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I would probably start by going to the Better Business Bureau and file a BBB complaint against the builder requesting that all of your issues be fixed. That route doesn't cost anything and you can do it all online. Better Business Bureau: Start With Trust®
A complete and total waste of time and energy. The BBB has no enforcement power, do something within the legal system.
A complete and total waste of time and energy. The BBB has no enforcement power, do something within the legal system.
Not only that, the BBB lets businesses upgrade their "membership" with the BBB to remove bad reviews. I have friends who've had false bad reviews left and BBB is always willing to remove those for a fee.
I bought a new house that had lots of problems too. In TX, there are two warranties, the 1 year where the builder repairs any small issues that come up and a ten year warranty for major structural problems. The air conditioner probably has its own warranty from the manufacturer, and so do any appliances that came with the house (but the appliances probably only have a one year warranty.) During our first year in our house, the builder patched some little cracks that showed up in the corners of the ceilings and other little things like that. The second year, our foundation cracked down the middle and things started to deteriorate. The builder came out to look at it and said it wasn't anything that needed fixing (of course they would say that) but that we should contact the company that our ten year warranty was through. So I did, and they sent an engineer out. He said something was going wrong with our foundation but it wasn't bad enough to fix at that point, and that we'd have to wait and see if it got bad enough to fix before the ten year warranty was up. There was no point repairing the cosmetic issues that came up as the house gradually pulled itself apart...siding cracking, all the walls developing cracks, windows not wanting to open, doors not closing right, ceramic tile cracking and coming up. Finally the crack in the middle of the house got wide enough that my hand fit into it, and every time we closed the door between the garage and the house, the house made huge booming noises. I called the warranty company again, they sent another engineer, and he said it was bad enough to fix at that point. First they did soil tests, then he made a plan of repair. We had to move out and put most of our belongings in storage during the repairs. The warranty didn't provide anything for moving or storage costs or for our housing during the time we couldn't live in our house, so we had to cover that. They also wouldn't replace the carpet which got all chopped up, so it has visible seams in it. The warranty did cover the cosmetic stuff, so a month after the piers were put in, they patched the walls and siding and replaced the tile floors. Most of the cracks in the walls closed up when the house was lifted back into place on the piers, so it looked much better even before the cosmetic repairs. Now it's been two years and there's some movement in the foundation, tile cracked again, walls starting to crack in one spot, and I'm getting ready to contact the foundation company, since the repair has its own warranty.
It's kind of ironic that we bought a new house because we knew money would be tight at first and we didn't want to make expensive repairs that an older house might require, and we ended up with a new house with so many problems. We have neighbors who have the same floorplan and the same problem. One just had her foundation fixed, others are waiting for theirs to get bad enough for the warranty company to repair them. The builder no longer builds in our state, so there's no way to go after them for diminished value.
A complete and total waste of time and energy. The BBB has no enforcement power, do something within the legal system.
Having known some home buyers in my area that have had issues with new construction homes resolved with BBB assistance I would have to disagree that it would be a complete waste of time (that's also with a national builder that builds a lot of homes and has many BBB complaints). While I understand that the BBB cannot force the builder to do anything at the very least the builder will have a complaint on their BBB page for the next 36 months. It hardly takes any time at all to submit a BBB complaint and if the OP ends up having to pursue litigation it could drag on for several years. As I said on the post you quoted me on I would probably "start" with the BBB and see how it turns out and then go from there - filing a complaint with the BBB is a pretty simple process that doesn't cost anything. Litigation can still be pursued after a BBB complaint but I don't think the BBB accepts complaints that have already been involved in litigation.
Not only that, the BBB lets businesses upgrade their "membership" with the BBB to remove bad reviews. I have friends who've had false bad reviews left and BBB is always willing to remove those for a fee.
Only the reviews or the complaints? If you pull up the BBB page for a business (granted that the BBB has a file on that business) you will see that the reviews and the complaints are two different things.
