Cramer Engineering

I send you an email approximately 3 weeks ago.  Did you get it?  Please confirm.  I paid back [redacted] half the fee to meet her in the middle.  [redacted] did not understand the engineering procedure and protocol that must take place to fix her foundation and slab.  I tried to...

explicitly explain to her what must take place.  [redacted] was being unrealistic and expected some magical solution to fix her house with no formal engineering investigation.  I told her to pursue a geotechnical investigation to determine if the soil was bad. She immediately demanded a refund.  I then sent a revised report to satisfy her and that still wasn't good enough.  I tried to resolve it but she still was demanding more.  This stems from [redacted]'s unwillingness to cooperate and her inability to follow engineering guidance.  She was given bad advice by her contractor and I tried to help her.  I did not pay back the entire fee because I that's what I normally charge for residential work.  I can't spend hours on jobs like this and not get paid, even if there is a difference of opinions. -- [redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2016/05/19) */
I provided [redacted] with the report on 1/23/16. I provided a structural inspection, and followed up a report with my observations and recommendations. I offered my professional engineering opinion and provided adequate engineering solutions to...

her situation. I fulfilled my obligation that I was hired for. She needs to follow up with the city to remedy the water coming in from the neighbor's property. Lastly, I cannot claim every little nick and crack in her house is a result of water infiltration. The large majority of what she considers water damage is simply normal wear and tear. I'm not sure how I would prove it was water damage otherwise. If it is not obvious water damage from flooding, I can not fabricate evidence in her favor. That would be unethical.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 12, 2016/05/31) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I am NOT asking to FABRICATE anything. I told him what I was asking for, and he said he could. HE POINTED out the damage from the flooding. Some of which I did NOT even see. NO where else in my house are my walls and ceilings Cracking or Coming apart at the corners. My living room- NO PROBLEMS. My Dining Room -NO PROBLEMS. My Office- NO PROBLEMS. My Bedroom-NO PROBLEMS. The Bathroom- NO PROBLEMS. The Kitchen WALL THAT SITS ON THE FOUNDATION THAT WAS CRACKED-SHIFTED-BRICKS BROKEN has Substantial DAMAGE. You pointed out wall separations and floor separations that I never even saw yet. YOU said Floor would CONTINUE TO WARP because of the moisture. I did not make this conversation up. I AM NOT even going after the CITY. Where was his mind that day...just worried about filling my head with what I wanted to hear...grab his money ...and leave. 1. I NEVER asked for report on HOW to fix my yard,. 2. I never told him I needed report to go after CITY. 3. I told him what I needed. A REPORT THAT SHOWS THAT ALL RECENT DANMAGE TO MY FOUNDATION AND WALL THAT SITS ON THAT FOUNDATION AND YARD are MOST LIKELY contributed to the flood from the empty lot next door and the uneven grade of the land.
THIS IS WHAT WE DISCUSSED IN MY KITCHEN and ON THE PHONE. The report was needed for the OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY....NOT the CITY. I told him my story on how I called the city and the city told me to call Buliding Dept and they had me call Housing Dept...and so on......BUT the attorney said we were going to ASK FOR the Damages FROM the owner of the lands INSURANCE COMPANY, because he has failed to maintain his land and a law that states you cannot have the grade or slope of your land.....cause water to go onto another persons property. I do not know why he keeps saying a report on how to fix my property. THAT WAS NEVER MENTIONED...EVER.,......and how he could attribute all recent damage to the back of my house that sits on the cracked foundation wall as normal wear and tear is RIDICULOUS. Magically ONLY that part of my house is crumbling. Does he hear himself. HE DID NOT DUE WHAT I HIRED HIM FOR. HE DID NOT PROVIDE ME WITH THE REPORT I ASKED FOR. IF HE WANTS TO CALL IT FABRICATION...THEN HE SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME ON THE PHONE AND IN MY KITCHEN....I AM SORRY MAM, I CANNOT DO A REPORT THAT STATES ALL OF THESE RECENT DAMAGES TO YOUR KITCHEN AND BACK YARD ARE MOST LIKELY BECAUSE OF THE FLOOD YOU HAD AND THE DAMAGE IT CAUSED TO YOUR FOUNDATION. I will NOT take all of your money, because I cannot help you with what you need. instead, HE took my money and lied to me the entire time he was here. I asked if I could pay 1/2 now and 1/2 after the report and he said NO. No wonder why.....he knew that the report was NOT going to be what I asked for. Why would I want a report on how to fix my property and then go after the city. Does he hear himself.? A lawyer was going to take my case to go after the City for $2000.00 that I need to add dirt and rocks to my yard. That even sounds crazy when I say it out loud. REPORT...I WANT MY DAMAGES CAUSED BY THE FLOOD FIXED BY THE MANS INSURANCE COMPANY.....PERIOD HE KNOWS THIS IS WHAT I TOLD HIM....IF HE COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT.....DO NOT TAKE MY MONEY....WHICH HE KNEW.....SOME WAS BORROWED....BECAUSE I TOLD HIM AND HE LOWERED THE PRICE....ANYTHING TO GET IN MY DOOR TO TAKE MY MONEY.. I NEED MY MONEY TO GET A REPORT THAT I NEED. IT CAN BE DONE, AND IT WILL NOT BE FABRICATION....IT WILL BE THE OPINION OF THE STRUCTUAL ENGINEER THAT THE DAMAGE DONE SOLEY TO THE PART OF MY HOUSE THAT SITS ON THE BROKEN AND SHIFTED FOUNDATION FROM THE FLOOD IS ATTRIBUTED TO THIS INCIDENT.
Never once did I ask him to attribute every nick and crack to my property due to the flood. How about the items HE pointed out. How about the damage HE contributed to the "water infiltration".
Your OBLIGATION WAS NOT DONE. I did NOT ask for "adequate engineering solutions" I know how to remedy the problem. I am NOT stupid, and I do NOT need a degree to figure it out. I want him to tell me what is the NORMAL WEAR and TEAR he claims is WEAR AND TEAR. Would love to hear it. How about the "SMALLER MINORITY" he does NOT contribute to WEAR and TEAR. What determines the difference. How come NOTHING was put into the report. He took my money knowing he was NOT going to give me what I asked for. Why did he stay at my house for an hour looking at damage that I have ONLY to THAT PART OF MY HOUSE that has Happened since flood. NO where else in my house was there damage to show him. He stayed and looked at everything and agreed with everything KNOWING he was NOT going to write the report I needed. How about.....[redacted]....I know you have damages to your house that you think are from the flood....I cannot write that in my report, I do not want to see anymore, and I am hired only to tell you how to stop the flooding from happening. NEVER ONCE OPENED HIS MOUTH WITH THOSE WORDS. Took my money and ran.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 16, 2016/06/08) */
I did a visual inspection and reported the facts. That's what I was hired to do. I did not take your money and run. I sent you the report. I'm sorry you disagree. A chipped tile does not count as flood damage. Peeling paint in the kitchen does not count as flood damage. Foundations crack all the time, this happens in a large portion of foundation due to settlement. I perform hundreds of inspections and what I provided is customary and standard for flood inspections. I actually when above the call of duty and provided engineering solutions, which is not normally provided with flood inspections. It's is obvious that flooding occurs from outside of your property, that happens in every flooding case. Water does not spontaneously appear in your yard. It flows from higher ground to the lower ground. Your basement happened to be the lowest point in it's path. I don't think re-grading one neighbor's lot will solve this problem. Normally a home owner does not dictate the content of an engineer's report. What is it you reasonably propose to solve this?