Hi everyone, first time homebuyer here completely lost trying to navigate an issue with our new construction townhome and hoping for some advice.
We recently moved into a 4 level townhome where the kitchen, including a large island, is positioned over the garage. About a week into living here, we noticed the floor was bowed between the kitchen island and the cabinets that ran along the exterior wall, perpendicular to the island. As a result, the floor along the cabinets that ran parallel to the island was unlevel a good bit over the warranty tolerance of 1/4" over 4'. Unfortunately this was something we missed throughout the walkthroughs leading up to closing and was also missed by the home inspector, it wasn't really noticeable until we were doing daily life stuff that you do in the kitchen day after day.
The construction manager came out and said it was because there was a metal support part in the framing that was a bit high, that was why there was a high point and that it was just an easy fix - they would come out, cut a hole in the garage ceiling, then cut the floor joists down which would remove the bow.
They sent out 2 workers to do exactly that, and the bow in the floor was indeed gone, but what was not apparent initially was that there was another bow on which the cabinets along the wall sat, resulting in a very significant slope up the kitchen floor from the island to the cabinets. It also slopes up alongside the island towards the dining area, but since the flooring there continues on into an open area instead of stopping at a wall or cabinets, we have a significantly uneven spot (a difference of almost 3/4" as you move alongside the island) right in front of the refrigerator, where you can feel the floor boards move and hear them squeak as you walk across it, which did not happen before.
My SO insisted they come out with a framer to look at it before they sent someone out to "fix" it again, and the first thing the framer said was that the joists shouldn't have been cut. But then the solution the warranty manager communicated to us after the visit was to cut more drywall in the garage and "adjust" the floor joists more.
Obviously this doesn't sit well with us after the framer said they should have never cut them, and I'm not understanding how continuing to cut the joists down further in would not result in additional sloping and potentially cause more issues with the floor. Of course, we are not construction experts, so in an attempt to gain comfort in the solution, we asked them to detail out in writing what they did initially and what they intend to do, as well as any risks that we should be aware of that may result in additional work. We understand that per the warranty, they reserve the right to determine and proceed with how to fix something, but we reserve the right to know what is being done to our home. They called my SO following the request (this had been discussed through an email up until this point) and said that's not something they really do.
I don't really understand why the work and risks would not be documented for warranty purposes to begin with. We're not trying to be difficult or litigious. We just want to ensure that this gets resolved without causing any additional issues because we want to put this behind us so we can finally enjoy our new home. But we also don't want to go through with a solution their framer already said shouldn't have been done nor do we want to decline the work and create issues down the road if we try to sell knowing there is a warrantable problem that we purposely did not pursue.
If anyone has any insight, guidance, and/or recommendations to offer, it would be greatly appreciated!