My wife and I are in the middle of our new house build.  It is new construction and the first time for either of us has had any experience with a new build.  We expected issues/mistakes to pop up but what is happening seems a bit excessive and we are both regretting going with the particular builder.  Some examples are as follows:

They "exhibits" which are special build alterations such as adding an additional gate to the opposite side yard, deleting a closet, additional outlets etc etc...  They forgot to do most of those and I had to reminded them which resulted in having to cut drywall and patching.  Kinda sucks on a brand new house.  The exterior lights were not level by several inches making it very obvious to the naked eye.  So they had to tear into the exterior walls to move them.  To make matters worse, it took three tries before they got it right.  We also opted for the security system which has sensors built into the window frames but they screwed that up and had to tear into the walls some more.  Worst of all, we opted for a free standing tub and because this house is built on a slab foundation, it had to be poured for a free standing tub.  The only reason we paid the ridiculous amount for this option is so that we wouldn't have to tear into the slab and risk cutting a post tension cable to install a free standing tub later.  Well, they totally botched that up and they poured the slab with the tub drain in the wrong spot.  There are literally a dozen other little things as well but you get the point.

All these issues make me wonder about all the issues we don't see or know about.  So is this par for the course with new construction or are these guys totally inept?

Probably not totally inept but they sure don't sound good. Make sure you are going through that house with a fine tooth comb before handing over final payment..

What's the pay schedule? I assume multiple stages but what percent is final payment?

It's not a custom home so just a typical mortgage and we're putting 28% down.  The house is scheduled to be finished in a couple weeks which is also our Escrow close target.

Sorry, I'm not familiar with that so I won't be much help. Could you walk away if you wanted to? Is there still a closing at the end? Or did you put your 28% down prior to construction?

par for the course if you went with one of those big builders that builds plans.  they hire the cheapest subs and you have to babysit them, remind them of stuff and have them redo things.

I am a custom home builder I'm guessing this is a semi custom track builder? Like others have said they use subs that are not geared for custom work and really aren't paid/incentivized for quality. It's volume of work put out that meets their minimum threshold. I would stay on them and be very detailed on your final walk through and also not aign off on the final walkthrough until it is all completed and repairs/corrections made.

My home had one of the exterior garage lights sitting about 6 inches lower than the other three.  I never even noticed until weeks after we moved in.  Then It bothered me every time I looked at it.

My builder fixed it for me but it was a big headache organizing the electrician and the stone guy to get it done.

Not that my story helps in any way whatsoever.

We put a deposit at signing (prior to construction).  Because we signed a contract, I suspect it would be difficult to back out unless there were some extremely serious issues such as structural etc.  Yes, there is a close date which is in a few weeks.  We transfer the 28% in about two weeks.

It's not even semi custom, just a track home where the builder provides more options than most. We have our first walk though next week and a final, a week later. I plan to be very detailed so I can address everything possible.

get it all fixed before closing or you will never hear back from the builder

Document, Document, Document!!!!! Take pictures of the poorly done or wrong work with a corresponding description of the FAIL for each picture, and put together a presentation. Then seek out the highest person in that builder's organization that you can, and insist that they meet you at the project. Show them what you have put together so far, and tell him/her in no uncertain terms they better assign a qualified supervisor to the project that checks on it multiple times a day, or you and that book are going to be in front of the state contractors licensing board soon. Or if the capital/board is a long way away, make plans to Fed Ex it to them with a cover letter and request a teleconference to review the status of his contractor's license..

I've made a list of all the things that need to be fixed prior to closing. I've also been taking lots of pictures and video for documentation.  It's just frustrating that there's such a lack of attention to detail and avoidable mistakes.

You got the B or C team subs. Not unusual to have a few issues, but sounds like none of the crews bothered to look at the build set of prints after all your modifications were made.

I've been through the build process on 6 homes and none were a walk in the park. Unfortunately the reality is you have to stay on top of them and visit the site at least once a day, take lots of pictures and communicate with the foreman frequently. Sucks I know, but not really any other way in today's reality of shitty work ethics and indifference to craftsmanship.

Your list with pics needs to be transmitted prior to your next walk through with a statement indicating everything must be done prior to acceptance and closing. Don't let them railroad you into accepting incomplete and unacceptable quality. If you have an attorney, make a heads up call as undoubtedly the builder is gonna try to squeeze you into accepting the home with a checklist of outstanding "to do's" that they "promise" will get done if you'll just trust them and pay them. Sometimes a call from your attorney can help level set reality. It can get real ugly depending on the character of the people you're dealing with.

The upcoming walk through is to point out any issues.  Then there will be another about a week later to confirm everything is corrected. So I won't be accepting it until everything is done correctly.  Despite the errors, the construction manager has been good about addressing and correcting all the issues I have pointed out thus far. They even credited a decent amount for errors so while I would rather they just do things right, they are cooperative.

Your situation is really typical.
Most people let it slide or don't know what they are looking at.

Might I suggest a home inspector makes a visit prior to you accepting?

Thank you everyone for the replies.  It appears the general consensus is that what I'm experiencing is typical.  In a strange way, it does make me less upset.  I'll just stay on them to fix or redo everything I can find.  A previous statement that many people don't notice or let it slide is so true because one of the houses down the street has crooked lights.  I'm not just being nit picky either, they are visually obvious by almost half a foot and because they are close together, its totally noticeable.  Anyway, thanks fellas.

I just watched the show called 100 Day* Bach. Bach is a New Zealand beach/vacation house.

Despite the owner working with the architect and all the designers and site manager, the framers that put up the roof scissor trusses didn't bother to frame in for the smoke stack facade.

So, the roofers just roofed right over the whole damn thing.

So now he has a rinky dink looking stove pipe sticking out of his roof.

It's the classic "somebody else will do it" screw up.

So, the point is shit can happen to even a pro in the industry.


*Oh, they came in at 112 days. How great would it be to have a US builder only come in 12% late?