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I sign contract for new home, and was asking for blue print (drawing of new home) before we sign contract, but never got that.
on the pre construction meeting I get chance to review blue print, but did not get copy. on the blue print it show that driveway is straight, but when I compare that drawing with my lot, I notice that there is a fire hydrant on the way. I let the sales manager know about that, and first they say it will not be an issue. But after few days Construction manager is saying that it needs to be angled or curved (about 30 degree) near fire hydrant. I request to hold the construction, but they started and can not stop.
Since they provide 12' (2 feet extension I have to pay) wide and 40' long drive way, it is not practical even if its look good. I talk to sales and construction manager and there is no other way to do that. They can not move home site couple of feet other side or they can not reverse home site to have driveway other side.
Also, I do not want to fight with county for moving fire hydrant location.
Does any one know what I can do? should I talk to lawyer and put hold on construction or can I break contract etc..
please let me know they started construction on that lot.
Once they have the home approved and started construction there is not much you can do but work around the fire hydrant. You are not going to get the city to move it so I'd forget that idea. And it's probably too late to flip the house to place the driveway on the other side.
It does not sound like you have many options without being there and actually seeing whats going on. It may be your only option is to talk to an attorney which I would do sooner then later.
To bad you did not have a good agent experienced with building new homes. They might have caught your problem before you signed a contract and been able to work out a solution. I always walk the job site with clients and try to see and anticipate these problems.
Someone in the early planning stage screwed up... Who ever put in the fire hydrant or who ever surveyed the lots or someone built the wrong house for the lot... And YOU should not be stuck with their mistake.
Yes, in the pre construction meeting, they draw straight Driveway and just one day before construction started they told me about angled driveway.
I do not want bad driveway that is difficult to get in and out for me, family members and guest every day. I will get real estate lawyer and see if I can break contract with no or less penalty
Now on I will have good real estate agent, whenever I buy new home.
Cancelling the contract over something that existed ahead of time may cost the OP his earnest money.
To the OP, most builders will not give you a set of your building plans to keep. They are selling you a finished house, not a set of floor plans. They are correct in that they can't shift the house on the lot or reverse the plan after permits have been issued (and certainly not after construction has started).
I'm confused by the 40' driveway. Driveways in my area are usually 20'-25'. Why is your driveway so long?
On the upside, you probably would get a discount on your homeowners insurance for having a hydrant so close.
Is the product significantly different than advertised when you signed on the dotted line? If so then, it sure seems like THEY broke the contract, not you! You will simply not be tolerating it.
If the driveway truly is 40 feet, curving it sounds like a nice architectural feature adding character to the house. 40' of straight concrete sounds and looks boring. Lots of driveways curve in my neck of the woods, so not sure why you're so concerned about it.
And to hit on what someone else said, builders do not typically give out blue prints because they're copyrighted. They don't want you taking their blue prints to another builder to create the same plans.
Driveways in this community are about 40 feet long, may be more in come case.
Hydrant is only 2 feet away, very close to driveway and easily bumps into that.
When we signed the contract, they have not provided any blue print; they told that once a contract is signed then they will work on blue print. When I ask why driveway info was not in the contract, they reply that home builder not required to provide that info into contract.
I am not sure if I have strong reason to broke contract, because of the Driveway, but I will find out when I talk with attorney
Driveways in this community are about 40 feet long, may be more in come case.
Hydrant is only 2 feet away, very close to driveway and easily bumps into that.
When we signed the contract, they have not provided any blue print; they told that once a contract is signed then they will work on blue print. When I ask why driveway info was not in the contract, they reply that home builder not required to provide that info into contract.
I am not sure if I have strong reason to broke contract, because of the Driveway, but I will find out when I talk with attorney
Wait, so you were in contract before you had a plan? Ok, well I find that weird, since that's not how we do business, but that might be normal for companies that only build 5 different plans, for example.
But if you were in contract before the plan was finalized, that might give you more legal footing.
I'm still not following the layout very well, though. Is the hydrant 2 feet away after the 30 degree angle for 40 feet? Because that math doesn't work. If my math is right, a driveway 40 feet long that is angled by 30 degrees will be 23 feet from its origin. Since the driveway is only 12 feet wide, they wouldn't have had to angle it in the first place.
If it is only 2 feet inside where a straight line driveway would be, then over 40 feet, they would only need to angle it by a couple of degrees, which over 40 feet, would be almost unnoticed. So I think I'm missing something in the layout. Are they wanting to just angle the very front of the driveway? That would be silly, they should angle the whole thing and you'd not even notice it.
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