Initial Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2015/07/06) */
[redacted],
See below for our response to Mr. [redacted], and please see attachments. Thank you for letting me email you the response with the attachments.
The trees on the lot were marked jointly with the customer...
and a QCH representative as is standard practice at Quality Crafted Homes. After that meeting but before the tree removal took place, a large storm snapped off one of the trees that had been marked to be saved. Since that tree was a total loss, it was then removed by the tree removal company. When they came to remove the trees that were marked, It did not seem logical to ask the customer if he wanted the remains of a snapped off tree removed, it would be an obvious conclusion. Once tree removal had been completed, the customer decided that they would like all trees on the lot removed. The tree removal company was called back out to the jobsite a second time to remove the rest of the trees per the customer's request. The customer accused Quality Crafted Homes of clearing the trees for timber on both occasions and demanded compensation. However, QCH was simply following our contractual obligation to have the trees removed per the customer's request. Had the customer requested all trees be removed from the property the first time, the customer would not have been charged for a second trip by the sub-contractor. All trees are marked with ribbon with the customer on-site. To accuse Quality Crafted Homes of theft in this matter is an accusation that is silly. The storm damaged tree situation has been explained to the customer several times.
The toilet area was discussed at length with the customer, as the house was being constructed. Many solutions were offered to the customer to address this problem before the house was completed, and at our expense. The customer refused any of the solutions, and told Quality Crafted Homes that he would just take care of it after he moved in. Quality Crafted Homes cannot be held responsible for any compensation when a solution was offered and refused by the customer prior to the home being completed.
Quality Crafted Homes Inc. did not refuse to install outlets in unfinished rooms. Per the quote signed by the customer dated 3-17-14 it was expressly stated in the electrical section how any unfinished rooms would be finished from an electrical standpoint. The customer had an electrical walkthrough with the electrician at the home at framing completion. At this point in the job, the customer has the option to add any electrical item to the home beyond what is included; however, it would be at the customer's expense. Concerning the phone jack- at the time of the electrical walkthrough, the jack locations were noted with the customer. These locations were acceptable to the customer at that time. Should the customer have wanted a jack in one room instead of the other, they had every opportunity to make that request. The pre-drywall walkthrough and walkthrough with the electrician affirmed their acceptance of outlets, phones etc.
The ductwork in every home is laid out and designed by our HVAC Company: [redacted] it [redacted] No prior representation has been made by the customer that any of the ductwork was of concern, on any walk thru, or at completion of the home. Service request forms are made a part of the closing statement for our customers, which they would have received. We have attached a form for the record.
As the customer stated, the sewer pipe was non-functioning off site. When QCH installed our sewer connection, it was inspected and passed inspection without issues. Once learning of the sewer problem, during a holiday weekend, QCH was successful in locating our sewer installer, getting him to the job, and excavating using emergency status of utility locates to determine the exact problem. Once it was learned that the issue was with the city, we could not by law continue to work on lines that were not ours. It is not reasonable to expect the home builder to inspect sewer pipe installations made by others and inspected at time of installation off site downstream to determine if said installations were proper.
The customer has made no prior request for Quality Crafted Homes to inspect any concrete defect. As the customer and the builder have agreed to abide by the Quality Assurance Standards book as a guideline in measuring any manner of defect in the home, the builder should have been contacted to inspect with the customer any item the customer deemed defective. This item may have been an included item within the new home warranty, and again the customer could have requested work to be done with the service request form. Without any prior knowledge, and the customer having already paid for and sub-contracted any work to be done, Quality Crafted Homes cannot be held responsible for any part of concrete repair. By Indiana Law, a contractor is given the right to cure any defect that arises, and we simply were not contacted and given that opportunity.
