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Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
6,957 posts, read 22,300,551 times
Reputation: 6471
I was in the construction trades as a MUCH younger man. I've seen some amazingly unbelievable ("What's built doesn't match the plans") seriously blown construction.
I'm thinking your dilemma lies in that your expectations for the living area being right for your family, versus the future merchantability of the home.
That being said, there's likely a $$$ figure that would make it work for you. I hope you have an arbitration clause in your contract with the builder that would allow you to come up with a number that would lead to a happy ending.
This would be the right answer for me.....I just wish there was some way you could get damages for lost time.
This is a home you were building to specifically suit your family. Making do, at any price, you would be reminded daily the home was not what you wanted........
But......everyone has their price to forget the pain. Do you know yours?
This would be the right answer for me.....I just wish there was some way you could get damages for lost time.
This is a home you were building to specifically suit your family. Making do, at any price, you would be reminded daily the home was not what you wanted........
But......everyone has their price to forget the pain. Do you know yours?
I'm mulling over that price this weekend while waiting to hear from the builder. He found out about this on Friday evening and hasn't yet made an attempt to contact us or our Realtor. I'll give him until 10AM tomorrow and then I'll call him myself.
This would be the right answer for me.....I just wish there was some way you could get damages for lost time.
This is a home you were building to specifically suit your family. Making do, at any price, you would be reminded daily the home was not what you wanted........
But......everyone has their price to forget the pain. Do you know yours?
This^^^
The 4500 bucks refund is a pittance, this is completely their mistake. Theire gonna have to eat it on this one. Don't give in to any bs the builder might say. It was in the plans and specs. I would seriously ask for the sky and let them negotiate you down. I see a lot of upgrades like a completely new front and back landscaped yard with sprinklers and a sparkling pool.
We had to eat 150,000 on a job. We bid it wrong. The idiot estimator forgot to add in the conduit. Since they won't allow bare wire above ceiling my boss ate 150k worth of money on that job.
You paid for a house to be built with certs in specs. They did not meet that demand. I would seriously go speak to a lawyer.
I'm mulling over that price this weekend while waiting to hear from the builder. He found out about this on Friday evening and hasn't yet made an attempt to contact us or our Realtor. I'll give him until 10AM tomorrow and then I'll call him myself.
Don't be the first to call.....they are typically "the loser."
I will say, this is a pretty large screw up that is going to have a hard time getting fixed in a way that is satisfactory for everyone.
Depending on how the foundations, plumbing and electrical were done, I wouldn't immediately discount digging the slab up and excavating the floor. Of course, if the plumbing is not deep enough or you have a crapload of conduit running in the slab, it will certainly complicate things, but if for some reason, the sewer is below the new grade and the electrical can be worked with, it may just work, but I would want to make sure that a structural engineer was dealing with it.
Jacking the house up might work and there is no reason they could not raise the egress windows or just make them taller either, but again, structural engineer time and make sure they include the firm signing off on the final construction product, stamped and sealed.
Other than just paying you money to keep it, that's pretty much all the solutions I can think of.
How is the first floor plumbing and electrical running now? Is it within the joist space or below? If you really had a true 8' clear basement, that would not be that bad, especially if it was a dug basement and not a walk out on the back, due to grade.
I guess you could leverage the builder putting in taller doors everywhere as part of the solution as if your son is that tall, a 6'8 door will be pretty tight. That is not that difficult to do, if you are not having that done already.
Electrican4you is right. Contractors have to eat their mistakes all the time, so stick to your guns and get something from them. Keep in mind, that everything they do is cheaper for them than for you and what they would charge and there is never a better time to get something done. At the very least, you should be able to walk away from this deal with all your money if the builder is not willing to give you what you think is fair. I would start looking at other properties right away as well, even some place you can rent for a while, in case you need to move soon.
I will say that while people that throw out the first number might sometimes do worse, I would not wait around. Keep on the guy. Ask him what he is going to do for you. But, you don't have time to wait this one out.
Also, I would probably go ahead and put in writing that you saw the house was built contrary to the contract documents, citing the specifics, dates you saw, when you told super, etc and you request they put activities on hold and get back to you with their proposed solution as soon as possible. Don't rely on the super giving word of mouth reports as the only communication. Too easy for him to say you should have brought it up sooner. Definitely check the contract if there is any language regarding proper notice of defects.
Whatever, please come back and update us. I am really interested to see what happens here.
I'm mulling over that price this weekend while waiting to hear from the builder. He found out about this on Friday evening and hasn't yet made an attempt to contact us or our Realtor. I'll give him until 10AM tomorrow and then I'll call him myself.
In fairness, it was the weekend. The builder would not have been able to contract subs to find out how this happened, develop a plan and estimates for a resolution, or MOST IMPORTANTLY, contact his own lawyer. Which he most assuredly will do prior to speaking with you.
I'm with SmartMoney (again, and again, I can't rep you!). Wait for them to call. Think about what your 'price' is to make this acceptable to you and your family (if any). I'd hesitate about taking compensation in the form of upgrades like the previously suggested pool and extreme landscaping. You won't get that back on resale, and who wants to be upgraded beyond what the neighborhood typically offers?
I also believe that the tall son who is going to live in the basement bedroom is a teenager? In a few years, he'll be gone.
SherrifMan's comments about putting this in writing are spot on. Do that today.
Our contract states that we "shall have the right to specific performance or damages or both." It also states that we agree that all disputes go through arbitration and not court.
We met with our builder's superintendent today and told him we want the basement finished for free and $30,000 taken off the sale price of the home. Basement finishing is $25,000 for family room, 2 bedrooms and a full bathroom. We doubt the builder is going to go for this, but, given that he can be forced by arbitrators to make it right AND pay us damages, $55k isn't a heck of a lot to get out of this mess. I'm sure he would still turn a profit on the house, just not as large of one.
Of the options mentioned: if the height of the basement is important the house can be raised. Do not mess with the foundation.
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