Toll Bros has been in the homebuilding business for many years. Their executives make millions. They pay a team of attorneys to bulletproof their contracts. They are on a first name basis with county planners and inspectors. Finding a higher authority will be difficult and costly.

Fwiw I kind of like some of their communities.

A. Photo?

B. Ask for a small upgrade somewhere else as compensation and see what happens.

C. My guess on the landscaping is they will do whatever makes sense for all the adjoining homes. They want it to look nice to sell new homes. But not cost too much. Yes, it is vague.

I bet you could have got all that in writing if you had used it as a negotiation tool before you signed a contract. Did you have an attorney review the contract to protect your interests? I'll guess not, but I am sure you will next time you build a house!

For the load bearing post you could hire your own engineer to take a look, but your contract most likely does not allow it.

Curious - did you have a realtor help with this transaction?

Building a new home from a tract builder is fraught with uncertainties along the way. I will say that it is pretty common to have to modify things for HVAC ductwork - it is usually not planned out perfectly before framing.

It is also pretty common to not have a good landscape grading plan.

Just think - if you bought a finished house, would you know about any crack in a load bearing post? They are cheap enough to stabilize and presumably they would do it if they were concerned. You will have a warranty that will cover problems that would be fantastically more expensive. They aren't incompetent most likely.

Post a picture of the post. Your description doesn't appear to be easily understandable. 2" crack is large when it spans half the length of a post which would be floor to ceiling. Get a measurement of the duct. Read off the plans what the measurement was spec'ed. Where does this occur in the closet? Include a picture. How will this affect the usability? Once you know this you can find out what the larger size change is being made for.

Thank you all for the responses.

a. Being first time home buyers, we didn't anticipate these kind of issues. Otherwise, we would have definitely negotiated the contract. Lesson learned.

b. Here are pictures of the post from top to bottom with multiple cracks. We measured that the cracks are 2 inch deep and continuously span from top to bottom.

We also found various studs which seemed to be sub quality. 3 our of 10 ended up this.

As for the post, we visited other constructions for the same plan and did not find these issues. We showed the same pictures to a structural engineer and he said there is cause for concern.

c. I have asked our project manager clarity about the extra duct space being used in the W.I.C and awaiting their reply.

If that is a solid 4x4 post it was going to crack either now or later (after drywall), just the nature of the beast with solid lumber.

The photos don't appear to show a structural deficiency but alignment (i.e. flushness) of framing for gypsum wall board should be verified. Higher quality construction would have used an engineered PSL (parallel strand lumber) post and a higher grade of stud like #2 KD. I would be more concerned about moisture content..

Grading of studs determines the allowable frequency, placement and size of knots and overall allowable wane (missing edges). The grade should be stamped on the studs.

The IRC allows the following 3 grades: "#3"; "Standard" and "Stud" Grade. Grades below that (Utility and Economy) should not be used for wall studs.

Photograph the grade stamp and show us the contract specifications or framing.

"My wife and I are currently in the process of buying a new home from Toll Bros."

nuff said.....................

Check the lumber they are using for beams, too. I see a window in your photo. Have they flashed the windows correctly?

You won’t find a lot of love for tract builders here. For some reason people can’t fathom why one would choose one.

Maybe that's because so many of the big ones and especially ones like Schumacher and Toll Brothers will find anyway possible to take short cuts. Maybe because we who have been here a heck of a lot longer than you Alison continually see how those builders take the shortcuts and how OPS continually come on asking for help.

However I hear you asking for help and saying you have worries about the build. That must be frustrating and now you likely get to hear trash talk about your choice to have a tract builder too. Sorry the forum does that.

When did it become YOUR job to apologize for the rest of us on the forums?

Maybe indirectly you're just as guilty of creating issues because you continue to fan the idea over and over about how nasty and mean we are. You seem to have this NEED to do it in any thread where a person gets direct info.

Is everyone as kind as you make yourself out to be? Nope. Some of us couch our words and some of us are blunt, but trust me, it's not your job to be the nice police. This is not your house. It's an internet forum.

