Nearby Excavation Damaged a Home. How a West Virginia Owner Pursued Repairs
The case examines the property’s prior condition, engineering evidence, and responsibility for the damage.
The questionWho pays when digging on the next lot damages your home's foundation?
Illustrative example
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A Morgantown homeowner has settled for $148,000 with a developer whose excavation next door caused her hillside home's foundation to shift.
Cracks appeared in her walls and basement within weeks of the digging. The developer said the house was old and already settling.
An engineer warned that the foundation would keep moving without stabilization.
Mirravane Law obtained a pre-construction survey of her home that the developer's own insurer had required, which showed no significant cracking, and hired a geotechnical engineer to link the movement to the excavation.
The developer's insurer paid $148,000 for foundation stabilization and interior repairs.
Fees and the engineer's costs were paid from the settlement.
Pre-construction surveys of neighboring buildings can become the key evidence when excavation causes damage.
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