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My floor tile went in today. We selected one of the standard tiles used in the Quarry - which is a stone colored porcelain tile. Very nice. By the way - some commented about their use of ceramic tile in their high end homes. They will use basically anything you choose. We opted for the porcelain tile as it is stronger and holds up better long term to the cheaper glazed ceramic tiles. And it was standard...about 600 square feet of it between the bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room and foyer. It looks great!
Porcelain tile is very sturdy. I had it in my house when we lived in Austin, it's great too if you ever drop anything & it chips it's the same color all the way through.
Porcelain tile is nice ;that is what I would use if not Travertine.Travertine is my personal favorite but can be expensive.Looks like your starting to get near to finish with flooring going in.
Porcelain tile is nice ;that is what I would use if not Travertine.Travertine is my personal favorite but can be expensive.Looks like your starting to get near to finish with flooring going in.
Yes. I believe the yard work and fence is slated for this week. All the electrical has been finished - so right now all the interior needs is the plumbing and carpet. Of course there will be a punch list of touch up after all the contractors have been in and out of the house. But we are getting close.
Well - It seems that despite the slow down in building and the short amount of work - there are some sub contractors with a total lack of ethics. Sadly today I stopped by the house to find that some fixtures had been stolen out of my nearly complete home. While normally I wouldn't care that much since the builder would just replace them...this really hit close to home.
First a little background: When going through the selection process and in our effort to keep the home under $300K we decided to go with the standard kitchen - nice enough - but opted to upgrade the counters and other items later. We were surprised to discover at the time that KB would not let us select under cabinet lighting for the kitchen unless we selected the "Gourmet" kitchen. This would have required about $30K in upgrades to go from the standard kitchen to the Gourmet kitchen. Surprisingly KB doesn't even offer under cabinet lighting on their mid level "Luxury" kitchen. So while discussing this with our sales counselor at the design center she encouraged us to pay for additional wiring to the kitchen and then to work with the electrical subcontractor to have the lights added when the home was nearly complete. This is exactly what we did. When we finally got to the stage that the home was being built our construction manager provided us with the contact name for the manager for LEC (the electrical contractor) for the Quarry homes to arrange for us to make this modification. While all along KB informed us that I was doing this at my own cost and was liable if anything was damaged or stolen in the process. I proceeded since I was assured that at night and on the weekend the home would be locked up when not being worked on once the home got to the finish out stage. So I ordered five of these lights: Series II Xenon Bronze 30-inch Under Cabinet Light from Bellacor and had them installed under the cabinets in my kitchen this past Monday. So imagine my surprise when I showed up today to see that they had been carefully removed from under neath the cabinets and the wires coming out of the wall cut flush with the sheetrock. This means that I must not only replace these lights but have the home rewired which will require removing cabinets and sheet rock. The most distressing this is that while I paid the electrical contractor handsomely to do this extra work - only the electrical sub and his crew knew the lights were there (besides myself). The KB site manager didn't even know since I was assigned a new manager mid build. I am actually pretty upset about the whole thing because the lights were there yesterday after work and today they were not...and the electrical contractor was "finishing" up today. So on the last day in the house...the lights disappear. To make things more suspicious - the lights aren't that easy to install much less take out in a hurry as a thief probably would have. You would have had to install the lights to know how to remove them. If only two people knew about the lights and one was me...it doesn't take a genious to figure out who took them...
At the house I tried to call my electrical contractor and he would not answer. This was surprising as he has always answered my calls when I have called him to set up the changes he did for me. I tried to call him four times over the course of an hour and no answer. I suspected he was avoiding me - so when I got to my parents house for dinner I called him on my mom's cell - from a number he wouldn't recognize and he immediately answered...and then told me that he hadn't missed any calls and that I must have been dialing the wrong number. That is complete BS. He was avoiding my call because he probably knew exactly why I was calling!! To pour extra salt in the wound...now more money will be paid to this corrupt and completely unethical contractor to fix the wiring that was cut clean. How convenient for them. I guess when business is slow...you screw over an honest home buyer and generate a little more work.
