The bank works on a draw schedule. 20% when foundation is in and decked, 40% when fully enclosed, 30% rough wiring, plumbing and complete heating is installed and 10% when 100% complete. You pay 8% interest per month on all the "draws" plus your monthly escrow for taxes, homeowners etc. When the house is complete it rolls into a conventional mortgage. The bank inspects before each draw is released. The draw checks are made out to us and then we sign them over to the builder (when we're ready [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] )
I have spoken with the bank and they need to remain impartial as far as the builders go. They can't get involved.
Well it looks like they will not get everything done before Monday. The site super said the asphalt guy is 3 weeks out. I said "then why didn't you call him 3 wks ago?
Oh and the walkway is fine says the super. When I asked if it was poured on 4-6" of compacted gravel the reply was "Its not going anywhere......"
Sorry to see you having builder problems. Be certain you are in a club with thousands of members (I am a gold club member myself). I have had two homes built and am contemplating a third,if I my wife doen't divorce me first.Like you I checked before building and was floored when the builder pulled the same type of antics you explained. On my current home the relationship between my builder and myself was so poor in the end, that he abandoned the job for a period of time and I panicked. I called him and asked when he was going to finish repeatedly. When it was obvious he was being an **** I went to his house and confronted him.He said he was "finished" and would not be back, and that furthermore if I tried anything he would file a lien and said house would be "his". I freaked and left his property. I was afraid to tell my wife immediately so I looked on the net and downloaded about 80 pages of Indiana code regarding liens.I am sorry to say that other than a loophole of abandonment by contractor for a period of time, he was correct. I contracted an attorney and was able to get monies to finish the project after the attorney enlightened the builder on some aspects of the law he missed. If not for this loophole I would have been screwed. This was all due to me trying to get the builder to fix shoddy work. (I guess I hurt his feelings).I could not believe that the law would be so stacked against the homeowner. My bank was absolutely adament that they would not interfere with builders during a construction loan if builder showed progress on paper. If you can read your states codes, do so it is enlightnening reading. Keep your chin up as best you can. I am living in my home and the bad memories are being replaced with new and better ones as time goes by.
<font color="blue"> I asked if it was poured on 4-6" of compacted gravel the reply was "Its not going anywhere......" </font color>
"I didn't ask your opinion as to whether or not it 'was going anywhere.' I asked you if it was poured on 4-6" of compacted gravel. Is there some part of that question you fail to comprehend or are you intentionally failing to answer me?"
I don't question that Pbxhead's information is correct but I do think it misses an important point. I have never seen a building contract that didn't require a builder to perform with in expectable quality standards. Granted, the definition of quality can leave room for debate. My point is that if the conditions of the contract are not met or the quality of work is below industry standards you always have recourse.
Everytime I check this thread I feel so lucky to have been able to build our home without any real difficulties. The subs were on time and just did their work to my satisfaction.
There were mistakes some by the architect, framer, roofer, plumber and even me. The framer caught an error by the architect but then framed the fireplace wall wrong. The roofer's workers did some sloppy work and when the boss saw it he hit the roof himself to fix it.
Except for the plumber everyone was quick to fix any errors. There was a lot of time locating and hiring the right subs. People who showed up on time and did very good work. All the subs except the plumber again made this a very good experience.
The schedule was for 120 days and the construction was done in 108 days. It took a year to find the best and most responsible contractors in our area and then set the schedule.
I was at the site daily and most days working on my parts of the project. You just get more work done better when you are around. Most important I was the boss and controled the money. When subs were done, I paid them that day. This was not lost on the other subs who were working the job.
My advice to anyone going to build a home is to spend the time up front finding the best subs and GC your own home. Just make sure that you are working as hard as GC as you would want a builder to do. Sure there will be problems but that is expected. It is how those errors are corrected that make it a good or bad experience.
<font color="red">My advice to anyone going to build a home is to spend the time up front finding the best subs and GC your own home. Just make sure that you are working as hard as GC as you would want a builder to do. Sure there will be problems but that is expected. It is how those errors are corrected that make it a good or bad experience.
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Good tips. It I EVER build anouther house[I hope not to] [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] ] that is the route I would take. Only reason we did not, is becouse we wanted it done faster. [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] and here we are............. [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/mad.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
wow paul...never dreamed you would'nt be in by now...this has got to be burning you up inside....man I cant stand thiefs!!!! and that's all this guy is, a THIEF!!!!...I definately wouldnt pay him his last draw, and if he wants to go to court and make a lien claim, tell him you would welcome the chance to get in front of a judge and tell your story! it seems you have plenty of documentation and pics to prove your point showing his incompitence.....but most likely, he will just write it off as a business expense.....he doesnt want to go to court with you and have you show these pics and how long this job has taken!....he wouldnt see another penney if it were my house!
keep your chin up, it can only get better from here!
>I definately wouldnt pay him his last draw, and if he wants to go to court and make a lien claim, tell him you would welcome the chance to get in front of a judge and tell your story!
This would be true if there were any measure of true justice in America, but as someone else pointed out things are skewed so much in favor of the builder that it aint funny. Some of these guys make there living in court.
First and foremost, I'm so sorry to hear about the issues you are having. The toll it takes on you is awful. We did a build back in '94. Thought we had done all of the homework correctly. And the specs that were part of the contract were VERY detailed and specific (e.g., "rebar in the footings will be placed on rubber covered 'chairs'", and "the proposed mix for all concrete pours will be submitted to the architect for approval", etc.). Even with that level of detail, and the GC's initials on every page, he still ignored things constantly. We went round and round. I posted a "stop work" order once, and the second time it got that bad we threw him and all of his subs off of the job. He sued. He eventually settled about two hours before we were due in court. There were three things that saved our bacon. First, I had a notebook with detailed notes of everything that happened, every conversation, every punch list item... for every single day of the build. The second was to hold back on each draw until all of the punch list items are cleared. But the most important was that our contract was based on the shell provided by the American Institute of Architecture, not something the builder provided. The crucial things in that contract are the statements that the architect is the final arbitor on methods of work and whether the owner has sufficient grounds to fire the GC. When the time came, we got the architect to write the letter saying we had grounds to fire the GC (tough to do because they have to continue working with the builders, so make sure your architect is willing to take your side in the eventuality). I didn't "know" to do these things to protect us, I was just lucky. It still ended up being a horrid experience, and it was almost impossible to find a good builder who was willing to take over the project (the good ones have more work than they can do). And the ultimate price ran way over. We'll end up building another place in the next 3-4 years because we bought bare farm land to retire on. I've learned a lot about what to do and not to do the next time, and can't emphasize enough taking however long is needed to find the right GC; especially if you are a perfectionist, which I have to plead guilty to.
Hope this adds a little more knowledge to the brain trust.
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