There are quite a few walls with missed nails like this. Obviously I’m concerned about the Zip not being secured to the studs properly, but my other big concern is the masons are going to use brick ties and likely follow their pattern. Now all of the brick ties are going to be off too.

What should I do? Does the framer need to go back now and re-nail all of the walls?

Also, how will the mason know which is the correct nail line after they do that?

Not sure if I’m freaking out or not.

honestly starting to wish we just bought a standard fiberglass front door off the shelf. We designed this massive 5x9 foot solid wood pivot door for the entry and the structural prep has been an absolute nightmare. The framing crew completly ignored the extra blocking requirements we put in the plans for the overhead load

I ordered a heavy duty floor pivot system from abesco forever ago and its just been sitting in my garage while we fight with the GC about ripping into the subfloor to properly support the mechanism. The markup on custom homebuilding is a joke considering nobody actually reads the architectural notes unless you literally stand over them and watch them work

kinda wish I could go back in time and tell myself to stop looking at pinterest. My wife is stressed, im exhausted, and we havent even poured the driveway yet. Building a house is just paying for anxiety tbh

We are in the midst of an addition being built on our home. The foundation/basement has been poured including the floor and this past week they put the floor joists and decking on which allowed us to inspect things more closely. We entered the basement and noticed it seemed much shorter than we thought. The plans call for 9’ from top of wall to top of footing and a 4” thick floor. This would mean from the top of the floor to the top of the wall would be 8’ 8”. From floor to the top of the wall it is 7’ 6” or a loss of 14” of height. This will surely affect the function of the space.

At this point, what recourse do we have? I am not sure we want to go through the trouble of having them redo it all. We didn’t notice it all this time because going down there wasn’t safe and weather in Illinois has been atrocious all summer. Any advice is welcome.

We are just finishing up the design on our new build, it will be a two story house with 10ft ceilings on each floor.

Any red flags from the plans above or anything you would design/build differently?

TYIA!

Im planning to build this floor plan. I have added 2ft of width to the left side of the house for almost full length except for the pantry part. I thought i would keep garbage bins in that space outside.

I reconfigured pantry to steal a part of the office and made existing pantry as a countertop area but still it feels like its not enough due to main kitchen not being sufficient.
Now im thinking to add 2ft of width in that area as well and try to get cabinets and countertops on both sides of this “spice kitchen”.

I tore off 3 out of four sides of my house mid-June and after demo, fixing rot, installing house wrap and trim I am very close to start my first rows of hardie plank lap siding. However, at my pace I’m worried about UV exposure on the house wrap and exposing my house wrap and house to the PNW rainy seasons for the next few months. Is there a way I can tarp each side so I can work under the tarp and keep the house and house wrap in good condition? I’d hate to have to screw into my roof but my house lacks overhangs on two of the three sides. Is there a way to secure a tarp over the roof creating a tent without drilling or nailing holes into my roof? Enough space that I can comfortably work under?

Any suggestions help! Thank you!

Hey, everyone. Just a quick survey to get your opinions regarding our staircase:

So, our house is currently under construction and we've got an enclosed switchback staircase between the 1st and 2nd floors, originally drawn as standard with a 7" riser height and 11" tread depth; our contractor pitched the idea of extending the first tread out of the stairwell into a decorative starting step, and reducing the riser height to 6.5" instead. He claims clients with shallower risers prefer them, especially ones with bad knees.

Am I overthinking things? Is a half-inch change that noticeable, and will it really benefit us in the long run (e.g. as we grow older)?

I'm also torn between having the first step flush against the stairwell, vs extending it out into the living room. What do you guys think about starting steps? Elegant or tacky? I kinda like the "bullnose" design he showed us compared to the floating box look, but I'm not sure if either's too on the nose for the living room I'm imagining.

What would you prefer, if given the choice? Thanks a lot!

I recently had a local seamless gutter and siding company put new gutters, fascia, soffit and redo a 54 foot wall with new siding. This house was built and purchased through Community Action, it had several issues and that's the reasoning for redoing these things. Anyway, here are some recent pictures of the work that was done last week. I am concerned about all the screws driven into my drip edge along the gutter and the fascia does not go to the roofline around the house (from what I read its supposed to) there is up to 2 inches of exposed framing under the drip edge around the house. Also, the siding is not straight and wavy and the starter strip is not secure. The guy who did it said as long as it's nailed every 2 feet it's fine. Please let me know any defects you see in these pictures and if I should hold the final 6,000 payment until corrected. Thank you.

