Lindon family's sinking-home nightmare brings $3.1 million award

"We didn't ever really want to bail," Marilyn Hess said.

"We wanted to stay, but how do we do it," Hess added. After all, selling the home would be nearly impossible now that they would have to disclose all the problems.

So the family made repairs when they could afford it. And finally in April, crews excavated around the rest of the home, dug up the basement and drove 100 piers 35 feet down until they hit bedrock. For just over $211,000, the house was raised several inches to where it used to sit.

A giant gap between walls in the basement has closed from 8 inches to just under an inch now, but Marilyn Hess still leaves mouse poison nearby to prevent unwelcome guests.

"It's been open for four years," she said. She's had mice, spiders, bugs, cold winter wind and hot summer air.

Outside, the deck pillars are warped and leaning. The deck is permanently poised like the undulating beach tide — unsafe for summer parties or barbecues, Marilyn Hess said.

The family sold their kids' ping-pong table, most of their furniture and Marilyn Hess' wedding ring.

"We just tried to stay afloat," she said.

"This has just been catastrophic for us," Mark Hess said. "Who moves into a brand new house and within a couple of months has to use a crowbar to open a door?"

The stress gave him an ulcer, drained the family's bank account, pushed them toward a lawsuit and taught them to trust each other and God.

The Hesses said they never wanted to take the case to court — they just wanted someone to take responsibility and make them whole.

Canberra and Allen were the two remaining defendants in the lawsuit when it went to trial. The Hesses previously had settled with their construction and engineering companies.

Defense attorney Bruce Baird said Canberra got a soil report in 1997, but it was before any of the 40 or so lots were organized and was not site specific.

Plus, the city and a licensed engineer approved the site, Baird said. And had the Hesses and their builder gotten their own geotechnical reports as was recommended, this problem wouldn't have happened, Baird said.

"Our position was that there was no fault on behalf of Canberra," Baird said. Even if there was fault on behalf of Canberra, they didn't cause the damages. There were three, four, five things that should have been done that would have stopped (the Hesses from building)."

"Mr. Allen and the company still don't believe they did anything wrong," Baird said.

He plans to file an appeal or a request that the judge set aside the jury's verdict and make another ruling. The Hesses don't know when they'll actually see any money.