The homebuilder is refusing to fix the stone veneer wainscoting

What needs to be fixed?

The mortar lines between the stone is discolored in some areas and extremely sloppy.

What we want vs what we got

No one will even notice that. You need shrubs or something green along that wall anyway.

Agree with the others - think you're fixated on something that isn't "wrong" and can be easily hidden with landscaping.

Taken as a single component, it's problematic when you showed specifically what you wanted. it's occupying 100% of the space in your brain set aside on "exterior stone". The good news is this - it will occupy about 4% of space in everyone else's brain, and even less when you put in some zingy landscaping.

Tell the builder not to commit to execute what we (or his stone guy) can't - and he owes you a few plants that you'll need to draw the eye away.

But really - it's not that bad.

At the end of a build you can be exhausted, angry, broke (and even broekn down) but TRY to keep this in perspective. I suspect your home is lovely and you'll settle in and love it but it's hard to think you'll get there now.

Don't die on this hill.

If that ^ is your example of a ”nightmare build” then I’d hate to see the other petty little non issues you are wasting energy on. I bet the builder is really the one with the nightmare.

The stone veneer stops well short of grade. What is the plan to fill in that void?

This is just one of many issues we are dealing with. Our builder raised our garage foundation walls from 3’ to 4’ without our consent or knowledge so there is extra foundation wall that is exposed and no way to cover with plants since 2 of the walls face our driveway. We asked for another row of stone to be installed to help cover and he said he wouldnt recommend putting stone veneer on concrete. We then asked to have 5’ white composite trim boards to be installed under stone to cover excess and he agreed but is now saying he wouldn‘t recommend installing boards on concrete.

^^^ That is unacceptable. I don't see why he couldn't run the stone down to the ground. What is he reason that he doesn't want to put stone over the concrete wall?

The homebuilder is refusing to fix the stone veneer wainscoting which they said meets minimum building standards.

I notice that is building standards, not homeowner pretty standards. If it meets the code or standards set by your municipality, then it meets the minimum building standard. Would it be great if they did make it prettier? Of course. Is there anything you can do to force them to do it over or otherwise go beyond the minimum building standards? Probably not. They already seem to be done with the minimum they have to do, and sound unwilling to go above or beyond that.

Not a lot you can do now. It not something I would consider refusing a closing over. Let the mortar dry, get your yard graded/filled, do your planting in. Part of the look is because it's just the raw stone, and the rest of it isn't there yet. Kind of akin to how folks can be really unhappy most of the way through a kitchen remodel when the bones are in but it isn't done yet and looks off. So what are the plans to do your grading and finishing of the exterior? What's your landscaping plans to compliment your new home?

It looks ridiculous; the stone appears to be suspended in air. Certainly the builder's reputation in the local market is worth more than the cost to remedy this issue.

I think your best fix is to remove the fake stone and replace with the siding that covers the rest of the house. You do not have 'stone' you have concrete paint. It floats above the ground and the corners are siding trim. Stone does not do this. "White composite trim boards to be installed under stone" will make it look worse like stone samples in a big box hardware store. Removing the stone is the best answer, but strategic landscaping is a better solution.

The backfill and grading is another issue. Per our contract they backfill once and they said its conplete. We’ve been told for months an excavating company is going to grade the lot and yesterday they told us we are responsible.

I don't know what code is applicable in your area, but the 2018 International Residential Code, which forms the core of most statewide building codes requires the final grade to slope away from the foundation, 6 inches in the first 10 feet (5%) so storm water flows away from the foundation. I'm afraid that doing so in your case may put soil above the top of the foundation waterproofing. I'm also concerned that the 1X material used to fasten the waterproof membrane at the top may not be treated material. A call to the local building code official might be helpful.

I agree with Mark's comment ^^^

I can't opine on the codes, but from an aesthetic point the stone doesn't even pair well with the siding.

Agree to disagree on the color

Best solution is to remove the peel and stick stone skirt. The parts of the house that dont have it look much more cohesive

I agree with @mark bishap I would remove stone and replace with the grey siding. TBH the stone doest really match or work with the grey siding.

Well the second set of pictures is telling. Looks like your house is wearing high-water pants!

Have that fakey stone ripped off. It looks foolish.

Removing the peel and stick stone is the only real answer. It’s ridiculous lookng.

