Causes Behind Home Problem
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The article, “Ideal Home Turns into Nightmare” (Times, Sept. 13) does a nice job of describing damage and terrible consequences to the owners. However, it does little to describe the work of the “structural engineers” nor does it mention whether or not the site was investigated by “geotechnical engineers,” the logical source for reasons for the failure.
The “abnormal leakage (what is normal?) of water from the septic tank was blamed (by whom?) for softening the graded earth that supported the house.” This statement implies a simple explanation to what probably is a much more complex set of circumstances leading to the failure.
Either you did not discover pertinent facts related to subsurface soil conditions, or your sources were reluctant to reveal them. The article is sensational in its vivid descriptions of the visual damage to the property and anxiety of the owners, but does little to describe the underlying causes and ways to avoid the assumption of such liabilities.
ROBERT D. COUSINEAU
Consulting geotechnical engineer
San Gabriel
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