One more question - what is the expectation or "norm" regarding the builder keeping you updated/letting you know what's going on throughout the build? I feel like I'm in the dark always and getting any information is like pulling teeth and ALWAYS initiated by me.

Also - one more thing I thought of - what is the expectation or "norm" regarding waste/garbage found on the site? Should there be absolutely zero, zip, none on any given day? are a few water bottles the norm? How do you handle this topic?

Thank you in advance from an individual who would definitely would never do this again!!!!!

Visit daily if you can - when it's moving it's moving quickly it seems.

We found a wall that was off - easily adjusted. Missed another one that was built to spec but the spec was off (doh). Moved the ceiling fan in the great room as it ended up being directly above where the couch would be as it was originally wired.

"Also - one more thing I thought of - what is the expectation or "norm"
regarding waste/garbage found on the site? Should there be absolutely
zero, zip, none on any given day? are a few water bottles the norm?" You'd better brace yourself. We had a dumpster and a large outdoor waste basket inside and I was still always picking up empty bottles, cans, burrito wrappers, paper towel, build scraps....... We didn't pay for a 'clean up crew' so I'm not sure if that is an extra? I have heard it mentioned you might want to ask the builder what the norm is and then proceed from there.

Great. Thank you - I expect to be picking up everyone's trash and no problems doing it - but just curious what others experience was.

May be a silly question, but how exactly did you figure out the wall was off? Do you go to the site and measure every single thing?

Did your builder inform you during the build what was going on?

There is so much dust and debris I was sweeping constantly to the point of callouses that it didn't really matter but ewww.

We were owner build and gc'd so actually yes and no. There was so much going on and we did the divide and conquer with the responsibilities plus work plus kids. There were some things I wished we had touched base on but overall the way we did it worked as best as it could. We didn't see each other much to actually have a conversation.

The wall thing was by chance. We were walking around and chatting and I happened to look down and noticed the seam on the sub floor was not even with the framed wall and it caught my eye. So I looked and sure enough the sub floor was put in square so that meant the wall was creeping over. DH had it quickly adjusted. It was an easy one. The other wall is so strange. I didn't notice it until it was too late but it did bug me. It doesn't hurt anything so it's not that big of a deal and I don't really notice it now but I can't figure out why it was drawn that way.

The back hall pantry wall lines up with the door casing not the wall by the closet so the hall narrows. Maybe that was on purpose but I saw it once it was up and I did not like it.

During framing, we found two window openings missing. All windows were supposed to be set at 8 foot and none of them were. Our stairs extended about 3 ft out into our dining area and the plumbing wall in the laundry room was 4 inch instead of 6 inch. There was a lot more but I can't remember it all now.

I'll keep all these things in mind! Thank you.

We're three months into our 7-8 month build, and we visit the site every day, sometimes multiple times since we're staying next door. So far, I've found a lot of little things wrong, most of which our contractor has dealt with immediately. If there were mistakes with the foundation, we missed them since we didn't know what to look for. One came to light last week--the UFER ground was placed incorrectly. Not sure what will happen with that. With the framing, the door to the water heater closet was framed as a window. Easy fix. A huge window in the stairwell was framed for half its actual size. Another easy fix. Everyone, us included, forgot that when we raised the floor in the kitchen, we had to raise the door in from the garage. That one required a little help from the structural engineer to deal with the ceiling height in the garage. And the framing design did not fully accommodate vent and drain placements due to not being able to go through some of the heftier beams (we're in earthquake country). We're going to have some soffits I'm not thrilled with, though they aren't horrible. With the plumbers, we measured and measured and measured in the kitchen to make sure the island plumbing was in the right place. They made a mistake in the Master Bath shower that would have made it tricky to plumb the second of two fixed shower heads. I decided one fixed and one handheld would be fine. The cabinet guy made lots of goofs in measuring, failed to write things down and came to meetings unprepared. We're looking for someone else, and our contractor is as appalled as we are with the first guy. Then yesterday, I realized the french doors that were installed last Friday don't have screens. Arg. There was a lot of discussion about this with the GC and the window supplier at ordering time. We'll see what happens. Tomorrow the electrical work starts. There's so much wiring in a 3,000 sq. ft. house, I know there will be mistakes. We hope we catch them quickly enough to fix easily.

