Moving into the Quarry at Iron Mountain (Houston, San Antonio: Home Depot, roofing)

[drusifer]

Originally Posted by banker

It looks like KB is going to pour a slab over the existing slab to level the old one. I have never seen this done before and I'll be honest...if it were my house I would have walked away from it. I just can't see how that would work long term. After they pour it I will report back on how this the new top coat is.

Thanks for the update. I would walk away too. It sounds like it isn't a spec home. I wonder if it were a spec home if they would have done what they did or continue building it with the problem slab. I also wonder if it goes back on the market if KB has to disclose the problem / fix to any potential buyers.

[joe123456]

Originally Posted by drusifer

Thanks for the update. I would walk away too. It sounds like it isn't a spec home. I wonder if it were a spec home if they would have done what they did or continue building it with the problem slab. I also wonder if it goes back on the market if KB has to disclose the problem / fix to any potential buyers.

Home builders are always fixing foundation problems i.e hardwood floor or laminate contractor complains floor isn't level, plumbing being dug up from the foundation because of leaks, anchor bolts that aren't centered with the framing etc.

Do you think a builder will tell you that he dug into the foundation after it was poured to fix a plumbing leak? I doubt it. Just like I doubt that they would tell a potential buyer that they had to repour a portion of the foundation to make it level. When you buy a home and don't watch it like a hawk you might have problems later on. Even then you might still have a roof leak

I made a fuss during my build to make sure the builder used templates to correctly mount the metal simpson strong tie anchor bolts that are needed to hold metal walls that are on both ends of the garage. Builder was using epoxy to place the anchor bolts, because if the framing wasn't exact they would have to cut the bolts and then drill to put in new anchor bolts with epoxy.

I got luck and the framing was right on. However the house next door wasn't. The anchor bolts were mounted in epoxy. Is using epoxy going to hurt the home? Probably not, but I am a stickler for doing the job right, especially since it is my money.

[banker]

An update on the slab fix in the Quarry. I walked the slab last night and was impressed to find that they (KB) had inserted steel rebar in a grid about every 18" in every direction. In addition they have roughed up the surface of the slab with a jack hammer. It appears they are going to tie the new layer of cement to the slab with a grid/lattice of rebar. I was very impressed actually.

[texdav]

I would hope they are going to use fiberglass reenforced concrete. It is alot stronger than plain concrete especaily when used with rebar. That is waht I have seen tehm use when thickening a slb or leveling it o a older one. Woeks very well from what I was told. Personally I really don't like pouring any slab in this heat.

[banker]

Originally Posted by texdav

I would hope they are going to use fiberglass reenforced concrete. It is alot stronger than plain concrete especaily when used with rebar. That is waht I have seen tehm use when thickening a slb or leveling it o a older one. Woeks very well from what I was told. Personally I really don't like pouring any slab in this heat.

I will check on the concrete. A crew was out there again today setting more steel on the verticle rebar that had been inserted into the slab this past week. I must say they are going to a lot of effort to correct this.

Yes...pouring in this heat can't be ideal. It seams the concrete would dry too fast causing the crew to work faster than they ought to. We were fortunate to have our slab poured in February on a misty over cast day. Perfect slab pouring weather.

[texdav]

The slower the concrete drys the better. That is why they usually cover and water a slab this time of year but I asm still not sure if it is as good as cooler weather.

[banker]

They poured the "cap" for the slab in my neighborhood that needed leveling. I must say that they went to a lot of work on this house - very impressed in fact. The new slab is about 3" thick. I guess they can now begin framing again soon.

[Big Guy]

Good Luck with your home! I would suggest, not just because it is KB, but because all builders use subs, that you go inspect just about every day when they get into construction. You won't be sorry. You need to be sure they align the toilet with the sewer pipe and caulk the roof vents. It is the little things that the subs...especially in the heat... can forget to do.

If you are preplumbed for a softener, make sure they use 1" pipe all the way to the water heater before downsizing. I saw a plumber who went to 3/4" at the loop in a $1M home with 3 baths and 2 laundry rooms. Probably should have been 1 1/4" pipe. Many homes in River Crossing even today have 3/4" loops in large homes because it is in the county and there are no code inspectors.

And make sure they use good decking on the roof. That is another place some subs will cut corners. You won't know until 5 years later. Some will skip the felt underlay. I am not an expert roofer, but you might study up.

Also, I know back in 1999, I toured KB and they were using only 1 2x4 as a cap on the interior walls. Exterior walls had a double 2x4. They may not be doing that in your sub, but I would look at some that are in construction now.

KB has some great floor plans on the upper end and their upper end, just like Ray Ellison's (pre RayCo), they were a great value. I had one from 1984 in their top neighborhood and i would have moved it with me to my present homesite if it were possible. I am actually in an old custom built home now from the 1950's but boy could I use some of those new windows and insulation and radiant barriers.

