[Greengoose]

This past Tuesday I was supposed to do my first walk thru.
Initial 5 minutes constisted of the following:

Heat/AC unit outside, not even connected to the house.

Dishwasher sticking out from the counter 6 inches.

Tile backsplash behind counters is missing.

No shelves in any closets.

No shower doors on the shower stall.

No landscaping.

Lights above bathroom sinks off center by 6-8 inches.

Rescheduled to Thursday.
_________________________
Thursday:

We have shelves, lights recentered, shower stall doors installed, still no heat.

New: Granite counters ripped from behind cooktop and breakfast bar. Apparently electrical outlets were hidden behind them.
__________________________________

Friday:

Granite installed, we have heat/ac.
Tile backsplash can't be installed due to ripped up drywall from the granite counter installers.

Now we have a razor tear across the bathroom vinyl floor. (Someone cut something else against the floor. Now it needs to be replaced.)
____________________________________________________

Friday night: Drywall repaired. Landscaping sitting in boxes out in front of house.

No backsplash. Dirt/Mud all over the Pergo floors. (I hope these floors are tough as advertized.)

We were told that we MIGHT be able to walk thru on Monday afternoon.

These details are abbreviated from what really happened.

A week of vacation totally wasted. AHHHHHH!!!!!! :x

Thanks for listening.

 

[chuck807]

Hate to say it, but it sounds like the norm for a new house walk-through to me!

 

[Lapine Rider]

My folks once had a cracked concrete patio on a new house; they were informed that it was only guaranteed against fire and theft.

If I'd known then about contractors what I know now, I'd have come back that night and stolen it!

 

[allwalk]

Ok I've never owned a new house and it sounds more like I don't want to either.

 

[Pinwheel]

Wow, I am so sorry to hear about your new home nightmare.
I didn't encounter any of the problems that you are going through when we bought ours.
I'll keep my fingers crossed that things get fixed quickly and properly!!!

 

[NormanB]

Bryan

It seems it is par for the course.

I had a house built 5 years ago now. I lived nearby and witnessed all the stages of construction.

The site foreman got a bit fed up with me pointing out this and that and said it would all be sorted.

Me and my little notebook were kept busy. On the day of the final inspection I had to hand my excel spreadsheet print out organised by room and trade. There were 218 line entries. Some major and some minor. The site foreman had a near death experience and I refused to sign for the property.

I was asked to attend a meeting with 'a suit' from Head office - I gave hime a copy of the spreadsheet too - he just went white! I insisted he walk around the property and look at all 218 lines. It took the best part of 4 hours and the 'suit' was wilting. The upshot was they sorted the defects - took them a little while tho'. :lol:

The site foreman confessed to me afterwards that he had NEVER seen a customer produce such a list in the detailed manner that I had!

Anyway Bryan. You are the customer - you demand satisfaction. Good Luck.

PS: If you want a copy of the spreadsheet format give me your em in a pm.

 

[Randy]

Bryan ,
After reading your post the only conclusion I can draw is- this is your first new home.
Relax, building a home is not rocket science, anything can be repaired or replaced anytime.
You look at things that need to be done right now, the contractor looks for things that can be done right now-eventually the two come together.
But even after you move in , it will never be done. Just about the time you have nothing more to fix it will be time to redesign a room or section of the whole house.
After all as you and the family grow and change so will the house.

 

[Stormsteed]

Never mind.

 

[Jim]

I need to ask, how long , from start to finish did it take to build?
Typically the bigger builders may use "a Quick Occupancy" as a Sales tool to get the job.
I am a builder, and depending on the size, and the amount of custom features, it can take 5-8 months to build (depending on the season). Only once did we do one in 4 months (3,000 Ranch sq'), every thing has to fall just right, and that rarely happens. If the builder was pressured, by time constraints or a deadline that is too optomistic, these things can happen on a custom home. However if this was a standard model, time is less of an issue. Also, if every one is extremely busy, they are getting pulled from several directions. Also the General Contractor has to rely on subcontractors many times, because "No one" can do it all. It does sound like the builder is trying to address the problems. I know it can be frustrating, but Call backs are not unusual. In our case every home we build is a "prototype" and never built the same one twice. There are more parts that can go wrong than owning 10 Burgmans, or any vehicle, and that's just the way it is.

Now that I'm done playing devel's advocate,
The Title Co, or Bank, they typically won't release funds untill you sign off that every thing is completed to your satisfaction, and enough of the structure is done to get an "Occupancy Permit"

What kind of building inspection would allow an Occupancy with no heat?

Again all in all, the last month of building is always the most stressfull, and after doing it a few times, it usually works out in the end.
Hang in there, remember, there are 3 things to consider when building.

Price
Quality
Time to build

You can only pick 2

 

[JD]

Bryan,
Sorry to hear you are still having trouble with your new abode. Hope everything works out soon. 8)

 

[chuck807]

Hey Bryan,

Is it raining over there as hard as its been here in southern California? If it is, that's great news for you because you'll know if the roof leaks or not. I bought a new house back in the 90's and we didn't find out that the roof leaked until 6 months later when we had torrential rains! The entire roof had to be replaced.

 

[Pete]

 

[Bleeder]

Hang in there man, it'll happen. I've been there done that many times and I like Randy's advice.

Jim, I always choose quality and leave it at that. The down side to that is I'm hoping to finish my latest home in the next 30 days, which will be 18 months total duration :lol:

 

[Greengoose]

The backsplash is installed, still needs grout. Im hiring someone on the side to cover the backside of the island with the same stone tiles.

 

[Jim]

The Backsplash looks good

 

[Pinwheel]

that does look a lot better than the black. I'm jealous of the backsplash. I was drooling over tile at The Home Depot today.

 

[Greengoose]

**No comments on the free 2x4 on the breakfast bar?**

They told me the dishwasher "did" fit under the counter. Well.....it does, kinda. If you open the door the top scrapes the underside of the double bullnose counters. My dishwasher buttons are on the top of the door. Yes..the buttons are scraping. They were supposed to remove the laminate flooring inside the dishwasher area giving it clearance to fit under. I guess I will be asking for a new dishwasher.

Still no landscape.

Since the install of the armstrong flooring, everyone has walked in with their muddy, stone filled boots, etc...

I hope the floor is as durable as they claim.

Oh yeah, the last three steps of the steps leading to my front door, broke away with the drying of the mudd around my home. They jackhammered it out this morning.