As to upkeep on the site, our city inspectors have been very impressed with how tidy it is. My husband and I are appalled with what a mess it is. We spend time picking up water bottles, food wrappers, nails, all kinds of things most days. There's a pile of scrap lumber and cardboard to be recycled in the front yard. We'd like it gone right now, but there's a schedule for waste removal. I think site upkeep standards are pretty variable.

We found 2 closets that were 22" instead of 24" deep just walking through. Didn't look right. Coats would never have fit. The biggies were discovering they were excavating for 10' height instead of 9'. Designer mistake--the contract called for 9'. Discovered that when we were signing off on the windows--they were too big. And we just sent a note asking about the zoning for the HVAC and discovered they had changed subs and the new one didn't know about the previous conversation. We had not signed off on anything so it would have been their problem, but glad we could point it out, lose a few days, and avoid a major conversation/redo. We took a tape measure after the workers left and started to check measurements. Trust, but verify. We now keep a tape measure in the car--we know where the plans are on site. Our builder is very responsive, but we often initiate the conversations with the supervisor. (We also have weekly meetings on selections until they are all done.) Email is better than text messaging because you have a paper trail.

We ask our supervisor what's coming up in the next few days and then remind him of anything out of the ordinary. We have stairs with longer treads and lower rise (aging in place home) so when the stair guy was coming out to measure the steps, we made sure we reinforced our expectations. We've learned that checking with the superintendent before a section starts helps. We respect the line between the superintendent and his workers.

Double check everything before you sign off (our builder uses Builder Trend software to confirm our selections). Then look to see what is in your contract and your selection and do they match. Hope this helps. We don't have a checklist--we're just looking carefully at everything.

All great comments/suggestions, etc. Thank you.

Do you ask every week what's coming up? (I'd think one would catch on that you want to know what's going on and they'd automatically tell you after you ask 100 times!)

Two windows were set too high in the wall. The brick base around the screened porch went up too high. The under-cabinet lights in the kitchen were left off the plan during some plan revision; had to retrofit the wiring.

We'd planned three sets of French doors in the LR, but when they were framing we realized that meant you stared at a blank wall in the center when entering the Foyer. Change Order; now the eye travels out and beyond.

Don't antagonize your builder or the subs. Go to the site as often as you can and LOOK. (If nothing is happening, ask why.) Who cares if the place isn't tidy. It is a Construction Site. As long as neighbors don't complain and no workman is using the site as a potty...chill! (I'd be more concerned with getting the lien releases and verifying it's going to plan.)

That is why I am asking on this forum to find out what is the norm so I can have a better idea of what to expect. Thanks!

So far only mistake is that the GC framed closets (and the laundry entryway) to a much older blueprint. Fortunately it was just the framing. He's rectifying! Otherwise things are going smoothly, although in some cases a little slower than either of us would like -- it turned out the day the sand and gravel for the gravel driveway was to be delivered, the town was re-paving my road! So only two loads got delivered, and he's having a hard time re-scheduling. Some of the permitting took a bit longer than he expected, too. (I am not surprised about the latter -- there is someone on the zoning commission who has a stubborn streak.) There have also been weather events -- rain or heavy heat -- I certainly don't want the workers there to get heat stroke! The GC has worked with these people often before, and some are his relatives.

The original plan was to have Certificate of Occupancy by late November, but I doubt it will happen then.

My GC and I continue to have a great relationship. But visit early and often. My GC has made suggestions to me which I hadn't originally considered, and some of these I've adapted. He's not really crazy about computers and e-mail, but (I think he gets his wife to handle that end of things -- and she's sent me photos from weeks I cannot make it up there.) When we are on the phone, or better yet, on the property, he's extremely communicative. I think he's more visual than verbal in certain regards -- not a bad trait for a builder.

I figure I've missed stuff myself; so let's be real here, and work with each other to make the best possible home within whatever parameters crop up.

Re the place being tidy -- other than the garage, it pretty much is. The garage with its unfinished below is where all the empty plastic water bottles are being tossed. I'll deal.

PS: They worked today up there, Labor Day. I suspect not really late due to the heat, but they were there in the morning putting in the porch.

