Many are built with grids only on the front of the house and no grids on the side or rear. This has become a pretty common occurrence.

Ditto.....You can see out to the backyard without having those grids to obstruct your view! That's done alot in this area.

I have grids in front and not in back. Maybe in the interim, that mistake became very common.

As far as the fixtures, you only need to pick the brand of shower valve (and tub valves). If you go with Moen - for example - there is only one valve for many different trims. So you really don't need to have everything picked out. This is a common oversight for builders that use Moen (or a specific brand all the time) because there generally isn't much of a decision that needs to be made. But maybe you wan't thermostatic Grohe valves ... and that isn't the norm.

Mel-I feel your pain. We started out loving our builder & as time went on, not so much--some days were definitely better than others. Similar to your experience, there were certain things he'd ask 100 questions about and then others he wouldn't--like the very basic fireplace insert he put in, the not so pretty gas logs, etc. or when he simply ignored my very emphatic & specific repeated requests for Panasonic Whisper Quiet Vent fans in all the bathrooms and I ended up with Broans from Lowe's that are noisy. (What? You expected the electrician to get the fans at an electrical supply house? Ummm, YES!!!) Things that he said he'd just eat/take care of ended up coming out of the credits we were owed by him because "I'm not going to lose money on this house." So I'd put forth a credit & he would say, "Well, I'm sure you were over somewhere else, let me see what I can find." It was a losing battle. My advice--get everything on tape or in writing as you go to protect yourself.

Grids on the front windows & not on the sides & rear is a very common practice these days to save $$. So who is supposed to pay for this mistake of what he thought you wanted? If you said I want my house to look like this one you built which has the grids in all the windows and you got something different, the builder should pay in my opinion. But if that house had the grids on the front only and you said you wanted it like that house, then I would say you would pay. Maybe he can use the non-grid windows in another house he's building and he can simply shift the cost to the next job in which case he pays but gets to use the windows he removes. If you have to pay, those windows without grids are yours and do not leave the property unless you sell them to someone--otherwise you're paying twice for your windows, but only getting 1 set. I'd put them on eBay or Craigslist.

david_cary is right about the plumbing fixtures--the builder/plumber really needs to know brand, whether you will have thermostatic valves, the number of controls you want in each (1 sink or 2, 2 shower heads each with their own control or 2 heads with 1 control & a diverter), & will you be having any shower body sprays that require valves. You can pick out the specific model of faucets later. Definitely let him know now if you plan on any wall mounted faucets--I missed that one & ended up with a standard counter mount as a result.

Booksandpage, I am glad my post helped. At this point it looks like we are going have to pay for the fix. We spoke with the builder last week and right now it looks like $2200 extra to fix the windows. But the builder says he is still trying to work something out with the window guy.

But I did win the battle with the plumbing sub-contractor who told us 5 weeks after an agreed change to the water line that he couldnt put it where we wanted and had paid for, and that the change would cost an extra $450. But it realy pissed me off that my builder stood around while I had to remind everyone that I do not have a plumbing allowance only fixtures and I am not paying anymore for plumbing issues.

We are on vacation this week and I am terrified that something will go wrong and we will not be there to stop it. I did make it clear to the builder that any new issues with the plumbing, electric or concrete is coming out of his pocket

Do I love my builder? What day is it? Sometimes, he's great. Other times, he gets that "deer in the headlights" look and I know I'm about to go a few rounds with him. Like when I found a gas line in my laundry room that had already been wired for an electric dryer ("well, I thought you wanted gas" became "We always do it both ways in case the new owner wants the other when you sell the house down the road"). That was just the latest - we've had quite a few more episodes like that. He's never wrong, it's always the concrete guy's fault (they hate each other), blah, blah, blah. If he just once said, "you know, I made a mistake, I'll take care of it and it won't cost you anything," I think I'd pass out on the spot ....

My builder treats me like I should please him! Charges me big bucks for upgrades, I have to point out I should a credit somewhere and it will be a measly 100.00. Has chewed me out twice now (I stood up to him about how RUDE he is). Only the foundation is poured 3 weeks ago, and I already HATE him. Going to be a long 6 Months.

6 months??

Hahahahaaaaahaha!

JJ: Lolol! Right? Temporarily went insane. But he can bully me to hurry up. Even said to look at electrical when there is only the foundation poured after 4 months. What?

"Charges me big bucks for upgrades, I have to point out I should a credit somewhere and it will be a measly 100.00."

Standard operating procedure but this should all be spelled out in your contract.

Yep it should be. Unfortunately it wasn't.

Is it SOP to itemize the upgrades? Or just give the buyer a giant dollar amount and refuse to say how much of it is "allowance" and how much is "upgrade." Seems like a good way to sow distrust.

"Is it SOP to itemize the upgrades? Or just give the buyer a giant dollar amount and refuse to say how much of it is "allowance" and how much is "upgrade.""

Again it should all be spelled out in the contract. If it is not you are pretty much at his mercy for not having done the due diligence on your end and had the contract reviewed by an attorney. All you can do is ask at this point.

Yep you are right.