What to do? New construction in Bonaire-wrong ceiling height & stair placement (appointed)

[rjbagg]

Sorry in advance that this is so lengthy... lots of details!

We are currently having a home built in Bonaire. The builder is working so fast that they went from foundation one weekend to having the walls and roof on the next weekend. We live in Florida, so we didn't have a chance to visit the site until this past weekend, once we saw all that they had completed.

We were disappointed to see that the media room upstairs that was supposed to have a vaulted ceiling was not vaulted. The two rooms on each side of it were vaulted though. The only other home that has been built with that floorplan has a vaulted ceiling in the media room. My husband and I are over 6 foot tall, so the vaulted ceiling was one of the main reasons we chose that plan. Also, we were told that the builder could place the stairs flush with the wall so that they would not stick out into the foyer, but only if we agreed to give up square footage in the powder room and closet that are behind the stairwell. We agreed to this as we did not want the stairs in the foyer. We found that the builders had not moved the stairs from the foyer area. They only moved it back one step and added a perpendicular step on the landing that was supposed to be flat (U-shaped staircase). They also took the space from the closet and powder room. No one contacted us or our agent to let us know that the stairs could not be moved as promised. We were not given a choice as to whether or not the space should be taken from the rooms to move back only one step. We would have said no to that.

When our agent spoke with the builder's agent about these things, they said that the plans had been deleted from the builder's computer since it has been so "long" since they built that floorplan (it has been 3 months since the only other home with the same plan was completed), so that is why they messed up on the ceiling (this sounds like manure to me). They agreed to fix the ceiling. However, later in the day, they called back to say that they could not fix it because the the wrong trusses were ordered and used on the roof (pre-fabbed I guess) and they would have to take out the roof to vault that room. If they did that, they would compromise the structural integrity of the house. Regarding the stairs, they said they moved the stairs back a foot but couldn't move them any further than that because of some code about step sizes. They say there is nothing they can do to change the stairs. We demanded that they at least get rid of the extra step on the landing, but they refused, saying there is nothing they can do. They offered to waive the $450 we own for upgrades to make up for these "mistakes"...wow!

We have requested a meeting with the builder, but our agent is not able to get any response. She has only been able to reach the builder's agents. We feel we deserve a meeting and more than $350. What should we do? We do not want them to continue with construction until we meet with the builder.

Any advice is greatly appreciated since this is our first time having a home built.

[Bulldawgfan]

rjbagg,

I am not really familiar with the home construction business, but I am in the commercial and industrial construction field. I can only tell you of my experiences in that area of construction, so take it as such.
Once you signed all that paperwork, this whole process became a legally binding contract. If the associated plans showed a vaulting ceiling in the media room upstairs then the builder did not follow the contract. He is in breach of contract. However, if your requests of moving stairs and rearranging floor space did not make it to the contract documents (i.e. on the paperwork you officially signed) then he is under no obligation to honor those changes.
As strange as it is, he is obligated to build whatever is on those prints, no matter what errors may exist. A good contractor would obviously address these errors as they come up, but it has to be done in a legal manner. When I say that I mean that any required changes have to be brought up, be it to the architect, the design engineers (structural, electrical, mechanical, civil) and most importantly to the owner. If any changes are deemed necessary then adjustments to costs must be addressed by all parties involved.
In short, this situation seems to be a contractual issue. Are you getting what you legally signed up for? Did some contractor make a mistake along the way? Did a contractor say he could do something to appease the owner, but in reality could not deliver? Or was not obligated to do so?

I wish you all the luck in resolving this issue. I hope the paper trail leads your way.

[EarlTurner]

Welcome to Hick Town Houston County! Best advice is to report the contractor to Immigrations for all the illegals on his crew.