In July 2001, a San Antonio homeowner paid a foundation repair company to fix her slab. A plumber had already stopped the water leaks underneath it; the leaks had moved the foundation, and the company’s job was to put it back.
A warranty certificate came attached to the contract. It said the company would use its Cable Lock pier system and would adjust the foundation for the life of the home if it settled. It was lifetime and transferrable — the kind of page a homeowner files away for a future buyer. The contract added that the work would be done “in a good and workmanlike manner.”
Nine months later the house started moving again. In April 2002, doors stopped locking, windows stopped opening, and new cracks opened in freshly painted walls.
The company kept coming back
She called. The company and her insurer both blamed more plumbing leaks. In May 2003 the company dug tunnels under the house so a plumbing crew could reach them, then leveled the foundation that August, and again that October…