harley
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
We (DW and I) had a house built about a year and a half ago, and we've had a few issues with it ever since. Our homebuilder has been a decent guy all along, but we're not getting the results we want. Now we're suspecting he might be on his way out of business, and we hoping y'all can give us advice on how to proceed.
Our main issue is that there is a water leak/seepage issue when we have really bad storms (5 times in 1 1/2 years). Our living room is 2 stories, and we have a sliding glass door with a big picture window over it. The water seeps in either through or around the upper window and drips down from the frame around the slider. We've had wall damage, as well as our hardwood floors. Hopefully not mold, though. We put the dehumidifier there every time it happens. Right now he's blaming Anderson Windows, so we'll have to see what happens there. And even though this is past the one year construction warranty period, it's been an ongoing problem since within a couple of months of the completion of the home. He's worked on it 3 other times, so it's just a continuation. If it turns out to be Anderson, in our opinion he should be the one fighting with them, as they were his supplier. He should also fix all the peripheral problems, and go after them to get his reimbursement. Am I right about this?
There are a few other issues too, including a partial or complete replacement of our composite material deck, due to faulty installation. He has put into writing that he will do the work by May 2010 to give him time to get past the slow period. But he may not last that long.
We're going to continue to work with him to get a resolution, but we're getting a bad feeling. He's closed his storefront, and he's saying things like our homeowners insurance should cover the floor damage (it won't). He's been slurring his words recently, and I suspect he may have had a minor stroke. So what we want to do is start a process where if he goes out of business we'd be high up on the list of creditors, assuming there's any blood in this turnip.
What we've done so far - checked his license (still valid). Read the construction contract, which clearly spells out his responsibility. We're putting together documentation of the problems and attempted solutions, as well as conversations we've had (from memory, as best we can). We know he's insured, but we haven't found the name of the insurance company yet, as we're trying to do all this without him finding out. I've checked the BBB. They don't have him listed, and there aren't any complaints. We're looking for a lawyer, just for advice at this point. But this is a small, incestuous area, so all the lawyers and business owners are friends or went to school together. I don't want it to get back to him while we're still on a relatively friendly business basis.
If any of y'all have been through this sort of thing or have any advice, I'd appreciate it. For all I know he'll come through just fine, albeit with a lot of pissing and moaning. But we both are getting a bit of a bad feeling about this, and want to hedge our bets. I'm looking forward to hearing what the group mind has to say. TIA.
Our main issue is that there is a water leak/seepage issue when we have really bad storms (5 times in 1 1/2 years). Our living room is 2 stories, and we have a sliding glass door with a big picture window over it. The water seeps in either through or around the upper window and drips down from the frame around the slider. We've had wall damage, as well as our hardwood floors. Hopefully not mold, though. We put the dehumidifier there every time it happens. Right now he's blaming Anderson Windows, so we'll have to see what happens there. And even though this is past the one year construction warranty period, it's been an ongoing problem since within a couple of months of the completion of the home. He's worked on it 3 other times, so it's just a continuation. If it turns out to be Anderson, in our opinion he should be the one fighting with them, as they were his supplier. He should also fix all the peripheral problems, and go after them to get his reimbursement. Am I right about this?
There are a few other issues too, including a partial or complete replacement of our composite material deck, due to faulty installation. He has put into writing that he will do the work by May 2010 to give him time to get past the slow period. But he may not last that long.
We're going to continue to work with him to get a resolution, but we're getting a bad feeling. He's closed his storefront, and he's saying things like our homeowners insurance should cover the floor damage (it won't). He's been slurring his words recently, and I suspect he may have had a minor stroke. So what we want to do is start a process where if he goes out of business we'd be high up on the list of creditors, assuming there's any blood in this turnip.
What we've done so far - checked his license (still valid). Read the construction contract, which clearly spells out his responsibility. We're putting together documentation of the problems and attempted solutions, as well as conversations we've had (from memory, as best we can). We know he's insured, but we haven't found the name of the insurance company yet, as we're trying to do all this without him finding out. I've checked the BBB. They don't have him listed, and there aren't any complaints. We're looking for a lawyer, just for advice at this point. But this is a small, incestuous area, so all the lawyers and business owners are friends or went to school together. I don't want it to get back to him while we're still on a relatively friendly business basis.
If any of y'all have been through this sort of thing or have any advice, I'd appreciate it. For all I know he'll come through just fine, albeit with a lot of pissing and moaning. But we both are getting a bit of a bad feeling about this, and want to hedge our bets. I'm looking forward to hearing what the group mind has to say. TIA.