To The OP:

Are you allowed to bring in an independent inspector to check over all the work? If so, I'd highly recommend doing so. I did that with my build and it did help somewhat.

As for your HVAC issue, mine was a custom build, yet they still wound up stealing (yes stealing) 14" from two different closets for HVAC that they hadn't accounted for. Sigh.

Right. People are in a contract. Their house is being built. We see this all the time. They ask a question and instead of answers they get questions about the floorplan or they should change the window sizes. Or Toll Brothers, who has been building homes for decades, is like some fly by night roofing contractor following the hurricanes. Hire a lawyer, wave goodbye to the deposit, and start over with a real architect!!!

Too late!

They ask a question and instead of answers they get questions about the floorplan or they should change the window sizes. Or Toll Brothers, who has been building homes for decades, is like some fly by night roofing contractor following the hurricanes. Hire a lawyer, wave goodbye to the deposit, and start over with a real architect!!!

Too late!

Except no one in this thread said anything of the sort.

Thanks for the feedback CP. Just like you are entitled to your view I am mine. I’m allowed to empathize with posters as much as I like.

Empathize yes. Put down others because they offer their take on what's happening, no.

I can apologize if I see fit.

Why do you need to apologize for the rest of us? If you do something, yes apologize, but it seems a bit disingenuous for you to apologize for others.

Don’t need your permission for any of it. I do find some of the ways people comment atrocious, not necessarily on this thread, and I do think that I can let people know that not all those reading feel that way.

Again if no one on this thread was out of line, why did you feel the need to suddenly apologize for people not being rude? Why the need to bring up that someone may or may not in the future on this thread be rude? No one was out of line except you.

If someone wants to be blunt or even rude go for it but I don’t need to be and I don’t want people to think that is the only way it has to be either.

Yes but you did it even though you yourself said no one was blunt or rude. Are you the one looking to just stir trouble where there is none?

I do empathize with this poster who is clearly spending hard earned money on a project they now have significant worries about. I’m allowed to do that.

We all empathize with the poster which is why I offered if allowed he/she should get an inspector in to triple check. Notice I didn't put down others for their comments, even though none of the comments were "bad"

You are fairly new here, yet you've decided right from the beginning that we all need a hall monitor and you're going to be it.

That 4x4 is crap, as is the 2x4 with the pex line, especially when it comes to attaching drywall. Ask for replacement. And while you're at it, since it is all open now, talk to your builder about an engineered unit for the 4x4.

It’s the passive aggressive asides of bitchery that really should be apologized for. Come right out and be a witch if that’s what you want to be rather than the long suffering self congratulatory superior person who cannot be soiled by the forumites engaged in explaining why the Emperor is naked. And a spade is an implement that digs in the dirt, for sure.

And S>W> I've seen your supposedly funny posting of lighter fluid for an OP's ugly fireplace - that's outright alright.,,, etc. who made you the demolition queen?

It's sorry OP, and I hope you get the help you need.

Some houzzers end up responding to pros though someone else made the jab --- it was something about Toll being not much...

I will repeat Alison, you're free to respond. And no one said there should be a single voice.

As I said, YOU commented on how the OP shouldn't take people's "rude and blunt" comments to heart even though no one, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, said anything rude or blunt in this thread.

Why do you need to be Pollyanna and head off something that hadn't happened. Frankly it speaks more to you than to the people you're trying to warn the OP about.

I think right now the problem is that for most builders the sub-contractors are so busy that they are trying to get the job done as quick as possible. I am currently building a "custom"(I guess) home and while the builder is receptive of my feedback to correct issues, many of them should not have been made in the first place. I think most of the issues I have found are due to trying to get the job done fast.

While your post is not pretty, I doubt it is structurally compromised since the loads it sustains are all vertical and the shrinkage cracks are parallel to the stresses. There might be more cause for concern if it were a beam. It appears to be a 6x6 post, with an additional 2x6 attached, and in all likelihood is well over and above any actual load imposed. Likewise with the the stud that appears to be already attached to an engineered member.

Overall, I wouldn't let this color my opinion of the home, and I would not make it the basis of hiring outside opinion.