Fori is extremely displeased We are moving the round window in the gable above the bow up a few courses so it's not dead center and beefing up the trim around it. The 2 octagon windows down the other end of the house are set in stone (real stone, not veneer) and they are staying but getting new trim. Those windows, the bow, and some metal windows on the second floor are the only original windows in the house and the only ones staying. All of the other window in the house are ugly vinyl replacement windows and are getting replaced with windows with grille patterns to match the bow. Funny enough, last night I spent hours again looking at pictures of bow windows and I saw two where they used stone. We have a 3 season porch in the back of the house and it had a wall of the same stone as the front. We had to take it down because we are stealing some space from that room to make a larger kitchen and I saved all the stones to use them for something. Builder thought I was nuts at the time. I texted him last night and told him I wanted to use them for the bow. They are thick stones so will need to be split. As for the landscaping, the plan is not to hide anything - I just want some year round interest. The previous owners planted only deciduous plants and it looks so bare and harsh in the winter.

No design, no documents, no understanding of the job. Who does a shower and doesn’t change out the valve? When that old thing goes, you’ll have to rip out everything now to fix it. Whondoesnt have a light in the shower? No one wants to shower in the dark. Who hires a framer to frame things out and doesn’t understand what they are framing, and the consequences and interactions? You acted as the designer and the GC, and you didn’t know what you didn’t know. Your result is what happens. You hired only part of the elephant. The elephant is a whole being, and every part needed the right documentation and attention. And you didn’t even understand it was an elephant. You thought it was “just” a rope.

I hear what the pros say about tract homes. And I get it. But I've lived in SoCal so long.... it must be the mecca for tract homes. And though they aren't built like a custom home would be, none of the tract homes I've seen look like that. I would go check the other homes in the tract and see if others have that particular defect. If they don't, then the builder is more likely to agree to fix the worst of the problems. You can put up a fight and say you're not going to close.... but you need information to weigh all your options. Would they be able to sell this house for even more money if you backed out? Or would they stand to lose money? Do you know others purchasing homes in this tract? Can you chat with them to see how willing to fix the builder would be? Can you talk to some of the tradespeople to see if management is having them fix stuff? I would keep at it and fight as much as possible. I do not think those wavy walls are typical of any tract home that I've ever seen.

As long as the floor framing extends another 1" to cover it, there is no issue. Curious as to where you are located, I haven't been to everywhere, but so far I have only seen the both-sides stamped brick-look forms used in certain pockets of areas.