In which part of the home were these pictures taken?

The driveway under the porte cache and then this is the way each of my doorways look like.. My front door which is steel is the same way but I'm hiring somebody to do brick pavers so that will get cleaned up.

Did you sign a waiver saying your builder is allowed to use your home for advertising? If not, they need to stop. Have you asked them to stop advertising your home? If not, you should do so.

Other than that, you can put up a review on the builder of the problems you are having, and you could also try contacting Houzz staff to object to your home being used for advertising here.

I did not sign a waiver, but I'll have to reread the contract to ensure it's not in the fine print. Thank you for your advice, I truly appreciate it.

Have you paid the final payment ?

The work looks sloppy in a couple of ways. Mortar should be between bricks, under bricks and behind bricks; not splattered on thresholds or concrete. Can you provide more images from different angles and different distances away.

The main thing of concern I see is it appears the masonry sill at the door is made of thin brick set on concrete. I am not sure but I do not believe thin brick is meant to be used horizontally on a walking surface.

It helps to understand the images when I click on them so they enlarge.

This manufacturer says its brick can be used that way and posts a video showing how it's done.

Always amazing how US builders work! Under the mandatory Provincial warranty programme I built under, the builder would be required to clean up or pay up.

Yes, this builder insists on final payment at closing. This is something I will coach my clients on in the future; this gives him no incentive to make things right. Even though I am a luxury agent in the area he seems to think it's okay. I've also included a window sill below (2nd time around), another extension of his quality or lack thereof. I included a picture of the entire window.

So Thin Brick can be used on floors, thank you Worthy (I try to learn something new every day, and that is it for today). My concern now would be the air gaps in the mortar joints and if the manufacturer of the thin bricks you have allows their product to be used on floor surfaces.

It's not for the floor it's actually my front outside entrance. In order for it to match the house they will take the brick and cut it in half. A lot of homes in our area actually use the thin brick for their entrances it's quite pretty. I'll post a picture when it's done. Because of Covid it's taking longer to get supplies and so I don't think I'll get it till the end of February. The gentleman that did the tile on my pool will do that work for me. Although the tile people did do a great job in my house, he just doesn't like doing curves :) I've also used the thin brick in my kitchen as back splash and under the breakfast bar. I prefer the casual look of it with the dark wood.

That is shoddy...but in the grand scheme of things, I would recommend moving on. I would probably replace the threshold myself. Move on and focus on that beautiful view and pool! Check your contract to see if he is allowed to advertise...and if so, check with a RE attorney to see if it doesn't need a more obvious waiver than just fine print...especially for interior photos!

By "floor" I mean any horizontal surface where someone would stand or walk on; and the sill of the doorway falls within that definition.

Thank you B Carey, I will be contracting my RE attorney once I get a quote on the finish touch up on paint in the house. That hasn't been done either so I've hired outside of his subs. If nothing else I want to ensure he does a better job on his next "custom build".

Thank you Mark, I'll file that away for future reference! :) he'll be doing the steps as well ...

Is anything stopping you from posting reviews with photos that show his name and sloppy work? Or do you need to stay quiet and on "good" term through the end of your warranty?

Looks ok to me. Strange place for brick at the door.

Just curious why you would sign off and pay the final payment if there were things that still needed to be addressed? On our custom build we had the builder come over and together we looked everything over. When it was completed to our satisfaction we signed off.

Sheri-

You mentioned that you were going to check the "fine print" about photographs.

I won't even consider signing a contract with fine print, I can't read that ridiculous size font!

If someone wants my business, they can enlarge the font so I can read it.

Of course, I am most probably older than you so I can get away with this.

If they won't, then what that says to me is that they don't want me to know what is in their contract, they want to slip something by me.

Because there is no standard anything, and (in many states) I am pretty much bound by what I sign unless it is a violation of already established rights, and I'd have to fight it in court which most people are not going to do because that usually costs more than what it's worth.

That looks sloppy. We just moved into a new house, not custom, but nicer than some of the builders in the area, and they cleaned things like that up. We had some paint splatters on the driveway pavers, and they replaced them.

His wife took a list of everything that was needing to be done. One of which are the double doors leading to our pool that in a north wind screams like a banshi. We closed in good faith that all items would be addressed but as time went on it's been apparent not so much. I have sent him inspection reports, punch lists, marked off punch lists etc. Covid is getting the blame for delays but in the meanwhile he has 5 more homes going. I've learned a good deal and will ensure my clients are protected in the future, but I get your question linda.

Crispa, I will be posting a review on his Company.

Custom is never a synonym for high quality. The two are unrelated concepts. Each element should be investigated separately in the due diligence phase.

Usually the final payment is contingent on completion of the punch list items.

After a certain amount of time you should be able to hire someone to complete those items and deduct the cost from the final payment.

Just so you know; you can't prevent someone from photographing your house from a public way.

Are the sloppy brick joints intentional? Does it not rain in your location?

Are the other new homes he is building in the same community? You can always make up some signs to put in your windows or front yard! "Ask me about ABC construction's sloppy work" , "Don't build with ABC construction" etc. You can even make a sign to put on your car window! That should get their attention ...

In the last image that shows the pool and the pond, I do not notice the brick at all.

chispa-

You are advising Sheri to open herself to a possible defamation lawsuit.

Even if she ultimately won in court, she would still have to pay to defend herself, take time off from work, and have to deal with the stress.

Real life is not kindergarten in which you get to wave around your plastic sword with impunity.

"This is something I will coach my clients on in the future; this gives him no incentive to make things right."

Is this your home? Are you a pro and if so what type? In a tract or development type home you may not have the option too not close as the contracts are heavily in the builders favor, so technically you refuse to close he can sell the home to someone else right away and you lose the deposit and earnest money. Double check that contract for that as well. As far as pictures I pretty will guarantee that it is in there that he can use the home for advertising. These guys ALWAYS cover their ass.

Yes, this is my personal home. I will get this all taken care of eventually just not by his subs that evidently do not have pride of workmanship. It really gets that simple.

loobab, if you have photos and can show exactly what the builder did or didn't do, then I don't see grounds for a suit to be filed. She isn't making up things about the builder, and would only be showing exactly what the builder did. I'm not a lawyer and she hasn't hired me for anything, so I'm not advising anything, just mentioning things that I have seen work for others in communities where the builder was still actively building and not responding to clients who had already closed on their houses. It usually works as the builder doesn't want bad press.

So if I happen to be looking at her neighborhood and randomly stopped at her house (I've done this before when shopping for homes) and she showed me the issues with her builder and I then decided to not use that builder ... you think the OP is opening themselves up to defamation? You can't give an honest review of your experience?

Chispa, you are correct it's my opinion. I'm a Realtor and work the Luxury market so therefore do see a lot and have friends that are in the business as well. As a Realtor I am reviewed on a regular basis based on my performance. To me in any business you are only as good as your last a job.

I'm not a builder or developer, he built the home but had nothing to do with the landscaping whatsoever. After seeing what he considers "standard" it was better for me to hire my own whom also did around the pool area. I photographed the pool area to put into perspective the window sill. It is a large window but they still should have done a better finish job to at least have the wood mesh. It is better then the first attempt though..