Slabs in La Palma Tract Break Up : Residents of 20-Year-Old Homes Face Costly Foundation Repairs

At least 62 homes in a middle-class La Palma neighborhood have undergone or are undergoing costly reconstruction to replace severely cracked interior concrete slabs, according to city building permits issued in the last two years.

Geologists, soil scientists and engineers offer a myriad of possible explanations as to why the concrete is cracking in so many homes, but no one seems to know for sure.

The experts do agree that soil is the primary problem, but some say it is because the soil contains too much clay, while others believe it contains too much sand. One theory even suggests that the problem was caused by salty cow manure that seeped into the soil when the area was used for dairy farming.

But engineers most familiar with the case, those employed by the City of La Palma, are silent in the face of a lawsuit pressed against the city by an angered resident.

The streets in this triangle-shaped neighborhood southwest of La Palma Avenue and Moody Street resemble a suburban war zone, with trenches dug around scores of homes built in 1966 by Landmark Co. Jackhammers frequently break the silence. On Amberwood Avenue, one home rests atop wooden scaffolding about eight feet above the ground while expensive repair work is done. Along Redford Lane alone, 15 residents have applied for permits to replace cracked slabs.

The reconstruction process can take months--and cost from $50,000 to $100,000--while workers tear back the carpeting, blast through the concrete slab and dig up at least a foot of soil, then replace the slab with new plastic protection underneath.

For Davida Miconi, the dream house she bought two years ago on Amberwood Avenue with her husband, Giovanni, has become a nightmare. Six months ago she noticed soft spots beneath the carpet in the bedroom and living room. Engineers pulled up the carpet and found the slab cracked.

The Miconis’ next-door neighbors, John and Mary Valentino, say it will cost $80,000 to replace the cracked slab underneath the home they have owned for 17 years.

Tile Was Cracking

More than 10 years ago, John Valentino noticed the Italian tile in his hallway and kitchen was cracking. Since then, he has replaced the tile three times. As the concrete slab beneath the house shifts, the ceramic tiles seem to “blow up,” he said.

But Valentino says that the insurance company has only offered to pay 25% of repairs, and he can’t come up with the additional $60,000. “So, what are we going to do?”

To help homeowners with insurance problems, two community meetings are scheduled this month. Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress) has arranged a neighborhood meeting for Aug. 12 at La Palma Community Center. On Aug. 14, the La Palma Homeowners Assn. will host its second meeting on the insurance problem, according to Eva Miner, president of the group. A meeting last month drew about 300 people, Miner said, adding that no one is certain how many homes may be affected by the mysterious cracking.

One of the most popular, and bizarre, hypotheses is linked to the area’s agricultural heritage. Until 1965, La Palma was called the City of Diaryland, and some homeowners speculate that decades of cow manure left a large salt content in the soil. This salt, carried to the surface because of La Palma’s high water table, could be damaging the cement.

Salts in Groundwater

Rob Hawk, a geologist with Moore & Taber, an engineering firm hired by one insurance company to investigate claims in the area, said salts are definitely prevalent in the local groundwater. A test of the groundwater reveals a high concentration of sulfate ions, a salt which is known to be corrosive to cement, he said.

Still, the extent of damage in the La Palma area is extreme. “This problem is very unusual. I’ve never run into anything like it. I don’t know of any firm that has run into it,” Hawk said.

David Estrada, a soil scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service in Escondido, said he has never heard of concrete damage stemming from cow manure, “but anything is possible.” More likely, he said, chlorine may have been used liberally to disinfect the milking areas and water supply of the diaries. Chlorides are known to make soil more acidic, and thus more corrosive to cement, Estrada said.

Usually soil will cause cement damage in two ways, Estrada said. Either the soil contains clays that expand when they become wet and thus put pressure on the concrete, or the soil has a high sulfate content and is corrosive to cement.

Two construction firms working in the area suspect expansive clays are the main culprit for the concrete damage. Jim Franklin, vice president of Har-Bro Construction, which has repaired more than 20 homes in the tract, said clay is notorious for causing concrete problems throughout Southern California, “from Beverly Hills to Costa Mesa.” In La Palma, expansive clays are working in combination with a high water table, poor drainage and cement slabs that often are only 1 1/2 to 3 inches thick, instead of the standard 4 inches, Franklin said.

