My rebuilt house - some lessons to learn

14 years ago

About 4 years ago, I started posting here because we were having a strange musty odor in the rooms of our then-6-year-old house. At the time, there were many regulars here who helped us diagnose the problems and figure out how to get them fixed.

Over $150K in repairs and one lawsuit later (NONE of which was covered by insurance or paid for by the lawsuit), our story is finally over and I just finished documenting the last of it. I thought I'd return to post it here in case there was still anyone left from the crew that helped me back then (I think maybe allison, worthy, mighty_anvil, and suzysnowflake might still be around?). Anyhow, to everyone from back then, thanks so much for helping me get through this - I don't know how we would have made it if it weren't for the kind internet folks who volunteered their time and expertise and offered up consoling words and prayers.

And for all you new folks, there are a LOT of lessons to be learned from my story -- basically, everything that could be done wrong with the exterior of my house was done wrong -- our custom-built dream house looked beautiful but it was a ticking time bomb from the day the first owners moved in.

Our story is long and not for the faint-of-heart, but if you want to make sure you're building a house that's still going to be standing in 20 years, you'd be well served to read it.

Thanks and good luck with your builds!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our defective house....

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Comments (4)

trudymom
14 years ago
Thank you for sharing your story so others can learn. Those pictures are heart-wrenching. Why could you not sue the original builder? My heart goes out to you...
rollie
14 years ago
For some reason, I was just browsing your documentations. I seen that there were some current posts from Garden Web and figured you made a final post here closing the book on your nightmare.

Here is my guestbook entry from Nov 05:

Lisa, Nice to see you forging ahead with good details. I'm sure you could go on the road with all of your field experience. What has been amazing fom me throughout this whole process has been your calmness regarding this whole mess. You are pretty amazing. I'm sure many others would've folded under the duress you've been put through. Another thing that amazes me is how well you grasped the whole concept of what was wrong and what the proper fixes should be. When bombarded with literally hundreds of differing opinions, you have managed to stay on task and make all the good decisions. I'm smiling for you and wish you and your family a happy ending to this problem..

Unfortunatley, the last sentence didnt come true and for that I am truly sorry.
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How nice this thread got bumped! I enjoyed re-reading it and thinking about how much the yard has changed in a year. My bird-friendly yard is evolving. Have made great progress removing invasives, particularly Bittersweet, Buckthorn, and Norway Maples (treework cost me $2000 last year and there's still one GINORMOUS Norway maple left). There was a lot of brush created by all this tree/shrub work. Some was burned this Spring, right smack in the middle of the Oriental bittersweet patch, but the rest is in piles. The brush piles attract a lot of birds, particularly Sparrows, Cardinals, Juncos, and Wrens. The birds also love the back half-acre, which is wild and full of Crabapples, Choke Cherries, White Pine, and still some invasives like Honeysuckle and Autumn olive. Also making great progress on growing bird-friendly natives. Purchased another 50 native tree/shrub seedlings from the NH Nursery. That makes 130 total between this year and last - all of which ultimately make berries/nuts for the birds and wildlife. Most of them are in holding beds and haven't flowered yet, too little, but I've given away some and started to plant out a few. I winter-sowed many native species of perennials, annuals, and vines. Exactly where all this stuff is going, is not completely clear at this point, but I'm creating lasagne beds like crazy! The birds are always flitting around the yard and it's only going to get more interesting and fruitful for them (hopefully). It's great!
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crazyone
14 years ago
my goodness, this happened to our friends too.. it also explained the mice and smells and bugs etc.. it is horrible to have happen
chispa
14 years ago
Lisa, I remember your story from when you first posted. Like Rollie, I'm sorry that it wasn't a perfect ending. If it makes you feel any better, the house is looking great! Now that your youngest is off to school, you should be able to get some painting done. If you plan well with prep work, you can get a good 4 hours of actual painting in an average school day! I also used to paint after every one went to bed, but you need good work lights. I commend you for thinking of the well being of the original owner and remember karma ... the builder will pay for this in some way!

My rebuilt house - some lessons to learn

Comments (4)

trudymom

rollie

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chispa

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