1- You can't grout over old cement based grout. Do you know the specific grout used? Was it a dry powder you mix with water ? If yes, you cannot grout over grout. You'll have to dig out at least half the depth of the old grout to grout in that area. If you used one of the newer single component grouts such as Fusion, Plasma or Flexcolor, you can grout over grout but they are the only exceptions to the rule. 2- Never heard of such a thing. Do you have any spare sheets lying around? Take one to an artist with a sharp eye for color and ask if you doubt yourself.

I had tile laid 3rd party through a flooring company. Big mistake. the contractor hired inexperienced workers who goofed up about 9 tiles (uneven/not adhering well and they have loosened) The contractor came back twice to fix it (complaining the second time) It's still not fixed...so I'm going to do it myself...I'm very handy and recently retired so i can take my time to fix them RIGHT. In the past 3 years EVERY installation job we hired out on our home has been screwed up. That's why i am going to do almost everything myself now. I have replaced a garage wall, repainted the outside of the house with replacing several pieces of wood siding, put in 2 windows (in dormers), refinished wood floors in 3 rooms, etc. I am currently repainting most of the inside of the house and refinishing a gorgeous oak staircase that was covered by carpeting. I only hired out for the tile flooring because i didn't have time then (working full time) and had never put in tile before.

Like many happy appliance owners I don't often write rants or praises about them. Three years in I'm getting along great with my 36" CC. I bought it through Trevor both because he is local and his reputation for service. Fortunately I've never needed to test the factory response or service. I installed the range myself. When it was new they came out with the "small pot burner". I wrote to the company and asked for one, and they sent it, no fuss, no muss, no bother (and almost no contact-- perfect!). I put it in and since then everything about the range has worked perfectly-- no more burned oatmeal. If I had it to do over I'd get the griddle rather than the grill, but I have no one other than myself to blame for that choice.

Just going to respond to everyone as a whole because well, this took a turn!! Lol Figured the amateur photo notes (aka "ummm?") was a pretty clear indicator but prob should've stated upfront — we literally don't know anything about construction. The 1 am post lacked context because I'm running on fumes as a first-time mom back at work, without daycare and trying to manage this process on my own to get us out of our rental. But now that I'm here, I'll jump on the rant grenade and provide some EXTRA context! 😊 The entire point of my post was to help us manage expectations. The neighborhood changed builder hands a year ago and in the last phase, contractors straight up left the job site so the existing homes aren't a good basis for judgment. The mold and HVAC rough-in were my biggest concerns because SC has zero protections against mold and we are part of the lucky few who discovered this first-hand! We spent the last 2 years playing guessing games with doctors to find out that all these question mark illnesses are from, you guessed it... Mold. After being in a rental with shoddy ductwork, where HVAC problems required installation of a new system that ultimately brought with it humidity levels between 65-80% as well as condensation on the windows/mirrors plus thousands of dollars in medical bills, air purifiers and allergen protections — we felt a new build was in our best interest. However, those extra shiny, custom built houses on a nice lot come with a much higher price tag than you would ever believe for this area (looking at you seven figures 👀). Almost any land you would hope to build on is already spoken for by either a) other big builders selling the exact same model — no, literally copy and pasted — every 6 feet or b) bigger city transplants who paid for it in cash. Legit no offense to them — I respect it. We left our 6 figure corporate jobs in DC right before Covid to be closer to family and grow our own businesses... Then the area exploded and we are feeling the sting of that commitment now more than ever. But ultimately, the custom route would've pushed us into a lengthy timeline (another rental) with only the option to either a) build on an overpriced, uncleared lot further out than is feasible or b) build in an area that is just one wrong turn away from parts of town that give law enforcement extra job security (or if you're super lucky, both!). So we saved ourselves the extra $300-500k and chose one of the few neighborhoods left with inventory that was a step above copy-and-paste and still met our self-employed, work-from home, I'd like our fam to not be sick needs. Anyway, all that to say — the response I received is exactly why I asked the dumb questions here so I could prepare myself for a conversation with my CM before any inspection talk. I asked for opinions on the construction because I truly don't know what I don't know and well, I prefer to question the work integrity in a manner that doesn't directly affect the relationship with the team putting a roof over our head. Harsh comments are totally fine so long as they are superseded by value, but if a condescending tone is copy and pasted every six feet throughout, I'm not your target market my friends. Since some of you are familiar, might I suggest you search for threads started by someone who is in fact perusing the aisles of Hobby Lobby, boasting about their new granite countertops to next door Nancy and exchanging streaming passwords so they can get their Joanna Gaines fix. She don't live here. 😏 Much appreciation to those who addressed the photos, sought to inform me on what I was seeing and exercised tact in the delivery of their feedback! And if you made it this far, you're the MVP so *** here's an update*** Our CM is bringing in mold remediation. And we're getting an inspection scheduled before drywall. Thanks for your part in helping me due my diligence. You deserve to live, laugh, love. ✌🏼