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[gatti-man]

So my wife and I were out day dreaming at houses and say a model home by Wilshire homes we loved. We were told the plan costs 450k and chose a lakeside lot we loved. After all the options were added in from the model it was more like 575k but I felt that was more my fault for assuming and paid it.

This is a shit load of money for me and my wife. And as being such we want it perfect which is far from what’s happening. I hired an independent inspector before they put drywall up and we had 14 pages of violations and repairs needed. I submitted the repairs to the foreman and my customer service rep and also had a long talk with them about my feelings about the lack of quality work being done. A month has passed they tell me it’s about ready to be checked and more than half the shit still isn’t repaired. The cock suckers have 75k worth of my deposit money and I just want to tell them to pound sand but I can’t. Super frustrating.

This doesn’t even count the several times I’ve found open containers of alcohol on the job site and completion date has slipped from September to now November and I’m expecting that’s wrong too as we still aren’t even ready for drywall at this point.

 

[V2Tommy]

Good think you'll have the 2, 5 and 7 year warranty for the new build.

You're gonna need it!

 

[gatti-man]

Good think you'll have the 2, 5 and 7 year warranty for the new build.

You're gonna need it!

It’s a 10 year but yeah these guys seem at their wits end dealing with me and all I want is a house built to code.

A perfect example of what I’m dealing with is all windows were installed but someone carelessly drilled holes in the window frame for security wiring and actually dug out the window frames themselves. Marked up 80% of the windows. Wilshire is trying to pretend like it can be repaired and I’m telling them I want new windows in the house.

We have electricians messing up framing then framers messing up electrical and back and forth. The repairs are taking months when they should take days. It’s just a complete mess.

 

[V2Tommy]

I feel your pain, man, I really do. Took over 3 years to get a leaky window diagnosed that was draining into the frame of the house.

 

[Halo is Back]

This is exactly why I’m buying one of those modular homes that you build your self. They are higher quality built homes and have higher quality materials (usually depends on what model you get). That way I don’t get stuck with some dumb lazy ass contractor

 

[gatti-man]

This is exactly why I’m buying one of those modular homes that you build your self. They are higher quality built homes and have higher quality materials (usually depends on what model you get). That way I don’t get stuck with some dumb lazy ass contractor

Yeah Wilshire has a decent rep here and the higher ups basically say I’m just getting unlucky but that it’s unrealistic for someone to be on site all the time and at this point I honestly don’t think it’s unrealistic at all based on the quality of work that’s being done lol.

 

[Halo is Back]

Yeah Wilshire has a decent rep here and the higher ups basically say I’m just getting unlucky but that it’s unrealistic for someone to be on site all the time and at this point I honestly don’t think it’s unrealistic at all based on the quality of work that’s being done lol.

Yea sorry you you got that cuck working your house. They are right though not all contractors are bad obviously. But maaaaan if I found alcohol on the premise when they were already doing a shitty job I would blow up. If they were doing an amazing job I probably wouldn’t give a crap

 

[gatti-man]

Yea sorry you you got that cuck working your house. They are right though not all contractors are bad obviously. But maaaaan if I found alcohol on the premise when they were already doing a shitty job I would blow up. If they were doing an amazing job I probably wouldn’t give a crap

Yeah I’ve got their ass pretty bad more than a few times. When I first started complaining Wilshire said my contractor was on site 3 times a day and I said oh yeah? So I guess he’s ok with all these open containers I’ve been finding for the past 3 weeks. Then lit them up with photos and examples of shoddy work. I’m my Foreman’s worst nightmare lol.

 

[infinitys_7th]

I would never build with contractors - modular is the way to go, unless your heart is set on some way-out architecture.

I've got a plan for my ideal home developed, and once I am ready to build (probably in the next 5 years) I will be able to just give it to a factory and they will build it. The house will be built in about a week, completely indoors with no rain or snow or dirt, and with no cost overruns from contractors "accidentally" doing substandard/code-violating work.

 

[highrider]

You would be hard pressed to go to any county jail and not find several contractors awaiting trial or settlement.

 

[EverydayBeast]

I would probably be angry at that situation, if I'm not mistaken that's construction cultural, you just got to let them do their thing.

 

[Thaedolus]

I've found running a project or dealing with contractors to be like herding cats. Even getting a deck built at my house by someone highly rated was insanely disorganized. Random dudes would be showing up at my house unannounced to do work and I'd have no idea...I'd be sitting in my basement and see the gate open and my dog would be ready to kill the intruder, and they had the gall to give me lip about it...dude I'm paying 12k for this shit, how about you give me a phone call and I'll have my dog inside before you get here? WTF?

I couldn't imagine working with several contractors on a whole house. My parents are building right now and due to delays they're going to be sending us their dog, and I've got boxes of their stuff taking up all our storage space right now.

 

[gatti-man]

I would never build with contractors - modular is the way to go, unless your heart is set on some way-out architecture.