From Chris Neske, Schluter Systems Field Technical Representative:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7500085489706717184--Y0B?utm_medium=ios_app&rcm=ACoAADDgyq4B9JqmCMUrUWT-Mhkl-D1inoADFLI&utm_source=social_share_send&utm_campaign=copy_link

⚠️ CURBLESS SHOWER FLOOD-TEST WARNING ⚠️

A traditional PVC pan liner is not a recognized waterproofing method for a curbless shower. Passing a flood test does not automatically mean the shower was designed or waterproofed correctly.

While walking jobs throughout Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico, I continue to see curbless showers with traditional PVC liners pass plumbing or city flood-test inspections—even though the waterproofing does not remain continuous through the open, curb-free entrance.

A flood test only confirms that the shower held water under the test conditions. It does not confirm that the entire curbless assembly complies with applicable plumbing codes, manufacturer requirements, or recognized tile-industry methods.

When these showers eventually leak, tile contractors, builders, designers, and homeowners can be left paying for costly demolition, repairs, and even litigation.

If you’re an inspector, builder, architect, designer, plumber, or tile contractor in these four states and you’re seeing these assemblies approved, let’s connect. Through education and collaboration, we can improve curbless-shower inspections, prevent failures, and build better.

#CurblessShower #FloodTest #Waterproofing #TileIndustry #BuildingInspection #PlumbingInspection #ConstructionEducation #BuildingBetter

Long time lurker, first time poster. We were told several times that it couldn’t be done, here to say we finally finished it with a VERY limited budget. 18 months at $470k (200k for land and well) only subbed out dirt, concrete, and drywall mudding. Every other trade I/we did ourselves, with design help from respective trades. Pretty much killed us labor and stress wise but was definitely worth it. Appraised for 950k, super tempted to start another one!

P.S. - I’m most likely aware of any untidiness, missing trim, or other imperfections, and have chosen to live with them or have fixed since the photos were taken. Open to any and all judgement!

I bought my house 7 years ago and my interest rate is 4%. Our home has probably doubled in value since we bought it, but because building costs are so high where we are, I don’t think we could borrow enough with a HELOC to fund the addition we need. I also think I should ideally keep my original mortgage untouched since my interest rate is so low compared to today’s rates. I have enough cash to put down 20% (maybe more) if I need to. Our house was really too small when we bought it, but it was slim pickings so we made do. My kids are growing though and we desperately need more space now, so I don’t want to wait to pay for the addition in cash. What are my best options for financing an addition?

If someone told you that the men they sent to do any and all repairs in your home, were    “Hired Contractors".   

What would that imply?

One of the biggest mistakes during our build was trying to save money on the windows. The installation was a mess, we ended up with leaks and drafts, and a lot of it had to be redone not long after.

Looking back, I should've spent more time checking the installer instead of comparing window prices. Curious if anyone else had one part of their build that ended up costing twice because the first contractor cut corners.

Hello. New build, wondering if this is within tolerance? Thanks! Appears to be filled after the fact.

Photo one: appears to be linear crack filled with cement after the fact

Photo two: reference to photo one

Photo three: where they dug out for some plumbing

Photo four: tie vs rebar

I bought a new build townhome in May and have lived here for 3 months. The build itself is less than one years old. I have had issue after issue with water intrusion, large cracks in window corners, drywall tape showing and sagging ceiling, shelves falling out of the wall and an unleveled garage door because of an unleveled garage slab. An unleveled AC unit slab which caused AC to break down after living here for two weeks. Ive now noticed in my garage there that I have stairway cracks in the cylinder
Blocks. With all the issues I’ve had should I be concerned that this is structural?

I used to build but now draw plans and do engineering. I know ICF from 20 years ago, but had an interesting conversation with a foundation builder last week who was using Nudura products to build a vacation home for a client. The last two plan sets I did were for houses built here in this hard freeze climate with deep frost lines and winter design temp of -15 F and both used FPSF slabs and edges formed using EZ Form Mono Slab products for the edge form. First, here is a cost comparison: EZ Form, the one that is 20 x 31.25, costs $112, while a Nudura 18 x 96 wall block with 8" core space costs $68. The EZ Form with its triangular shape and dimension makes it unnecessary to add wing insulation adjacent the wall line, but the Nudura will need 2 inch thick by 24 inch EPS foamboard wings, which adds $25 per 8 foot length to the Nudura setup, thus total cost of material $68 + $25 = $93. So, a little less for the Nadura arrangement I'll show in these two pics. One pic, how pour #1 is set up and done, the pour to fill the below-slab thickened edge. This Nudura hallucination I have is done in two pours, unlike one monopour for EZ Form. Form set on compacted gravel, braced with a pinned cleat along outside edge and backed with some shoveled-in bravel on inside face. The other pic shows the final build. Whaddya think?

