Failed Inspection = Poor Quality?

When you are building a house, you hear a lot about inspections.  The builder would love to, but cannot continue building your house because he is waiting on an inspection.  If you don't see any progress at your house, it is because of inspections. We failed the inspection, so we cannot proceed.  Which got me wondering:  Does a failed inspection indicated poor workmanship?

Well, it turns out there are many reasons a project might fail inspection and not all of them are an indication of poor quality work.  For example, our foundation recently failed a plumbing inspection THREE times.  Yikes!  It turns out that those failures were a result of confusion.  The inspectors thought an additional permit was needed, when in fact it was not.  So, on three different occasions an inspector came out to out property, decided that we did not have the proper permit, and failed us.  

City inspectors are not looking for quality, but are looking to ensure that the builder is following the city's rules.  Making sure that your house is not built upon or obstructing a city's easement.  The inspector is really only looking out for the city's interest.  That's why when you are purchasing a house, the buyer typically brings in an independent inspector.  This inspector is looking out for the buyer's interest and will assess the quality of the work.

Most large cities allow the public to access the building permits.  Log on to your city's system, type in your address, and voila!  You can see the permit applications, when inspections are schedule, and the inspector's name and phone number who is overseeing each inspection.  In my experience, the inspectors are friendly and willing to tell you exactly what is going on with the inspection.

(Another) Possible Tax Credit Extension

The $8,000 first time home buyer credit may again be extended (kinda).  Mortgage companies and their seemingly infinite red tape may prevent nearly 200,000 people from closing by the June 30, 2010 deadline leaving them with a new home, but no tax credit.  

The tax credit is so tempting that 1,300 inmates falsely claimed the tax credit.  Undoubtedly all of those inmates justifiably wanted a nice place to call their own.

The winning case for abusing the first time home buyer credit:  67 people claimed the same house.  That's a crowded house.

Despite the fraud, the Senate has passed a bill that would extend the closing deadline to September 30, 2010.  So, while potential home buyers cannot get in on the action, those of us who signed contract prior to April 30, 2010, but did not close by June 30, 2010 will be able to claim the credit if we close by September 30, 2010.   There is still a chance we can enjoy that tax credit too!

In case you were wondering (you weren't), the tax credit extension will be funded by taking away the tax deduction for businesses paying punitive.

Glimpses of the Future

Today we went by our property see if any progress had been made since we passed our latest inspection.   We also kinda went to see our neighbors' house.  They are scheduled to close on Friday, so all the workers have been busy putting the final touches on their home.  While, they still have a few inspections to pass, the house is looking great.

I enjoyed looking at their yard.  I'm not really into landscaping or anything (yet), but I have been trying to figure out what our backyard will look like.  While we have a large lot, it is at the bottom of a steep hill.  Today, we got a glimpse of what it will look like.  The dogs love it.

Is the End in Sight?

As you know, getting action out of our general contractor is like getting blood out of a turnip.  In the past couple of days we have managed to make a little bit of progress.  Whether the progress is a result of our annoying the general contractor until he caved persistence or that action was bound to happen at some point, I do know.  But, progress is progress -- and I like it.

Yesterday, I spoke with Linda, our sales agent, regarding the time line.  She said that Tony (our builder and general contractor) had informed Meritage that the goal closing date for our house was August 24, 2010, but that there is no realistic chance that we will meet that goal.  However, she informed me that it was safe for us to give our apartment notice of a September 30, 2010 move out.

As of yesterday, our foundation passed the water rough inspection and the crew is beginning the final grade of the fill material, installing ploy and cables, finishing the forms, installing electrical ground, installing the water pipes, installing additional steel reinforcement for several other inspections before the final foundation pour, which is scheduled for next week.

Based on Linda's assumption that the foundation will be complete on June 29th, she estimates that the framing will be complete by July 5th and the drywall will be complete by July 30th.  She stated that after the drywall is complete, a house is typically completed in 60 days, but can be completed in as little as 45 day.

Below are some photos of our house on June 15th and June 23rd.  As you can see, they have installed the final fill material.

June 15, 2010

June 23, 2010

Most of our frustration stems from the fact that our next door neighbors' house broke ground one day before ours and is scheduled to close on August 23, 2010, one day before our "goal" date.  The house is being built by the same company and the same builder (general contractor).  The picture below shows both of these houses.  Our house garage is the one in the foreground.

Getting Action Out Of A GC

Tony, our builder, is also the general contractor on our house.  He has made it clear from the onset that he is not interested in communicating with us.  Instead he requests insists that we communicate with our sales associate, Linda. Linda is friendly, responsive, and goes out of her way to help us out  The only problem is that she is a sales agent and not a contractor and consequently has no clue what is going on with our house.

In each of our monthly calls to Tony, he not only made it clear he did not want to talk to us, but he informed us that our "goal" completion date has been pushed back a month with no explanation.  The closest thing to an explanation has been references to selling the last house in our neighborhood and finishing other houses before the first time home buyer credit expires.  Since different crews are required for these projects, it is hard to see how this delayed our house.

To add insult to injury, we have watched the house next to us go from just one day ahead of us to nearing the completion of framing. Not to mention multiple other houses (built by another builder) on our street go from nothing to having brick in the months since we started construction.

After two months of unexplained delays we realized that we need to do something now or it will be 2011and we will still be waiting for the final foundation pour.  We asked around and decided that our best course of action was the be the squeaky wheel.  We started making calls, sending emails, and gathering contact information of the higher ups.  We also started referring to the terms of our contract.

Our contract states that the average home is completed in 120-180 days from the start of construction.  We are currently approaching day 90 (and do not have a foundation).  We understand that a home can be completed in as little as 60 days from the completion of foundation.  So, we are pushing for a September completion, which would allow Tony approximately 90 days to complete the home after the foundation is poured next week.

It is no secret that the construction industry is notorious for failing to meet deadlines.  If you have experienced similar delays, what did you do to ensure your project was completed in a timely manner?

Inching Along

No, we have not forgotten about our house, nor have we gotten so busy that we cannot update our blog.  Progress on our foundation has been so slow that there is just not much to show you.  On May 26th we had finished phase 2 of the foundation and were waiting for concrete to dry.  After the obligatory seven day wait, we continued to wait.  Finally, yesterday some progress was made.  In typical dig a hole, fill it up fashion, the hole surrounding the garage was (for the last time) filled in (on two sides).  But, prior to filling in the hole, waterproofing was applied to the now dry concrete -- which can still be seen on the exposed side.

June 10, 2010

Now we are just waiting to see what the next step will be.  There is a chance that more plumbing will be put down prior to installing the water barrier and re-bar.  If not, then there may be a slim chance that we will indeed make our (purely optional to the builder) deadline of having the foundation complete by June 15th, which would put us on track to close at the end of August.