I asked the architect today about his initial plans with regards to the foundation pour and would he be concerned about the carport foundation slab being flush with the basement slab. He was very quick to point out that it was a poor pour. YIKES!!!!. He said that he’s unsure how to handle this – I do, rip it up and do it correctly. Also, found out that this isn’t our GC’s first time to have foundation problems and even more concerning is that he is currently dealing with the same issues at another house.
I need some help, someone who can give me some guidance without having an agenda but is knowledgeable about construction.
I went with Julie this afternoon to go back and look at a few slabs she had selected for the kitchen at Bottega Stone. Definitely not something that I find very interesting but I love what she picked, Mountain White Danby marble. I’m a little concerned about the fact that it’s marble and we have two boys but it’s supposed to be less porous than traditional marble. It’s more expensive but we saved money on clearing the property so that will help to make up the difference. Plus I love to see Julie getting so excited about the house. It’s been a hard year for her and even though we have been experiencing some pretty significant setbacks with the construction it’s great to see her having some fun.
They were going to pour the slab today but for whatever reason they didn’t. GC couldn’t tell us why but said that he’s “anxious to get started”.
I received an email today from our GC basically saying that he agreed that the current pour of the carport wasn’t correct and that they will figure something out. Possibly add a curb to it – I’ll need to find out more about it but hopefully this will achieve what was in the plans.
So I went by the house today after work and besides the fact that the retaining wall for the carport is in the wrong spot, I also noticed that the carport foundation is even(flush) with the basement foundation, plans call for it to be 1″ – 2″ lower with a gradual decline to aid with channeling water away from the house. If that wasn’t bad enough, the carport foundation slopes toward the basement, basically channeling any water towards the house. How does this happen and why am I the one catching it?
Our GC informed us today that tomorrow they will remove the carportretaining wall which was poured in the wrong location and then they will start excavating the area closer to the house as well as install pier pads and posts to support the existing structure. Hopefully this will help us achieve a footprint a little closer to what was shown on the plan. Not sure why this wasn’t done originally but I’m just happy that they’re finally doing it.
Our GC informed us today that because of the issues surrounding the pour they are going to dig closer to the existing house to try to gain more square footage and hopefully achieve what was written in our plans. He said that his engineer is working on the plans now so hopefully we’ll be able to come closer to achieving what we wanted.
The 4 of us (family) went up to Norcross today to look at slabs for our kitchen and bathroom counter tops. Gorgeous stuff, amazingly beautiful but somewhat overwhelming. I will say though, Julie knows what she wants and has a great eye. The boys and I started to get a little bored at the end, Julie had fun though so that is what ultimately matters.
First, it is hard to believe that we’re spending so much money with someone to construct our home and this is the first official meeting that we’ve had. We’ve tried but he has repeatedly told us that it wasn’t necessary yet and has basically made it feel as if we were being unreasonable and somewhat crazy for wanting to do so. Anyway, our first meeting and it is to discuss all of the issues created with the slab as well as the framing. Where do I start?
I let him know that I was pissed(politely), and that I couldn’t understand how any of this could happen. As for the footprint of the slab not being correct, he said that it had to do with the elevation in the plans (he ignored my comment about field verifying) and that they couldn’t dig closer to the house. Not sure why? They did the first time they excavated. Then he admitted that this was the first time that he had ever connected an existing structure with new construction. What? Why didn’t he tell us this when we first met with him and asked him if he had ever worked on similar jobs before and his response was that he was quite experienced and comfortable with it. Also, if he didn’t know what in the hell he was doing why didn’t he at least enlist someone’s help that does have the needed experience? What have we gotten into?
As for the carport wall and slab being incorrect, he said that he “honestly doesn’t know why it was done this way” but he did agree to remove the carport retention wall which now we might move further back to give us more carport area. We asked him about the ceiling height and he said that he had checked it and it was correct – good at least it was dug deep enough.
In regards to the plumbing he couldn’t explain how it ended up in the bedroom but he offered to have it moved into the correct location if we paid for it.Seriously? You or your subs screwed it up and you want us to pay for it? He then said that we could leave it where it is and just make the bedroom in the basement smaller by 2-3 feet – it’s already a pretty small bedroom – what is he thinking and the guts for him to even suggest that we pay and or make a heavy sacrifice for his mistake. This ultimately would affect the value of our home as well if we ever decided to sell it.
We said that we would get back with him shortly, I literally thought that I was going to go crazy because I was so mad. The carport retaining wall will be removed so we’ll decide on the rest and get back with him but my feeling is that I want the whole thing either ripped up or him off the job and he can refund us what we have paid that he hasn’t done correctly.
Last, I asked again for Lien Waivers and of course he said that he would get them to us. I’m not holding my breath.
Morningside Renovation 