Before you try to do a hold-back of any portion of the final draw, check your contract to see if you're allowed to! Most contracts here in Texas DON'T allow for that b/c builders use an "off-the-shelf" contract put out by the Texas Association of Builders that, IMHO, unfairly protects builders at the expense of homeowners who haven't the knowledge/experience to realize what an unfair position that contract puts them in. Those contracts say that final payment is due AT THE TIME of the final walk through when the punch list will be prepared. The owner then is given possession and can move in but is left totally at the mercy of the builder as to when, if at all, the punch list items get completed. But, regardless of whether or not your contract allows "retainage," I would strongly recommend that you spend a few hundred bucks to hire an independent professional inspector to inspect the house and get his report BEFORE you do your walk-through with the builder. A professional will catch important issue that you wouldn't possibly know to look for... missing flashing, sewer pipes that don't drain properly, etc. Trust me, it'll be money well spent. Here is a link that might be useful: home inspection

uh oh, based just on what you've written so far, I foresee problems. First off, does your contract specify TRCC "standards"? There are a couple of things you need to know about TRCC and the TRCC standards. First, TRCC (for you non-Texans, that stands for Texas Residential Construction Commission) is now a DEFUNCT state agency. It was sunsetted this past September when the legislature finally got the message that the TRCC was operating as a builder-protection agency and that homeowners simply weren't going to stand for it anymore. Second, while the TRCC was in effect, it adopted a set of minimum warranty standards that replaced the old legal standards of good workmanship and fitness for purpose. The TRCC standards include a one year warranty for workmanship and materials, a two year warranty for plumbing, electrical, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, and a ten year warranty on structural components. Each standard specifies in excruciating detail what is and what is not considered a defect. Whether those standards still have any legal effect now that TRCC is defunct is up for debate and, so far as I know, no legal cases have yet worked their way thru the courts to settle the issue. IF your contract specified that the builder would meet TRCC minimum warranty standards, then my guess is that a court would say the standards apply in your case. If your contract did not specify TRCC standards but you entered into the contract with your builder before TRCC was sunsetted then there would be a good argument that the standards should be applied because both parties were relying on the rules in effect at the time the contract was signed. But, if you entered into your contract after TRCC was sunsetted AND your contract doesn't specify TRCC standards, then I think you would have a winning argment that TRCC standards have no application. And, given that TRCC's warranty standards were written so favorably to builders that 8 foot tall walls could be out of plumb by as much as two inches, the earlier legal standards of good workmanship and fitness for purpose served homeowners far better than the new warranty standards. Prior to TRCC, it was was left up to juries to determine if an alleged defect was bad enough to be considered covered by implied warranties of good workmanship and fitness for purpose - and since juries were likely to think about issues as if they themselves had had to face the problem in their own new homes, they tended to require builders to meet standards that the rest of us find more reasonable. Like, walls should not bow an inch and a half in the middle and there should not be 1/8 inch gaps between pieces of trim work! But, even tho the TRCC standards are so loose (despite being so detailed) that a house has to be practically falling down around you before it is considered "defective", NO WHERE in the TRCC standards does it state that a punch list defect must be "visible from 20 feet. If your builder is telling you that, he is lying thru his teeth (which is why I predict you'll have problems). Instead, different potential problems are defined in different ways. For example, paint issues are often "punch list" items and RULE 304.21(2) specifically states "Paint shall cover all intended surfaces so that unpainted areas shall not show through paint when viewed from a distance of six feet in normal light." Another big punch list item is often defects in hard surfaces such as ceramic tile, granite, finished concrete, etc. RULE §304.20(3) specifically states. "A surface imperfection in floor hard surface shall not be visible from a distance of three feet or more in normal light. A surface imperfection in non-floor hard surface shall not be visible from a distance of two feet or more in normal light." See what I mean about your builder's so called "20 foot" requirement! I think you would do well to download the old TRCC warranty standards and read thru them carefully well before your walk through. If you believe that they ought to apply, get your builder to state in writing that he considers them to apply then take a copy with you to your walk through so you have it to refer to. The TRCC warranty rules can be downloaded from the site linked below. DON'T just rely on the so-called "plain language" versions. They leave out the details and those are what you need to read. The formal versions are rather long but other than that, they are not difficult to read or understand. So read them and be prepared to make your builder meet them. And, forget the idea that you'll do the walkthrough to find defects WITH your builder in 1.5 to 3 hours. He'll be doing his best to rush you along and distract you from seeing defects. Go to the house ahead of time with several very observant friends and do your own walk through without the builder there. If your house is a 2000 foot home, expect to spend at least 6 hours. If it is larger, expect to spend proportionately more time. Make detailed notes of all the issues (room by room) so that when you are walking thru with the builder, it is just an opportunity to point the issues out to him. That you can do in 1.5 to 3 hours... and you can give him a typed up copy of your lists at the end so that he can't claim you never mentioned something. If you're anywhere in the Austin area, I'll be happy to try to make time to meet you at your new house (before your date with your builder) and help you do a walk through. I've gotten pretty darned good at seeing the defects and I am sick to death of lousy builders screwing homeowners. I just this minute finished talking to my next door neighbor who is in the process of having a horse barn built behind her house and it is already a total screw-up...to the point where I think her best option at this point would be to fire the builder, tear down what he has done and start over. Among other things, the concrete foundation is not level but rises and falls with the slope of her land and then her builder put NOTHING between the concrete wood 2x4 sill plates so they're going to rot out almost immediately. Anyway, back to your situation, while your builder may SAY he'll be showing up for a year to finish punch list stuff when you find it later, don't count on it. Once he has his money, you have ZERO power to get him back without filing a lawsuit against him. Anything on the punch list that you aren't willing to fix yourself better be fixed before you close. Since he seems to be lying to you already about the 20 foot thing AND wants to rush you thru the walk thru in 1.5 hours, I somehow doubt he is going to be a stand up guy and come back to fix problems you find two months after you move in.

