builder and others .........all say the city is liable

[brick home]

i too had never heard of street creep. wentzville has plastic clay soil and it damages when it expands and contracts. the builders should have backfilled with good soil. many removed the good soil from the developments and then built the foundations encased with plastic clay soil. a few years ago we complained to the city, bbb, attorney general, hba about the damage to our foundations due to the clay backfill.
the mayor said that if wentzville had more inspections then people like me (single professional woman with $70,000 income) could not afford a home. not a single source said we had any options. the builders are more important to the area then the residents. we have excepted that fact.
my suggestion, before you build study the geological soil maps available to you and build accordingly.

[brick home]

i made the 1st comments before seeing the fox2 video.
please, mr or mrs heideman reply to my comment and i will give you more persons to add to the list.
when was your home built?
who was your builder?

[Brian]

I'd say there are two things you need to do RIGHT NOW before the street causes more damage to your home.
1. Cut out some of your driveway so the street doesn't push on your house.
2. If the Street is now on your property CUT IT.
If the city complains then you have their attention.

[barry lough]

i m a wentzvill resident. this is NOT the cities problkem!!!! the soil type, deverlopers cost and the way the streets themseves are poured (again the developer) are all causes here. this is just another example of some one trying to get in my pocketbook for the cheap actions of others!!!

[brick home]

i had acculift fix my problems over a year ago. it did not cost nearly as much as i had been told by several engineers. my home has no further movement, no dampness, no problems. they chiseled out around the ibeam, created a barrier, installed a baseboard type drainage and then epoxy fixed the small cracks. it has a warranty and it has been a wonderful fix. my main floor walls were separateing in diagonal lines in the drywall before. all occuring months after closing, the builder did not fix anything, i paid for all the repairs, the structure is fixed. i agree, it is the builders, but the city kept handing out building permits to these trouble builders, i have learned even though the builder says you have a warranty,,,,do not bet on it. i do blame the city for not inforceing current building codes, backfilling with clay is bad construction.

[HOA]

brick home wrote:

i made the 1st comments before seeing the fox2 video.
please, mr or mrs heideman reply to my comment and i will give you more persons to add to the list.
when was your home built?
who was your builder?

This home was built in 2003 by TRIAD. Don Collier builds a nice home. The problem is this home and the home on either side is on the outside of a turn.NEVER buy a home on a turn or cul de sac.Also avoid T intersections.

[2fan]

Problem with alot of these newer subdivisions is they don't give the ground enough time to settle properly. You see alot of foundation problems with newer houses because of this. I have seen homes 2 years old with cracks in the foundation floor big enough to drop a nickle in.

[Educate Homeowners]

I have went to some properties to see the damage being done first hand. Tha damage is extensive and scary. Now that I am aware of some of the things to look for I would have the first 2-4 inches of my driveway cut out at the first sign of street creep. You then have a flexible filler put in the gap and I think that resolves any further damage. (unless the street moves another 4 inches.) Look at where your driveway meets the street. If it's jamming together at the joint or buckling over have a professional come take a further look and FAST. It's an avoidable problem if you know what to look for. The problem is most home owners have never heard of street creep and the first signs they notice is the damage to the home.

[david]

[amy
Did you get this resolved? I have a house I am interested in buying that has foundation damage due to street creep and wanted to know if you had it repaired or not and who you used for the repair.

[Low Man]

We had bought a home in Stone Meadows which should not have been allowed to build a walk out since the backyard area doesn't drain water coming from the surrounding elevations. This was Taylor Morley who is no longer in business. I asked the city of Wentzville why was this allowed?

The answer I got was that it would not approve it today. Someone had to approve it. Who is now responsible for poorly planned water run off? 10 homes have ponds and rivers due to uncontrolled elevations for rainwater drainage.

Any idea on the next step?

[Dose of common sense]

Low Man. Sorry to hear you have drainage issues. T-M built many houses- most better than average I'd say.

As for the approval, maybe shouldn't have been, but then- maybe homeowners can learn from this. Look at the structure, the terrain, the foundation. NOT THE asthetics- those can change.

To many people fall in love with the great looking house only to find after closing that there are true issues with foundations, drainage, poor windows, HVAc design and implementation...... then they are sorry.