The issues we had with our builder were not as serious as it sounds like you had, though for a time we did consider some legal action over a couple of items that we felt were seriously mismanaged and cost us lots of $$. Most of our issues had to do with arrogance and lack of communication on his part. The last 3 months of the build were seriously so stressful, and I am still angry about several things when I think about them too long.

But...we moved in on Saturday, and I am in love with my house already. It is so much more beautiful than I could see during the last few months -- worth all of the hassle and frustration. (though I do find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop to see what may go wrong)

So, enjoy your home, and try to let go of the "junk" from the build. That's what we're trying to do.

-T

I hope the next car our builder buys comes from the factory with a lousy paint job and no windows.

I can't imagine getting paid for a job and then not doing it. Why is it ok for contractors to do this? It's been a year, and I'm still shocked by this.

we're only a month into our construction and no trouble as of yet. hoping all goes smoothly ...but i'm sorry for your troubles and truly hope you can find happiness in your new home. you've put a lot of effort into it and it seems counterproductive to carry around a lot of bad feelings. try to love it ...wishing you all the best!

Building a house is like having a baby and you forget about the pain (unless there are defects in the house that will affect your day to day living so that you are reminded of the problems daily).

In a situation like yours, you really have to look at things as objectively as possible. Since this is a structure that you'll live in, your first consideration is "build quality". Since this is also a large investment, the build quality is double-important, but now the value of location, surroundings, property and finish become important as well. If you cannot get past those 2 things, there's no sense in going further.

Now you have to look at your investment and what you stand to lose/gain as you move forward. This is simple accounting, along with a little speculation on real estate trends in your area.

If you can get past all that...

This is where my belligerence can get in the way.
#1. I'm not going to force anyone to let me be their customer. Maybe it's because I work so hard for my own customers that I just don't feel like I should earn the right to be a customer to someone else.

#2. If I'm dealing with an unscrupulous entity, I will draw the line no matter the cost. This has cost me into the thousands with some things in the past. Some decisions might be considered short-sighted by others. (Even myself after time has passed.)

#3. Ask a friend/vendor whom you trust for an objective/professional opinion.
Important note: Don't ask someone to whom you've vented throughout the whole process. When we (homeowners involved in the build process) share every little bump, nook and cranny of the experience with anyone who'll listen, we try their patience way beyond anything they'll ever admit. They're not going to be objective at this point.

Sorry to say, we did not have a happy ending with our custom built house. Maybe our expectations were too high because we'd dealt with tract or semi-custom builders before and set higher standards for that house. We researched, planned and sweated every detail, just as many others here have done. I provided all info he needed from us well in advance, yet he constantly lost page after page of details on the selections, on everything from lighting to plumbing fixtures to flooring. He failed to order some things when he should have, and we were forced to settle for 3rd or 4th choice or else deal with the consequences of a 2 - 3 month (or longer) delay. The punch list was a struggle, and the call backs after closing were a nightmare. I finally got all of the serious problems resolved when life happened and we made the decision to move. Part of me hated to move, because I knew we'd probably never have a chance to build a similar house. Part of me was more than ready to leave behind the reminders of all of the things that were done improperly or were not what we planned. In the brief time that we lived in the house, I was often blue about what could have/should have been, and I am ordinarily easy going and happy.

Our excellent RE agent managed to negotiate a price that left us whole after RE comm. & closing costs, which we thought was amazing. So we now try to look at the experience as a great education in building. I'm using some of what I learned to get our current home (a builder's spec) brought up to standard.

Our builder wasn't as bad as yours, but it was a struggle every step of the way to get them to do quality work. We were constantly riding them, trying to prove that the "way they always do it" wasn't the way they were going to do ours, nor was it the way they had agreed to.

The build took 11 very long months. We've been in 4 months. I love our house, more than you should love an inanimate object. I love it more and more every day. I hope the same for you.

I posted on the decorating forum for you but also thought it might benefit others to know how bad it can get yet end so well.

We had a lot of small irritations during our build but also had a couple of MAJOR problems. Our contractor said he would be done in 9 months....but then spent 3 out of 7 days in Texas (we're in CA) trying to save his marriage (he didn't). So basically we got 4 days a week if lucky. The total build from land purchase to key took over 3 years. In that time of course the housing market went to hell and cost of building sky rocketed. Because of that the GC who is a wonderful builder but a terrible businessman went over budget. We fired him, then he quit, then the bank said work it out b/c going with another contractor would be near impossible. So... we paid almost 30% over our estimate.

After we were roughed-in on electric, plumbing and HVAC we found out our architect used the wrong elevation and didn't use "snow load" trusses. That cost tens of thousands of dollars extra (architect is reimbursing that). But it also caused a 3 month work stoppage while we researched retrofitting the trusses (and whether the framing would hold the extra weight) in hopes of not having to tear the house down and rebuild again (we would have just walked away if that happened). From that, HVAC was the only rough-in that had to be redone. That caused an ugly return register monstrosity over my fireplace which I'm in the process of "hiding".

We moved into our home in August of 2007. Although it took over 3 years to build- it still took a while for me to believe it was mine and not some wonderful vacation that was going to end come each Monday morning. Yes we had punch problems....still have a few minor ones that we know will never be fixed by the GC. But I LOVE my home, the area and especially my neighborhood. DH said once he never understood people that wanted to just stay home on weekend, now he says he does. So hang in there, it's worth it.

Do you normally hold grudges? You don't sound like the type so my guess is that once it's done and over you will be thrilled, especially if you never have to deal with him again.

Kats! My "same boat" girl! How ya been?

Our builder ripped us off and left the house unfinished. At first I was pretending to love my house when, in fact, I hated it and DH made no bones about wanting to sell even before we moved in. I felt like the a**hole builder tainted my house. The house that I designed and picked out everything down to the door stops.

Well, since then we've had to finish some major project on or own and in the process it transformed into the house we love. I'm sure time helped as well. Now I can go a whole day without thinking about our a**hole builder and hoping a disgruntled sub beats the piss out of him!

Hey Kelly!!!!

Yep, we did go through some trying times didn't we??? Makes me shutter remembering some of them but I'm typing looking out over the prettiest sunset and it just doesn't matter anymore.....cause WE WON!
I'm so glad you're loving your home now though. It is by far one of my favorites. We put in light wide plank flooring but I seem to remember your beautiful dark flooring. Oh and your boxers? Sorry, I don't remember their names.... :(

Anyway, really glad to hear you didn't let the a**hole keep you from creating a wonderful "HOME".

Kats

Thanks everyone for the moral support and reassurance that we can reclaim our sense of home from this mess of a house!

I have been thinking today that I will just go through the motions of putting things together....installing the closet systems for closets were were particular about, getting the kitchen set up and ready to run, painting here and there. Hopefully, the process of running down a relatively mindless to-do list will help. Kind of a Zen healing process.

I do tend to be a little grudg-y sometimes, but usually only while I am correcting the work gone wrong. I swore at my first Florida landscaper for years, as I dug up the invasive ferns he filled my yard with. And I cussed the painter who forced me to re-do the crown molding...with oil-based paint! I became quite a good painter and worked my way up the semi-tropical gardening learning curve.

The sad thing is, we really liked the builder and were excited to work with him. This is a small town and he is well known. My husband and his wife played music together years ago. (We've just returned together to DH's "home turf" after many years away. I am new here.) It is likely that we'll see them socially for years to come. I'll always feel like he let us down in a big way. But it's his karma, not mine.