Cracks were visible as early as December 2017 in a Clemson apartment complex where scores of students were displaced this month because of problems with the foundation, according to documents obtained by the Independent Mail on Tuesday.

An engineering consultant observed cracks in the floor of 114 Earle within months of its 2017 opening, and in October 2018 a representative from the same firm noticed a crack he described as "cosmetic," according to letters obtained from the city of Clemson through the Freedom of Information Act.

The apartments opened for students in August 2017, and a crack in the floor of the building was noticed as early as December 2017, according to the documents.

The original construction on the building began in January 2016, according to the contractor's notice of project commencement filed in Pickens County.

The crack became a widespread problem Friday when a resident notified the city of issues, and a repair crew working to fix the problem hit a sewer line. At least 80 residents were moved to hotels that day until the city had a chance to assess the situation on Monday.

The building includes 706 beds and 227 units, so residents in some portions of complex were not impacted.

Cracks at 114 Earle

Former Clemson fire marshal Bill Box was doing an annual inspection when he first identified a crack, said Todd Steadman, director of planning and codes for the city.

In December 2017, an engineering consultant sent an email to the building's owner and the original contractor about a crack in a corridor next to the parking deck. The consultant, employed by the engineering consulting firm M2 Structural, said the "project site, as a whole, has a great deal of topographic variations."

"As a result portions of the project sit on deep amounts of backfill," the letter said. "The corridor in question is one of the areas that contains a large amount of fill. It is possible that the backfill and/or the native soils supporting them had not completely consolidated prior to the residential construction being completed."

Chris House, a project executive with Fortune-Johnson, the original contractor, responded to the email and said his company would have a subcontractor complete the necessary repair. Per Fortune-Johnson's online portfolio, the company has not served as a contractor for any other buildings in Clemson.

The Independent Mail contacted House on Tuesday. He directed questions to Campus Apartments, the building's owner.

The Independent Mail contacted Campus Apartments to confirm whether those specific repairs were completed in 2017. Campus Apartments directed questions to a public relations agency, the Brownstein Group, and did not respond about the 2017 repairs.

On Oct. 25, 2018, a representative of M2 Structural returned to the building "to observe a crack in the corridor slab on grade," according to a letter from Michael Murphy, the principal of M2 Structural.

The location described matched that from 2017, "the lowest level of the corridor adjacent to the parking deck."

At the time, Murphy wrote that the crack did not appear to compromise the foundation or the timber frame of the building.

"It is our opinion that the crack is a cosmetic/maintenance issue that can be leveled with a non-structural adhesive," Murphy said in the letter to Andrew Butler with the building's architectural firm, The Preston Partnership LLC.

City gets involved

In a letter dated Friday, Feb. 1, the same day the city was notified of the issues, Murphy noted that the height of the crack had continued to increase.

Murphy said the building superstructure could tolerate the "differential settlement at the current levels" but cautioned that the building could settle further without immediate action to fill the voids.

"As long as further settlement is not observed, we do not believe there is a reason to take these portions of the building out of service for concerns of structural instability," Murphy said in a follow up letter on Feb. 4, which was among the documents the Independent Mail received from the city in response to a Freedom of Information request.

At the City Council meeting Feb. 4, Steadman reported that based on the M2 Structural analysis and letter from Murphy, students would be allowed to return to the building, with the exception of those on the ground floor where a tripping risk remained from the settlement.

Caroline Ryan, whose unit was on that floor, said she has been told she will have to stay in a hotel until Feb. 15. Expanding structural foam came up through the toilet in her unit when the building tried to fix the foundation issues. The foam can be used to help level a surface when settlement occurs.

Those who had to go to hotels will be compensated $50 per night for food and other expenses, the apartment complex said in an email to residents. Campus Apartments is covering hotel expenses.

Ryan said she has to move everything out of her bedroom while the bathroom is torn up and fixed.

“In working with the City of Clemson, 114 Earle has successfully mitigated any immediate concerns related to the settlement in the corridor, and has completed the primary plumbing repairs," the 114 Earle management team said in a statement to the Independent Mail on Tuesday. "As such, the majority of displaced residents are now able to return to their apartments. We’re still working diligently on the additional repairs and hope to have the remaining few displaced residents back in their apartments soon."

More:Foundation issues at downtown Clemson apartments send students to hotels