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VickiR, Thanks for the info. that makes me feel good a little bit
I am a new home owner and never owned one. So, I do not know much about house construction. So, I relied entirely on my agent - ONE BIG MISTAKE!
We spent about $75k on upgrades and still they are sub-par with our friends'. I know lot of things can be done cheaply by ourselves but we don't have that expertise or time to do it. If someone is buying (like me) just by looking at the base price you are making a mistake. Look at the crappy options that come with base price and the high upgrade prices to get one notch above crappy options.
There was a big discussion thread on the quality of homes and the inspections. Lot of people told me inspections do gloss over things and mainly focus on major things. Cosmetic stuff is out of question.
We had our 3 month builder/owner orientation and I was surprised how little time they spent with us. He (the builder) did not even bother to explain or address things. We already have our hard wood and carpet making popping sounds and he tried to dismiss saying they are not problems.
There are big cracks in the driveway (between blocks of concrete) and he told us, that is expected and won't be addressed in the fixes. I spoke to few of my friends and they said you do not expect the cracks to appear that soon. I am not sure since I am a newbie
The ONE THING about concrete is that it WILL crack. Could happen a day before you close or a few weeks after but it will crack. If the crack is big enough to poke your finger inside it, it should be taken care of. Anything less than that is just cosmetic.
The inspector's job is NOT to point out cosmetic issues. That would be too time consuming and that really isn't what the inspector is there for. You are buying a house. It is a very expensive purchase. The inspector is checking things you can't see, for yourself. He checks the electrical, heat/air, plumbing, etc. Inspectors don't "gloss" over things but they don't check out the cosmetic stuff. Why pay someone to tell you things you can see? I'd rather know WHAT I'm buying and what about all the systems that I can't see.
If you had your 3 month w/the builder and he isn't doing what he needs to do, call your agent. My clients know they can call me and I'll help as best as I can. If you don't call him, how does he know that you need help? If he won't help, go back to the onsite agent that was there when you purchased. Most of the time, the squeaky wheel DOES get the oil. I'd just keep asking until I get the answer I want!!!
I do think you'll enjoy the neighborhood. It turned out prettier than I expected and my clients that live there like it. Once summer comes, you'll have the pool and some neighborhood things going on and you'll get to meet some of your neighbors.
I thought Twin Lakes was in Morrisville, but have since learned that it is in Cary. Is this similar to West Park being in Cary with the Apex mailing address?
I thought Twin Lakes was in Morrisville, but have since learned that it is in Cary. Is this similar to West Park being in Cary with the Apex mailing address?
It is really two different things.
Twin Lakes is in Cary, with Cary address, because when KB introduced Martha Stewart homes, they thought that Cary was more marketable, so they requested to be annexed into Cary, even though Twin Lakes is not contiguous to Cary. Since the USPS delivers mail from Cary to Twin Lakes, the homes have Cary mailing addresses.
When you say "West Park," I assume you mean "The Park at West Lake."
Westpark, off NC55, below High House Road is in Cary, both governmentally and USPS mailing addresses.
The Park at West Lake area was annexed into Cary, again non-contiguous, as you can see at the bottom of the map above, because of the desire for land for a sewer plant, and again, agreeable developers.
But, the USPS was not going to deliver to TPAWL from Cary. They deliver from Apex, and that requires that West Lake homes have an Apex, NC, mailing address.
Its kind of a funny story about how that area came to be part of Cary. That area was unincorporated county but Morrisville was actively planning to incorporate it when it was developed and it was even depicted as part of Morrisville on town planning maps. The developer and Cary had Cary annex it late in the process, I assume when they decided to go the Martha Stuart theme and market the development nationally. This apparently caught Morrisville by surprise, especially as Morrisville was already in the process of building Town Hall drive with its own money through this area. This was supposed to be the town core with brick medians, planters, a pond and high end landscaping, and suddenly the middle of it became Cary. Morrisville had already committed to building the road so the parts that were in Morrisville were built with a standard cross-section of 4 lanes, grass median, curbs, sidewalks and sewers. Whether to save money or just make a point, for the quarter mile or so that was now in Cary and through Twin Lakes, they just poored two 10' wide strips of low grade asphalt on the dirt, which is how they left it until it was finally completed a few years later.
The developer and Cary had Cary annex it late in the process, I assume when they decided to go the Martha Stuart theme and market the development nationally.
The ONE THING about concrete is that it WILL crack. Could happen a day before you close or a few weeks after but it will crack. If the crack is big enough to poke your finger inside it, it should be taken care of. Anything less than that is just cosmetic.
Vicki
Vicki is correct that concrete will crack - as it hydrates it will shrink. However, improperly place concrete will crack to a much greater degree. If the proper grade prep work was not done, if proper control and expansion joints were not done, if workers added water to make the concrete easier to work - all those things can make cracking worse than it needs to be. So workmanship is definitely a potential issue.
FWIW - "Control" joints are called that because they are designed to control cracking - essentially telling the concrete "crack here please" and the nature of the joint hides the crack from being visible.
Vicki is correct that concrete will crack - as it hydrates it will shrink. However, improperly place concrete will crack to a much greater degree. If the proper grade prep work was not done, if proper control and expansion joints were not done, if workers added water to make the concrete easier to work - all those things can make cracking worse than it needs to be. So workmanship is definitely a potential issue.
FWIW - "Control" joints are called that because they are designed to control cracking - essentially telling the concrete "crack here please" and the nature of the joint hides the crack from being visible.
Frank
Unfortunately, the chances of cracking are over-stated by a lot of concrete contractors to allow for terrible prep, workmanship, curing practices, and material handling.
When some mope says, "There are two kinds of concrete: Cracked concrete and that which isn't cracked yet," I don't want him working on my driveway.
So many guys refuse to use reinforcement when asked, and then say "All concrete cracks," it is disgusting.
I will be replacing a driveway this spring, and I want more than a slab that is guaranteed to be cracked as son as the over-screeded cement flakes off the surface.
Unfortunately, the chances of cracking are over-stated by a lot of concrete contractors to allow for terrible prep, workmanship, curing practices, and material handling.
When some mope says, "There are two kinds of concrete: Cracked concrete and that which isn't cracked yet," I don't want him working on my driveway.
So many guys refuse to use reinforcement when asked, and then say "All concrete cracks," it is disgusting.
I will be replacing a driveway this spring, and I want more than a slab that is guaranteed to be cracked as son as the over-screeded cement flakes off the surface.
If you find a contractor that will GUARANTEE the concrete he pours WON'T CRACK, I want his name!
If you find a contractor that will GUARANTEE the concrete he pours WON'T CRACK, I want his name!
Vicki
I haven't even found one who will talk sense about it. And I think it is truly sad to guarantee cracking as builders, concrete guys, on site agents do.
An unnecessary expectation of failure has been created in the housing industry; the market has bought into it because of the track record; and contractors then meet expectations. If it is good enough to get paid, it seems, why try to do any better?
Concrete for a driveway is not all that complex a project. But to do it right might add a few cents per square foot to a home, and the market will not stand it.
Base prep, tamped stone bed instead of clay, drainage, reinforcement with wire or rebar, slab sizes appropriate in all three dimensions, poured onto plastic sheet to retain water instead of losing it into the ground, not poured in 90 degree heat, cured with a little water spray, and you are pretty much there.
Some workmanship skills and control over the water hose are good too.
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