Congressman Joe Courtney has obtained federal funding that will help with a persistent problem when it comes to repairing hundreds of crumbling concrete basements in our state.
Congressman Joe Courtney has obtained federal funding that will help with a persistent problem when it comes to repairing hundreds of crumbling concrete basements in our state.
Homeowners getting their basements lifted and replaced have all or most of that cost covered by a state program - up to $155,000 for a freestanding house.
However, that program does not cover things including walkways, drywall work and finished basements.
That gap in coverage can cost tens of thousands of dollars more out of a homeowners’ own pockets, and in many cases, they could not get loans to cover those gaps. It has discouraged some from even applying for the state assistance, according to local leaders.
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Congressman Courtney has secured $2 million in federal funding to help close that gap.
“It’s not just a question of foundations being replaced, but it’s frankly all the pertinent fixtures, and landscaping, and driveways and steps and porches, et cetera, expenses while this is going on that homeowners also incur,” Courtney said.
The program is for lower- and middle-income homeowners, and there are eligibility requirements.
The crumbling basement problem impacts north central and northeastern Connecticut. Experts believe faulty concrete from a now-defunct company is to blame.
Michael Maglaras is superintendent of the state program helping homeowners with crumbling concrete basements. It's called the Connecticut Foundation Solutions Indemnity Company, or CFSIC, and it began five years ago.
Very soon, CFSIC will have put its 900th family back in a repaired home.
At the news conference, Maglaras said long term, it is now believed the full impact of the crumbling basement crisis will affect about well under 4,000 families in Connecticut.
Maglaras said so far, CFSIC has spent $135.6 million helping families. He added between now and 2030, there’s $144 million coming to CFSIC.
He said if another $100 million in funding, over and above what has been secured so far is raised, it should be enough to solve the crumbling concrete crisis in Connecticut.
NBC Connecticut Investigates broke the story about crumbling basements more than eight years ago.