I've got a plan for my ideal home developed, and once I am ready to build (probably in the next 5 years) I will be able to just give it to a factory and they will build it. The house will be built in about a week, completely indoors with no rain or snow or dirt, and with no cost overruns from contractors "accidentally" doing substandard/code-violating work.

My house is pretty out there. Some parts have 20’ ceilings and massive triple sliding glass doors that open up to a lake and green belt. It’s pretty much a dream house that I’m having to go through hell over.

You wouldn’t believe the things I’m finding like missing water proofing, exposed sheathing that they just hardy plank over, no tape over metal supports, insufficient nailing of exterior sheating and waterproofing, insufficient fire blocking, ungrounded gas line, and pretty much all of it would be invisible if I wasn’t watching them by the time the house is built and drywall is on. It’s amazing how shitty the build quality is. I had to even get after them about securing water lines to studs and protecting electrical with metal plates. Like rookie shit.

 

[infinitys_7th]

My house is pretty out there. Some parts have 20’ ceilings and massive triple sliding glass doors that open up to a lake and green belt. It’s pretty much a dream house that I’m having to go through hell over.

You wouldn’t believe the things I’m finding like missing water proofing, exposed sheathing that they just hardy plank over, no tape over metal supports, insufficient nailing of exterior sheating and waterproofing, insufficient fire blocking, ungrounded gas line, and pretty much all of it would be invisible if I wasn’t watching them by the time the house is built and drywall is on. It’s amazing how shitty the build quality is. I had to even get after them about securing water lines to studs and protecting electrical with metal plates. Like rookie shit.

My condolences. I've seen how contractors act with regards to finishing modulars out (raising roofs, finishing upper floors of Capes, etc.) and it is always a nightmare.

IDK what your plan looks like, but you can do vaulted ceiling with mods - you just have to use microlam or steel beams to support in some other areas as a result. The only bad thing about modular is that you are restricted to 16'x66' max box sizes for the most part, but you can play around on a lot of plans and figure out creative ways to break them up.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Read your contract really well with a lawyer. As for all the fuck ups they should have a foreman driving around all day looking after all the houses they have under construction. I used to work at a family run business that custom designed homes as a designer. The hardest part for any build is trying to find contractors you trusted, but once you do it was always a pretty good time.
I work in low voltage now and can honestly say, you are probably better off without an alarm company because most of them are hacks. Wireless devices are much better at not ruining your doors and windows even though they are a tad bigger. But I’d rather have a gawky window contact than a fucked up window. I would honestly see if you can get those windows replaced. Sorry about your luck, building a house can be a very stressful experience with the wrong people in place.

 

[Pagusas]

Built a house last year, picked a great builder, had 0 issues and the house is amazing. My wife is in insurance so she was able to look at all the builders in the area and get a good idea of who was legit and who wasn’t. Paid to do our research. Everything was super transparent, we had our design center budget and kept to it, putting about 100k of extras into the house + a 70k pool. Everything turned out perfectly

 

[gatti-man]

Built a house last year, picked a great builder, had 0 issues and the house is amazing. My wife is in insurance so she was able to look at all the builders in the area and get a good idea of who was legit and who wasn’t. Paid to do our research. Everything was super transparent, we had our design center budget and kept to it, putting about 100k of extras into the house + a 70k pool. Everything turned out perfectly

Did you hire an independent inspector pre and post drywall? Because if you didn’t then you really have no idea what’s going on. Wilshire has excellent reviews in my area and the house was going to be built like shit.

The issues I’m finding wouldn’t cause issues for 10+ years most likely. They are issues you’d never see as a home owner in the bones of your house.

 

[Pagusas]

Did you hire an independent inspector pre and post drywall? Because if you didn’t then you really have no idea what’s going on. Wilshire has excellent reviews in my area and the house was going to be built like shit.

Yep, I’m not an idiot. My wife literally insures builders as a career, she’s seen everything and we had a great game plan going on. In the end we did 5 rounds of inspections, foundation with a soil specialist (basically required if you build in north DFW, pre drywall (structural, electrical/utility) post drywall, pre-close and and 1 year. All have been insanely good, all were independent of the builder and community, and all were extremely detailed with us (of course there were issues but nothing major and all were fixed and confirmed). Our build took 8 months from signing. And we were at the build site nearly everyday bringing donuts to the workers and watching things go up. We’ve actually considered buying more land and building extra properties for rental income.

 

[Cunth]

I recommend this documentary op

 

[gatti-man]

I recommend this documentary op

It’s not a money pit yet lol. In fact doing all this now essentially prevents that from happening.

Yep, I’m not an idiot. My wife literally insures builders as a career, she’s seen everything and we had a great game plan going on. In the end we did 5 rounds of inspections, foundation with a soil specialist (basically required if you build in north DFW, pre drywall (structural, electrical/utility) post drywall, pre-close and and 1 year. All have been insanely good, all were independent of the builder and community, and all were extremely detailed with us (of course there were issues but nothing major and all were fixed and confirmed). Our build took 8 months from signing. And we were at the build site nearly everyday bringing donuts to the workers and watching things go up. We’ve actually considered buying more land and building extra properties for rental income.

