3 New Suits Filed in Dispute Over Concrete Used in Houses

An Irvine attorney campaigning against builders and contractors who allegedly used improperly mixed concrete in housing foundations in the late 1980s has filed three new lawsuits in Orange County Superior Court.

The suits seek class-action status to represent owners of almost 400 homes in the South County and Yorba Linda. The most recent suit was filed Monday.

In all, attorney Kenneth Kasdan has 11 suits pending in Orange and Riverside counties, alleging that builders in the late 1980s routinely ignored special building code requirements for concrete in areas with heavy concentrations of sulfates in the soil.

Industry insiders have acknowledged that the Uniform Building Code’s requirements for high sulfate mixes were not widely followed in Southern California in the late 1980s, and that thousands of homes could be affected.

Sulfate is highly corrosive to the concrete in wet conditions, unless the concrete is mixed with a much lower water content than is normal in tract home development. Foundations and driveways of homes with improperly mixed concrete can deteriorate rapidly.

The latest suits by Kasdan seek repairs and damages from the builders and concrete-related subcontractors of the 107-home Cantobrio II project by Fieldstone Co. in Rancho Santa Margarita; the 185-home Lomas Laguna development in Laguna Hills, built by Great American First Savings Bank and a now-defunct builder, Pacific Scene Inc.; and the 76-home Brighton Meadows development in Yorba Linda, by Brighton Homes and Arnel Development.

Fieldstone, Brighton and Arnel would not comment.