Quote:
Originally Posted by JJAF
I'm not an expert at house building. I have had 4 built and watched through out the day for a few hours each day. I learned a lot of things. The building process is not a tidy situation and on most days looks like 8 goats trying to hump a greased football. The city/county inspectors are rarely there and you shouldn't rely totally on them as a catch all. They have phased inspection checks called for, they check and sign off or fail, and move on to the next house. Having a new house built isn't for everyone. There are rough patches, disagreements, and misunderstandings during every build. Probably the biggest advice I can give in this situation is this.... You certainly are upset about the items you have shown us. I feel that you probably will always be looking over your shoulder after moving in the house and be worrying. Your heart may sink with the first surface crack that shows up on the garage floor, a small water spot on the basement floor because someone missed a dab of caulking on an ingress pipe, or the ground sinks a couple of inches along your outside wall and a 5 gallon bucket of dirt needs to be brought in to level out. I don't know what your contract reads or how much you have invested. But maybe for a piece of mind, you may consider moving on to something already built or some other situation that works for you?
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I was thinking more along the lines of monkeys & a football. Haha
I figure when you're paying a very significant amount of money (~$300K) for an investment that should be reasonably & expectedly built to last for years to come... then I definitely want some reassurance that quality work was performed correctly.
That's why I am here asking the questions to people that have been doing this most of their lives.
I too am no expert & that's why I posted what I did. I for one don't know better but when some things just don't look right... I can only ask the questions & see what others have experienced & suggest.
As for the contractor, they haven't been the most upfront, open & confidence building entity I have ever worked with. This obviously is my first build & I have learned some things just through this process.
What I will & won't do again, that's for sure.
There have been things that rubbed me wrong... but I am now ~8 months into a build that may be completed within the next month or so. I would very much like to move in & have any possibly issues resolved.
I think it's safe to say no one wants future issues, if you can avoid them.
I realize things happen outside of that control.
It would suck to walk away...but like was suggested you can only live with what you can.
If I do walk, then the price just went up another 10-12% & there's another 8+ months of time gone by with another builder.
OR I can pay a premium for an already established home without a third car garage for ~ the same price or higher in this market.
You wouldn't believe it... or maybe you would.
I realize things will never be perfect, but you at least hope your contractor will due their diligence & hire competent subs to perform the work under their oversight.
It's their name on the line.
You're right, I worry about the workmanship just from what others have posted on this build.
I appreciate what has been shared with me thus far.
I don't know better but I can try & at least learn from it.
Luckily, it sounds like a pretty easy fix at this point in time.
I don't see this everyday. Wish I had the time to go & watch for hours a day, that would be awesome. You're obviously more fortunate than some. That' great. I don't.
Only thing that allowed me to see what I have is the crisis we are all going through. If I didn't have the time being off of I work, I probably wouldn't have seen any of this till closing.
Luckily, I have friends that tell me to try & be a presence & watch what I can... AND ask questions to the guys out there performing the work.
Some portions of the build I missed. Wish I was there to see it... but oh well. I wasn't.
As I stated previously, I am building as it is cheaper than to buy an already established home right now.
You might be right... this definitely might not be my cup of tea.
I am worried... but as long as they go in & make things right from what folks have suggested, then I'm good with it.
I don't know enough to NOT being taken advantage of... OR really to know what the right questions are that I should be asking at times.
Thank God for forums like this.
A TON of knowledge on here.
If someone else can learn from what was shared here... that's awesome.
I thank everyone that has responded & given me guidance!
If after all of this, I walk away from further issues with only using a 5 gallon bucket of dirt to take care of the few inches of ground settling... SIGN ME UP!!! Haha