11 month Inspections

Hello,
We live in Southern walk and we received a letter from VM to list down the items to be corrected for the 11 month ispection. I mentioned to them that I want somebody to come and look at the issues than me listing them down. They said they don't have enough staff to do that. I don't get this. Has anybody experienced this and what did you guys do? Did you list down the action items? Any suggestions???

Thanks
Kal

 

We got the same letter. I don't agree with this "new" warranty policy at all. However, I have yet to complain to them about it.

I don't mind making my own list, but as a 1st time homeowner I would really like someone from Van Metre to come out and walk through our place with us and explain the warranty details.

 

I agree. I can't believe that VM is actually calling this an "improvement" in their customer service. What a bunch of BS. They say that it is an "improvement" because you don't have to sit at home waiting for a VM inspector to come by. They obviously have some good PR people on their staff to be able to come up with that "spin."

I may be wrong (I don't have the letter in front of me), but I believe the letter said that if you specifically requested a VM walkthrough you could still get one; they just weren't going to automatically schedule them anymore.

 

I can only tell you that I had terrible experience also with VM. I was told to fill out a "Request" form for them to "consider"!!! I'll have my 11 months inspection soon, but my problems I had that I mentioned in my 1st inspection which was last summer still not fixed!

 

You may want to spend the money and get a home inspector
to check out your house. I did this for my 6 month inspection
with Washington Homes. The inspector came up with a four page
list of items, including several major problems (broken truss
in the attic, improper support for main carrying beam, and so
on). I wish I had an inspector for my pre-drywall walkthrough
and pre-purchase walkthrough. I would have saved a great deal
of headache.
To find a certified home inspector, go to the American Society
of Home Inspectors. www.ashi.com

My inspector knew all the building codes and for each violation
he wrote down the applicable code numbers. When Washington
Homes got that list, they suddenly reacted and fixed things we
had been complaining about. I expect VM will react similarly.

John B.

 

Everyone regret not hiring an inspector for pre-drywall inspection. Its not too late if you hire before your builder warranty expires and get something in written from VM saying it will fix all the issues Inspector listed out.

Let me know any recommendations for local inspectors. I'm looking to hire one before my 11th month inspection.

 

I'm not sure if it's the same for 11 month inspection as it was for our pre-drywall but we were told by VM that they would not accept the inspector's reports directly from the inspector. If there were things on the inspector's report that we wanted fixed, we'd have to add it to VM's list during the walk-through. They don't obligate themselves to fix everything from the inspector's report either.

 

That means there is no law that protects owner but, always builder. I can't beleive it thats how the county/state law

 

Washington homes has a similar policy. They will (and are required to) fix code violations. They won't deal directly with the third party inspector because many items in the report are opinion rather than actual "violations" and the situation becomes very adversarial. In other words, there is more than one way to build a house.
As far as fixing warranty items Washington homes has stepped up to the plate every time with us. I have no complaints about their warranty service. After we moved in we had a list of items to be addressed. J.T. (the Wash.homes rep.) coordinated all trades people (carpenter, carpet, plumber, drywall, painter, landscaper) to be there at the same time so I only had to miss one day of work. He even went to bat for us on something that Don and Todd (constructions managers) flat out told us was "per site plan" and would not be addressed. That item is now being corrected.

 

Am just going through our 11 month ordeal now. We chose to list all of our problems on the warranty request form and to duplicate the same list on their "request for consideration form" as well. Let them separate out what they have made so difficult to discern.

BTW, something for everyone to check is whether you have standing water in your exterior areaway drain. If you do, you probably have a trap installed, which is against the CABO code. This could lead to frozen pipes and flooding if not taken care of by VM. We have not yet received VM's interpretation of the building code or heard their proposal to fix the problem.

Mike