My knowledge has been that builders usually only warranty their work for 12 months. You can check with an attorney, but you're likely to end up just filing a claim with your insurance company

I would never advise an attorney for anyone. In Canada most builders have to give a 5 yr. min warranty so I have no idea about yours. As for the issues those will need to be addressed and repaired ASAP regardless of who pays.

You need to talk to a construction lawyer. I'm not in your area so can't advise who to talk to.

Sorry you’re going through this. This may not be related but our area had a problem with pyrrhotite in the foundation causing crumbling and staining. I saw Texas was also one of the states mentioned. Look it up and see if you think it is connected to your issues. hope you get this figured out and resolved.

Living in the Texas Hill Country, I know that there are many areas in Texas where the soil may be expansive, i,e.,expands when wet and contracts when dry. This common heaving action can be very detrimental to slab on grade foundations if they weren't designed for this type of soil.

Another issue is whether or not the builder excavated the existing soil and replaced it with non-expansive soil, properly compacted.

I just spend a tidy sum having metal piers placed under one of my houses to stop the subsidence and cracking of the slab on grade foundation.

I bring this up only to suggest that you may want to ask your engineer about the soils and potential/actual foundation movement as contributing to your situation.

Good luck!

In Canada most builders have to give a 5 yr. min warranty

Just to clarify.

Subject to limitations and restrictions, mandatory building insurance covers major structural damage in Ontario for 7 years, Quebec for 5 and ten years in B.C.

When the builder is sending you legal letters, time to respond in kind. Look for a specialist in that type of litigation.

One way to narrow the choice.

I am really sorry about this. You are likely outside of any stated warranty period. I am thinking that Texas overall is pretty lax in their building regulations from what I have seen on requirements posted on Houzz - but that may vary by local jurisdiction.

You might want to do some extensive googling on your builder and if this problem has occurred before (i.e. strengthen numbers) and also check and see if your neighbors have had similar issues (more of a local issue)

And then find a good construction attorney - usually local word of mouth is the right answer on that one.

Good luck and hope you can come to a solution that allows you to enjoy your dream home and addresses the deficiencies.

You likely have a duty to mitigate losses if you seek damages. In other words, get going on a fix now.

have you hired a geotechnical engineer to give his opinion on the soil? it might be worth paying him to come out and give his opinion. they deal w/what's underneath the foundation and determine the stability of the soil/ground on which the structure is built.

I'm sure if you did hire a lawyer and they did take the case, they would need a report from a specialist like him. Pretty sure you'd have to foot the bill for that cost, regardless. But of course speak w/a lawyer who specializes in the construction field first.

My only advice is to act sooner rather than later. There are some particular nuances with statute of limitations and statute of repose that make timeliness important. Asking the engineer for a recommendation is not a bad idea, and you will need some idea of solutions.

"We reached out to builder and he continues to say it is drainage and it is our fault."

How is that your fault??

I am so sorry this is happening to you.

I'm in DFW as well (HEB). We've had some issues with doors not closing/closing properly, as well, due to soil/settlements etc.,--it's Texas!--but the cracks and such seem excessive to me. (Who is the builder, if I can ask? You can PM me if you don't want to say publicly; I won't go public with it, either, I'm just potentially looking at having some building work done on my property in the next six months or so.)

My best advice would be to contact one of those foundation repair places--Pinnacle seems to have good reviews/ratings, or Brown or Solid, but that's just from a quick Google search; I'm sure there are others or maybe one of your engineers will know of a good one. Most of those companies are used to working with insurance companies and attorneys and such (afaik), and they'll offer a free assessment. So that's another statement/evaluation from a professional specializing in foundations & concrete, who is experienced with this exact sort of issue, to add to the pile--as well as someone who can do the repairs if needed (as @strategery says, you may legally need to mitigate the damage asap) and who has probably seen this exact type of owner/builder issue before and might very well know of a good attorney or two they can recommend.

I really hope that helps! I'm sorry I don't have a name for you, and again I'm sorry this is happening--how awful. I wish you the best of luck--please update us if you can!

(NOTE: I am not affiliated in any way with any foundation repair companies, including those mentioned above, and am not recommending them based on personal experience; I have no knowledge of them outside of seeing positive reviews on Google/TrustPilot/Angie's List/etc. I am not an attorney, either.)

I seriously doubt your house is "falling apart". Concrete cracks; the sun shines. I'd invest in a more real-world experienced consultant please, before getting a lawyer.

If the soil is clay, it expands and contracts and can cause cracking and doors not closing. We had a house with clay soil in Arlington, TX that had cracking problems and foundation shifting. We had a structural engineer check the foundation. We were advised to water around the foundation on regular basis like you water the yard.