In an effort to maintain the integrity of the concrete and any lawn or plantings included for a customer, Quality Crafted Homes Inc. does not install yards or plants in November, or pour the sidewalks when the temperature has dropped below a certain temperature, or is forecasted to do so. As with any home we build, the lawn, plantings, and any concrete work is to be completed in a time when the items have an opportunity to setup right (concrete) or survive i.e. (lawn or plants) The home is currently under warranty, and any item covered in the 1-year warranty would have been addressed at the 1 year time slot. Quality Crafted Homes cannot be expected to pay for any work done by a third-party because the customer did not contact us, either during the time of construction a fixable issue, nor after closing. It must be noted that a QCH representative contacted the customer approximately 30 days after closing to follow up and make sure the customer was satisfied with the home and to see if any work needed completed. The customer told the representative he would take care of things himself and not to contact him anymore. Should the customer like to be compensated for the 6 days of inconvenience of sewer backup, the customer should be filing a complaint against the parties that were responsible for the sewer issue.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 12, 2015/07/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
It is correct that all trees to be saved were marked jointly. The large hickory in question was discussed because the upper 10-15 feet was dead, probably caused by a windstorm in a previous year which caused upper damage to many trees in the area. It was marked to be saved. A hickory tree almost the same size, about 20ft from this tree on the adjacent lot is almost identical in condition. No windstorm occurred just before or during tree removal. This tree was more desirable for timber salvage than all others on the lot. I did not see the removal process but have pictures of several tree trunks trimmed ready to be hauled away. I could have been contacted at any time immediately if there was a question about this tree. This happened routinely on other matters during construction. A strong storm did come up later during house construction and broke off the upper half of an oak tree in the adjacent lot....the only strong storm.
The doorways were not discussed during construction other than the fact that access to the master bathroom was to be a pocket door. This doorway was built more narrow than standard but as shown on the final plans. I did not notice this in the plans although the smaller house plans attached to the contract documents does not show this dimension. There is a lot of room for a wider door. This pocked doorway is 2 1/2 inches more narrow than the pocket door to the hall powder room. This was discovered after all drywall, painting, and trim was completed. They refused to reconstruct this access.
Also, the door to the toilet room passes immediately in front of the toilet... an awkward situation. They offered 3 possible solutions: 1. eliminate the elongated toilet , use standard size bowl which will give more room 2. switch door swing to outward, still use the LH door, swing will be correct 3. Remove door totally and just make it a cased opening without a door. Obviously, none of these 3 options would have solved the problem. It is clear that the only solution would be to completely reconstruct the toilet room including plumbing, electrical, and walls. They did not offer this and as it is clearly major reconstruction, we have now agreed that we will have to live with it.
It is simply not possible for a customer who only has one house built in more than forty years to catch all electrical items by a simple walk-through, especially as the builder does not point out and discuss each item. The plans do not show electrical outlet locations or number per rooms. There is a total listing of outlets included with various other house items without stating where they go. When I realized they were only putting in only 1 electrical wall outlet in each of the two unfinished rooms in the basement, I requested several more. They refused. They responded that in unfinished areas "code does not require wiring." Another response was "what has been done is what Allen Co. requires and we have followed their mandate." I contacted the city/county deputy commissioner who said there was no such "mandate." The builder then added 7 outlets in the unfinished rooms, which I paid for. I found these remarks in e-mails from the builder which were included with other subjects. This indicates how difficult it was to work with the builder.
The electrician who met me in the house with a list of proposed telephone jacks, which included 4 inside and 1 outside, and asked me if all these were necessary. I said I did not see any reason for an outside jack, not realizing it would be for the telephone company connection to the house. He did not point this out and simply said he would eliminate one. Individual room locations were not discussed. He did not ask me where the jacks should be placed and I presumed this would come up later. I forgot about this subject until we moved in. There are some inaccurate use of words in their response regarding this topic. The desired jack for telephone recorder in the kitchen was just installed. This was an extremely difficult project.
The heating/cooling duct work installed by the sub-contractor Korte was all completed as stated and anyway the misplaced floor outlet would require major reconstruction. As stated before, it is simply not possible for a customer to find every mistake or oversight. We have decided we do not want this item reconstructed due to basement sealing and bedroom floor reconstruction.
We are well aware that the damaged sewer pipe is off-site and was not the fault of QCH but, as stated before, we feel that QCH had the responsibility to see that it was working and then when they were informed that we had the back-up they should have shown more concern and kept us advised as to what was happening. It is curious that on December 22, 2014 a QCH representative phoned to ask if I knew of any other sewer backups in the area. I said I didn't know.
