Was waterproofing (not dampproofing) specified in the contact documents? If so, it was evidently not installed correctly or perhaps it wasn't installed at all. First check all downspouts to be sure water is not being dumped near the house then check the slope of the earth next to the house. If it doesn't slope down and away that will contribute to the problem. Impervious soil at this location will also help.

The shingles were probably installed in weather that was too cold to allow the seal tabs to soften and seal the shingles together so it is understandable that you would lose more shingles than your neighbor. The issue is not whether to submit a claim on your homeowner policy or claim it is a warranty issue with the GC.

A space heater is a bad idea in the bathroom. An electric towel bar rack on a timer can help. What is the heating system of the house and what heat is already supplied to the bathroom now? The simplest solution is to increase the output of that heat but I don't know what it is.

The insulation at the ceiling of the garage should have been sprayed foam because one of he major issues is air leakage from the garage to the spaces above and foam would have sealed the floor cavity. You should consider doing this whatever else happens and whatever the cost to you.

There's no reason to not use a direct vent gas fireplace in a carpeted bedroom; it just needs to be designed properly. The cost seems very high; try another source. I don't know what "vent through the bathroom" means; these units can be vented up through the roof or out a side wall. Avoid vent free units.

Obviously the sound of a garage door will be transmitted through the structure to the space above it. I can hear my garage door open and it's 40 feet from the house. You'll have to get used to it but there might be a resilient suspension system for the track supports that would help some. There's one called the "Garage Door Silencer" and I'm sure they're others.

The home inspector will find numerous nit picking issues; that's what they do for a living. Don't take everything as an insurmountable problem; use it as leverage against the builder if that is appropriate.

You're not experiencing anything out of the ordinary with a contractor design-built project. For the considerable cost saved by going that route you have to be prepared to spend some amount of money to correct problems caused by oversights, self-interest, and ignorance. Keeping it to an affordable amount is the goal.

Macy
First, thank you so much for your info

1st- Basement-- ground is pitched and drains are piped- they must not have waterproofed right

2nd- roof-- we had roof installed before labor day (late august)-- if they agree to give us a "new roof" when is the best time to do this?

3rd - why a towel rack- its a HUGE bathroom with very very high cathedral ceilings - we had a panasonic heater put in the ceiling but its doing NOTHING-- so i'm not sure a towel rack would do it...

4th- spray foam-- we would have to rip out the brand new carpeting in a 15x20 bedroom and the plywood and then spray- i would think thats going to be very expensive- but i will look into it.

5th- garage door opener- we will continue to try to work on that

last the home inspector- i hear you -- i think we have found all of the major issues- but i want to have someone else check to reassure myself that there will be no more surprises....

"1st- Basement-- ground is pitched and drains are piped- they must not have waterproofed right"

What was in the contract?

Damp-proofing is the norm unless more is called out, like waterproofing.

What do you mean by "seams"?

A poured basement is normally monolithic with no joints.

While you can see the joints between the forms, they are not joints in the concrete. They are just a surface detail.

Many leaks between sections of concrete can be easily sealed by injecting epoxy into the joint.

With regard to the foam between the garage/bedroom, I think what macv may mean is the following....tear out the drywall (or just make several holes) on the ceiling of the garage- spray foam it- and then reseal it rather than doing anything with the floor of the bedrooms.

It will be ok- we've all been there. At one point I had hot water running to my toilets :)

Brick-
Not a mason so i dont know much-- thats why i think a home inspector could help me. They did talk about the epoxy thing

Mdev- thats a great idea- i will def. look into that- b/c DH kept saying (what are we going to do -rip up the new carpet etc.. and what do we do with our bedroom furniture. So you just gave us a new thought- we will have to see if that is possible. Does foam really help? Will it keep my rooms that much warmer where it is worth it? Oh and your hot water comment made me laugh for the 1st time in 48 hours -thanks!

thanks again--

I don't know the ins and outs of foam the way those in the industry do- I just know it did produce low our energy bills for us.

macv is a well trained architect who can weigh in on the specifics, I believe.

We sealed our bonus room (over the 3-car garage) floor, knee walls, and ceiling with foam, and then insulated with cellulose. My daughter and grandson sleep there, and it's the warmest room on the 2nd floor. Be sure they seal EVERY crack between the garage ceiling and the MBR/bath floor with the foam.

