Quote:
Originally Posted by twoplanekid
Almost all items on the list of things that need to be addressed before our 1 year warranty expires on the new house in Lake Deaton have been completed to our satisfaction. For some reason, the builder will not replace a small window above the Lanai doors that is scratched. Our Home warranty inspection person had this item on his list as we didn’t notice it. The builder says that too much time has passed. Ok, we will let this pass.
Our drainage between houses is still not correct. However, I am more concerned about the water running off the roof in a particular location causing erosion and a trench to form. The Holly with an enlarged garage has a location with a valley formed by two large roof sections that gushes water at that area. When we first took delivery of the house, the builder stated that gutters were only installed in the front as they were not needed elsewhere. Now he says that gutters should be installed at our expense to correct this erosion issue at this location. Who built the house?
Maybe I should have stated that the builders can be difficult to work with and not home warranty?
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I do think that some builders are more difficult to work with (or perhaps less competent than others), but you had it right, home warranty is the real problem. I had a very serious drainage problem(basically a river) on one side of my home and a standing water problem in the back.
The builder didn't stand there and lie to me or make absolutely stupid arguments, he just said he wouldn't fix it. The idiot from warranty was infuriating to deal with. He told me the reason the side yard continuously stayed sopping wet was from my neighbor's sprinklers. When I said the water must be flowing uphill if it was from the neighbor's sprinklers, he said, no, they were spraying over onto my property. I told him that I had seen them on a number of times, and that they certainly were not spraying over my yard. (In order to keep the ground soaked in the area we were examining, the sprinklers would have to be spraying 14 feet over the property line for a length of at least 35 feet). I told him that the neighbor (who had previously contacted warranty about the river) would be more than happy to turn on his sprinklers so that he could see that they were not spraying my property, but of course, he did not want to see that, and would not stay to see the sprinklers turned on. Of course, although he couldn't take two minutes to see the sprinklers turned on, he did stay and argue for the next 15 minutes that I should contact all my neighbors and tell them to stop watering so much. I told him if he thought the neighbors' watering was the problem that he should take the responsibility to tell them to reduce the watering. Again, I was told this was my problem not his, and that he was not going to tell them how much to water.
As he left, I asked who was his manager, so that I could escalate my complaint. He told me that he had no manager, and that there was no one above him to contact.
I would estimate that a minimum of 40% of the homes in my neighborhood had a serious water problem. After considerable begging, threatening, and nagging by the homeowners, warranty has fixed about half of the problems. The cost at two of the homes on my block was over $4000 each so this is a serious problem. NOT a problem that will be fixed for $100 or $1000.
My message is this - If you are buying on the south end of The Villages (where the soil has a high clay content) be very, very certain that the lot drains well, because if it doesn't, you will be in for a lots of grief trying to get it fixed.
Warranty is great about sending plumbers, electricians, tilers, etc. out to fix problems since the workmen absorb the cost themselves, but not so good when the cost is high and must be absorbed by The Villages.