I visit our build site at least once a week to check out the progress. Luckily we designed most of the house and caught a mistake in the footing that would have cost us thousands to fix. There's a diagonal wall where our garage meets the house. I noticed the corner of the poured footing didn't line up with the pad for the elevator shaft. After taking some aerials and overlaying the blueprints, and talking with the framer, we discovered that the architect mislabeled the length of the wall (hand drawn plans) so it was two feet too long. This changed the angle of the wall from 45 degrees to 50 or so and made another wall too short. The surveyors marked corners based on the numbers, and didn't take a ruler to the print to verify. The basement ICF was already set up but not poured, so if we hadn't caught it and the wall was poured, it would have cost a lot to fix. Since we did catch it, they re-positioned the form-a -drain. re-setup the ICF, and poured the footing at the same time as the walls. You can bet I measure everything now.

We visited when we could; we live about 70 miles away from the other house.

Our builder / general contractor kept us updated at just about every step; we talked to him a lot, by phone or text (his preferred methods) or email (he wasn't as good with this).

We made little changes, of our choice, here and there, but didn't find any mistakes. Our builder is a perfectionist, so he would tell us things like, "I have to make this hallway two inches narrower because of ______" - I can't remember what the reason was, but it made sense to us.

He also really cared about the building site. I never saw any trash, and he was constantly sweeping. I brought a plastic chair to the site, because I have back problems, and the workers used it when eating lunch, which was fine with me.

The only item was that the builder changed the window frame colors slightly, because he used a different window company than the architect had originally specified. The builder asked us about the changed color, and even showed us the difference. It turned out more white, I think, than we had in mind but (i) we DID approve it and (ii) who knows if the other color would have also looked too white - on the same cards, the original and end colors looked very similar, to me.

I would say visit as often as you can. I'm at our build site every day, sometimes more than once. We've been lucky not to have too many errors thus far - just two windows framed too large and our powder room is a bit larger than planned. Nothing huge. We're owner/builder/GC so we're there often working or checking on our subs. We're also there cleaning. I just feel like if the people I hire are working and doing their jobs well, I don't mind picking up after them. And I understand after working on the house some myself that once you get in a rhythm working, it's a pain to stop and clean up. The cleaning hasn't been terrible - just a fact of life on the job site. Good luck!

Great - thank you for all the suggestions and comments. Very appreciative.

Pay close attention to HVAC if you don't have that already drawn up by the builder. Again since we were owner build I'm not sure how that works with a builder. We had some surprises there that were not wrong but disappointing.

Autumn, what sort of issues should I be looking for with HVAC? I'm at that stage right now.

golfergirl - issues such as air returns right in the middle of a focal point fireplace with arches or taking up a wall where you wanted sound deadening because it's behind the tv that backs up to the master bedroom or where you planned to have electrical outlets for charging stations that now you can't use that wall (and then oh guess I didn't need it so now there is no HVAC there and NO OUTLETS). Some can't be avoided but just be involved from the start on what options you have and then you can judge the trade off. I was told there were no other options due to the 'open plan' but I certainly wouldn't have designed what I did to have air returns right smack in the middle. Of course I was told only a woman would really care and yes the efficiency of the system is most important but still.

I wish I had been closer. I could only visit a few times.

Match the fixtures to the spec. We specd Panasonic whisper fans. They installed Broan. "We use Broan they are the same..." No they aren't not even close. Plus they saved $150 per fan. I didn't fight it because it was done...and larger issues loomed.

HVAC -where are the returns and vents? Where is the thermostat going? I have a giant return in a prominent place. And the thermostat has a place of honor right on a feature wall. What were they thinking?

Lots more. Pecking it out on a phone is too tedious!

Good luck!

oy vey! so many things to look forward to. Can't wait till this is all over. :) Thanks everyone.

jn3344-mmmhmmm, exactly. Hey everyone - look at my wonderful cold air returns. Aren't they beautiful? I love them so much I built an arch around them to call attention to their awesomeness. I did take the covers down and paint them the wall color. I am pacifying myself with that. My thermostat is in a good spot. I've got that going for me.

