White deposits on cement - lawsuit

[mallardisme]

There was a thread a while back asking about excessive white powder on cement, fnces and on yards.
Well, if you live in the Meadows, it is caused by a high level of sulfates in the soil. This seems to be localized to the Maricopa Meadows neighborhoods.

There is a class action lawsuit that is going on about the issue.

The claim states that developers knew of the issue when they built. The sulfates eat away at the cement and the block fences. Estimates indicate that these sulfates may cause a house's foundation to start to fail in about 10 years. A walk through my backyard readily shows the erosion in action.

There are ways to extend this to around 60 years, but they are very expensive and that is what the lawsuit hopes to recover.

Recently all MM homeowners were sent a package from a lawfirm about the suit.

If you are one of these homeowners, I strongly urge you to weigh out your options before entering into a class action. Typically, the lawyers are the ones that get most of the money. I would advise at least consulting an attorney before signing into anything. There is a time issue. The statute to file is 8 years, from my understanding. The houses here are already around 5 years old.

[exferguson]

Apparently this isn't localized to the Meadows.  I live in Alterra South in the Hacienda Homes neighborhood.  I bought my house in 2008 from the bank and noticed over the past several months that my patio has this white residue on it every morning.  My yard also shows this white, powdery, mineral deposit looking residue.  I noticed the edges of my patio are disintegrating, too. I never noticed this before this past winter and don't know what to do about it.  My next door neighbor showed me the same white deposits on her patio a few weeks ago.
Does anyone have any suggestions on where I should turn for help.
Thank you.

[mallardisme]

Alterra is close enough. I am still trying to get a few more details.

[KendoPt4]

I live in RED and have seen similar stuff on my backyard block fence, on the side that connects with Pima Butte's play field.  I blasted it off with a hose a few weeks ago but it is starting to creep back.  Some of it is really hard and crusty and I wasn't able to scrape it off.

I figured it had something to do with the mineral content of the water out here but it is only on that one section of wall.

[PhxRsng]

I saw this over in Acacia too at my old house.  We were told the deposits were from the sprinklers because of the mineral content.  After only a few years the front and back were deteriorating.

[KendoPt4]

Great.  Wonder who has to fix it when it fails, since it is the schoolyard's wall as well. 

[JeniL]

I am in Alterra, Southernhills, purchased my home from the builder and have white deposits on my back patio, the area that is paved in and along the side of my home by the garage.  Not to mention at the bottom of the block walls on all 3 sides.  I was told that the HOA needs to file for the homeowners.  I'm not to sure if this it true or not.  After reading the article over on InMaricopa I have a call into an attorney that I know to see what she thinks.

[the.pixie.stick.chick]

we had an ~2ft area of deposits on one of our back walls. we attributed it to the neighbor's drip system for the tree they had in the same spot of their wall.

new owners dug out that tree. the deposits are no longer on that part of the wall, and are no where else on our walls or patio.

we also do not have landscaping in the backyard, therefore no drip system/sprinklers.

[mallardisme]

I am not sure what other neighborhoods are seeing, but here is my house. The tape measure is on inches and is a standard 60" length.










And my fav... This is the back patio. It looks like the cement has reverted back to its original elements of dirt and rock.

[the.pixie.stick.chick]

yea, we deff don't have that poop on ours here in acacia.
eww.

[exferguson]

Mine definately isn't as bad as yours but I can see that I do have the same problem.  My patio is crumbling around the edges and the foundation on one side of the house is starting to deteriorate. 

[Desert Dweller]

Google "Love Canal".  And no, it's not porno.

[mallardisme]

Google "Love Canal".  And no, it's not porno.

Google it? LOL I still remember it. That is what brought the gov't into super funds for toxic cleanups.

I am not finding anything indicating this as being toxic in this form.... But it does make you wonder.

[mallardisme]

The more I think about this situation the more I wonder about the future. Regarless of the lawsuit, I feel it is safe to say that most of the over 1500 homes will not be repaired. This means that in about 10 years, we will have a subdivision that will have a very high number of houses that are unsafe to live in. They will need to be razed.
I have to wonder if the city will need to look into a plan to deal with the blight that will cause the entire area.

Carl, do you have any thoughts on that? It won't happen tomarrow, but it will happen.

[AzSandSlinger]

I may have to rethink the repercussions on foreclosing and moving back into town.. I'm all about my house.. but if my home, and others in Maricopa, are going to turn to poop in 10 years, I should cut my losses now..

.. I have similar, but not as bad, indications on my home.. and my co-worker recently went through a $10,000 fix to adjust the foundation on his 1980 home in Gilbert.. but his problem was not wide-spread..

-Shane