Any home builders out there?

That’s a nightmare

 

A small part of me hopes that when I go check tomorrow that they’re in the middle of trying to cheat me. Will make for an interesting day.

 

Yeah that’s probably best.

 

About 8 years ago the wife decided she wanted a double deck patio for the backyard. When the remodeler put up the 2nd floor I asked he slope it so any water that blew onto it (it is covered) would drain off. He got the roof on and the 2nd floor framed out when I noticed, no slope (only was to slope like 1/8th of an inch every foot). I took a level up and the entire thing was level. He had to do some major changes to fix it and make it slope.
You gotta keep your eyes on them!

 

That's frustrating. How the hell do people like sleep at night? If I do a job and it's not the best I can do it drives me crazy until I make it right.

 

You're implying that they/he purposefully didn't do it right. That's only true half the time. The other half it is chalked up to just good ole fashion BEING STUPID. "I have a tape measure, a pick-em-up truck and a cell phone. I'M A CONTRACTOR."

 

An update.

He responded with the contractors who do the post tension cables have had cases of the covid. And they don’t know when they will be able to come out and do it.

I think he’s just using that as a way out. Who schedules concrete in such a short time window if the prep work hasn’t even been finished. Twice.

 

TundraMcGov - I am not implying that my contractor did it purposefully, and he absolutely made it right. This was a big job (some demo, some engineering, lots of rock work) b/c it connected to the house. All said and done, it was about 65K in work, and I couldn't be happier with the finish product. In fact, our project won the "Best Backyard Upgrade Award for Austin, TX.

 

Hmm.... It may be different in different areas. But on the 900 or so homes I have built, we have purchased the cables from one company (as in Suncoast Post tension) and have a sub install them. NEVER the same. It's suspect that the cables, rebar for corners, chairs, concrete bricks etc have not shown up.


We used to have to schedule the concrete a week or so out and then drop the day before so we could get early am slots. Its preferred to pour/place in the am as you want to get avoid cold joints and crazing. It was a constant struggle. And I have never added to a pad with sacks of dirt. What is in the sacks? On a positive note the work clean.

 

Well guys. I’ve found some more things that I’m not fond of.
How can this even happen..

The people that framed the house just floated our entire back wall over into the patio.
I’d like to know what you guys think should be done in order to correct this.
Is this a common thing?

 

They either have your foundation step down for outside patio off or they have your framing measurements off. Those threads you see in the photo are the J-bolts that are anchored into the concrete slab. The treated sill plate of your wall should be anchored down with those J-bolts. They should also have a foam sill plate in between the bottom of the treated lumber and the concrete foundation. I would start measuring the interior rooms and making sure they are as per the plans. If you don’t already have a set of your house plans I would request a copy of them. Hopefully you can figure out what happened.

 

In this situation what do you think should be done to fix this?

I’m confused as to why they even continued on knowing that it was off.

 

Wow. "Lucy! You got some splainin to do!"

 

My initial instincts is the foundation crew was off on their measurements but you will need to measure your walls and foundation to know for sure. This is fixable though. If the existing wall is in the correct placement and square then here are the steps I would do. Cut off the three anchor bolts flush with the foundation. Install a Pressure treaded 2x4 below the existing 2x4 wall. The one draw back is I don’t know if they can fit the foam moist stop with the space they currently have. They may be able to use liquid nails instead. After the 2x4 plate is lined up under the wall they will need to drill through both pressure treated bottom plates and into the concrete slab with a hammer drill. You will need three new holes for 1/2” galvanized all thread. They can use an epoxy to bond the all thread into the slab. After the all thread is anchored into the foundation they can install the washer and nut to secure the bottom of the wall in place. They will still need to fill in the inside concrete step down gap. They may want to use a concrete bonding agent before they install the concrete since it’s only 1 1/2” thick. On the exterior wall they will likely need to install more exterior sheathing over the new pressure treated plate to match the rest of the house. That about all they need to do to fix this. Hopefully this helps. Best of luck on your new home.

