Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Building a new house
From: michael@sunbeam.ksc.nasa.gov (Operator)
Date: 18 Dec 92 13:22:17
Organization: NASA, Kennedy Space Center, FL.
In-reply-to: djc@aps.anl.gov's message of Mon, 14 Dec 1992 17:16:17 GMTLines: 272




Dan Ciarlette writes: <a very fine post, I might add!>

   1.  Get an attorney and have him look over the contract and any
       additions you or him will add.

This cannot be stressed enough. The cost of an attorney consultation
and contact review is truly minimal when compared to the cost incurred
by even a single problem you might encounter.

I just finished construction on a custom home of my own design. I
hired a contractor - I used him like a foreman - meaning that I paid
him a fixed fee for his labor. I assumed monitary responsibility for
the cost of construction. My wife ran the books. We all had check
signing capabilities. Also, my wife drew the design, I architected it,
drew the plans, wrote the specifications, my wife and I selected the
materials, made final decisions regarding subcontractors, etc, etc. My
point here is that I had *some* control and I still had problems...
For one, the contractor was still too liberal with his check book. He
over paid the rough framing subcontractor by $3k because he "just kept
coming back for another draw"... so I was told.  When I caught on to
what was happening, he quit showing up... didn't quite finish his
job...  and was no where to be found. I made the contractor finish his
work.

A similar thing happened with the painters. Their specification list
called out for them to remove all hardware (they didn't) sand between
coats (they didn't do that either) and they were supposed to use an
eggshell paint (not flat) on the walls. The contractor over paid them
by $300 and they never sanded or painted the top of the doors and
jambs, nor did they top and bottom of the window sills. They were also
supposed to use Killz (an oil-based stain sealing primer) and they
used white flat latex instead. Now, we have pitch spots showing
through the latex and all of the trim is going to have to be primed
and repainted. They stopped showing up too.	

Its really interesting once you recognize the pattern. Pay them and
they consider themselves done whether they are or not. Get yourself a
good attorney. Although your contractor is going to be your point of
contact... and the headache's are all his... you should have the
backing of counsel just in case you need it.

Oh yeah, we also had to litigate a lien with our drywall contractor.
Our contract with him specified smooth walls and a splatter/knock-down
texture on all of the ceilings. We agreed on a finished price of $19
per board.  The day after he was paid in full (just to get him out of
there) he sent me another bill for $550 (!) AND filed a lien the same
day.  

He claimed that he needed that to cover his costs for masking off the
walls from the splatter overspray.  I told him thathow ever he had to
do his job was his business... he signed the contract after all. He
took 10 weeks to finish (his contract said he would do it in 3!)  and
in all fairness, he did a really lousy job... and thats being kind...
as my smooth walls look like railroad tracks.  I later found out that
he's done this to other contractors many times in the past. If only I
had done a little research... if only.

At any rate, even though his lien was bogus and fraudulent, it was a
lien none the less and I couldn't close with the bank until it was
settled. Also, because it was for $550, it was in the area of small
claims court, which is running between 6 months and 12 months behind
here. We wanted it move to criminal court... and to civil court for
our complaints. The contractor said that this was a form of legal
blackmail...  because it would cost us more to litigate it then to pay
it.  Not including time, interest on the construction loan, etc.

After we hired the atturney, we found out that he was right; it was
legal blackmail. I had to pay the court $1200 to bond the lien (by 2x$
+ clerk costs) plus I had to file suit against him.  All this
accomplished was getting him to drop his charges and cost us $700 in
attorney fees. I was advised that if I even won the $12k damages I was
seeking (which I would have... we had a very solid case) I could never
get him to pay...  because he was incorporated as a business... which
didn't have to turn much -if any- of a profit... you see, you can only
sue against his profit. All he had to do was take home this "profit"
in wages and salary and I couldn't touch that or his assets or his new
Ford pickup. Not in Fla, anyway.

Dans advice is good advice: Get An Attorney. Hopefully, you won't need him.

