BIG QUESTION: new home construction

[InRich]

I'm about to take possesion of my new home from Cardel Homes in Cranston. This question goes out to anyone really. Would you get a private home inspection done by the 3rd party contractor, a home inspector to go over the home before the initial walk thru?

[Mibz]

Yes.

[Masked Bandit]

Yes, especially with these dipshits.

[Cos]

IMO not on a new house, you have a one year new home buyers warranty

[Weapon_R]

Since you don't know anything about home construction, you should hire an inspector to take a look. A new home warranty won't cover problems that take years to surface but a good home inspector might spot them so you can get them fixed before they are covered up.

[Sugarphreak]

....

[benyl]

You should have gotten the home inspector come by during construction so that he / she could see what is behind the walls.

Getting one now may not be of great value.

[sillysod]

i built with Cardel...
we were there every night checking things and fixing shit that they screwed up. In the end everything was good, but only because I fixed it my self.

With Cardel you pretty much HAVE to get it inspected if you plan on keeping it for more than a year or two.


Cardel or Avi are probably the worst decisions you could possibly make.... trust me.

[Kloubek]

I thought Cardell was decent. We almost bought with Avi!

I guess the build DOES get inspected at certain intervals. However, that doesn't mean everything is 100%.

We *just* moved into our new place in Kincora, and I am not going to bother with an inspection. Mind you, we have a 10-year warranty on the structure, so we're really not too concerned if they messed something up...

[JAYMEZ]

I just went with Cardel , got the Stapleton (Cranston Show home). Tell me how it all goes.. They just dug my hole this week , im excited!

[Supa Dexta]

riiight^??? (2 posts up^)

Oh yeah, I could care less if sometime in the next 10 yrs my brand new home fuks up, and I have to be inconvenienced by contractors traipsing around in here, and more bills piling up, headaches and run around for things that should have been done right to begin with,,,, :confused:

Its not wonder the shotty construction goes on in calgary when people don't demand better.

[Rarasaurus]

^
Exactly and if you are counting on your 10 year warrenty good luck.. Read up on it most people have a very hard time claiming anything and them agreeing to cover it... They will more than likely side with the builder.

[G3500]

Originally posted by sillysod
i built with Cardel...
we were there every night checking things and fixing shit that they screwed up. In the end everything was good, but only because I fixed it my self.

With Cardel you pretty much HAVE to get it inspected if you plan on keeping it for more than a year or two.


Cardel or Avi are probably the worst decisions you could possibly make.... trust me.

You are correct I'm currently building a house with Cardel and so far i am not too impressed, they messed up my foundations and now some of the concrete in the front of my house. I think its a good idea to have a home inspection done even on a new house. Its a small price to pay for such a huge investment.

[Mibz]

If you're relying on home warranty to fix shit, I have a feeling you haven't used home warranty before. Also, having that shit fixed before possession is a LOT easier than having it fixed when you're all moved in, there's furniture everywhere, etc.

No builder I've ever seen works off-peak hours so you're not only taking a day off work, but you're sitting there while these guys tear your house apart and attempt to put it back together properly, making a ton of noise and a ton of mess. I guarantee that any drywall repair will have a mess left that you're going to end up cleaning, and any ceiling repair is going to leave you wanting to kill yourself.

[DannyO]

Anybody have any input on Mattamy homes?

[03ozwhip]

or on lifestyle homes? i never thought that i may need another inspection for a brand new house that has to pass inspections for everything before its given to the owner...

[Cos]

^^ see I know a house inspection company were forced under because they werent actually inspecting any of the homes. They were doing something like 4000 houses a year without inspections.

Now that they have slowed down, workers and inspectors arent being pushed, and a bit more people looking at how the inspections are going. I am personally inclined to believe that things would be 'better'.

Now if you haven't been watching throughout the whole construction then yes get it inspected. I also agree on new home warranty being a bitch, I never personally have done it, my place was used.

Good Luck

[Klobi-1-Kinobi]

Originally posted by JAYMEZ
I just went with Cardel , got the Stapleton (Cranston Show home). Tell me how it all goes.. They just dug my hole this week , im excited!

Are you by chance building just south of the new comm. center?

And for the op, you do whatever you need to do in order to address any issues with your new home BEFORE possesion. Once the builder has your money in full you're pretty much sol.

[adidas]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
"Holmes inspections" are apparently coming to Calgary soon, too bad they are not here yet or you could hire them.

www.mikeholmesinspections.com

Yea they are in calgary already.

Dont expect Holmes himself to show up on your front door step.

