weldingisfun
Veteran Member
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Impressive.
Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days
- Thread starter pclausen
- Start date
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Thanks for the new pictures. The house and yard really look nice. I really like all the rocks you used!!!!
What was the falling out you had with the contractor?
Eddie
What was the falling out you had with the contractor?
Eddie
Tororider
Veteran Member
I was wondering about the contractor too.
Well, you didn't say why you had the falling out from the get-go, so I just assume you have your reasons for not doing so and will leave it at that.
I understand that there can come a point when cutting your losses to save yourself the aggravation is a reward in itself.
I understand that there can come a point when cutting your losses to save yourself the aggravation is a reward in itself.
OP
pclausen
Veteran Member
Thanks for the positive comments! Local landscaping guy (am I mean local, about 2 miles down the road) did the work. Most all the rocks found when clearing the land. He brought in some flat ones for the steps.
As for the falling out with the builder, they came back to replace the front door due to a defect in the original. The replacement still had gaps large enough to not allow it to seal, and the dropped it during the install and damaged an interior wall and toe kick. Never did bother to fix the damage they caused and left. They came back out to fix the door by adjusting the hinges. All that did was to move the gap to the hinge side. And not only that, when they screwed the screws into the door with the hinge in the new position, one of them went through the inside door panel and broke off a piece. So now the door closes worse than before, and is slowly damaging the seal on the hinge side. Builder came out and looked at it and ordered a new door slap. When it came in, I asked that he just bring it out and leave it with me and that I'll get someone else to install it. That upset him so much that I have not heard from him since.
They also attempted to fix the steps from the kitchen patio to the kitchen and to the rear deck. I gave them pictures showing them how it should be done. They did it wrong anyway, and that was their 3rd attempt! Finally, they came to fix some paint issues, but never masked properly, so the result is now worse than before. My 2 year old could have done a better job.
Mom is feed up dealing with those incompetent workers (it doesn't matter who they send out, they keep screwing up). There is a very small holdback left, $6,600 I believe, but I'm sure it will cost us at least that amount to have someone else come in and correct the outstanding issues, we have a list of about 50 of those small things, but each time they came out, they either didn't address them, or attempted to but failed. Stuff like adjust one of the sliding glass doors to that it is not so difficult to slide the last 10" to close, replace those ridiculous small lag bolts with carriage bolt on the railing, grind the rock work where the gate hits them when in the open position, etc.
And yes, there are other more serious issues, like the lack of air gap along the bottom of all the hardy plank they installed, and we're already seeing the first signs of that. The wooden ceiling in the living and dining area is also starting to separate at some of the joints already and pull away from the ceiling, and the clear coat they applied has soaked in in places and not others, giving it an uneven look. And then there are the $10k kitchen cabinets with hinges so cheap you can't properly adjust them to make everything even. Should have never let them talk me into getting those over the $3,500 set I had priced from Ikea. Those would have been MUCH better quality for 1/3 the price.
As for the falling out with the builder, they came back to replace the front door due to a defect in the original. The replacement still had gaps large enough to not allow it to seal, and the dropped it during the install and damaged an interior wall and toe kick. Never did bother to fix the damage they caused and left. They came back out to fix the door by adjusting the hinges. All that did was to move the gap to the hinge side. And not only that, when they screwed the screws into the door with the hinge in the new position, one of them went through the inside door panel and broke off a piece. So now the door closes worse than before, and is slowly damaging the seal on the hinge side. Builder came out and looked at it and ordered a new door slap. When it came in, I asked that he just bring it out and leave it with me and that I'll get someone else to install it. That upset him so much that I have not heard from him since.
They also attempted to fix the steps from the kitchen patio to the kitchen and to the rear deck. I gave them pictures showing them how it should be done. They did it wrong anyway, and that was their 3rd attempt! Finally, they came to fix some paint issues, but never masked properly, so the result is now worse than before. My 2 year old could have done a better job.
Mom is feed up dealing with those incompetent workers (it doesn't matter who they send out, they keep screwing up). There is a very small holdback left, $6,600 I believe, but I'm sure it will cost us at least that amount to have someone else come in and correct the outstanding issues, we have a list of about 50 of those small things, but each time they came out, they either didn't address them, or attempted to but failed. Stuff like adjust one of the sliding glass doors to that it is not so difficult to slide the last 10" to close, replace those ridiculous small lag bolts with carriage bolt on the railing, grind the rock work where the gate hits them when in the open position, etc.
And yes, there are other more serious issues, like the lack of air gap along the bottom of all the hardy plank they installed, and we're already seeing the first signs of that. The wooden ceiling in the living and dining area is also starting to separate at some of the joints already and pull away from the ceiling, and the clear coat they applied has soaked in in places and not others, giving it an uneven look. And then there are the $10k kitchen cabinets with hinges so cheap you can't properly adjust them to make everything even. Should have never let them talk me into getting those over the $3,500 set I had priced from Ikea. Those would have been MUCH better quality for 1/3 the price.
extrakt0r
Silver Member
One thing I learned from my house build, is that your final holdback is NEVER enough. I had issues with nearly every contractor I had on the job. In fact the ONLY contractors that were worth a **** were the Mexicans. They were the only ones who showed up on time, got their work done on time, and left the place better than they found it.
sixdogs
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We have some pretty good builders around here but the Mexican subs came earlier than expected, stayed later and did an excellent job. No mess and first class in every regard. I made sure they were taken care of with whatever they needed for food or soft drinks.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Sorry to hear that there are so many issues. Angies List is a really good site to write up a report of what your experiences are with the contractor, good and bad. There are a lot in my area with F ratings and just a few with A ratings. The difference is night and day in what you get. I'm in there, and I go there when looking for somebody that I don't already know. I've found that personal references are usually disappointing for a variety of reasons, but if somebody is so upset with a contractor and writes a report about what happened, I can at least illuminate that person from my search.
Eddie
Eddie
s219
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Looking good Pete, but I sure do sympathize with your builder problems -- reminds me of the first house we built in 2001. They screwed up everything they attempted to fix, to the point where I told them to just stop. The warranty guys for that builder were the absolute worst. I just don't know how anyone can hold a job and do such piss poor work, and have any self respect. They had to be drunks or drug addicts.
When we finished our new place in 2013, the builder owed me $146, so I couldn't really withhold anything, but we didn't need to!! I told him to keep the $146 and take his wife out to dinner on us. The guy became our new best friend during the homebuilding process, and made sure things were 100% good as we finished up in May. And he continues to stand by his work. The HVAC sub just came out today, 6 months later, to look at our daughter's room that has felt cool lately (it's a corner room and over the garage). He changed to a bigger supply duct and added extra insulation in the ceiling (even though that's not his department). It's refreshing to deal with people who actually care and want to make things right.
When we finished our new place in 2013, the builder owed me $146, so I couldn't really withhold anything, but we didn't need to!! I told him to keep the $146 and take his wife out to dinner on us. The guy became our new best friend during the homebuilding process, and made sure things were 100% good as we finished up in May. And he continues to stand by his work. The HVAC sub just came out today, 6 months later, to look at our daughter's room that has felt cool lately (it's a corner room and over the garage). He changed to a bigger supply duct and added extra insulation in the ceiling (even though that's not his department). It's refreshing to deal with people who actually care and want to make things right.