We haven't built a house...yet. But I will ask you what everyone is going to:

What does your contract say?

And secondly, why haven't you told your builder, "No" and pointed out his misunderstanding about the agreement.... Because of my inexperience, I would like to ask you why the stair railing and shower doors weren't specified at the contract stage (?).

As for the part about shorting the laundry room and master closet, I personally would be p.o.'d about that. Are you going to the site and measuring, etc.?

It’s only happened once to me, years ago, but I remember the frustration. I showed my GC the relevant contract provision, he acknowledged it and we came up with a remedy that worked for us both. Is the shower door in your materials list? Does the scope of work say it will be installed? In my current reno contract renderings and images are explicitly excluded from the contractual terms. Check whether your 3D walkthrough is subject to a similar exclusion. Good luck!

Read the fine print in your contract. None of us can, that's for certain. Does it contain "allowances" Does it say " exactly as attached" with regard to visual documents?

Design/build makes you the designer. ..........the planner. The detail decider. Design /build is "as you go" unless a firm plan and all the details were specified. _ "Kept coming up with changes" ...with respect to what? Something found in demo or framing making something else impossible?

Go back to the contract, and check for the details. ......and if those were presented to the builder AT THE TIME of the quote, or in "design process" where a Pinterst photo appeared. ........

A bathroom that gets a shower curtain and rod that you provide? It is a "finished" bathroom. ..........as soon as you hang a shower curtain. What does the contract say? Vastly different cost is the only difference.

Yes, read your contract. The builder is only obligated to do what's written down. If they are not you have a "position". We are a design-build firm and we go to great lengths to write a contract and a specifications document that is very exacting. Sure there are things we find inside walls, and that's a Change order. We also give allowances for items not yet chosen, but there's a price attached to the allowance, and that's part of the contract total. It's up to you to go over or under the allowance. I'm afraid that its' your job to make sure the contract is explicit before you start, but again, you're not a pro and don't do this a lot.

I would find a lawyer who is familiar with residential construction and have them review the contract now before push comes to shove. See what you are supposed to get, and what you're not. You may want to stop the project if you think it's not too late and find another more competent contractor.

We don't like change orders or open-ended contracts with many allowances, it's just mucks up the job, and makes for unhappy clients. I'm not saying your contractor is doing this on purpose, but some contractors make thier money on the Change Orders, and lowball the original contract.

Exactly.............

"We don't like change orders or open-ended contracts with many allowances, it's just mucks up the job, and makes for unhappy clients. I'm not saying your contractor is doing this on purpose, but some contractors make thier money on the Change Orders, and lowball the original contract."

Spell, KACHING.!!

Aside from what's suggested below about reading your contract (which I agree with), consider asking what IS included in the cost. If they gave you allowances for all of your finishes, then it's up to you to keep things in check. But if a railing is included, but not the particular railing you chose...then maybe ask what railing could be installed for no additional cost, and see what the baseline is.

Thanks for all of your comments!

Here is our “scope of work” I’ve omitted the company name. This was given to us along with a general home improvement contract which I have dissected and have read up on many laws with the CSLB (California State Licensing Board). There hasn’t been any mention of shower doors being an option for either bathroom. Handrails have not been discussed, and there were many other details that we had asked about on multiple occasions such as type of toilets (brands), brand of master bathtub, lighting, deck material and so forth. We know that change orders are the bread and butter for contractors. From the beginning my husband has been frustrated with the lack of details and the last minute changes. The house is looking great, the process has been a nightmare and we’ve had to fight them over a few things. For one: they were asking for full payments with each scheduled line item (not shown) before that part of the project had even began. I had to set them straight in regard to California law. They cannot collect payment until work has completed or materials have been delivered on site. Though a down payment is allowed so we ended up compromising on doing a half payment with each payment schedule and then the other half once inspection took place and passed.

This last minute stuff is frustrating. Especially since I’ve been asking for railing information once he said he “had a guy” and changed up our idea of deck railing.

The shower door has been stated on our selections since last October, so not sure why this is something new that is being brought up.

We’re hoping to have a meeting with the owner this weekend to iron this stuff out.

Again, appreciate all of your comments!

"From the beginning my husband has been frustrated with the lack of details and the last minute changes."

Unfortunately the time to stop all of that was before you signed on the dotted line. You are pretty much at his mercy now as they say the devil is in the details.

that is so very true. He wants to showcase our home and have before and after photos to show other clients but at this point, if he doesn’t correct these issues, we’re going to say “No”