We purchased a Blandford home in Gilbert and had no real problems for years. The first sign of trouble was when we went to replace the carpet in the living room with tile. Once the carpet was up and the slab laid bare, it was obvious that we had not just a cracked slab, but also one that appeared to be tilted downward like it was sinking into the ground. Once the tile was in, we started noticing that the floor in that part of the house rose and fell with the seasons. That bad section of slab probably always moved, we just didn't see it with the carpeting.

Fearing for the integrity of the house, we had Arizona Helical Piers install some piers to stabilize the foundation. Unfortunately, that really didn't solve the issue. The problem was not with the perimeter of the foundation, but with the floating slab.

I just called Arizona RamJack to see if anything could be done about this. The gentleman from Arizona RamJack was very familiar with the neighborhood (he even asked if I lived on the golf course, which we do). He quoted me $50, 000 for a subsurface wall to prevent water from getting under the slab, causing the expansive soils to swell and thus causing the slab to move. He said he'd dealt with other houses in this neighborhood, all Blandford built homes, with similar issues. We have, in fact, known at least three neighbors with other foundation issues on this street!

Watch out for Blandford homes. They look nice, but the care they put into appearances doesn't go much beyond the surface. Thank you, Jerry Blandford, for the lousy home. I won't be able to even get out half of what we put into it.