Need urgent advise. Granite chipped/ broken in 18 spots. Please help. (Houston: homebuyer, construction)

[3shipguy]

Once a house is considered completed, someone has to start paying the property tax. After all, someone owns the house, occupied or not. The builders going to want to close to pass on the tax. If they have to pay, it will cut into their profits. Now I don't know if this qualifies for specific times during the year. This is what I've been told by several real estate agents, so correct me if I'm wrong. I say if you are not pleased, don't close. The builders have a lot to lose. Remember, they don't hold all the cards.

[texasroots77]

What type of cracks and chips are your referring too? It is normal to have small fissures in granite and they are filled in with clear material and then buffed. Can you post a picture.

[CptnRn]

You really need to talk to an attorney.

[homebuyer1786]

Thank you so much for your responses!

I have been discussing this matter with TM Customer Service corporate who have been very helpful, and supporting me through this stressful time. They called their Vice President of Construction today to visit my home and look at the situation.

Before he arrived I had final walk through with the supervisor on my home, who clearly stated that they will not replace the GRANITE no matter what. I asked him to go through rest of the issues and wait for VP to come.

VP came (after getting the call from Arizona Corporate) and surprisingly sung the exact same song what supervisor was singing. He is trying to tell me that the damage that I can clearly see is just the part of imperfection in Granite. This is after me telling him that I had seen the actual damage that caused this abnormality/ shatter in Granite. All restoration crew tried doing was to buff the surface, however the damage inside remained visible. He kept arguing with me and said that he will have Granite restoration crew come out 6th time to fix it. They will use a camouflage process to hide the abnormality/ issue. According to him his baseless argument is that the Granite "Crema Delecatus" itself is an exotic granite and therefore comes with lots of veins and normal damage that happen during extraction. Granite company fill these damages/ veins/ issues with some colored filler. For some reason they did not use that filler so far but not they will be using it to camouflage the issue. Then he started diverting the topic asking about my family etc.

In the end, they are still saying that they will not change it. I am asking them either to credit my money back or replace the granite.

I am not sure what should I be doing in this situation. They are obviously stressing me to close coming Friday.

My question is :
=> Is it normal for Granite companies to fill abnormalities/ damages/ veins/ issues throughout the Granite with filler? If yes, then what does it say about the quality of Granite itself?
=> Most importantly if Granite is chipped in 18 places installed in a Brand new home, how come it made through their Quality inspection process? No one checked the workmanship on a $9K piece of stone? Not until now.

I don't think I have been this stressful in last 6 months through the building process.

[texdav]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

You really need to talk to an attorney.

Yep;or your going to have on going problems later when you find other things.

[homebuyer1786]

Guys,

What are these attorneys called? How do I find them on the internet. It is just truly heartbreaking that you work so hard for years to get a good house, and instead of being happy at home, you are spending money on attorneys.

[homebuyer1786]

Originally Posted by RPS13

You're going about this the wrong way. Don't make this a subjective thing, as it just becomes an emotional thing. Ask to see their standard specifications for new home builds for granite imperfections and repairs.

The builder is building a home, and the way quality is measured on that home is ensuring the final product is meeting their established specifications. If you feel something is amiss, bring up that you don't think it meets their specifications.


I won all the arguments I had with the builder (also TM) by bringing this up. None of this, "well that's normal" talk. Make them show you it's normal by pulling out their specifications. When they cannot produce this, you win the argument.

Dear RPS13,

Thanks much for your kind and detailed response.
Honestly, your response made a lot of sense to me as it is more black and white.

I believe you had also built a house with TM. I am writing a letter to Corporate right now and would want to include your suggestion . Can you please elaborate what do you mean by specification standard? Can you please give me an example?

What would you recommend me to ask them for Granite specification? Are you talking about their Quality Assurance procedure?

Your response will be much appreciated.

[baker_001]

I am very sorry that you are going through with this. I hope everything will worked out for you.
Best of luck!

[homebuyer1786]

I wanted to create an online or whatsapp or facebook group for TM Houston members so people have support against these giants and their voices could be heard. Any idea how can I do that? Is this something that could be started on City Data?

Besides this and attorney, I am planning on complaining in BBB as well. Not sure is that would be of any help?

[homebuyer1786]

Originally Posted by baker_001

I am very sorry that you are going through with this. I hope everything will worked out for you.
Best of luck!

Baker, thank you for your kind words. Much appreciated!