Get a lawyer. Document everything - take pictures and video of all the problems and note the date. Have all correspondence with the builder via certified mail. I hate to tell you this, but you have a long road ahead of you, especially if he's already been sued. That tells me that he doesn't give a rat's behind. But a lawyer is going to be your best friend.
Little confused as to what to do 1st - ask the builder (not responsive), hire an inspector, a lawyer? I've bee documenting everything from emails to photos and video. Builder still has not supplied us with our warranties as requested. They stated they've been unable to get a hold of one of the subcontractors which I'm waging a guess that they're unlicensed. I want the builder to fix aesthetic stuff but nervous for them to touch anything else - think they'll just try to put a bandaid on it.
Saw under our deck where the deck isn't even sitting on the post, it's only held in place by a bolt. Our garage stairs has 4 support posts below, 2 are completely hovering off the ground. One of our granite countertops is laying on the vanity on one side. On the other they put clear caulk to fill in the space where it's not touching but it's a big area (relatively) so all the caulk is coming off. These are things I can see. The unknown is what's scaring me. Also deck posts have massive cracks in them. One of them extends all the way to the center of the post. I know some cracks happen and some can build support, but this one is long and really deep.
I bought a new house that had lots of problems too. In TX, there are two warranties, the 1 year where the builder repairs any small issues that come up and a ten year warranty for major structural problems. The air conditioner probably has its own warranty from the manufacturer, and so do any appliances that came with the house (but the appliances probably only have a one year warranty.) During our first year in our house, the builder patched some little cracks that showed up in the corners of the ceilings and other little things like that. The second year, our foundation cracked down the middle and things started to deteriorate. The builder came out to look at it and said it wasn't anything that needed fixing (of course they would say that) but that we should contact the company that our ten year warranty was through. So I did, and they sent an engineer out. He said something was going wrong with our foundation but it wasn't bad enough to fix at that point, and that we'd have to wait and see if it got bad enough to fix before the ten year warranty was up. There was no point repairing the cosmetic issues that came up as the house gradually pulled itself apart...siding cracking, all the walls developing cracks, windows not wanting to open, doors not closing right, ceramic tile cracking and coming up. Finally the crack in the middle of the house got wide enough that my hand fit into it, and every time we closed the door between the garage and the house, the house made huge booming noises. I called the warranty company again, they sent another engineer, and he said it was bad enough to fix at that point. First they did soil tests, then he made a plan of repair. We had to move out and put most of our belongings in storage during the repairs. The warranty didn't provide anything for moving or storage costs or for our housing during the time we couldn't live in our house, so we had to cover that. They also wouldn't replace the carpet which got all chopped up, so it has visible seams in it. The warranty did cover the cosmetic stuff, so a month after the piers were put in, they patched the walls and siding and replaced the tile floors. Most of the cracks in the walls closed up when the house was lifted back into place on the piers, so it looked much better even before the cosmetic repairs. Now it's been two years and there's some movement in the foundation, tile cracked again, walls starting to crack in one spot, and I'm getting ready to contact the foundation company, since the repair has its own warranty.
It's kind of ironic that we bought a new house because we knew money would be tight at first and we didn't want to make expensive repairs that an older house might require, and we ended up with a new house with so many problems. We have neighbors who have the same floorplan and the same problem. One just had her foundation fixed, others are waiting for theirs to get bad enough for the warranty company to repair them. The builder no longer builds in our state, so there's no way to go after them for diminished value.
Wow that sounds familiar - we've had 3 doors fixed for not staying shut. One makes a huge clicking sound when turning the knob and 2 of our sliding doors are completely scuffed on one side. We're having tiles coming up or sinking down. Cracks are developing anywhere I see concrete. Siding falling up, caulk all cracking, trim coming off, there is no end. We bought a new house because we didn't want a fixer upper as well.
The builder is not only local but lives in our neighborhood.
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hmmm