   2.  Make sure you have it IN WRITING that you get a key and have full rights to go
       through the house at anytime.  My contractor wouldn't give me a key they did
       say they wouldn't chase me off if a contractor was there working.  This I consider
       unacceptable.

There definitely needs to be more said here. Make sure that you have
IN WRITING all changes to the blueprints, construction (you mentioned
quality..) or upgrades to any product used in the construction above
and beyond that which the builder customarily does or uses. 

Sounds simple enough, right? problem is how you define customary is
probably different from the way he defines it. You not only have to
specify what you want where, how you want it done, when you want it,
you also have to specify -from time to time- what you DON'T want.


I thought each subcontractor *knew* how to do his job.  I was wrong!
For example, I expected that the drywall would be put up with drywall
screws and not nails. Thats why they call them drywall screw, right?
Besides, the building code specified it. Wrong!  I also assumed that
the painters would remove the electrical wall plates before
painting... wrong! I specified that the interior and exterior wall
paint be rolled and not sprayed... I wanted everything rolled. I said
so in writing.  Careless me, I forgot to specifically mention the
doors so they were sprayed too.  They were not part of the walls. Not
only that, but they spray painted the doors in the kitchen on the
newly tiled floor!  Same for the the front door... They didn't take
them off their hinges. I have some exceptionally nice white urethane
enamel overspray on top of black marble in the foyer.  (ouch!) I still
haven't gotten all of the overspray off the floor. Lesson: Don't
assume *anything*.

BTW, I thought that my job went fairly well compared to some of the
nightmares I've heard about. At least I got most of the house I
expected.

   3.  Make sure you have access to the construction office.  My builder held their 
       construction offie address and phone number more secret than the list of US
       double agents.

Anything less unacceptable. Its *your* house. Your going to live in it
for n years... not the contractor.

   4.  Make sure you EVERYTHING picked out before signing the contract.  In my case,
       after I signed, and 2 months later, we went in to pick out our tile and grout.
       They charge me $75.00 to change to color of their ugly darkish gray grout!!!
       All in all, I paid an additional ~$200 in grout color changes!!

not only should you have it picked out, spell out the manufacturer,
the model or part number, color, style, etc... anything you can before
you start. *OR* have a budget to work from without additional charges
for changes. The only time where you should be liable for change costs
are where something is already done and you want it changed. Grout
changes before the job is even started is reprehensible, as are
additional charges for delivery or delay.

   5.  On my builder's model homes their are deadbolt locks.  The list of upgrades in
       the house do not say anything about deadbolt locks.  BUT, deadbolt locks are not
       installed in the base house.  So, I thought I got a deadbolt but am not.  While,
       I would change it after I moved in anyway, now I have to risk wrecking the door
       puting one in.  Make sure you know EXACTLY what goes into the house.

for everything. including faucets, knobs, door stops (?!) and anything
else your used to. spell it out in writing. Then there won't be any
second guesses.

   6.  Know things like, what type of drywall board is being used (thickness, greenboard
       ....)

Is fire-rated drywall board important to you? or sound board against
bathroom walls to quiet the pipes? If these things concern you, then
you really need to know how the place is going to be built. you need
to learn... so get a book and read. Try "The Visual House: a Builder's
Handbook" or some such as that.

   7.  What types of subfloors are going in?  Is is plywood then covered by subfloor or
       is it just plywood covered by carpetting?

Anything less then 3/4 Tongue and groved, glued and screwed subflooring
will cause problems in the long run. <squeeek!> 

   8.  Make sure the builder guarantees everything.  Say a faucet goes bad in 6 months,
       the builder should fix it and not tell you to contact the faucet manufacturer.

Some builders offer the 10-year HOW warranty. For them to sell the
HOW, they have to pass several inspections on both quality and
construction. You don't want to have to replace your AC unit when its
only 2 or 3 years old now, do you?

   9.  Make sure your NEVER paying out more money that it is costing the contractor. 
       Try to give them as little money as possible during construction.  If they go
       belly up make sure your not losing everything.

