Day 88 - Final Inspection tomorrow, NVRM Hell today

Final'ish grading.  Water shutoff raised up.

There are 2 final inspections tomorrow.  Ours with the PM at 9am, and the county inspection attempt #3 at some point.

I stopped by today after work and a lot of my list was already done and the few other items were scheduled (exhaust pipe = plumbers,  lamp post = electricians, etc).   Talked to the PM and he says we are 100% good for the inspection.  The tempered glass sticker now has painters tape with an arrow pointing to the glass sticker location. Sort of an idiot light for the inspector.   So we should pass tomorrow and they will have to turn around the Certificate of Occupancy pretty quick for Friday's closing.

Goals for the final inspection are to check all the paint/drywall for any remaining touchups, understand ally the mechanicals, and understand the maintenance/care of some new items like the tile grout and the granite (seal 'em both) and the concrete driveway (probably seal that too before winter)

Landscaping and Sod is in tomorrow -- tons of photos tomorrow, I promise


Onto my NVRM issues --  thankfully I have vented a bit to my wife already, so I won't go into the  full story -- but my dissatisfaction grows every day.   Current complaints --

1. 36 hours until closing and we still don't have official re-approval.  Keep in mind the only thing that has changed since initial approval is we SOLD our old house so our debt was decreased by almost 200k.   You would think approval in December + less debt (drastically) would = quick approval.  
2. Nobody seems too concerned about #1, except me who has been asking approval status since March 30th (first email to processor).  The unnecessary stress this creates is inexcusable.
3. Our cash needed at closing went up 400% over the weekend.   Several emails to NVRM last week asking for final HUD so I can order a cashiers check (bank is out of state...).  Last friday I was told "it's definitely less than $500 so don't worry, you can write a personal check" and their guess was around $300 due.   Today it ends up being $1200+ with less than 2 days notice.  Fees to have a cashier check overnighted?   $75.   My solution:  I am taking it all out in cash from ATM's and paying them in $20's.   If I could pay in pennies I would.   
4. They have continued to change their mind about documentation, and truly don't understand simple legal concepts like contract law.   Today's argument was about a loan from my parents.  When closing on our old house we had to pay some at closing to cover tax liability for the part of the year we lived in the house.   NVRM said any money we transferred into checking for this would be an issue with the underwriters (everything is an issue with the underwriters) -- so we borrowed it from my parents for a few weeks and we will pay them back right after closing, simple right?   Only a few weeks later NVRM said they needed a gift letter from my parents saying this was not to be repaid, despite telling us to keep it off the books the first time.  --  then they decided it wasn't a gift, it was a loan because my mom wrote "short term loan" on her check.   This is where contract law comes in.  You can write anything you want on a memo line and it has no bearing on the contract (check = simple contract).  Just because you write Yankee Stadium on your season ticket check doesn't mean you own the stadium when the cash it.  NVRM couldn't understand this.  So now it was back to being a "loan".  So parents needed to sign a note saying "it's a loan, will be repaid... etc"...   Then they decided that wasn't good either, and it needs to be a promissory note, which basically says "this is a loan, will be repaid" but says Promissory Note across the top.   So this was another form and signature.    Long story, I know, but just one of the many examples of how they screw things up.  

Honestly at this point I think I would never build with RH again if forced to use NVRM as the mortgage company.  I have no complaints about my sales rep, project manager, or house (yet), but my mortgage experience has been the worst of the 5 of my life.  And I say this as somebody with excellent credit, long employment history, and nothing exceptional in our financial history.    I can't even imagine what it would be like if god forbid you had missed a payment once in your life on a gas card or something.   They would probably require DNA samples.

OK, I lied.  I had to vent a little more, but now I feel better.

Day 87 Our Inspection (passed) and County Attempt #2 (failed)

Today was a day of inspections.  First was the county, and they failed again, this time with 1 item.  The inspector can't see the tempered glass sticker on all 3 panes of shower stall glass.  PM assures me this will not delay occupancy.

