Connecticut’s commissioner of consumer protection, Jonathan A. Harris, expects to issue a report this fall on the “potential cause or causes” of failing concrete foundations in northeastern Connecticut. To date, the state Dept. of Consumer Protection has 225 complaints about foundation troubles from owners of single-family houses built between 1983 and 2003. But other building types also are affected, says William F. Neal, a professional engineer who, since 2010, has examined 300 buildings in 19 towns.
Neal says he has seen defective concrete foundations in office buildings, strip malls, public buildings and a “large number” of condominium complexes, ranging from 45 to 200 units. “We also have a number of failing concrete septic tanks and suspect the problem is starting in a [parking] garage at an educational facility,” says Neal, the owner of Residential Engineering Services LLC, which offers house inspections.