[C_Dave45]

I'll give you my opinion, for what its worth. I've been in the new home business for well over 20 years. I work on hundreds of new homes by all the big builders. No matter who the builder is you get screw ups and short cuts, done by sub-trades, that the builder or on-site super hasn't caught. A home inspector basically inspects for stuff that doesn't meet code, or things that are damaged (old foundation cracks, old cast-iron plumbing that needs replacing, bad electrical that wont meet code, etc)He's not going to look for "deficiencies" per se. He won't look at a bad paint job, or a bad taping job..or wont see if the walk-in pantry you asked for is the right size. So if you want to spend the $350 on one go ahead...but he'll likely just say "everything" looks fine, because its all brand new, and its all been inspected and passed at the various stages.

Better than hiring an inspector would be to just regularly be on site to catch anything the builder has missed. ie: those extra plugs you paid for...the upgraded crown molding, etc...Because if you wait 'til posession date and THEN say "hey, you missed my plugs...." THEN its a pain in the ass to get them to fix it.

[frozenrice]

Originally posted by Weapon_R
Since you don't know anything about home construction, you should hire an inspector to take a look.

haha, doesn't mean some of the home inspectors know much more. I can't remember which show it was, but there was a documentry/investigative report about some of the basic stuff these inpsectors miss. One couple got stuck with a hefty mould removal/renovation bill because it wasn't part of the inspector's checklist of things to look for. The reporter confronted the guy about it and the guy's wife shoved the reporter out of the way and punched the camera guy.

I know one guy who was a home inspector, but he ended up quitting and opening up a meat deli because that was what he did in his homeland. Makes me wonder how he got his qualification to be a home inspector in the first place. :dunno:

[barmanjay]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
"Holmes inspections" are apparently coming to Calgary soon, too bad they are not here yet or you could hire them.

www.mikeholmesinspections.com


I use the same guy holmesy uses, but because I've been using him since he started (in fact he's the only one I will really reccommend), I get him for 1/2 the cost ($500ish+gst) Holmes charges
($925ish+gst).

Holmes interviewed and tested over 130 inspectors all across alberta and my guy came up #1

I can pass along a number - use my name as a referral and you will be treated well.

I love being in before Holmes :)

[Mibz]

Originally posted by barmanjay



I use the same guy holmesy uses, but because I've been using him since he started (in fact he's the only one I will really reccommend), I get him for 1/2 the cost ($500ish+gst) Holmes charges
($925ish+gst).

Holmes interviewed and tested over 130 inspectors all across alberta and my guy came up #1

I can pass along a number - use my name as a referral and you will be treated well.

I love being in before Holmes :) PMed

[InRich]

Originally posted by barmanjay



I use the same guy holmesy uses, but because I've been using him since he started (in fact he's the only one I will really reccommend), I get him for 1/2 the cost ($500ish+gst) Holmes charges
($925ish+gst).

Holmes interviewed and tested over 130 inspectors all across alberta and my guy came up #1

I can pass along a number - use my name as a referral and you will be treated well.

I love being in before Holmes :)


Pm'ed

[TomcoPDR]

Aren't you in the home construction business yourself Rich?

[InRich]

Originally posted by TomcoPDR
Aren't you in the home construction business yourself Rich?

yea but exteriors only.... so siding, stucco, windows, roofing. nothing to do with anything else. The easy stuff really.

[sillysod]

For those not sure when and what to check you pretty much need to check everything.




Here are a couple of problem in our house and my 2 neighbours houses.

1st Cold seam on concrete foundation (pump truck ran out of concrete so they waited too long to finish).

3 months after possession the basement started filing up with water. Builder said it was normal house settling, obvious b.s. anyways after 1 year they pulled his fence down, and got an excavator in to dig out his yard and fix everything.

They removed his deck and fence, he had to pay out of pocket to re-build both of them.




2nd Garage poured 2 inches below grade. Everytime it snows or rains the water runs down the alley and stops at his garage until it is full to grade, then it continues down the alley.

Builder said there is a +/- 2" tolerance on grade and that it is acceptable. He's still fighting with them to get his garage jacked and a new slab poured on the old one.


3rd No grade certificate for a different neighbour so City wont let him build garage or deck.

He has been trying to get the grade certificate for his yard for 2 years now. City won't issue it because they say Builder has it. Builder says that they don't issue grade certificated. He has it in writing from the city that Builder is responsible for this documentation. HE still doesnt have it.




In my house I had to fix walls that were more than 2 inches out on the top, re-wire electrical and modify plumbing problems.

[Kloubek]

Originally posted by Rarasaurus
^
Exactly and if you are counting on your 10 year warrenty good luck.. Read up on it most people have a very hard time claiming anything and them agreeing to cover it... They will more than likely side with the builder.

I didn't figure it would be so difficult if there is an outright mistake made in the construction. Maybe they are like WCB... it's really in place to protect the business more than anything....

But besides relying on the warranty, I've gone over my place in quite some detail. I'm no inspector, but everything seems to be correct. The only thing I found which was an obvious miss is a large draft from under the basement door. I'm also keeping an eye on a wall-to-wall crack in the basement; though I was assured from multiple sources that something like that isn't totally unexpected.