Oh and ducting in the basement goes right above the shower in the bathroom. It's not finished but you could obviously see it with the tub sitting there. The ceiling will be so tight/drop I don't know. I try not to look at it. It is also right at the foot of the stairs - watch your head. Grrrr.

kbear-its best to just not assume anything? Some things that I think are common sense just must not be to anyone but ME or so it seemed.

autumn.4 - agreed. I've seemed to caught on to that - you cannot assume anything, even trivial things that seem no one in their right mind should get wrong. My expectation threshold has been lowered to the point of almost not existing.

Since we are building next door we go up almost every evening after most crew have left. Site supervisor is usually still there. He keeps a VERY clean site. This week and next we might not see as much of him as he is wrapping up a huge remodel on one of our grocery stores, getting ready for post remodel celebration next Thurs but since they are both our projects we have to understand. The crew is still working and he drops by at least once a day. We spent some time yesterday up there (no one worked) with some actual measurements of furniture we will be putting in and I was surprised how big some rooms, like the guest room/den actually are. Very pleased. It is so hard to judge size when the walls aren't all up.

I am driving my husband crazy with possible changes in kitchen layout. ;-P

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU! This thread came just as we caught a major HVAC mistake (lack of zoning). So we followed up when the HVAC team arrived today with the revised plan. While we were onsite, we asked them to show us all of the register and thermostat locations. Found 2 floor vents that would have been where furniture was going, and a thermostat where the future bar will be in the man cave. Easy fix now, but we wouldn't have thought of it except for this thread. So many, many thanks!!

PS. We asked our superintendent if all his clients were this detailed oriented, and he said no, just us. Can't imagine what the others are doing...or not doing, as the came may be.

Yes, we have air supply in front of French doors! Ye gods! Thermostats needed to be moved to keep the north side warm without baking south side. We needed to add hydronic heat under the floors in two north-facing rooms because this was the HVAC guy's FIRST JOB. (Thanks, GC, you JERK!)

We'd been in our house six months before a pet-sitter noticed that the roofer had goofed off without continuing the roof venting shingles ALL the way across the garage roof -- two-foot gap where it meets the house. Must have been quitting time.

Check your outside spigots. Check where the downspouts will go. Are garage floors LEVEL -- no low points? Do you NEED a hundred can lights? (Swiss cheese ceilings.) Are there electrical boxes in the basement and attic? Will switches interfere with your door casings? Want to use Christmas lights on the exterior or need an outlet for a fountain or to use tools outdoors?

Do you want dual fuel hook-ups in the kitchen? Where will the dryer vent?

Make the drywall taper do it right NOW. It won't get better by itself.

Friends of ours are having a modular built in NC. I'm assuming that the actual modular will be OK, but the site-constructed things are full of problems. They got the entire garage roof wrong and had to tear it off and start over. They plumbed for the water heater right in front of a man door to the back yard. And the septic tank is under the front porch.

Our a/c unit and some sort of venting pipes come out of the house right next to the screened porch. Another what the heck moment. Just turn your chair to face the woods and block out the a/c sound and it's a lovely view.

Oh my, there were several big ones. The biggest was a front window was not aligned properly on the exterior. I didn't notice it until after the stucco was applied. They fixed it, but now the window is not centered perfectly in the dining room and it kind of drives me crazy. They also failed to add a door into my mudroom, which you can see from me kitchen. It was just an opening. The distance from the bottom of my stairs to the office wall was too short. Lastly, they did not install a disposal in the prep sink in my island. There were more, but these are the ones that stand out three years later...

A few issues we've had so far:

HVAC - be VERY involved in where ducts will run, and the impacts. WA state doesn't require an HVAC plan for permits so it was surprising to see where returns were (same as Autumn above).

Measure every room in the framing stage. Just do it. Closet depths too. In fact, just measure everything. Doorways, windows, etc.

Our roof trusses were ordered wrong (hip instead of gable) so they have to stick frame the gable on the front, on top of the sheathed hip. This took a lot of oversight.

Attic access: Where do you want them? Our neighbor's ended up being in the middle of his master bedroom in the tray ceiling (well, not middle, off center in ceiling). It looks awful. If I were him I'd make them move it to a closet or something.

Take pictures of each framed room, after plumbing and electrical, with measurements. This will help you greatly with future improvements. Print the photos and put them in an album. Don't rely on them to be only digital.

Great suggestions, Mama Rachel.