In my previous home (a condo), I had a long wall crack and some tie rod form holes that had popped leaks sealed with some kind of soft white goop--done by a company called Mr. Sponge. Their web site is mrsponge.com, but they are only in Michigan. They have some kind of proprietary sealer that they inject, but maybe if you look at the Fox News explanation posted on their web site, you can figure out what to ask someone in your area about for your leaks. 25 years later, when we had to take out the finished wall paneling to fix a different leak, these patches were still as dry as a bone, and the goop was just as resilient as the day it was put in. The walls are repaired from the INSIDE.

Our present master bath is on 2 NW facing outside walls plus a garage wall, has a 9' ceiling, and is too cool for me--it's also at the far end of the heating run from the furnace. We just use a small space heater sometimes in Nov-Mar, and it is fine. However, with your "HUGE bathroom with very, very high cathedral ceilings", if a space heater doesn't solve the problem, you may have to make a choice between tearing up the floor tile and putting in radiant, or dropping the ceiling down quite a few feet. We put radiant in our lower level bathroom, since my mother was supposed to spend several months down there. As it turned out my daughter uses that bath to shower, but even though it can be cool during the winter (we're still in the process of adjusting our ducts throughout the house, since when we use the woodstove it throws off the house thermostat), she doesn't use the radiant since it takes a while to warm the floor, and she doesn't pre-set it.

We got a Brookstone sleep therapy machine similar to the one linked below to block out the noise of our 3 very young grandchildren (early risers) who live with us during the week. Maybe something like this might help you adjust to the noise from your garage door opening under you. You don't have to spend this much--DH likes his gadgets! We chose a New Age sounding music from the 12 choices, and like that it goes all night.

I can empathize with how tired and discouraged you are right now. We were owner-builders, so when we moved in, there were quite a few things that still needed to be finished, and we certainly had our share of unexpected things to be fixed as we went along. We've been in for over 2 years, and our list is getting shorter. Life is finally getting to be more enjoyable now that we're past our major hassles and most of the extra little jobs! The unexpectedness of your need for some major fixes, plus having to spend more money after saving for so long, when you thought you'd move in and love it must be a real downer. I'm sorry you're having to go through this. Part of the difficulty and discouraging part is not knowing how to fix everything.

Good luck with it all--they are fixable problems, and I hope some of these suggestions will work for you.

Anne

Here is a link that might be useful: Brookstone sleep therapy machine

Jackshaft garage door openers are said to be quieter than other types. They sure are neater.

I love this forum- thanks to all of ou trying to help-- i know all these problems are fixable-- i just hope there are no more "surprises"

Anne thanks soooo much for all of the info-- def looking into some of your suggestions (PS my DH loves brookstone too ! hahaha)

Worthy- do you know if that garage opener attaches to the ceiling? The problem is hte ceiling vibrates with our current liftmaster.. thanks!

I'm sorry about what you are going through. I know exactly how you feel. 12 years later we sold "the dream house" that was built by a nightmare of a builder.

We now have some land out in the country and are about to begin construction on our log home....ourselves. Yes, we are owner builders. I would never have someone else entrusted with building my home again.

Good luck.

Ditto on garage door. Also, the solution to the bathroom chill is simple--replace your fan with a heater/fan, for goodness sakes. A fireplace for heat is a very poor idea. Much better to better insulate under the master bedroom via the ceiling of the garage. Also, get int he habit of closing the doors to the other upstairs rooms and leaving just the master bedroom door open.

>its a HUGE bathroom with very very high cathedral ceilings - we had a panasonic heater put in the ceiling but its doing NOTHING-- so i'm not sure a towel rack would do it...

And you didn't plan for supplemental heat? This is NOT the builder's fault. Cathedral ceiling in a bathroom are a bad idea. I had the chance to raise mine when I remodeled and didn't for that very reason. Heat goes up. You want the bathroom warmer than the surrounding rooms, but it ain't going to happen if the bathroom is huge with a high ceiling. I'd pay to drop it to 9', and I'd pay for better heat--whatever that meant. I got stuck with a bathroom with 20' ceilings once. NEVER AGAIN. I had to shower under a tent made of a clear shower curtain! And that's with paying a fortune to heat the bathroom. I lowered the ceiling as soon as I could and built a nice 3rd floor loft with the space.