New Home with Crooked Porch

[jeepin0625]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? North Carolina

We signed a contract to have a new home built. At our construction meeting we were given a form by the construction manager that we were to fill out in case we saw anything during construction that was not to our liking.

From the very beginning we complained about the foundation and brick on the front porch. It was clearly crooked and made the door look crooked also. We submitted our construction form along with all the other issues we had. My husband has been working in the construction field for over 14 years so he knows what he is talking about.

We scheduled a meeting with the construction manager to point out the issues we had with the house that were not being taken care of. At this meeting he at first told us that the concrete was crooked for watershed. We told him we understood that but it should not be that crooked for watershed and it should be slanted forwards not to the side. He told us he would check to see why they did that and would have it fixed. Every construction form after that had the same issue of the crooked front porch and every time he told us he would take care of it. At our last quality check he even told us he would rip out the whole front porch and replace.

Yesterday we went to the final walkthrough and told us he would not fix it. There is a 1.5 inch difference from one side of the porch to the other. He told us all the other houses had this same issue. We went with him to the house under construction next door and put the level on it. That porch was straight. He told us we would have to talk to his manager. I told him I am concerned what will happen with this porch when the house starts settling. He told me they would have to come out and fix the porch at that time. So basically he was admitting that the porch will have to be issue in the future. We do not want to close on this house until that issue is fixed. Do we have any recourse we can take on this? Please respond quickly because the closing date is the 23rd. Thanks

 

[HappyHusband]

Do we have any recourse we can take on this?

Don't close until it is fixed.

 

[jeepin0625]

I have notified them that I will not close until everything is fixed but they are stating that it is not something that they will fix. They have canceled the closing date until we can find a resolution. In the contract there is a clause that says if we default on the contract then we have to pay $5000 in damages. I am concerned that us not accepting the house this way will be considered us defaulting on the contract. I dont think it should be because the lack of workmanship is not our fault and they refuse to fix it. Am I correct in assuming that? Thanks

 

[PghREA]

I have notified them that I will not close until everything is fixed but they are stating that it is not something that they will fix. They have canceled the closing date until we can find a resolution. In the contract there is a clause that says if we default on the contract then we have to pay $5000 in damages. I am concerned that us not accepting the house this way will be considered us defaulting on the contract. I dont think it should be because the lack of workmanship is not our fault and they refuse to fix it. Am I correct in assuming that? Thanks

I had a similar situation with a house I was having built. I had my attorney write a letter explaining my position. The builder finally understood what I was talking about. So talk to a good attorney.

 

[jnazareno]

(read contract 1st)
some builders have a page stating if you have any problems,
you go thru the builders first, then arbitration should problems not be resolved with the builders..so read your new home contract first if you have
this clause.

(try this advice)
contact the county home inspector and ask to help with this matter.

(just thought of sharing this story)
A good friend of mine here in CA works for a county as a home inspector of new homes - a lot of homes are getting built impropely violating
county, state and all kinds of codes to save money for the builders.
the boss (my friends boss) states that he should overlooked this
sort of violation as it is minor. I hardly think that crack beams are minor nor are improper wirings.

 

[Mister Darcy]

I have notified them that I will not close until everything is fixed but they are stating that it is not something that they will fix. They have canceled the closing date until we can find a resolution. In the contract there is a clause that says if we default on the contract then we have to pay $5000 in damages. I am concerned that us not accepting the house this way will be considered us defaulting on the contract. I dont think it should be because the lack of workmanship is not our fault and they refuse to fix it. Am I correct in assuming that? Thanks

What do the plans for the house say about the porch? You have an elevation right? If it is not according to the spec then you haven't defaulted, they have. If it is according to the spec, then you have a problem.

 

[jeepin0625]

The elevation in no way shows the porch being crooked in that way. When we showed that to the manager she said that it was just a picture and they did not neccessarily have to follow that. We were basically belittled while we were meeting with the manager. She said our expectations were too high and that obviously production homes were not for us. We even compared that house to the model homes and guess what, model homes were completely level. She found an excuse for every single one. "OH this house will not have the proper water shed. This porch has a belly." etc. In other words, they refused to fix the porch. They "let us" out of our contract and are returning our earnest money. I have had a lot of people tell me we should pursue legal action because they walked out of the contract and to compensate us for our time lost during the building of that house. Now here we are rushing around to look for another house before the lock on our rate is finished.

Also I contacted the county inspector about this and he was supposed to come out and take a look at the house again but we never recieved any calls about this.

This is just one huge headache.

 

[jnazareno]

The elevation in no way shows the porch being crooked in that way. When we showed that to the manager she said that it was just a picture and they did not neccessarily have to follow that. We were basically belittled while we were meeting with the manager. She said our expectations were too high and that obviously production homes were not for us. We even compared that house to the model homes and guess what, model homes were completely level. She found an excuse for every single one. "OH this house will not have the proper water shed. This porch has a belly." etc. In other words, they refused to fix the porch. They "let us" out of our contract and are returning our earnest money. I have had a lot of people tell me we should pursue legal action because they walked out of the contract and to compensate us for our time lost during the building of that house. Now here we are rushing around to look for another house before the lock on our rate is finished.

Also I contacted the county inspector about this and he was supposed to come out and take a look at the house again but we never recieved any calls about this.

This is just one huge headache.

Sorry to hear that ... but you just let another Crooked Homebuilder off the hook. a lot of Homebuilders would rather have some un-aware buyer buy that property (not saying all homebuilders are this way)..