The thing that is so frustrating is that KB completely stood behind this contractor. And while they did warn me that they were not liable for my lights walking - there was not hint of questioning the actions of the electrical crew. It is like..."we told you so...now cough up the money to fix it" So...now I am out significant money for these lights and a huge delay has been dropped into the build schedule as they fix the wiring problem. To give the smallest amount of credit to KB on this...they are going to pay to have the cabinets removed and the sheet rock fixed...how nice of them.
I am really disapointed in this crew. To think that this could happen again before I close! I really wish there was a way to hire ethical subcontractors or to hold them accountable for this kind of theft. I am also disapointed in KB. Since this happened during business hours while there crews were there - I really hoped that they would take care of these lights.
And while I am venting about the lights...and this electrical contractor...I was also stiffed two exterior lights. They just covered up two outlets with blank plates and told me it wasn't included in the delivery so I will have to pay extra to get those...and I didn't get a chandelier that I paid for. It is really sad that after such a relatively good build process to have it soured at the end like this. I haven't decided how to handle this at this point...but will be demanding these "missing" exterior lights prior to closing. So the short and sweet is that LEC as an electrical company has some pretty shady guys in their employee and KB is willing to back them.
Hopefully things get better as we come down the final stretch of this build process. I hope that not for a minute KB doesn't think I will look the other way just to get my house finished quickly while these little issues start happening. This is only going to make me scrutinize every little step all that much closer until things are perfect.
While I am venting...it is late and I should probably just go to bed but I wanted to know if there are any HVAC guys that read this thread. The home I am building has multiple zones. Unfortunately they (KB again and their HVAC contractor - Embrey Air) placed a thermostate behind a door. It is for the side of the house the master bedroom is on. So, during the bulk of the day when the door is open...the thermostat is on the wall the door swings to. That means that you can't look at the temp, adjust the temp or have good air flow around the thermostate while the door is open.
Am I crazy or is this poor placement. When I asked my construction manager about this he said that it was fine. When I pushed him on it he told me that he would check with the HVAC guys and get back to me. I have never in my life been in a home where the thermostate is behind a door preventing proper air flow. Should I be surprised that neither the construction manager nor the HVAC sub contractor has contacted me to confirm that from an engineer perspective this is ok. I really think this is a case where KB doesn't want to change it because it will cost money. There is empty attic space right above the wall where it is now and where it should go...so it would be relatively easy to fix...I just don't think they want to.
So - any HVAC experts to weigh in on this? If my inspector says this won't work then they will have to change it after the house is finished...so why not fix it now.
I think I am beginning to see the cheap side of KB now that we are in the home stretch. I am very very disapointed.
This is terrible! It is really sad that in your home stretch you have to deal with a major theft. Beside the financial pain, just the frustration is something that can sour what has been a fairly nice process for you.
Here is hoping the rest of the build goes well and that you are able to recoup something from the unethical jerks.
By the way, will KB force you to use LEC again? I certainly would not use them if they are responsible for this mess.
Back when you were in the exploratory phase and managing a thread for "collecting feedback", it was as if you rejected or explained away ANY criticisms of KB home quality. These boards are replete with a litany of warnings NOT to buy or to "stay away", etc. It seems that you were already sold on the home and merely used the thread to quickly dismiss any complaints while reinforcing your own positive inclinations concerning the qualities of the builder.
I vividly recollect advising you to wait until later this year to buy because prices would more than likely soften even further. A lot of people took time to be helpful and were very honest with you. You really cannot say that you were NOT warned.
//www.city-data.com/forum/1604834-post2.html
*Don't buy one. Period. Be sarcastic all you want, but search through these forums and you will see NO ONE will recommend you to purchase a KB Home.
In the price range you say you are looking in, you can find a much more respectable and responsible builder.
