What is this silvery thing?

What type of foundation do you have -- slab?

What material is the dark siding?

Siding is vinyl and the foundation is “- At least 4’ tall garage wall and 8’ tall house poured concrete foundation with exterior waterproofing and R-5 Rigid foam insulation.”

Silvery thing is electrical tape I believe.

What specifically are you asking about? Is what normal?

The wood slab in between the stone and ground. Seems to be too big of a gap if I take it out.

The wood looks like a great snack bar for termites! Why is there a random 2x4 on the ground there?

Why did you waste time taking these pictures and posting? Turn off the computer and call the builder! ASAP. Done.

Nobody online can diagnose a problem like this. This is not a design dilemma at all; it's a structural issue--possibly serious--and not at all appropriate for this forum.

Why didn't you call the builder months ago? The clock's ticking.

Looks like the wood was used to keep the stones level when installed and the builder just forgot to remove it. Pull it out and take the tape off whatever it was covering.

No. It looks like the wood was put there after the fact to keep the critters out.

I'm curious what you ended up building.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5278374/exterior-character

Care to show the front of the house?

I think Rachel might be right but its definitely a question for the builder. The wood and tape have to go.

If this is some kind of adhered stone, it was not done well. The foundation should be supporting the stone (is it actually stone?) The caulk joint below the window trim will fail eventually. Amateurish detailing but not uncommon.

What is the creepy looking black blob?

Creepy black blob is a bait box for rodents. Here’s the house finished, we love how it turned out!

That's a fancy bait box, my pest guy only gives me the ugly plain, rectangular, black plastic ones!