Then I got there around 3:30 for the appointment with our personal inspector. The final grading was finishing up and looks great.  Enough of a grade to avoid any water issues but not enough to be annoying.  Plus there is a decent flat space in the back and side yards.   Anyway, our inspector lives near by and has looked at the house a good half dozen times so far, so there wasn't much in the way of surprises that have not been previously addressed.   Spent 90 minutes with us, and it was well worth the money.


Below is the list I sent to our PM.   My biggest concern is the dishwasher installation technique and the current height of the lamp post.  I am sure all of these items will be addressed before friday.

No photos for now, but I will have a bunch either on Thursday or Friday.

* Midget Lamp post --   Now that the grading is done it has confirmed what I have suspected since the concrete forms went up -- the walkway lamp is super low.   It's maybe 5' above the new ground level.   Also tied into this is the switch (assuming it is last to right in foyer) does't work, or possibly the light bulbs is out.
* Sliding door -  Handle needs to be tightened and the slide stop is missing so it bangs into the fixed pane if slid too far.
* Upstairs bathroom (non-master) faucet needs to be caulked.  It wiggles a bit, and a sealing should keep it a bit more in place.
* Floor HVAC vents -  Didn't get cleaned.   Drywall dust, screws, sawdust, etc all inside.   Checked the morning room and family room ones, not sure about front half of house.
* Front Deadbolt - not lined up properly.   WAY too hard to lock, required a lot of pressure on door from inside, or serious pulling from outside.
* Kitchen Exhaust Pipe - Two segments (to the right of gas line entry) came apart.  Looks like the duct tape tore, possibly related to the kink repair in the other segment the first time.
* Floor pipe in unfinished room next to roughed bath - Plumber capped it, but there is some sort of foul liquid (hopefully not what it smells like) in there.
* Dishwasher installation -   This one I noticed right as we were finishing up because the sides appeared to be missing trim (I could see the shims).  The granite/cabinet installers didn't put in a screw strip (not sure real term) under the counter where the dishwasher goes, so the DW installer had nothing to screw into except 1" of air and then granite.   Their solution was to shim both sides and screw through the tub/shim into the cabinet.   This is outside the door seal, but my concern is the who did this installation (non-standard) could have invalidated the warrantee.   GE states that improper installation invalidate any claims, so I need some assurances that either GE did the installation,
* Missing Fridge - Just so there is no miscommunication, we are still missing the fridge (4EF is the RH Code, 25.3 Cu Ft model).  I know this goes in last, but just making sure this will be there.
* Water shutoff in yard -   These are now obviously below grade.
* Water Shutoff access panel in basement - We thought this was to be painted wall color

Day 86 - Concrete Update and Final Inspection

PM called bright and early this morning. He inspected the slab and then spoke to the concrete supervisor. Mr. Concrete (my name for him) says it was a windy day and it dried out the surface quicker which resulted in the cracks.

I only partially believe Mr. Concrete's explanation -- Weather history for April 10th (Here) says winds were 8mph with a max of 18mph out of the north west, which is almost exactly the average for the whole month of April. May was a little less windy, and June was pretty much like April. However -- 3 sides of the garage were already framed when they poured (protected by the wind) with the West facing doors open. This would give their explanation some weight, because the 1/3 closest to the north wall (most protected from wind) has no cracks.

PM is going to apply something called Crack Master  to seal them off, and I am probably going to end up doing a 2stage epoxy at some point also. I know eventually this will drive me nuts otherwise. I want to have the drywall seams finished and painted in there first though, and maybe give the slab a year to settle before I coat it.

---
Final Inspection attempt #1 was today. Noticed around noon that attempt #2 had already been scheduled :-) By 3pm the following note was posted next to the FAIL status "final elect verified - master shower glass by door unable to verify safety/temp/ - wtr. her combustion - need fireplace operating and access to kitchen stove gas connection. "

Nothing seems too much of a concern on that list. Possibly water heater combustion... Fireplace works (witnessed it on friday), so not worried -- and the stove gas connection is a sore point with the inspectors I think. A house across the street has an issue, so they are probably hyper-sensative to gas leaks.

Side note about gas appliances. I ordered 2 gas/co2 detectors today. One for the furnace room (Water Heater and Furnace) and one for the kitchen. I know you can smell gas, but it will be good to have an
audible alarm in case there is any leak. My biggest concern is a toddler turning on the stove but not lighting it... resulting in a slow leak in the kitchen.