I did not request a replacement of the part of the failed house sidewalk to driveway slab because of their insistence on placing their granite advertising marker in a large hole formed into the sidewalk and not placing a pre-formed joint. This construction was so incompetent that I chose a different contractor to make the correction.
Of course, I did not expect lawn and shrubs installed in November. We signed the contract in March and it was verbally promised all would be completed within 6 months. Lawn, shrubs, and curb sidewalk was completed by separate contractors this spring.
There were many other items that we discovered while the house was under construction that we were able to have rectified. It was very surprising that QCH routinely made it difficult to find items that needed to be corrected while under construction. Their remarks that we were given opportunities to walk-through before signing off does not excuse their oversights. Also, we did not request any changes for any items already constructed simply because we had a change of mind.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2015/07/06) */
[redacted],
See below for our response to Mr. [redacted], and please see attachments. Thank you for letting me email you the response with the attachments.
The trees on the lot were marked jointly with the customer...
and a QCH representative as is standard practice at Quality Crafted Homes. After that meeting but before the tree removal took place, a large storm snapped off one of the trees that had been marked to be saved. Since that tree was a total loss, it was then removed by the tree removal company. When they came to remove the trees that were marked, It did not seem logical to ask the customer if he wanted the remains of a snapped off tree removed, it would be an obvious conclusion. Once tree removal had been completed, the customer decided that they would like all trees on the lot removed. The tree removal company was called back out to the jobsite a second time to remove the rest of the trees per the customer's request. The customer accused Quality Crafted Homes of clearing the trees for timber on both occasions and demanded compensation. However, QCH was simply following our contractual obligation to have the trees removed per the customer's request. Had the customer requested all trees be removed from the property the first time, the customer would not have been charged for a second trip by the sub-contractor. All trees are marked with ribbon with the customer on-site. To accuse Quality Crafted Homes of theft in this matter is an accusation that is silly. The storm damaged tree situation has been explained to the customer several times.
The toilet area was discussed at length with the customer, as the house was being constructed. Many solutions were offered to the customer to address this problem before the house was completed, and at our expense. The customer refused any of the solutions, and told Quality Crafted Homes that he would just take care of it after he moved in. Quality Crafted Homes cannot be held responsible for any compensation when a solution was offered and refused by the customer prior to the home being completed.
Quality Crafted Homes Inc. did not refuse to install outlets in unfinished rooms. Per the quote signed by the customer dated 3-17-14 it was expressly stated in the electrical section how any unfinished rooms would be finished from an electrical standpoint. The customer had an electrical walkthrough with the electrician at the home at framing completion. At this point in the job, the customer has the option to add any electrical item to the home beyond what is included; however, it would be at the customer's expense. Concerning the phone jack- at the time of the electrical walkthrough, the jack locations were noted with the customer. These locations were acceptable to the customer at that time. Should the customer have wanted a jack in one room instead of the other, they had every opportunity to make that request. The pre-drywall walkthrough and walkthrough with the electrician affirmed their acceptance of outlets, phones etc.
The ductwork in every home is laid out and designed by our HVAC Company: [redacted] it [redacted] No prior representation has been made by the customer that any of the ductwork was of concern, on any walk thru, or at completion of the home. Service request forms are made a part of the closing statement for our customers, which they would have received. We have attached a form for the record.
As the customer stated, the sewer pipe was non-functioning off site. When QCH installed our sewer connection, it was inspected and passed inspection without issues. Once learning of the sewer problem, during a holiday weekend, QCH was successful in locating our sewer installer, getting him to the job, and excavating using emergency status of utility locates to determine the exact problem. Once it was learned that the issue was with the city, we could not by law continue to work on lines that were not ours. It is not reasonable to expect the home builder to inspect sewer pipe installations made by others and inspected at time of installation off site downstream to determine if said installations were proper.
The customer has made no prior request for Quality Crafted Homes to inspect any concrete defect. As the customer and the builder have agreed to abide by the Quality Assurance Standards book as a guideline in measuring any manner of defect in the home, the builder should have been contacted to inspect with the customer any item the customer deemed defective. This item may have been an included item within the new home warranty, and again the customer could have requested work to be done with the service request form. Without any prior knowledge, and the customer having already paid for and sub-contracted any work to be done, Quality Crafted Homes cannot be held responsible for any part of concrete repair. By Indiana Law, a contractor is given the right to cure any defect that arises, and we simply were not contacted and given that opportunity.
