Crack House Timeline
2018
On November 20, 2018, my wife and I entered into a purchase agreement for new residential construction in a small development in Jacksonville, FL.
The home was to be built in a new development called Castaway Crossing at San Pablo. The Selling Agent was William Cirmo of Passport Realty and, according to the construction documents filed with the city, the building permit was issued to XL Properties and Custom Development, LLC (Mark Nugent #CGC1513824). See below.
2018
On November 20, 2018, my wife and I entered into a purchase agreement for new residential construction in a small development in Jacksonville, FL.
The home was to be built in a new development called Castaway Crossing at San Pablo. The Selling Agent was William Cirmo of Passport Realty and, according to the construction documents filed with the city, the building permit was issued to XL Properties and Custom Development, LLC (Mark Nugent #CGC1513824). See below.
2019
On May 21, 2019, we closed on the house and moved in the following day.
2021
On June 29, 2021, a little over 2 years after moving in, we arrived home from work to find a 17-foot crack in our ceramic tile floor running from the inner garage wall, across the foyer, through the adjoining pantry, and traversing the kitchen floor before exiting out the side of the house.
The following day, June 30, 2021, Bill Cirmo inspected the cracked tile floor and identified this as resulting from normal expansion of the slab. He suggested filling the crack with grout.
Upon reviewing pictures taken during construction, we noted that a large crack in the slab (that corresponds to the 17-foot tile crack) was present during framing of the house. Though this crack was present within weeks of pouring the slab, no measures were taken by the builder to prevent the propogation of the cracked slab to the ceramic tile that was attached to it. See images below.
2019
On May 21, 2019, we closed on the house and moved in the following day.
2021
On June 29, 2021, a little over 2 years after moving in, we arrived home from work to find a 17-foot crack in our ceramic tile floor running from the inner garage wall, across the foyer, through the adjoining pantry, and traversing the kitchen floor before exiting out the side of the house.
The following day, June 30, 2021, Bill Cirmo inspected the cracked tile floor and identified this as resulting from normal expansion of the slab. He suggested filling the crack with grout.
Upon reviewing pictures taken during construction, we noted that a large crack in the slab (that corresponds to the 17-foot tile crack) was present during framing of the house. Though this crack was present within weeks of pouring the slab, no measures were taken by the builder to prevent the propogation of the cracked slab to the ceramic tile that was attached to it. See images below.
On July 8, 2021, Bill Cirmo emailed to describe a "lengthy conversation" he had with his civil engineer concerning the cause of the tile fracture. The crack wasn't the result of anything that they had done (or not done) during construction, you see. The 17-foot crack in the front of the house was caused by the installation of a pool in the back of the house. According to this civil engineer, excavation for the pool in the back of the house relieved tension in the soil of the entire lot. Then, the addition of the concrete to the pool compressed it back again causing the slab to crack. In the front of the house. Right.
Kerry Martin, the owner of Martin Pools, assured me that construction of the pool did not cause the slab to crack.
One additional point...
Our new pool plans originally called for the pool to be located 5 feet from the back of the house. This seemed too close for my wife and me (we were concerned with flooding from the pool during hurricane season) so we had Martin Pools locate the pool 10 feet from the back of the house. Nobody that I've spoken to believes that the construction of a pool 10 feet from the back of the house would cause the slab to crack in the front of the house.
See emails below.
On July 8, 2021, Bill Cirmo emailed to describe a "lengthy conversation" he had with his civil engineer concerning the cause of the tile fracture. The crack wasn't the result of anything that they had done (or not done) during construction, you see. The 17-foot crack in the front of the house was caused by the installation of a pool in the back of the house. According to this civil engineer, excavation for the pool in the back of the house relieved tension in the soil of the entire lot. Then, the addition of the concrete to the pool compressed it back again causing the slab to crack. In the front of the house. Right.
Kerry Martin, the owner of Martin Pools, assured me that construction of the pool did not cause the slab to crack.
One additional point...
Our new pool plans originally called for the pool to be located 5 feet from the back of the house. This seemed too close for my wife and me (we were concerned with flooding from the pool during hurricane season) so we had Martin Pools locate the pool 10 feet from the back of the house. Nobody that I've spoken to believes that the construction of a pool 10 feet from the back of the house would cause the slab to crack in the front of the house.
See emails below.
