Michele,
Small world. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Been framing the deck all week for my new, on site stick built house. Its the only way to go, (you can see exactly just what is going into the structure) after having the nightmare modular home removed from my site, via a joint effort between modular home company and the selling dealer after filing fraud charges against both of them in Federal Court and reaching a settlement thru medation before trial where they would remove the house and refund my purchase costs. Federal court was because 3 different states were involved, the manufacturer was in PA, the dealer in NY, and the house was delivered just over the state line into VT.
Before you go any further whereabouts in upstate NY are you guys located? The ripoff dealer I went with is located in eastern NY state. Sells MSI homes along with another brand for lack of a better name we will call MONKEY BUILT HOMES. They are manufactured down in PA too.
The construction defects that came with the house were utterly amazing and would be laughable if wasn't so costly serious. The incompetence along with the deceit by both companies is appalling. This house was a 26'x46' 1 1/2 story cape with a 12/12 pitched roof and included 22' site built porch.
We had thought we had done our homework and I feel I am well versed in construction technique and practice. I have certification in carpentry and blueprint reading from the local voc-tech school, and ranked 9th out of 100 during testing at the area's Carpenters/Jointers Union's Local. I worked for a time doing panelized construction and had first hand experience at what can be done in a factory setting. I also worked for a major Boston contractor turning old brick factories into luxury apartments.
But if you're directly lied to there is not much you can do about that. My liar (oop's) lawyer called it a bait and switch technique.
This company has been business since the 70's, the dealer in the same location for 20 yrs with 5 model homes on display.
During the lengthy discovery process it comes out that some of the model homes aren't even built by the same company but are being represented as such, along with refinements that don't represent the actual product, such as mouldings, doors, widows, countertops, lighting, etc. Now before you think it naive to not to see thru the glamour I was given a spec sheet signed by the seller with a list of products and finishes to be used by the manufacturer, along with assurances that certain graded material was to be used (ie: 2x4 studs etc.) I asked these questions because I KNOW WHAT CRAP IS IN MOST OF HOMES.
In negotiations the manufacturer fess's up to having 3 factories that produce up to a combined 1600 houses per year at last count. THAT'S LIKE 6 A DAY IF YOU DON'T COUNT WEEKENDS!
By the time they were done I had a structural engineer's report that the house had to come back apart to be reset correctly (which of course entailed destructing the childs play constructed porch) and had estimates from local contractors ranging from $30,000 to $50,000 to redo everything to make it right. The set was so poor there was a 3/4" gap between the halves in the master bedroom (right over the underneath garage bay at that) only covered by carpet and the house hung off over the foundation in front. Upstairs one half was a 1/2' higher than the other but they were even downstairs, the upstairs kneewalls weren't lined up and the basement lally columns were set in the wrong locations for structural support. Now get this this, this ass**** says to me the reason they ended up in the wrong location is because I WASN'T THERE TO TELL HIS WORKERS WHERE TO PUT EM.
The fraud consists of spec sheet that called for interior 2x4 wall studs @ 16" O.C. which turned out to be actually 2x2's strapped together @ 24" O.C., found after I took a razor knife and opened up the sheetrocked walls. I knew my stud finder wasn't lying. The insulation's R value in the attic was less than spec too.
The windows were to be wooden, double hung and the house was delivered with vinyl single hung, a fixed upper sash. The windows had to be seconds at that. Some had loose glass, plus scratches in the glass, and dents in the sash. 11 out of 13 windows were not plumb and the 3 sets of double 54" windows across the front (street side) of the house were all at different spacing which of course reflected in all the interior window trimout too. Also fraud was that the window trimout was to be traditional style with notched in sills, lower aprons along with stained wood jambs and instead was picture frame trimmed with painted jambs. The staircase was to have finished wood risers and wall moulding stained to match and was only roughed in with construction grade lumber. We had an "upgrade package". The miter cuts in all the stained trim, including all the baseboard work was so bad that simple buttjoints would have better.
There was over 300 nails that had missed nailing the subfloor to the joists. Solid bridging between the joists was missing in some places or had only one nail holding it in place. Some joists had up to 4 out of 5 nails missing the joist end. The OSB subfloor along one half of the house bounced loose even with the supposed gluing with construction adhesive. Most of it was along the sides of the joists. Many of the fins on the radiant hot water baseboards were crushed and and hidden by the covers.
The roof was racked and the eaves out of square. I had 11" overhangs so it was real obvious. Even after the repairs. They had clobbered several trees en route from PA totally destroying the gable overhangs on one end of one half. Branches were sticking out everywhere along the siding/window/door trim when the house arrived, There were not enough shingles shipped with house to finish closing up the roof so several bundles of a different brand of shingles was used on the main roof along with different shingles yet when they built the porch, giving me me 3 different shingles on a new construction house. The vinyl siding besides being short scrap pieces was nailed incorrectly, tight up against the sheathing. It couldn't float. Buckled up as soon as the sun hit it.
3 large closets were shipped without doors,and a month later after a half-assed attempt to fix stuff the doors come. (They have crews in trucks that do nothing but chase their junk houses around trying to fix stuff after the fact.) Turns out one frame is 3/4" out square, another is framed for 80" door and the doors are 78". Wouldn't fit anyway. A split jamb interior door was only nailed in with 2 finish nails thru the casing into the sheetrock never even hit a stud (aren't any) and promptly fell right out of the wall opening the first time it was pushed hard on the door handle.
Both exterior doors were nailed down without being shimmed and leveled. The first time the back door was opened it wouldn't latch back closed. So out come the pinch bars, THESE CLOWNS PRY THE DOOR UP TILL THE BOLT AND THE STRIKEPLATE MEET! THE BRICKMOLD PULLS APART BY ABOUT 3/8" INCH, THEN THEY DRIVE A HALF DOZEN 3" SHEETROCK SCREWS INTO THE SIDEJAMBS TO HOLD IT PLACE.
The vinyl floor covering had razor slices in it, the cabinets tore off the wall during delivery and where hacked back in place and we were told to put our appliances over the damages so it couldn't be seen. The kitchen sink was way off from being centered to the window and the kitchen wall cabinets didn't line up over base cabinets. Water feedline and drain plumbing was inaccessable without removing floor joists
The countertops were to have been a one piece continous top and backsplash laminate and instead were cobbed up sections with silicon sealer gobbed all over. Some of the interior walls were both out of square and out of plumb. The bolt on the lock on the front door broke leaving the door unable to be opened. The rear door and window were framed too close together for the shutters to fit but they screwed the shutter down over the window casing anyways, just for ***** and grins I guess.
Anyhow this is just one guy's experience, But I will also tell ya what the MONKEY BUILT HOMES General Manager said to us during negotations,
"Six of one, half dozen of another. They're all the same."
Oh yea, just so ya know, these guys sell from Maine to Florida all along the eastern seaboard..
DFB