I am an old claims guy and, if you have any questions, I may have an answer or may guide you to who does.

[banker]

Originally Posted by Big Guy

Good Luck with your home! I would suggest, not just because it is KB, but because all builders use subs, that you go inspect just about every day when they get into construction. You won't be sorry. You need to be sure they align the toilet with the sewer pipe and caulk the roof vents. It is the little things that the subs...especially in the heat... can forget to do.

If you are preplumbed for a softener, make sure they use 1" pipe all the way to the water heater before downsizing. I saw a plumber who went to 3/4" at the loop in a $1M home with 3 baths and 2 laundry rooms. Probably should have been 1 1/4" pipe. Many homes in River Crossing even today have 3/4" loops in large homes because it is in the county and there are no code inspectors.

And make sure they use good decking on the roof. That is another place some subs will cut corners. You won't know until 5 years later. Some will skip the felt underlay. I am not an expert roofer, but you might study up.

Also, I know back in 1999, I toured KB and they were using only 1 2x4 as a cap on the interior walls. Exterior walls had a double 2x4. They may not be doing that in your sub, but I would look at some that are in construction now.

KB has some great floor plans on the upper end and their upper end, just like Ray Ellison's (pre RayCo), they were a great value. I had one from 1984 in their top neighborhood and i would have moved it with me to my present homesite if it were possible. I am actually in an old custom built home now from the 1950's but boy could I use some of those new windows and insulation and radiant barriers.

I am an old claims guy and, if you have any questions, I may have an answer or may guide you to who does.

We were pre-plumbed for a water softener and had 1" or 1 1/4" pipe. I just know when we purchased our top of the line water softener from Sears...it took the largest pipe size they had. We have 3 and 1/2 baths...so the guy at sears was correct in assuming we needed the larger pipe sized unit. They used 1" pipe all the way to the water heater and then from their to the various manifolds for the pex tubing which then downsized to to each fixture. It has worked well and have had multiple showers going at once with no problems in water pressure.

We got great decking - 5/8ths inch radiant barrier - with roof felt.

The interior framing on their high end is great. All walls (load bearing and non load bearing have 16" on center framing with double 2X4 caps on all walls (interior and exterior) with LVLs on all thresholds and window openings. One thing I noticed on their high end homes in the Quarry is that their framing is top notch. They still do cut corners in some of their cheaper neighborhoods...but not on their high end product. The framing quality was one of the reasons we went with this home.

We closed on our house in June and by and large have been happy. We had a roof lead that took some doing to get fixed...and it didn't leak today so it appears the roofer has gotten their act together!

What community were you in? FYI - Ray Ellison became RAYCO before it sold to KB back in the mid 90's. Ray Ellison was a San Antonio native that probably made a fortune when he sold to the California based builder - KB.

[joe123456]

Originally Posted by banker

We were pre-plumbed for a water softener and had 1" or 1 1/4" pipe. I just know when we purchased our top of the line water softener from Sears...it took the largest pipe size they had. We have 3 and 1/2 baths...so the guy at sears was correct in assuming we needed the larger pipe sized unit. They used 1" pipe all the way to the water heater and then from their to the various manifolds for the pex tubing which then downsized to to each fixture. It has worked well and have had multiple showers going at once with no problems in water pressure.

We got great decking - 5/8ths inch radiant barrier - with roof felt.

The interior framing on their high end is great. All walls (load bearing and non load bearing have 16" on center framing with double 2X4 caps on all walls (interior and exterior) with LVLs on all thresholds and window openings. One thing I noticed on their high end homes in the Quarry is that their framing is top notch. They still do cut corners in some of their cheaper neighborhoods...but not on their high end product. The framing quality was one of the reasons we went with this home.

We closed on our house in June and by and large have been happy. We had a roof lead that took some doing to get fixed...and it didn't leak today so it appears the roofer has gotten their act together!

What community were you in? FYI - Ray Ellison became RAYCO before it sold to KB back in the mid 90's. Ray Ellison was a San Antonio native that probably made a fortune when he sold to the California based builder - KB.

Banker I thought that KB has scaled back on building the more expensive homes...i.e you mentioned that they aren't using lvl on any of the new homes in the Quarry, no more 16" oc for interior walls either, etc.

I noticed in my Hallmark community that KB is no longer using lvls. KB like all builders all going to try to hold their prices, but with inflation they will cut the lvls out etc to keep costs down.

I find it amazing that you tooted KBs horn from the very beggining especially since they told you two AC units and then told you only one unit after you signed the paperwork. I would have demanded my money and went elsewhere.

Although, I do have a KB home and I am very happy with it. At the same time if they tried to jerk me like they did you I would have walked away and fought to get my money back. That goes for any builder that promises you something and then renegs on something as important as two AC units.