Oh boy, is this a big one. Can you say Kick-Back? Since we ran our own
books, you would really be shocked --REALLY-- at how many places will
tell you *the owner* one price and the builder, another price. EVEN
WHEN THEY TELL YOU ITS THE BUILDER'S PRICE. Some places wouldn't even
tell me the builders price at all... even though I wrote the check. Go
figure! this business is full of kick backs. One builder I knew told
me how he made an extra $10 every time he made a run to the hardware
store... because of the way the store billed the account... which the
owner blindly paid for. 

   10. Make sure that when payments are due that the payments are only paid upon
       completion of the task you are paying for and you are satisfied with the job.
       My builder is trying to get me to pay for completion of drywall before taping
       is done and the roof leaks.

The bank or lending institution usually sets this schedule. But your
right... if they agree to pay him, then you can still call the bank
and place a hold on his draw check. Of course, that also depends on
how you have your banking arrangements setup ahead of time. The bank
would not give complete control of the monies... but a joint account
was acceptable. In our case, we had the draw checks automatically
deposited into our savings account which was also kept at the same
bank. Then we would move the money to the checking account at our
leasure. So indirectly, even thought we didn't have complete control
over the checking account, I had control over when I put the money
into it.

   11. Meet with the construction foreman and see what type of personality he has.  Find
       out if there have been any changes in the organization.  My builder had a good
       reputation with customers until a new construction supervisor came along.

Find out if he is willing to work with you too. He may not want to
accept minor verbal changes from you. This might be a problem.

   12. Make sure the contract stipulates an EXACT date of completion and closing with
       an exact date of inspection/walk through.  

Also, if the exact closing date isn't met... then a $50 or $100 a day
penalty is appropriate. I wish I had done that with my drywall
contractor... it would have saved a lot of grief and $$$.
	
   13. For inspection/walk through items, maybe an escrow account that contains $5000
       until completion or something like that would be good.  The builder will ignore
       you unless there is money to be gotten.  Also, I'd try to make it that they do
       not get any of the $5000 or whatever until ALL items are fixed.

No... the entire last draw should be escrowed. That way you have his
complete and undivided attention. Most builders like to divide their
attention and resources between multiple jobs. When you are ready to
close, you want that last punch list taken care of. I closed three
months ago and I am still waiting for better then 2 dozen things to be
completed. 

   14. I wish I put into my contractor that the builder must call me once a week to talk
       about problems and such.  I found a few problems that the builder could have 
       covered up and the inspector may not have noticed but would have caused drywall
       cracks in 5 years.  They got fixed luckily.

I talked to mine daily. I was there first thing in the morning
(usually 7am) because thats when the days plans are discussed... and I
would be there after work for several hours to inspect the days
progress. Then after dark, I would call or meet with the contractor to
discuss what happened that day... and any problems I found would be
discussed as well. Then the next morning I was there to remind him
about them.  I learned an awful lot about building houses by doing
that.  Next time, I'll do without the contractor. My wife on the other
hand, says I'll only do it again with another spouse! :^)

   15. Do not sign the contract and then let the contractor look it over for a few days
       and sign it.  Make sure you sign it LAST.  Initial every page and date it.
       Maybe add a line in the contract that if a page is not initialed and dated by you
       then that page is not valid.  A contract might, slip a new page in or change one
       on you after they get your signature.

Use a blue pen too. Zerox machines can't tell blue from black.

   16. Above all, be courtious, but also be stern, don't let them push you or 
       pressure you.  You are the customer and they work for YOU.  You have the right 
       to be happy, talk to people in charge etc...  I started out being too nice and
       [naive].

you should always be in control. always.

   17. Keep a diary of everything that goes on.  It has proven helpful when the contractor
       says the "house is delayed because of bad weather in November" and I was able to
       say back that "it's too bad that the house wasn't worked on for 3 beautiful sunny
       weeks before the bad weather."  Also, my contractor said that a delay was caused
       because the electical utility did not install the electric.  I quipped back,
       "that was because they rejected the installation of the meter box on Nov 13 and
       I had to tell your construction supervisor on Nov 25 and he was not aware of it."

If you keep a daytimer or some such book, dated and with personal time
stamps.. it can be used as a legal document.  


'nuff said.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house