The stone is not peel and stick. It‘s Stonecraft manufactured stone rocks. A mason was subcontracted by the builder to place on the house.

While I can't disagree with CRH, ARG, or MBA, technically or esthetically, in the production builder universe, this comes down to a position of strength and reniol05 doesn't have it. I'm betting the builder would be delighted if reniol05 decided to die on this hill by not closing, keeping his deposit and selling the home for more; the slight reputation damage a small trade-off for the larger economic win.

Our home is not being built by a production builder. The house is being built on a lot that we own and we are financing the build. The construction loan is in our name.

The odds in have improved in your favor.

The stone is for sure used like peel and stick wallpaper. Not like real foundation stone. It was a terrible idea from the beginning. But it is worse in execution. Just remove all of it and continue the siding.

I’m so sorry your builder thinks it’s acceptable to leave youwith this situation. What professional could possibly be proud to show that work?

If this was a custom build what do the architectural drawings show?

I specified "lick and stick stone" on a set of construction drawings once and even the building inspector knew what I was talking about.

To be sure it's lick and stick.

Does your bank require an inspection before a draw is issued? If so - that inspector is your new best friend.

Aesthetics aside - the OTHER items are very bad and the grading will undermine your foundation, erosion is already taking a toll around that pipe, the window well placement is assinine, etc.

He's done a VERY terrible job here - and that's just on what we can SEE.

At first I was hopeful te stone issue was just one of grading and dude being cheap on his statements about how many square feet he'd provide.

I am terribly sorry you are dealing with this. People are the worst.

I’m sorry I guess it is ”lick and stick” stone veneer. Never heard it called that. The market we are building in is really different. We are building in a village but our subdivision is owned by a large corporation located there. The architectural board at the corporation had to approve our plans. The majority of the houses have some sort of stone veneer on them. We used a small local builder who had several floor plans to choose from. We then made small changes to the floor plan.

Subdivision owned by a corp and your plans had to be approved by them, but you own the lot... so it's an HOA of sorts?

There is an HOA but we do not pay any HOA fees. We paid cash for our lot a couple years ago.

We hired a home inspector and had a home inspection 2 weeks ago. They found 2 obvious plumbing leaks and a building code violation. After the inspection we gave the builder a punch out list of items that needed to be completed prior to closing. We are happy with the majority of the work but the finish work is bad. Everything is a fight. I called to give them head’s up about building code violation/fire (OSB board between garage and house walls instead of 1/2” gypsum board and they argue about and lie and said it wasn’t osb 😂. They finally fixed it but not without fighting.

Only items we are asking for that have not been complete are due to their mistakes. Fix the garage/stone issues due to changing walls from 3 to 4 feet without our knowledge or consent and fix the backfill/grading issues since not done properly. We also asked them to clean up the lot because there is trash, cigarette butts, and debris everywhere. They told us that’s our responsibility even though we are paying for and have rented a dumpster and port a potty on site for the workers.

Not all HOA's charge fees. But most of them seem to have the say on what one can build or do with their property. The exterior at least. Is the builder one of the HOA approved ones? Or from outside HOA approval?

HOA doesnt have approved builders. Its just approved by individual house plan. We are going to contact the architectural board.

Calling this material "stone wainscoting" suggests that you, and perhaps the designer and the contractors, have the wrong idea of what it is and what it should look like.

Wainscoting is traditional interior decorative wood paneling applied to the lower part of a wall. It could be applied to an exterior wall but not if it's stone since a less than full story height stone wall would have been structurally unstable in the days when such a wall needed to resist lateral forces.

So, unless the imitation stone is required by the HOA, you should remove it. Hopefully siding can then replace it with a cellular PVC "water table" at the bottom.

Most fake stone manufacturers specify their product stops a certain distance above finished grade. So a gap at the bottom of the fake stone can not be avoided, only reduced. The corner trim in the stone is a big problem, a poster child for hiring competent designers and builders.

Your HOA has an architectural board? Or are you looking to report the contractor to a different entity outside the HOA? What do you plan on for your complaint/report?

The HOA architectural board that approved our plans. The board consists of members of the corporation. Not sure why the builder is fighting us. His name is on the sign on our lot and i know he’s interested in building more homes in the village. The corporation developed and owns all the vacant lots in the village.

