What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Califonria
Hi. I live in Costa Mesa, Ca. My house is adjacent to a set of townhomes. The land within a square mile around my property is flat, except for the adjacent townhomes. When the townhomes were built in 1978, they raised their soil about 4 feet along the south side of my property and it's held by a retainer wall (about 105 ft. long). We bought our house about 3 years ago and were not aware of the problem I'm about to explain.
Water from their property drains from beneath their retainer wall and travels from underneath our side yard (about 10' wide) and soaks the ground under our house year around. Our house is on a raised foundation (built in 1953). The side effects of this excessive moisture are: 1) our floor buckles up enough that two doors on that side of the house do not open all the way; 2) the subfloor under the house is always damp absorbing moisture from the damp soil; 3) and there is a musty odor coming into our house along that side; 4) we have spent a great deal of time and money trying to protect our property.
We tested all of our water and draining pipes; they all work properly. They were all replaced during our remodel when we purchased our home, and have been re-tested. And since our house is on a raised foundation, we can easily see all the pipes. Additionally, last year we removed all of our grass in the front and back yards and laid dry landscaping, and we dug a 4 feet deep trench along the retainer wall and laid a double layer moisture barrier.
For over a year we have been in contact with the townhome property management company via phone, email, certified letters and included photographs of the problem and the steps we have taken to protect our property (as explained above), but to no avail. They occasionally "band-aid" the problem (i.e. they temporarily turned off the sprinkler along that side for a couple of months, in which the wet areas very slowly began to dry).
We believe they either have a faulty sprinkler system and/or leaking water pipes along that side of their property. Additionally, they do not have a visible "drainage system" along that side of the property that comes out to the curb. We do have one.
What do you recommend? Thank you.
Hi. I live in Costa Mesa, Ca. My house is adjacent to a set of townhomes. The land within a square mile around my property is flat, except for the adjacent townhomes. When the townhomes were built in 1978, they raised their soil about 4 feet along the south side of my property and it's held by a retainer wall (about 105 ft. long). We bought our house about 3 years ago and were not aware of the problem I'm about to explain.
Water from their property drains from beneath their retainer wall and travels from underneath our side yard (about 10' wide) and soaks the ground under our house year around. Our house is on a raised foundation (built in 1953). The side effects of this excessive moisture are: 1) our floor buckles up enough that two doors on that side of the house do not open all the way; 2) the subfloor under the house is always damp absorbing moisture from the damp soil; 3) and there is a musty odor coming into our house along that side; 4) we have spent a great deal of time and money trying to protect our property.
We tested all of our water and draining pipes; they all work properly. They were all replaced during our remodel when we purchased our home, and have been re-tested. And since our house is on a raised foundation, we can easily see all the pipes. Additionally, last year we removed all of our grass in the front and back yards and laid dry landscaping, and we dug a 4 feet deep trench along the retainer wall and laid a double layer moisture barrier.
For over a year we have been in contact with the townhome property management company via phone, email, certified letters and included photographs of the problem and the steps we have taken to protect our property (as explained above), but to no avail. They occasionally "band-aid" the problem (i.e. they temporarily turned off the sprinkler along that side for a couple of months, in which the wet areas very slowly began to dry).
We believe they either have a faulty sprinkler system and/or leaking water pipes along that side of their property. Additionally, they do not have a visible "drainage system" along that side of the property that comes out to the curb. We do have one.
What do you recommend? Thank you.