Yes, great suggestions Mama Rachel - very practical - will do!!

We were about 35 miles away and we visited every couple of days. Our builder gave us a very detailed schedule and encouraged us to check everything that had been done at least weekly, leavingnotes at the site for the site foreman or contact him directly (he is Amish, but does use a cell phone for work-related business). There were only two issues that required fixing. Our sunroom was to have a 20 foot cathedral ceiling, not a flat one; and the carpenters forgot to rough frame in the spot for a built in medicine cabinet that is flush with the wall. Both of those issues were caught the same day and fixed the next day.

We are about 25 miles from our build and like arebella we visit every couple of days. There haven't been many oops type things, a couple the GC caught and fixed right away. One was a heating vent right over where a bed would be placed. A couple of cabinet issues-the wrong size for one room which was fixed right away. The other was the wood oven hood. Neither the cabinet guy nor us realized that it would stick out so far and we'll be bumping our heads on it. The cabinet guy apologized and is working on a solution(involves raising it, taking off the top cupboard, adding molding or something).

I am amazed at how few errors or disappointments those above have had to deal with. Our build has been fraught with many more than described above. It seemed almost daily we would find something wrong (either completely wrongly built, or just misguided such as the vents in awkward spots). When we were hiring subs (we are DIYing the second half so far fewer errors in this half), we would come home and brace ourselves as we knew something would not be to our liking. We just did not yet know what it was. Some of the bigger, harder to fix errors were: 1)framers did not use a level when they set the roof trusses so all the walls were off centre in our upper level -- we did not find this out until after they had bricked, 2)The masons did not clean up all of the mortar spills when bricking so there are still mortar stains on our bricks 3)Having no HVAC plan with agreed upon locations for duct runs, vents, etc set us back months as we had to go back to get a HVAC design done and start with a different HVAC plan and contractor,4) the foundation was not level in all spots, and some spots did not have a brick ledge where brick was planned.

I did read an ebook before building that is all about typical building errors to watch out for (or poor design decisions made by builders). I highly recommend it for those seeking more answers than provided by this thread.

Good luck all. Most mistakes can be fixed. Find them as soon as possible. Assume every time you visit that mistakes have been made in your absence and measure and check every single thing. Work out in advance the locations for everything (esp HVAC items) as builders will not usually make good aesthetic choices. Not sure why so many of them think a thermostat should be centered on the largest display wall in your house.

Here is the ebook I mentioned that deals with typical errors to watch out for and hence avoid. I found the fee for the book to be well worth the price. Sorry it is not free. I have no association with the author. I just found the book helpful. I imagine the book would be more useful to those at the planning stages, or early build stages.

Carol

ebook

We did the electrical walk through on Friday, after the boxes were placed but before the wires were run. What a blessing. We caught so many little things that the sub would not have known about--putting a switch plate where my marble wall for the fireplace is going; putting the thermostat right under the only picture that's getting a separate light on it; putting a light switch where my dresser will be; placing the downstairs thermostat where the future wet bar will be; being able to put an automatic switch on the door of the pantry so the light automatically goes on. Everything they did made sense, as long as you weren't putting my furniture and decorating ideas in place. The two hours was SO worth it. We are fortunate to have a builder who had worked with us extensively on the electric plan before hand, but always does a thorough walk through before they wire. I really appreciate this attention to detail!

I think I'm seeing a window installation and flashing error. Windows installed with the product the guys are using show 2 acceptable methods. They are supposed to use a caulk-caulk - like sealant in the install method chosen and re-tape after house wrap. There is no sealant on site. I watched a window go in, no sealant. Also, one of the windows is plain wrong. It's supposed to be a casement and it's a slider.

Grrr.

The shower bench was initially installed at 32"! I'm 5'8" and my husband is 6ft and 32" is crazy tall considering standard is about half that. Luckily we caught it before tile. Took our petulant tiler 2 times to get it right. Something we did that was very helpful was we made a list of requirements for every part of the house; room by room, inside and out. It was very detailed and included pictures where possible. We then emailed this list to the GC and kept a printed copy in sheet protectors at the sight. At first the GC and subs thought it was a bit much, but, it kept things from falling down the cracks and reduced the need for multiple phone calls emails.