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I finally gave up on the idea that a new build in Airdrie was the safe bet
I always figured new builds were the smart move, no surprises, everything to code, warranty on paper. Then last weekend I walked through a 2022 build in Airdrie with a buddy who's a home inspector, and he pointed at the grading along the side of the house where the soil had already settled about 4 inches below the foundation line. He said that's normal for the first couple of springs, but the downspout was dumping right into the dip, so all that water was sitting against the wall. We went inside and the basement window wells had rust stains, and he just gave me this look. Meanwhile my sister's 1978 place in Red Deer has the original weeping tile and it's bone dry. I'm not saying old is always better, but I stopped treating "new" as a shortcut to "fine." Now I'm looking at 1990s builds with good bones and budgeting for updates instead. Anyone here bought in the last year or two and wished they'd checked the grading before signing?
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the_lucas6d ago
That 4 inch dip isn't just normal settling, it means the builder didn't backfill properly or the soil wasn't compacted right in the first place. Your buddy gave you a solid read on that one, and the window well rust proves the water was already getting where it shouldn't.
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