--- UPDATE at 6:30 pm ---

I talked to our PM and none of the inspection issues are of a concern to him (or me).  Seems like stupid stuff, he wouldn't want for them to slide out stove to show gas connection or turn fireplace on. Expected everything to be on and prepped.  Seems sort of petty, but I'm sure they will pass tomorrow.  Looking down my street there is only 1 house that passed on the first attempt.

Cracks look a lot better now, but not great.   I'm just going to live with it at this point and keep a close eye to make sure it doesn't change over the next year.   A little dirt in there and it will look like a normal garage eventually.

Final Grading tomorrow, Gutter re-route Wednesday. Final cleaning today.  Just missing a fridge and some grass.  

Also,  I contacted the landscaper today to get a quote for 100% sod.  We have about 5700 sq ft that is supposed to be seeded (back yard) and not sodded like the front/side (7000 sq ft).    My estimate is it will be somewhere around .35/sq ft minus the value of the seeds and labor RH paid for.   Hopefully we can swing it, but too late to include with the mortgage.    The more I see my neighbors fully sodded yard the more I wish I had included it from the beginning or added it sooner.   Highly recommend 100% sod if possible.  

Day 85 - Concrete... It's hard and it cracks...

Yesterday (Saturday) was day 85.  They say the yorkshire is an 85 day build, and they are pretty darn close.   If I didn't could the permit delays early on they would have been done in 85.   As of today they have 99% of the house done.   I have 1 inside issue still (trim in 1 wall of 1 room) and it needs a deep cleaning still, but even today it is in better shape than most houses you would move into.

Final Inspection is scheduled for tomorrow (monday, day 87).   Fridge is still missing. Stove burners are still not calibrated correct/even.

Onto the concrete.    They power washed the garage floor on Friday afternoon.   So, on Saturday when I stopped by you could see the floors for the first time in months.  Previously there was dirt and plaster, and dust all over the place.

Now there are cracks... and a lot of them.   The entire basement slab (1500 sq ft...) had zero noticeable cracks.   Garage has a few dozen.  And some appear to still be below the surface.  

First off -- I KNOW there are 2 rules of concrete  -- 1) It's hard, and 2) it will crack...   But there are a lot of them on this slab.  None are deep, or wide (1/8", maybe 1/4" at most... most are 1/16") but they are long (10' to 10").

I went back this morning (Sunday) and in the daylight, without camera flash making it look worse, and the floor dry, it looks better than it did, but I am still not thrilled with this.  Properly cured concrete should not spiderweb like this.  In the back of my mind I keep remembering how they failed initial inspection on this slab pre-pour and had to get an engineered slab, which makes me nervous also.  

I walked around the street and checked out the other slabs.   I think I was lucky on the basement slab (no cracks, where most others have some), and every other garage has some cracks, but not like us.   Maybe this is the concrete karma evening out for the extra wide driveway.

Emailing PM about this.   Not expecting a resolution before closing, but this will be brought up.  And I will continue to bring it up (survey... 30 day, 10 month inspection).    

Day 83 - Black Bean = Brown?

Stopped by quickly after work today.  House was locked, but the front door is now painted and the trim installed (sort of).  The trim is technically nailed up now, but I really hope more work remains on this.  Huge gaps, not level, etc.    

Concrete molds were off so we could walk around on it a bit (pace off that helipad ;-) but they still need to clean it up, backfill, and make it look good.

Onto the door color...   neither my wife or I really remembered picking the siding, shutters, and door colors.  After picking the brick I remember chasing a toddler (ours) around the model most of the time until I distracted her with some Dora on Netflix on demand.   Fast forward 6 months and all I knew was the selection sheet said Black Bean.    To me that meant black or something close.   Apparently it's a dark brown.   Truly it looks better than black would.  It's a perfect match for the shutters and brick, but I wasn't expecting it.

Some googling on the product number turned up the exact Sherwin-Williams paint they use.   VERY good to know for touch up purposes.  Glad I dug a bit before emailing the PM.   

Front Door with Trim installed

Black Bean?