Septic Tank problems in Georgia

[cootiepatootie]

Our home is three years old. Recently (one - one & 1/2 months ago) we had septic back up (thankfully, just water!) in our toilets and bathtubs. One month ago (Dec 29) we had the septic tank pumped empty. Less than three weeks later, our next door neighbors had to have theirs pumped. In fact, they had theirs pumped two days in a row, because the tank immediately filled up with water.
Here's the problem. Our system is backing up again. My husband went out and looked in the drain plug and the water from the washing machine was standing in it, not draining. So we can only conclude that our tank, too, is now full of water.
The plumber that pumped our tank one month ago told my husband that our drain field was not accepting the water from the tank - in other words, in this drought year, our yard won't hold any more water !
Since our house is three years old, do we have any recourse to the builder/inspector for inadequate septic system? We feel that the drain field problem is caused by the red Georgia clay that was dumped on our yards after the "good" soil was removed. (Yes, I mean clay. You could practically sculpt with this stuff!)
Any input would be appreciated. We are going to find out from our insurance what options for repair we have, but this is looking to be a pretty expensive thing. Neither we nor our neighbors have the money to fix a situation that we consider to be our builder's fault.

 

[HomeGuru]

Dear cootiepatootie:

you have a crappy builder. If you bought your home brand new from the builder, you can file a claim against the builder for breach of contract, breach of express and implied warranties, failure tot follow plans and specifications, applicable building codes etc.

Georgia clay ain't no Georgia peach.

Signed,
Nocootiehotpatootie

 

[cootiepatootie]

Thank you

Dear Home Guru;

Thank you for the advice. We were planning on consulting with an attorney that my father-in-law knows anyway.

Yes, we did buy the home brand new from the builder. In fact, we selected the lot & home & had it built (not a "custom" home, rather it was one from the set of five that the builder had preselected to build on these lots.) We have had numerous problems with our house: the kitchen electricity was not wired completely (my dad, a licensed electrician, fixed that & backcharged the builder); we have water stains on our interior ceilings from inadequate protection during construction (supposedly "fixed" by the builder - he painted over them); and a few other problems. We have tried to have a positive attitude about these things, since he has tried to fix them, or at least pay when we had someone else fix them, but now, he won't return any phone calls. Tomorrow (Monday) we will probably send a certified letter to him detailing our problem and our neighbors', depending on what the lawyer says.

Sorry for the length. I do appreciate your time. No, clay is no peach!

signed;

not feeling very cootie-patootie.

 

[HomeGuru]

Sounds like ya got a Georgia lemon instead of a Georgia peach.

Here are some good folks you can network with http://www.hadd.com, http://www.hobb.com
Tell then the HomeGuru send you. There is a story which will appear soon on Dateline involving a brand new home with construction defects in South Carolina, built by one of the largest national homebuilders in America.