They are saying that the estimated completion date is sometime at the end of April. The house looks like a house to me, e.g. it has a foundation, walls, a roof, etc. Dont know about any other builders timeline. As far as good builders and bad builders, can you really make this statement without knowing exactly which builders use which contractors for the different parts of the house and which contractors work for multiple builders.
The foundation for the house was poured incorrectly in two places, the concrete company did not take into account modifications to the plans. The mistakes were not noted until I notified the builder. Subsequently, one mistake was corrected (the one I let them know about, the other was not apparent to me or them until the walls were built). If I was in charge of the house, they have someone whose job it is to monitor homes under construction, and someone told me that the foundation was wrong in one place, I would check the other place that I knew had been changed. However, they didn't (maybe this poor guy is responsible for 20+ houses but it does not change his job description) and therefore the framing guys came out and framed the house and so a foot and a half portion of an outer wall was hanging over empty air. This was also not realized until I informed them of the problem. Within a mere week, they managed to fit 2 2x4's (stacked on top of each other) under the wall to make sure the wall was ok until it was fixed.
I was out of town for a week when they called and notified the problem would be fixed by removing the 2x4's, prepping the area with bonding agent, inserting rebar, and puring concrete. They asked if I could come by the house to go over the issue. I said "No, Im out of town." The problem was fixed that afternoon, and the sheetrock and brick were installed the next morning effectively sealing up any way to look at the repair. However, my wife was in town and that evening went by and noticed that the 2x4's were left under the outside wall and concrete was poured into the void behind the wood. The outer wall at the bottom is the 2x4's covered by the brick facade. I contacted the builder and asked "Why was it not fixed in the manner that you described to me 2 days ago as the right way?" They stated that when the concrete guys arrived at the job to fix the problem, they determined that removing the 2x4's would be too much extra work because the 2x4's were supporting the wall fine. My concern then and confirmed by the builder was this was the same company that was responsible for pouring the foundation wrong in the first place, either through their own incompetence, sheer negligence, or they were too lazy to look at the plans. I have an issue when you let someone fix their own mistake and let them make an executive decision regarding the manner in which it was repaired based on which way was easier. His statement was that the concrete company got to the job site and determined that it would be easier for them to fix it this way. I am not in a home construction related field and therefore have no idea if this can cause any issues, but when I am told "This is how it will be done because it is the right way" and the plan is changed by the company who messed up in the first place because another way would be easier and does not even have to consult with someone like the builder, then I have to assume it was not done the right way because this way was more expedient.
I understand that some people might not see this as an issue because it was addressed, but in my field if I am providing something to someone, it better be right.
My viewpoint currently is that if I am seeing these issues having never built a house before, what am I not seeing. I have huge issues with the person/company selling me a house saying "This might not look like its a good idea, but I promise its perfectly fine." There are examples in Tarrant County where mistakes by the builder have lead to neighborhood wide problems with the quality of a house (particularly the foundation) and I don't want to be responsible for trying to pursue legal action against a company that might be bankrupt within 6 months . - Tue Jan 15 2008, 10:54
I am sorry, the question is worded poorly.
I wanted to know if a real estate agent would be willing to work for me now to find a new house before I break my contract with the builder.
And the issues are both structural and cosmetic. The constant fixing of errors is not something that makes me feel better about purchasing a new home. - Tue Jan 15 2008, 09:06
Report this profile
Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity logo Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity 
