New house problems
 

I just want to vent a bit with this thread. First it was a bad heat pump that resulted in a high electric bill when we weren’t there. Then it was a water leak (outside the house) that resulted in a high water bill when we weren’t there. Then it was the dryer vent that was erroneously fitted with a screen and was 100% blocked. Then it was loose electrical connections on the stove that resulted in burned wire casings and a non-operable stove. Then it was the foggy glass on the microwave that I finally managed to get replaced after being denied twice. Today we received a call from the water company about high water useage, again while we were in RI. The plumber (Mike Scott Plumbing) came out and the repair was in the exact same place as the last time it was repaired. There will be another high water bill. So much for buying a new house to avoid problems in buying an older one. I guess I should consider myself lucky that my house didn’t burn as a result of a couple of these mistakes.

You probably would have been better of if it burned to the ground. Insurance would have taken care of the problem.:popcorn:

You may be right then we could have gotten the 2.5 garage instead of the crappy 1.5.

Bruce, I hope you contacted home warranty on all of these items, most if not all are covered for at least a year. I would also call home warranty specifically about the dryer vent and the wiring, and have full compensation from the builder. We had water inside our new house due to a defective sprinkler. I had the house watched by the Villages home watch service, and when I found mold in the carpeting, I went ballistic. I had the builder, the lawn care company, and the home watch company at the house. In the end I was able to get ALL of my money ( 5 months of fees) for the home watch back and full cleanup of all damage at no cost.
Make some noise, you might be surprised at the results.

OP, thanks for sharing your experiences. I hope the warranty at least limited some of the repair expenses.

Thanks for the info villagetinker. I’m pretty good at making noise so I did contact home warranty and everything was fixed without charge. It’s just very frustrating to buy a new house and have these problems especially when we are up north. We had a Home watch guy but our wonderful neighbors insisted that they check our place instead and they have been great.

Our neighbors met the plumber there and sent us pictures - before plumbing repair and after plumbing repair.

Oh I know someone who is not going to like these posts. Once again I will state the houses built here meet code but there is a huge gap between code and "high" quality. However the codes are pretty darn good as compared to other areas of the country. But then again the selling prices reflect that fact. Pay the subcontractors more and the quality might go up but so will the price of the house. It is a production line here. It seems it is common to get through the bugs in the first year by calling home warranty. Maybe those resales are not such a bad idea. Let the first guy find the bugs ?

We thought at one point that we may like to upgrade to a larger house and garage. But we really don’t want to go through this again so we may just stay where we are.

Reading his post it does not appear that any of the problems were related to the actual construction of the home but it’s appliances, sprinklers and heat pumps etc. all of which were corrected, a fact not pointed out in the original “ vent “.

Bruce, I’d be mighty upset too, these problems should NOT happen. I’m a relative newcomer to TV we rented for 2 months this past winter and when at the Chatam pool were flabbergasted how quickly the Souillere Villas were being constructed. We left on March 1st, I returned in mid May to purchase a CYV that was built in 2002. At that time the Souilliere Villas were already being marketed. I have to believe quality of workmanship can slip with such rapid construction.

Wishing you the best! Hang in there my Rhode Island and Village neighbor!

Everyone I know has had similar problems with new builds, even when they have built it themselves. It’s one of the big reasons I have never wanted to build a house or buy one new. Give me one that’s been broken in a bit.

I realize that just because it’s a new house doesn’t mean you won’t have problems. But what really bothers me is the couple of errors that could have resulted in a fire. I’ve attached a pic of the melted stove wires and the vent blockage. The repair guy said that the melted wires are usually caused by not tightening the connections sufficiently causing sparks.

Wow. Very worrying.

Bruce, the advice I like and I like all who have helped you but VillageTinkerererer is the one that holds the key to getting to the finish line with these problems.

Are the neighbors having the same problems? Maybe just a shoddy contractor?