We are so very disappointed in a lot of the work of our home...does this happen all of the time? We see our contractor in the morning and he will get an ear full. He isn't going to like it and we will tell him very calmly. Our home with the property is worth 425,000 ball park...don't you think that should get us quality? We finally got our storm doors put in today...you can see light on the sides from the inside, seeing outside on both doors, front and back. He should be checking up on things and making sure the quality is good. It started out with our cement large porch off of the back of the house. Ripples in it and in the garage...finally the group doing it came back and grinded it off and then had to put a coating on it. The fireplace is a different style without brick or stone, we wanted it to not stand out in the room...the view of the lake is our focal point. The plaster job was done poorly...he is coming back tomorrow to work on that. Our shower....when he was working on it, we told him the bench was too high. Did he bother to lower it...no. We left a note to not do any more work until we talked with the contractor. Plus the tile work was lousy. Needless to say, we made him do it over and now it is a beautiful shower. Wheelchair accessible. Plus I forgot to mention the tiles on the floor were uneven. The screens in our living room, all 4 of them were so loose they blew in the wind if you had the window open...the list goes on and on. Just think of what we would have had if we didn't come to check on things as much as we did. Sure things are getting re-done...some things 3 times but why should people have to put up with poor quality? This should have been the happiest time but with all of the things (not all listed) going wrong, it was very disappointing. We were told when we moved in that things would be done in a couple weeks. They were just here last week to make our sidewalk area and driveway wheel chair accessible until we can have a cement one put in next summer.
That's very disappointing Sherry,..contractors hire workers who tend not to be the most skilled,..its not always the case though it happens very often,..our new house was the same story,..it didn't match up to how the show house appeared,..i had to state i was pulling out of the contract due to shoddy work,..that changed everything to the extent our house looked even better than the show house in the end,..it pays to put ones foot down.
Many of my clients live in million dollar and above homes, and the ones who have built have had similar problems. It seems to be the same in all income brackets. Paige and William built their home several years ago, and they have also struggled with shoddy work. And like Philip said, oftentimes it's just the unskilled labor that's used. Yes,they should be supervised and monitored, but builders tend to have way more going on than they can adequately supervise, so things get missed all the time. When did people stop taking pride in what they do? I don't care if you're laying brick, serving at a grocery store, managing other people's finances, have PRIDE in your work!
Sherry, the problem times will fade in memory (not go away, just fade) and you'll be enjoying your lovely lakeside home and property. We've never built, but having three older homes we have experienced a variety of workmen. I've found roofers are the worst--conniving, lying men their mothers would be ashamed of. Keep on the contractor, don't sign off on anything until it is completely satisfactory, and start looking into any contractors, building association he might belong to. A report or two, especially to the state licensing bureau, does wonders!
Sherry I am so sorry you are having so much trouble with the workmen. Thank goodness you can be there to check up on them. Did you read KK's posting about a very similar experience he had supervising the work on his son's home? He was disgusted, but like you insisted on decent work... So, you go girl! Insist on their doing what they are paid to do. Too bad though that you have to. Let us hope what MG said is true: when it is all done, the workers have left, you are all settled in, this bad exprince will fade & you will simply enjoy your beautiful new home
They call it a punch list of things to get done and we don't have to pay the amount we went over the so called budget like with extra outlets, a lamp post all the extras we wanted ...so I am sure now they will get it done and right. We goofed and the contractor came here and we were at his home this morning for our meeting and he got to see the storm doors and a couple other things. Find out the drip wasn't a gutter problem but something with the soffit. We are happier now knowing we don't have to pay the smaller amount until they are done with the punch list.
well, we did 25 yo but we are contractors and know the good and the "who to stay away from" contractors. that is worth its weight in gold. we see it all the time day in and day out. we do excavating and dig for a builder who gives out a list of contractors for anything outside of the walls of the house. hows that to keep your "base price" ultra low? you (the homeowner to be) has to get prices for everything outside of the walls and then give the builder the $$ figure to build that into the loan amount. we see a lot of ummm... how shall I be nice about it...sloppy and substandard work that has to be re done at the home owners expense...but they are oblivious to it because they call them "extras" .....things unforeseen. it drives my husband nuts. he was working on a house a few weeks ago and as him our son and one employee were getting ready to leave the back wall 12' high by 30' long (which they weren't even working around that day) exploded out from the uneven back fill pressure (someone else used a slinger truck and a conveyor belt throwing the stone from quite a distance to the backwall to fill it) the builder thought WE should absorb the cost of that even though they didn't have it engineered to state specs.....!?!?!?!?!?!? and we weren't doing the backfill.... they use a local high end lumber yard only they get 3rds from them for the framing. not even 2nds... they don't tell anyone that the lumber is 3rds. who in their right minds would agree to that? today... another situation arose while preparing to dig for a sewer lateral ... the inspector discovered the lateral they need to tie onto was broken under the road. that is not an acceptable tie in... someone broke the lateral years ago putting in a fire line and never fixed the sewer run under the road. this allotment must be pretty shoddy in its original installation. so the men can't work today and NO ONE from the builder has called back to discuss what do we do now?
I was raised on a construction site and cut my teeth on a 2X4. Normally if you have a mortgage the money is paid out in a series of draws. The contractor then pays the subcontractors and its his responsibility to see that the work is done to pass code and to your satisfaction. You have the right to not sign off on a draw if its not done correctly,,thats exactly what I would do. He wouldn`t get a penny unless he does his job ! That means that you are happy with the work. His job is to make sure it is done right and to your specifications. Once he is aware of that he may do what he is supposed to. Most contractors do not have the money to carry the subs and the subs do not like to wait to get paid. Problem solved !
Sherry glad to know you had sorted out the problems. Reading your post just reminded me of my ordeal in my son's house in Penang. Looks like it is best to get contractors that are recommended if possible. Luckily when we downsized, we got a contractor that was highly recommended by a friend and it was a joy to see the progress. We were really pleased with the work done.
Our storm doors look great now, they sent someone different to fix the problems.2 people are coming this morning and the door will be stained in the areas they replaced with the new glass. Our fireplace front is looking better so hopefully everything will be done before Thanksgiving. We had never expected to be having things done yet, a month after we moved in. Now all we have to do is learn how to regulate the heat in the floor. We are on a slab and have I think 6 loops where we can have different temperatures....some of the areas are quite warm and some cool. We have been told once you get it how you want it, you won't have to change it. It is also quite different not having registers and we learned that in new buildings you need to run a dehumidifier to dry things out. I wish someone would have told us that because we had to go out and buy another one, we gave our other one to our grandson. Who would think you would need one here?? Our windows are no longer sweating and it is so much nicer... We should have looked for a book about what to expect in new homes...someone has or should write one to help new homeowners.
I had no idea about a dehumidifier when we built either... never owned one growing up and our windows grew black mold along the edges (behind the blinds) oyvey! the things we weren't told or had no clue about. Glad things are looking better on the quality front.
So glad to hear that things finally appear to be getting fixed to the way you want them Sherry. Let's hope you don't hit any other issues and that you'll be able to relax soon and enjoy your new home.