I would have a home inspector or architect look at the transition details to be sure water will not get behind the manufactured stone.

I'm curious to know what is shown on the contract documents.

Found the prints and it is showing stone veneer down to the grade. The stone is currently several inches above the bottom of the garage doors. It is showing the white trim on the sides. Not loving it but can hide with landscaping. Just want them to fix the problem they created, the mortar lines, and the yard grading which has not been done at all.

Are those plans incorporated in your contract as contract documents?

I’m not sure but i don't think so.

We contacted the subdivision architectural control committee today so we are hoping they will tell him it‘s unacceptable since it‘s not what the committee approved. I was told this has never happened before. The committee consists of employees of the corporation that owns all of the vacant lots in the village. They have to approve all home plans.

Unfortunately, the architectural control committee can only hold the property owner reponsible for adhering to the approved drawings. Only you can enforce your construction contract.

Was the contractor responsible to you for the design of the house? Who did the drawings?

Read your contract carefully.

You have 2 separate issues brought up in this thread.

1. The "raised" top of foundation (ToF) around the garage. A variation between drawings and what is installed for a garage ToF can happen with "value documents"/individual homesites (as opposed to preplanned subdivisions or thorough design/documents). Often in these instances, a topographic site plan is not performed, and drawings are vague on ToF notes or steps down into garage. When it comes time for the builder to excavate, they may use an existing curb, sidewalk, neighbors yard/house, amount of spoils, etc to set the elevation of the main house ToF. Then the garage slab elevation will be set based on slope desired for the driveway, and because there needs to be a stemwall on the interior, the ToF for the garage follows that.

I don't know if it was raised or lowered here. But I do see the drawings are in the "value" range. The grade elevation is represented wrong. And when lacking detail, it comes down to either the builder's intrerpretation and/or a gameday decision as I described above.

The thin stone veneer cannot be extended down over the exposed concrete foundation. First, you do not want different backers to the veneer with different rates of movement. Second, the sheathing sticks out beyond the face of the concrete, so you would have to extend some furred sheathing down. Third, you need 6" clear between the top of grade and the bottom of your wood framing/sheathing.

You can raise grade as desired. In fact, it appears you have to in the back next to the porch. You have to have a slope 6" over 10' (5%) away from the house. Although the backfill has settled, it appears the top of the dimple board is not high enough when comparing it to the porch end to get the slope. If you need to raise grade above the dimple board, I would suggest using a waterproof membrane to overlap the dimple board. You must still keep the 6" clear minimum below siding intact.

Along the garage, it appears with the gravel backfill all the way to the front door they were intending for the sidewalk to hug the house. I suspect you would want a landscape bed between the sidewalk and house. To provide for that and raise grade, you will have to remove some gravel to a depth for plantings, and raise the waterproofing on the concrete to within 6" of the siding/thin veneer.

2. The thin stone workmanship in grouting and shape position. It is poorly done. But it is aesthetic, no different than poorly cut baseboards or seeing dips in ceiling drywall joints. Because it is thin stone applied after the siding install, the builder may not have used a mason, or if did was the cheapest and inexperienced.

The trim extending down is a travesty, but is exactly what the drawings indicate. When you have a project that is builder-led with "just enough info" on drawings, there will be instances when drawings are followed (when it is noticeable or cannot be reasoned away) and when they are not (when it costs the builder more money). Again, lots of room for interpretation. For example, a note on the drawings say "all windows and doors are trimmed with 3 1/2" white PVC" but yet they are not, nor are drawn that way. Also, from the pics some downspouts are placed onto corner trim, some are over lap siding. When no one representing the owner is on site giving direction, there will be lots of small variations in how you expected things to turn out.

The builder designed the house and owns the plans. It is one of their available floor plans and they submitted it to the subdivision committee for approval. We own the lot and took out a loan to finance the construction and hired the builder.

We built a home in another state several years prior to this and it was a completely different experience. In that instance, the home construction was actually financed by the builder. The house and lot purchase were all owned by the builder until we closed on the home. The builder's plans also had to be approved by the subdivision. I will also add we had a good building experience and no issues with the builder. So all of this is new to us. I would like to thank everyone for their helpful and informative responses.

Time to try for the trifecta then. Buy a lot, commission an independent architect to design something that fits it, and then an independent builder to build it.