[NavyCO]

Recently, it came to our attention that the original builder never bothered to caulk and cover the Styrofoam tops above our windows and door headers on our 2 year old home. Wasn't caught on final inspection, and who in the world would get on a 16 foot ladder to check to see if the builder of the home did what they were supposed to do? Nobody would.

So...weather and rain caused leaks and drywall to bubble and crumbed around the windows, and when I went to the WARRANTY Department to speak to Dennis, the manager, and told him about the "latent" defect in workmanship, he did the RIGHT THING, and send the builder back to caulk and paint it, and to re-dryall the damaged areas inside the house. This proves that Dennis and the Warranty Department can do the right thing when needed, and not required the home owner to end up in unnecessary litigation. THANKS DENNIS and HOME WARRANTY DEPARTMENT! That is what good customer service is all about.

Now into another CS note: for all home owners with stucco homes, do yourself a favor both at closing and later if need be to prevent the kind of water damage I have described....GET UP ON A LADDER 18 FOOTER and check for yourself to ensure that all moldings and styrofoam decrorative fittings on the exterior are properly caulked and sealed and if not contact the WARRANTY department immediately to have the builder to it right.

Even top quality builder workers will NOT do what they are supposed to if they think nobody will ever get up on a ladder to inspect what they should have done. If nobody is going to check for proper caultking up hight--they won't do it--so you need to. If you are a female and don't have an able bodied man, hire somebody to get up their and check it out and take photos of it for you, so you can see the proof.

DO NOT RELY ON THE BUILDER TO DO ALL THE THINGS REQUIRED IF YOU CAN'T SEE BUT ONLY AT EYE LEVEL. TRUST NO ONE--but know that the warrany department and Dennis Stradinger will do what is correct when needed.