Thanks MethodDesigns. I did bring it up when we first moved in, but I was brushed off and told that it was typical. Since living in the house for a while, I have been bothered more and more by it. I have paid more attention to other people's doors too, and ours seem to have a larger gap. However, you're exactly right. We do have taller ceilings and hardwood floors. I'm struggling to determine how much of our sound issue is the doors vs the ceilings/floors. FWIW- At our 6 month punch list, I overheard the carpenters talking about the doors in another house. The future owner of that house thought the doors were all cut too short and wanted them replaced. I'm assuming their doors were the same as ours since it was the same carpenter. I do not know what the resolution was.

I think that one thing you need to do is discuss the whole situation with a really good construction attorney. You don't have to let your builder know you've hired a lawyer or anything, but I think you need to understand exactly where you stand given your specific contract, signed change orders, and the new unsigned change orders. And I think a lawyer should read through any letter before you send it, just to make sure you're not accidentally obligating yourself to something that wouldn't otherwise be your responsibility. I wouldn't worry about the builder talking about you in an unflattering way. It sounds like he's pulled this same "pay me an extra 50k" stunt at the end of other jobs, so frankly his credibility isn't very good. If you haven't closed yet, I think you should also consider delaying closing until at least the larger problems (plumbing etc) are fixed, and holding back money to cover the rest. I also would worry about the photovoltaic array being left in the flood setback area - maybe it's no big deal, but it just seems like something that might come back to bite you when you go to sell the house. I actually like the idea of bringing your realtor friend along. It would be a good reminder to him that his actions will affect how other clients and potential clients view him, without you having to spell it out quite so bluntly. It sounds like you've been on top of the details during your build, and that will be a big asset to you now. Keep your head in any phone calls or meetings, and don't feel obligated to agree to anything on the spot. And hang in there!