“La Palma is unique in itself because of all these things,” Franklin said. In addition, construction crews have found that some of the 20-year-old homes were built on compost piles, a poor material for soil compaction, he said.

A USDA Orange County soil survey compiled in 1976 suggests another reason why the cement slabs are cracking: According to the survey, the soil beneath the tract of homes, which were developed in the mid-’60s, contains a sandy loam.

Like a sand castle that crumbles when it dries, sandy soil may shift as it alternately becomes wet and dry, said David Will of the Riverside Corona Resource Conservation District, an agency that distributes the soil survey.

However, soil tests done before the homes were built might have been used in the 1976 survey publication, Will said. If the developers imported a different type of soil for building, the survey does not say what kind of soils are in La Palma now, he said.

Exclusionary Clauses

Since the problem became evident two years ago, both Allstate and State Farm insurance companies have added exclusionary clauses in their policies issued nationwide against payment for damages caused by earth movement and negligent construction.

Residents complain that other insurance companies have canceled their policies after reconstruction. Once these policies have been canceled, finding a new carrier is a difficult task, residents said.

“There is some fear of red-lining by insurance companies and a fear of red-lining by lenders,” Assemblywoman Allen said. “Whether these fears are real or not real is what we need to find out.”

At both Allen’s and the homeowners’ meetings, questionnaires will be distributed to try to tally the extent of damage and the number of homes involved. Outside the neighborhood, a home on Cordoba Circle and a home on Houston Avenue also have had slabs replaced.

Allen said the homeowners in La Palma are in a unique situation. Unlike people whose homes are damaged by a flood or earthquake, adverse soil conditions are not considered a natural disaster. Yet the neighborhood may eventually need state assistance to repair the homes, she said.

“Basically, buying a home is the largest investment they will ever make in their life. It’s security in old age,” Allen said. Even after the concrete slabs have been replaced, residents worry the houses have lost much of their resale value, she said.

Lawsuit Filed

Not surprisingly, at least one homeowner has decided to take the issue to court. In December, Stephen Thompson, who owns a home on Redford Lane, filed suit against the city; Signal Landmark Co., which absorbed the builder, Landmark Co.; the former owners of his house and even the broker who sold it.

The lawsuit is in the initial stages, trying to find out “who knew what and when,” according to Edward N. Morris, Thompson’s attorney. Thompson has not ruled out the possibility of suing the insurance company for denying the claim, Morris said.

Another lawyer, Paul Witmer of Santa Ana, is negotiating the insurance claims of a dozen other residents. Witmer said he has convinced some insurance companies to re-investigate the claims they have denied. Only Allstate has flatly refused to reconsider a denial, he said.

Allstate added to its homeowner policies this May an exclusionary clause against payment for damage done by corrosive soils, said Bob Harrigan, a corporate relations manager at company headquarters in Chicago. The company has had an exclusionary clause against damage from expansive soils since 1983, he said. Harrigan also said information about new policy limitations is sent to customers each year at billing time.

Leo Jordan, a corporate lawyer at State Farm company headquarters in Bloomington, Ill., said State Farm has been making compromise settlements in La Palma although the company has never held itself responsible for damage caused by earth movement. “Earth movement is like a flood or earthquake. It’s a hazardous peril that insurance companies cannot afford to insure,” Jordan said.

State Farm has paid some claims in La Palma because of “concurrent damage,” that is, damage that may have been caused by both negligent construction and earth movement, Jordan said. Those claims were paid because of a suit brought against the company by a Northern California resident. Lawyers are petitioning the California Supreme Court to hear that case, he said.

At the Miconi home, geotechnical engineers recommended that all interior and exterior slabs be replaced at a cost of about $100,000. But the insurance company said in June that the $139,000 homeowners policy does not cover the damages.

“When I sell a house I put it in tip-top shape,” Davida Miconi said. “I see all these people (in the neighborhood) selling like crazy. How do they get away with it?”

Miconi said she does not know how she is going to repair the house. “It’s getting me down, and my husband is worn out worrying about it,” she said. “I’ll take some kind of action. I don’t know what. But I’m not going to give up.”