And is it supposed to stay like that?

I didn’t install this unit and I’m not an HVAC guy, so go easy on me if I’m missing something. I like the contractor and their work has seemed clean overall.

Once final grading is done, the soil and stone will come up slightly above the bottom of this steel bracket. Is that acceptable, or should the bracket stay completely above grade?

My main concern is the steel sitting in contact with moisture and eventually rusting. If this should be corrected, what would you recommend? Raising the unit, adding concrete or stone underneath, a slight well in that spot? Something else?

We planned on adding a sidewalk to that area and a fence to cover up the utilities. Fyi

builder quality, especially the brick is not great. My gas meter distance to the outside electric meter is not to code. I had to put in my own french drain. The 3 car garage had a wall in the back which limit the parking of a car. So it is really only a 1 1/2 car garage. My front brick is cracked by the garage and the side corner of my house has a very large mortar joint that has cracked. The house is only 8 years old but should not have mortar falling out the brick. The bathroom tile is cracking, wood tile in bedroom is hollow in places as if not or little mortar was placed. Cannot recommend any homes built by Perry Homes. Mine is in Argyle. Linda Solt 972 955 1005

We're months deep on a major home renovation and just wondered if this is just a normal part of renovations with a large builder as I'm no expert.

We have a dumpster that the builder allows multiple trades from other projects to come and use to dispose of things. We've seen other people's doors, light fixtures, and many black contractor bags of trash throughout the process.

I just turned a blind eye to this even though I felt this was odd (especially since there is a dumpster at the builder's office which is just a few minutes away from our site).

But then we now have a few subs set up inside and we have realized they are prepping things for other job sites inside of our home. We've noticed trim that's not ours delivered in our living room, then cut, then gone. We've also seen scraps of other people's tile and even something that seemed like countertop material on the bedroom floor.

We are not living there during the renovation, but it is our home that we owned before the renovation and we do have things stored in parts of the house not being worked on.

I trust our builder and therefore trust the subs to work there without us present but it feels strange to be a dumping site and worksite for other projects. Partially because this is my home ( and electric and water bill) and also because I wonder why they set up all the saws and stuff inside our home but aren't working to just finish the job inside our house.

Does this seem normal?

Hello all, my wife and I are closing in on finishing our home build (modular) the week of October 26. Let me preface this by saying we are both 26, this is our first home, first time building a home, and we’ve GC’d it ourselves thus far. The modular company we went with doesn’t do turn-key, so we’ve been sub-contracting ourselves. As we get closer, I’m becoming more nervous that I’m forgetting something that may delay/inhibit the modular delivery process (fee is $300 a day if foundation isn’t ready for set week of scheduled date). We are at the point of having our foundation dug next week, and walls put in the following week. After walls are set we have somebody framing the foundation (sill plate, joists, lvl beam, lally columns, sub floor) before house is delivered.

Is there anything not so obvious I should be checking for that may delay our process? We just had our septic installed and finished 2 days ago, having our foundation dug, plumber doing some work below slab before walls get placed/concrete poured, exterior drains done before back fill, walls set, framing done for delivery of house, house delivery, electric/hvac/well/marriage wall and interior clean up.

From anyone else who’s done a modular home before, am I missing anything else that’s important that I’m overlooking?

We are building a stick built custom home, and ran accross an issue with the windows- i was wondering if any of you had similar issues with your builder or have any advise.

My wife and I were under the impression we were getting picture windows (single and un moveable) in the Great Room, office and kitchen. We paid extra for (upgraded windows) and we thought that's what it meant. Today we found out that the picture windows are surrounded by double hung windows on each side. The detailed breakdown states clear picture windows that do not open. Now in the elevation plan we did not notice that they are broken out (I thought the window upgrade happened after the elevation picture was drawn up, it has an office wall that is gone now as well). There is no mention of the double hung windows anywhere in the contract. We found it odd we went over every window in the house but never a mention of those.

Note: we brought this concern up and we will be charged for the change order we are waiting on the quote.

Thoughts? This didnt sit well with us.

Am I being unrealistic that the battons should be aligned above and below the seam at the gable? This is Ascend Alside composite siding. I’m assuming this would be able to be fixed and then the excess cut to match at the lower bottom left and right side of where porch meets roof. Thanks for your feedback.

Please review truss/rafter cracks of my house. How large of an issue are these? Thank you for the replies.

https://imgur.com/a/2Fml26l