San Angelo case study about Expansive Soil & Cracked Foundations

By Kiah Collier, Go San Angelo Standard-Times, 4/17/2010
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/apr/17/building-frustration/

Scott and Diane Montgomerie moved to San Angelo from Albuquerque in 2007 to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. They bought a new $327,000 home, and before they moved in they spent an another $200,000 adding a large patio, improving landscaping and installing plantation-style shutters. But within a month afterwards, the doors in the house started to jam and cracks began appearing in the walls.

They couple discovered that their home had been built on expansive clay soil, which shrinks and swells when dry and wet. Now they have $664,000 in unrecoverable losses on a home that's un-inhabitable and un-insurable.

We updated this case study with the latest article from the San Angelo Standard-Times. It includes some impressive photos and interviews with HOT's Wayne Caswell and Lou McCreary.