 

I don't think that's a patio step down. If you look at the far end, the grade appears to slope down from 1 1/2" at the corner down to 8-12" at the other end. Maybe that's an optical illusion. The exterior walls also appear to have 2X6 plates and studs. Nice house.

(Edit: I just noticed the intersecting wall is also overhanging the foundation by maybe 1 1/2". )

The framers must have raised a question, and the builder authorized them to continue to plan (loco gringo) after thinking up a band-aid fix. My first impression would be to accept the loss of interior dimension, and have them tear out that short distance out and re-frame to the f'ed up foundation. But...then the error feeds into the roof framing and it just keeps growing, creating more problems to be solved.

 

If that's a load bearing wall with upper floor and/or roof rafters sitting on top of it there needs to be footing under it. Not just filling under with concrete or pressure treated lumber(good fix if there is already footing there as 1UPPER suggested). The fix is easy enough but not on your dime. Do not give up the square footage, make the builder fix it the right way. If you don't have city/county inspections where you live inspect it yourself before they pour. As a builder we always encourage the homeowners to know and understand their plans, makes it easier to communicate during the construction process. These kind of mistakes happen but a quality contractor will correct them the right way. We have lost a few houses to other builders because we were a little higher than another contractor with our bid, then get calls several months later to come look at issues people have with their house. We've even come in and finished houses where the builder was fired because of issues like your pics on a large scale.

 

It appears there are 2 walls that are off and is that a J-bolt in the doorway?

 

Anyone needing a home inspection in the Central Texas area my son is a Certified Home Inspector. ALLSTAR Realty Inspections in Round Rock Texas.. 512-937-7507 for scheduling. Or his cell - 512-779-9146. Very reasonable and does thorough inspections. Reports are guaranteed to be to you in 24 hours.

 

Hey! Chris does PHASE INSPECTIONS. These are done while the home is being built. The framing over the lower patio foundation will not be in CODE. They need to stop that house. Or you need to back out now. You should see the tear coming through the foundation batter boards or the concrete if they reinforced the slab. The ground moves so much in Round Rock that it will crack all over if not reinforced. Give Chris a call!

 

Appreciate all the help guys.

Is the foam sill between the lumber and foundation a building code thing? Or the way that it should be done?
I’ll have to go out and check but I’m almost positive there isn’t such thing.

 

Here was his response to my email.

 

Give Chris a call. Again, he does “Phase Inspections”. Inspections done at different stages of the construction.

 

Who is this Chris guy you speak of? Is that your son at all star?

 

Yes. He’s the Owner

 

If that corner or wall is load bearing and they missed the beam in the foundation under the wall this is an issue, that will(should) require an engineer to sign off on. Loads have to be transferred from the top hip or peak of the roof down through the wall system then into the engineered foundation. I would ask for a signed stamped letter stating that the repair was completed to the satisfaction or under the direction of the engineer who designed the slab.

All of that time they had to check the slab, and they still missed that...... All we used to do was check the corners for square and 4 wall measurements. Always double check the foundation perimeter and plumbing off of the framing drawings.

Take lots of pictures. Lots

 

There are so many issues with this... Look at the anchor bolts, they are not even straight. How do they torque the nuts down evenly with the bolts being off 5-20 degrees?

How deep is the drop off? I dont think you can "dowel" and pour concrete onto a 1 1/2"-3" deep slot. They will need to use a bonding agent at a minimum.

I would make sure that crew does not come in and just slap in a repair one afternoon. You need to be able to document the correction. Also without the drop, you might need to flash the porch where it meets the treated bottom plate of the wall. What ever you use will eventually rust or deteriorate.

Do you have a full set of plans? Look for the beam layout, if they did in fact miss the foundation beam ask them how they are handling that. One solution might be to excavate under the foundation and place piers.

Sorry you are dealing with this.