I have no advice, only sympathy! This is awful!

Idiots. They can fix the physical much more easily than they can heal the customer relations. Who would do all that work without testing everything?

See if they fix everything to your satisfaction and if not, get in touch with a construction lawyer.

You said it was permitted. Was it inspected by the city/state?

Thanks everyone. There's a clog somewhere deep in the pipes to the street - they were here until 130am and came back this am. As did another HVAC guy to make sure our kids' bedrooms have heat. Now they're hunting for a cleanup valve (?) in the front lawn and have called in Rotorooter with a camera to scope what or where the obstruction is.

We passed the initial inspections in late December - there were at least 4 separate inspections. The work took off after that and we've been very satisfied until now. The one problem we've encountered is a lack of clear, consistent communication. But that was an annoyance, not a real issue, and I chalked it up at least in part to the fact that contractors are so crazy busy right now.

The project lead insists he tested all plumbing on Friday for 35 minutes and there were no issues. Obviously I have no proof that he didn't. But we had our cleaners come in on Friday at 4pm just to polish the dust off the floors and the fridge. They left a note on our door yesterday morning asking us to call urgently about a leak - we couldn't reach them all day (cell phone mailbox full) and I figured maybe it was a miscommunication. That just adds to my frustration.

I asked about the lead guy if the clog could be caused by construction debris - paint or grout or other stuff being cleaned over 6 months of work. He insisted that the workers never use the indoor plumbing to clean their stuff. I know this is false because I've seen it happen.

For weeks, I've noticed white residue on the 1st floor shower floor, which is just adjacent to the main plumbing stack. I figured it just needed cleaning, but now that I see what's come up out of that drain, I wonder if there has been some backup in the pipes for a while that no one noticed.

In addition to the other suggestions, I'd want to have all drains scoped and would want either my husband or I to watch while that's done. You already know workers cleaned equipment inside. We bought a new construction house over 20 years ago that passed all inspections. Our first night in the house, with my husband on a business trip, the tub and shower in the main floor master backed up. The builder was not responsive. It took multiple trips for the plumber to find all of the junk in the drains. On the final trip, I insisted on them running a camera through the lines.

In our case, there was hardened white material that settled in the bottom of several lines. It allowed water to pass but nothing else. Once that was cleared and the problem continued, they next found cut pieces of copper pipe inside the white (PVC?) drain pipe. The plumber commented that the subs must have been really annoyed (he used a different phrase) at the builder and did it on purpose.

We had a similar problem with debris in drains at another new house and after a remodel. Painters, drywallers and other trades have used our bathroom sinks to clean up and they knew better.

Good luck!

I asked about the lead guy if the clog could be caused by construction debris - paint or grout or other stuff being cleaned over 6 months of work. He insisted that the workers never use the indoor plumbing to clean their stuff. I know this is false because I've seen it happen.

Could also be that your outside plumbing drain could have been crushed with some equipment? We have had that happen.

I am going to speak to my contractor and tell him that under no circumstances is anyone to use our plumbing fixtures. I have purchased a very large beautiful outdoor sink that will be just outside our back door (in the garage.) I have a fear that the painters will use this to wash brushes.