We still have our final 1-month walkthrough, and I'll bring up the few issues we have at that time. I'm also going to monitor the basement closely during the spring thaw, to ensure there are no leakage points I cannot see.

[asifka]

Originally posted by Kloubek
I thought Cardell was decent. We almost bought with Avi!

I guess the build DOES get inspected at certain intervals. However, that doesn't mean everything is 100%.

We *just* moved into our new place in Kincora, and I am not going to bother with an inspection. Mind you, we have a 10-year warranty on the structure, so we're really not too concerned if they messed something up...

Who was your builder. Any concerns you had during construction? I am currently building with genesis. so far everything look good.

[Jericho99]

I just asked my site supervisor for cardel about a 3rd party inspector. He says they will only allow it at the end of construction, and will not follow what the contractor says to do. Kind of an odd thing to state, what if its something major.

[wtf im nameless]

Get everything triple checked if your building with Cardel. I currently live in a Cardel home and would NEVER recommend them to anyone.

I had water come out of my potlight in my kitchen, landing on my stove while I was cooking dinner. I was told by their warranty supervisor that this was "Normal for Calgary" and that they would show me how much bleach to mix with water so that I could get rid of the water stain on my ceiling myself next time it happened. WTF? Are you fucking kidding me? I had both a warranty tech and someone CARDEL sent to the house to inspect the work tell me "off the record" that there are issues and if it was their own house, here's what they'd do to fix it, but "on the record" everything is fine.

I've had numerous other issues that i've never had in any other home that i've ever lived in which are apparantly all "normal" for Cardel. I will never buy another Cardel home again. I would never recommend Cardel as a builder. Good luck to those of you currently building with them..

[Mibz]

Originally posted by Jericho99
and will not follow what the contractor says to do. Kind of an odd thing to state, what if its something major. They aren't obligated to do anything your inspector says. You need to talk to the inspector and then have your builder go over all the stuff he points out. Then it's your responsibility to hassle the builder until they fix it.

[InRich]

wow in my business, if theres a problem if ANYHING, I send the crew back to fix it.... I can't believe these home builders are such scum bags.

[Masked Bandit]

I'm not going to go into all the details of the various problems we had with Cardel but anyone interested can just search my name & Cardel. They'll find plenty.

Cardel sux ballz!

[sillysod]

I didn't realize just how many people in different communities have had problems with Cardel. I thought it was localized to my area.

I am lucky I lived a few blocks away from my house and have framing, plumbing and electrical experience and was able to check on my place every night.

It is mind boggling how they can do this.

[03ozwhip]

ive got another question, i just got a call from our builder saying they just went over the FINAL blueprints before they start to dig. now im not sure if all builders do it, but within the pricing they figure you *may* need to use extra materials so they log a budget in the pricing for that....

now, my problem is, we signed at a certain price the deal is done, they have our money. now they said theyll need another 5100 more because of the lot were on, they need to build it 4 yes a whole 4 sqf bigger.

the chick weve been dealing with said she saw this happen to alot of other buyers through them lately and she has tried to get the costs lowered by eliminating some materials ie: taking the stone 5 foot portion of the garage and make it 4 ft etc.

she got the price from 5100 down to 2100 for us but im not sure what she has cut out ill know tomorrow, anyways how is this legal? weve settled on a price a long time ago, theyve had our money for more than a month and now they need to build more and it will cost more? wtf do i say to this broad when i talk to her that can get this shit waived? sorry for the longer post but its a bit of a situation, hopefully someone can shed some light on this for me....

[Mibz]

she got the price from 5100 down to 2100 for us but im not sure what she has cut out ill know tomorrow, anyways how is this legal? weve settled on a price a long time ago, theyve had our money for more than a month and now they need to build more and it will cost more? wtf do i say to this broad when i talk to her that can get this shit waived? sorry for the longer post but its a bit of a situation, hopefully someone can shed some light on this for me.... I don't know if this applies to your situation, but the developer in the area has final say on what houses look like, and if you're on a corner, or beside a walkway or something they'll often force a house to have extra fancy trim and stuff. This cost gets passed on to the builder who then passes it on to you and, as far as I know, there's not a thing you can do about it.

My builder allowed $5,000 for shit like that on our house and so far only $1,100 of it has been used, but our builder was quite clear early in the process that if it goes over that $5,000, it comes out of our pocket.

If you can prove that your builder didn't make you aware of this before giving your deposit or your final signing then you may have -some- recourse available but in the end I think you're going to get screwed.

[89s1]

Originally posted by InRich
wow in my business, if theres a problem if ANYHING, I send the crew back to fix it.... I can't believe these home builders are such scum bags.

How do you know when/where there is a problem?