Every bathroom was finished with normal drywall instead of the water resistant stuff. The vents in the upstairs bathrooms just vented into the attic space leading to moisture issues in up there. There must also be an issue with either the framing or the foundation because we have the ceiling separating from the drywall in almost every room in the house in addition to cracks developing in the drywall. I know some amount of settling over time and cracks are sometimes normal, but I’ve never seen them this frequently. Our floors are also uneven and you can feel them moving as you walk across them.
In the bathrooms they also picked the cheapest bathroom fixtures imaginable. They looked decent at first, but it was also quickly corroded and the lights literally fell apart. We have one of those fancy three head shower setups and we discovered that the main shower head corroded and broke off inside the wall when our youngest innocently asked us why it was raining in the dining room. We also have water hammering issues when running the washing machine because they didn’t bother to put in a flow arrester.
On the exterior, our driveway and sidewalks were all laid with insufficiently packed base material. These gaps and buckles are reaching the point where we have to fix them or risk liability when the mailman trips over them. Our gutters were incorrectly installed and they have been slowly leaking down one corner of our house and we’ve found water damage in the basement due to this. The foundation in the garage also has done some settling because the stone work at the base has large cracks developed in it. In addition, our windows and doors are really just polite suggestions for the wind to stay outside because they picked such cheap options. You can literally feel a breeze through most of our windows.
I’m sure there were other minor things which I’m not thinking of, but the quality between our first house which cost 1/3rd of this house is night and day. The only thing the inspector found was the the cracks in the garage brick walls but those are a facade and the inspector told us it was cosmetic damage and the sidewalk was easily fixable via mud jacking. Those were issues we were willing to take on. There’s no way we would have bought the house if we’d known that there were so many issues. As we’ve been trying to address the issues we’ve been finding, we always seem to uncover another problem that needs to be fixed. Feels like a race we are losing.
Thanks for sharing, I'm sorry to hear about all the problems you're having.
I think a major issue is just water being the root of all evil for house problems and the bigger your house is, the more recent it was built, the more corners were cut. It's all compounded by contractors wanting to overcharge you if you're in an expensive neighborhood and not give you the time of day otherwise.
It's like you could just say, "let's just get rid of all this extra furniture and stuff and live within our means. The kids don't need that many toys." But then the argument falls on deaf ears and you wind up with the neverending complexities of redecorating, contractors, insurance claims and stress.
Agreed. But I'd like to perhaps interpret it a slightly different way. What if house construction was "branded". That is, aside from (possibly uninforced) local standards a company built homes AND committed to their quality.
Given how sloppy new home construction has become, perhaps buyers would trade less home for say 10 years of peace of mind? I realize long term guarantees are tough. Obviously. Nonetheless, the current shit-show seems to be begging for alternatives.
Home warranties were fairly common when purchasing. They are meant to cover things you don't find right away during the inspection. Unfortunately market forces, especially lately, have made these less available for purchasers as competition for houses is too high.
Sounds like it's a race to the bottom. No one can differentiate with better quality goods and work because no one is willing and able to do it.
The lower the price the better. Regardless how it'll cost you later, affect long term value, etc.
If anything it makes the argument to not buy new. Instead go for something in the 10 to 15 yr range that's had the structural bugs worked out but might need updated appliances.
In the bathrooms they also picked the cheapest bathroom fixtures imaginable. They looked decent at first, but it was also quickly corroded and the lights literally fell apart. We have one of those fancy three head shower setups and we discovered that the main shower head corroded and broke off inside the wall when our youngest innocently asked us why it was raining in the dining room. We also have water hammering issues when running the washing machine because they didn’t bother to put in a flow arrester.
On the exterior, our driveway and sidewalks were all laid with insufficiently packed base material. These gaps and buckles are reaching the point where we have to fix them or risk liability when the mailman trips over them. Our gutters were incorrectly installed and they have been slowly leaking down one corner of our house and we’ve found water damage in the basement due to this. The foundation in the garage also has done some settling because the stone work at the base has large cracks developed in it. In addition, our windows and doors are really just polite suggestions for the wind to stay outside because they picked such cheap options. You can literally feel a breeze through most of our windows.
I’m sure there were other minor things which I’m not thinking of, but the quality between our first house which cost 1/3rd of this house is night and day. The only thing the inspector found was the the cracks in the garage brick walls but those are a facade and the inspector told us it was cosmetic damage and the sidewalk was easily fixable via mud jacking. Those were issues we were willing to take on. There’s no way we would have bought the house if we’d known that there were so many issues. As we’ve been trying to address the issues we’ve been finding, we always seem to uncover another problem that needs to be fixed. Feels like a race we are losing.