Clayton Homes Information

Standing Rain Water & Other site problems.

Long before the house was delivered the nightmare began.

From the promised driveway that we never got, to the poorly graded pad, to the buried septic tank and water line just below the surface, and buried water shutoffs, some problems were evident almost from Day 1. Others did notappear for may months.

But what I was promised was NOT WHAT WE GOT.

Don’t let my story become yours.

Our improperly done, and poor grading pad set the stage for several distructive problems that should never have happened. The Tennessee version of the Clayton Homes Construction Manual clearly states the steps they would follow to create a stable home.
Those steps were ignored.

After weeks of hard work, we had cleared the land were ready to build.
The Tennessee version of the Clayton Homes Construction Manual had clear guidelines. The grading crew Stuart Sams hired deliberately ignored the site prep steps and without our knowledge they covered grass and topsoil with a thin layer of red clay dirt.
The day the grading was done. We were unaware that instead of following both HUD and their own Tennessee version of the Clayton Homes Construction Manual site prep steps: NO organic matter, grass or topsoil will be under the pad, the grading company hired by Stuart Sams deliberately covered grass and topsoil with a thin 6 inch layer of Middle Tennessee Red Clay Dirt. Sadly, the footings were poured directly on the rotting grass and topsoil the next day with no inspection being made. This set the stage for horrifying results a few months later.
To us it appeared the pad was correctly graded on Day One.
The day after the pad was graded the footings were dug, and without a compaction test, or engineer inspection, the footings were poured.
A look under the house showed water standing before the piers were set. Then after the house was lowered onto the piers the rainwater, mud and trash can be seen as wet as tears in the barrier. So water was seeping down into the red clay and rotting the grass. The problem had begun.
Under the house standing and flowing rainwater was running under the house even before the piers were set. Then after the house was lowered onto the piers the rainwater, mud and trash can be seen as well as tears in the barrier. So water was seeping down into the red clay and rotting the grass. The problem had begun.
Not just standing rainwater, but rocks, mud, trash and filth collected under the house. We knew HUD required that under the house was to be kept clean and dry. I reported the standing water and trash under the house to Stuart. He did not follow HUD rules but that he would take care of the standing water at the end. (He never did)
As the problem got worse with more and more rainwater flowing and standing under the house, I repeatedly told Stuart Sams about the worsening problem as water, mud and trash kept collecting in pools under the house that HUD did not allow, he was unconcerned and just said he did not follow HUD rules and that he would take care of the standing water at the end.
Just before the final inspection that he failed twice, I again asked Stuart Sams to clean it up and level the holes and install new Visqueen so the crawl space would be clean. He said he would not do that. And he didn’t. He also didn’t take care of the promised mess at the end as he had promised.
Stuart Sams was required to call for a compaction test BEFORE the house was installed. He never called for one. Daniel Hyn
When we discovered the house was sinking this hole was dug beside one of the piers. The bottom of the footing is 7 inches deep and topsoil can be clearly seen at the 7 inch mark.
We filed a fraud complaint against Stuart Sams and Clayton Homes of Hixson with
Jim Hightower
Director| MFH/Modular/ Licensing Sections
Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance
Whose job it is to protect manufactured homes in Tennessee.
More about this on the foundation page.

Between May 5, 2023 when the footings were dug and poured and September 7, 2024 when we were finally able to start moving into the house rainwater flowed freely under and around the foundation and crawl space. We contacted Stuart Sams several times about the water. Each time he said he would take care of that at the end. He never did anything to correct the problem. We asked him to clean up the mud, trash and water in the crawl space and cover the area with new Visqueen. He said he would not do that even though HUD says that area must be kept clean and dry. He said he does not follow HUD rules.

Septic tank was dug out to deep. The whole tank, including the lid was covered with red clay. There was no access to the tank and no clean-out was installed.
We purchased a container for the main shutoff and supplied it to the grading crew. They installed it and then covered it up with red clay. Now we can’t access it. We have to crawl under the house to the main shutoff several feet from the crawl space door.

Our contract included a 12’x220’x4″ gravel driveway, a parking pad and we asked for a 10′ wide gravel surround all around the house. A thin, narrow access road was installed but we finally realized we were not going to get the promised driveway so we paid for an asphault driveway. No refund was issued for the contracted driveway.

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