//www.city-data.com/forum/1607047-post8.html
*You would have to be completely insane to spend $300 on a KB home, much less $300,000. If you don't want to listen to us, fine. Better your money than mine.
//www.city-data.com/forum/1610354-post15.html
*Please be aware that there is a huge population of people that will not not buy a KB home, and agents that won't take their buyers to view them, at all.
Consumer complaints about KB Home
Construction Defect Help - Homeowner Websites - Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings (http://www.hadd.com/websites.php - broken link)
.......some fixtures had been stolen out of my nearly complete........this really hit close to home.....
If only two people knew about the lights and one was me...it doesn't take a genious to figure out who took them.......To pour extra salt in the wound...now more money will be paid to this corrupt and completely unethical contractor to fix the wiring that was cut clean....I guess when business is slow...you screw over an honest home buyer and generate a little more work. The thing that is so frustrating is that KB completely stood behind this contractor.....I am really disapointed in this crew. I am also disapointed in KB....I was also stiffed two exterior lights.....This is only going to make me scrutinize every little step all that much closer until things are perfect. Very frustrated future buyer. Thanks alot KB and LEC.
Quote:
Originally Posted by banker
Thermostat question...
While I am venting......so it would be relatively easy to fix...I just don't think they want to......I think I am beginning to see the cheap side of KB now that we are in the home stretch. I am very very disapointed.
Back when you were in the exploratory phase and managing a thread for "collecting feedback", it was as if you rejected or explained away ANY criticisms of KB home quality. These boards are replete with a litany of warnings NOT to buy or to "stay away", etc. It seems that you were already sold on the home and merely used the thread to quickly dismiss any complaints while reinforcing your own positive inclinations concerning the qualities of the builder.
I vividly recollect advising you to wait until later this year to buy because prices would more than likely soften even further. A lot of people took time to be helpful and were very honest with you. You really cannot say that you were NOT warned.
//www.city-data.com/forum/1604834-post2.html
*Don't buy one. Period. Be sarcastic all you want, but search through these forums and you will see NO ONE will recommend you to purchase a KB Home.
In the price range you say you are looking in, you can find a much more respectable and responsible builder.
//www.city-data.com/forum/1607047-post8.html
*You would have to be completely insane to spend $300 on a KB home, much less $300,000. If you don't want to listen to us, fine. Better your money than mine.
//www.city-data.com/forum/1610354-post15.html
*Please be aware that there is a huge population of people that will not not buy a KB home, and agents that won't take their buyers to view them, at all.
Consumer complaints about KB Home
Construction Defect Help - Homeowner Websites - Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings (http://www.hadd.com/websites.php - broken link)
Ok...while I am admittedly frustrated by this end stretch problems...I am still getting what I wanted. A four sides brick home on a large lot with an excellent structure...so not all is lost. The overwhelming "I told you so" isn't really productive at this point.
This is terrible! It is really sad that in your home stretch you have to deal with a major theft. Beside the financial pain, just the frustration is something that can sour what has been a fairly nice process for you.
Here is hoping the rest of the build goes well and that you are able to recoup something from the unethical jerks.
By the way, will KB force you to use LEC again? I certainly would not use them if they are responsible for this mess.
Yes...here's hoping the rest is better than this past week!! It has been pretty painless thus far.
And as to LEC. Since no question is being raised by KB...yes...that is who will do the repair work. I have no say in who they use. But I will never call that company to do work on my house after the warranty runs out.
Sadly - there are some really nice hard working people at KB - the folks I have dealt with really do want to turn out a quality product. I bet I would have the same problem with most production builders. But...most production builders offer under cabinet lighting without having to get the most expensive kitchen...so I wouldn't be out of pocket for these lights. It is especially ridiculous on a $300K house.
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It is really sad that in your home stretch you have to deal with a major theft. Beside the financial pain, just the frustration is something that can sour what has been a fairly nice process for you.