Didn’t mean to call you an idiot if you took it that way. You’d be surprised how few people get inspections. I’m like one of 2 people in my neighborhood that did it. 8 months is probably how long my build will take as well unfortunately

 

[bitbydeath]

I was going to joke and say I’ve built a home in Minecraft before but I can see this is serious.

I’ve also built a house in SIMS before.

 

[Pagusas]

It’s not a money pit yet lol. In fact doing all this now essentially prevents that from happening.


Didn’t mean to call you an idiot if you took it that way. You’d be surprised how few people get inspections. I’m like one of 2 people in my neighborhood that did it. 8 months is probably how long my build will take as well unfortunately

No worries, I am always shocked when I see people who don’t do inspections or balk at the $500-$700 inspection cost. Like seriously if you can’t afford that you shouldn’t be building a house!

 

[888]

Yeah we had one built and moved in nov 2017. It’s been a fairly good experience but no matter the builder they all contract out to the same shit labor that can’t build a straight wall. Look over everything with a fine tooth comb before you sign the closing papers. You will find all sorts of shit. Hire and inspector if you can. I had windows with no screws, ACs labeled wrong on the breakers, nails sticking out of the roof, gas line issues, little insulation in the attic. A full stud missing behind a shower that caused the curtain rod to push it through the drywall since there wasn’t any support.

the 1 year warranty I had them out quite a few times. After that it’s been quiet with really no issues since. I’ve talked to people that had houses built by even higher quality builders that dealt with the same shit. It’s the low dollar contractors slapping these things together.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

For anything shitty you can live with, ask for a refund back. And pressure them as most don't want to go through the work again.

I had a new investment build go up and they fucked up a kitchen sink. Instead of going through the hassle of replacing it, we agreed I'd stick with it and we signed an agreement to give me back $2,000.

If we didn't deal, it was under builder's warranty and they would have to re-do it all.... time and money. To them, $2,000 back to me was worth it.

 

[JORMBO]

I was talking to my dad recently about when he had his house built in the 80s. He said he had to show up regularly to clean up all the beer cans. He didn't want them to start sealing the piles of them up behind stuff to get rid of them.

 

[Rentahamster]

I dunno about houses, but I've pitched a tent.

 

[Weilthain]

I’ve never built a house instead I live in a house that is about 200 years old and nothing is simple. Nothing is straight, floors doors ceilings you name it it’s a pain getting work done because many workers dont have the experience with older houses.


I’m about to have the windows replaced in 2 rooms this week, they weren’t fitted properly years ago and one is about to fall outwards Can’t say I’m not worried they are going to mess up all the new carpets and furniture we just had installed and cost a fortune. They won’t it will be fine though.

 

[Pagusas]

Oh yeah, pro tip:

Take 360 degree photos of every room at every stage of the house build, especially pre-drywall/post electrical. I reference these photos ALL the time whenever I am hanging things, adding new speakers in, or doing anything with the walls. It’s basically like i have X-ray vision into my walls, so things like mounting a tv are super easy and I know I’m not getting close to any wires.

Other tips:
1. Spend the money and get a tankless water heater. I’ve had 4 water heaters break In my life, it’s not fun, go tankless

2. Get under counter lighting in your kitchen, even if you don’t want it, having the electrical prewired there is wonderful. And it’s the hardest electrical job to do post construction if you didn’t do it pre-drywall.

3. Figure out your appliances before the build and work with the counter/cabinet crew to have the kitchen adjusted to fit them exactly. We did this and everything looks like it’s 100% seemless, no fridge sticking out.

4. If you are like me and are constantly tinkering with the house wiring (like I did a hdmi over fiber distribution to every room In the house) ask to have a blank conduit run to the attic in ever room with a rope run in it. That way you never have to drill or figure out how to do wire drops from the attic, you just find the conduit up there, tie the wire to the cord, and go pull it through. Simple, clean, cheap and effective.

5. If you are building a pool get a DE filter, and pre-plan your gas and wiring to the pool equipment. Also keep in mind what side of the house you want the equipment on and have the builder put all your utilities on that side.

 

[gatti-man]

Oh yeah, pro tip:

Take 360 degree photos of every room at every stage of the house build, especially pre-drywall/post electrical. I reference these photos ALL the time whenever I am hanging things, adding new speakers in, or doing anything with the walls. It’s basically like i have X-ray vision into my walls, so things like mounting a tv are super easy and I know I’m not getting close to any wires.

Yeah I did that! Everything electrical is 12awg besides the bigger stuff. I run a beefy home theater so I need 20A fuses vs 15A. Had them run tubing in the walls for future HDMI replacements and speaker wires are already in for a 9.1.4 atmos setup.

 

[Liljagare]

Evertime it's the same, you gotta be present and watch them like a hawk it seems.. :\