In an effort to maintain the integrity of the concrete and any lawn or plantings included for a customer, Quality Crafted Homes Inc. does not install yards or plants in November, or pour the sidewalks when the temperature has dropped below a certain temperature, or is forecasted to do so. As with any home we build, the lawn, plantings, and any concrete work is to be completed in a time when the items have an opportunity to setup right (concrete) or survive i.e. (lawn or plants) The home is currently under warranty, and any item covered in the 1-year warranty would have been addressed at the 1 year time slot. Quality Crafted Homes cannot be expected to pay for any work done by a third-party because the customer did not contact us, either during the time of construction a fixable issue, nor after closing. It must be noted that a QCH representative contacted the customer approximately 30 days after closing to follow up and make sure the customer was satisfied with the home and to see if any work needed completed. The customer told the representative he would take care of things himself and not to contact him anymore. Should the customer like to be compensated for the 6 days of inconvenience of sewer backup, the customer should be filing a complaint against the parties that were responsible for the sewer issue.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 12, 2015/07/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
It is correct that all trees to be saved were marked jointly. The large hickory in question was discussed because the upper 10-15 feet was dead, probably caused by a windstorm in a previous year which caused upper damage to many trees in the area. It was marked to be saved. A hickory tree almost the same size, about 20ft from this tree on the adjacent lot is almost identical in condition. No windstorm occurred just before or during tree removal. This tree was more desirable for timber salvage than all others on the lot. I did not see the removal process but have pictures of several tree trunks trimmed ready to be hauled away. I could have been contacted at any time immediately if there was a question about this tree. This happened routinely on other matters during construction. A strong storm did come up later during house construction and broke off the upper half of an oak tree in the adjacent lot....the only strong storm.
The doorways were not discussed during construction other than the fact that access to the master bathroom was to be a pocket door. This doorway was built more narrow than standard but as shown on the final plans. I did not notice this in the plans although the smaller house plans attached to the contract documents does not show this dimension. There is a lot of room for a wider door. This pocked doorway is 2 1/2 inches more narrow than the pocket door to the hall powder room. This was discovered after all drywall, painting, and trim was completed. They refused to reconstruct this access.
Also, the door to the toilet room passes immediately in front of the toilet... an awkward situation. They offered 3 possible solutions: 1. eliminate the elongated toilet , use standard size bowl which will give more room 2. switch door swing to outward, still use the LH door, swing will be correct 3. Remove door totally and just make it a cased opening without a door. Obviously, none of these 3 options would have solved the problem. It is clear that the only solution would be to completely reconstruct the toilet room including plumbing, electrical, and walls. They did not offer this and as it is clearly major reconstruction, we have now agreed that we will have to live with it.
It is simply not possible for a customer who only has one house built in more than forty years to catch all electrical items by a simple walk-through, especially as the builder does not point out and discuss each item. The plans do not show electrical outlet locations or number per rooms. There is a total listing of outlets included with various other house items without stating where they go. When I realized they were only putting in only 1 electrical wall outlet in each of the two unfinished rooms in the basement, I requested several more. They refused. They responded that in unfinished areas "code does not require wiring." Another response was "what has been done is what Allen Co. requires and we have followed their mandate." I contacted the city/county deputy commissioner who said there was no such "mandate." The builder then added 7 outlets in the unfinished rooms, which I paid for. I found these remarks in e-mails from the builder which were included with other subjects. This indicates how difficult it was to work with the builder.
The electrician who met me in the house with a list of proposed telephone jacks, which included 4 inside and 1 outside, and asked me if all these were necessary. I said I did not see any reason for an outside jack, not realizing it would be for the telephone company connection to the house. He did not point this out and simply said he would eliminate one. Individual room locations were not discussed. He did not ask me where the jacks should be placed and I presumed this would come up later. I forgot about this subject until we moved in. There are some inaccurate use of words in their response regarding this topic. The desired jack for telephone recorder in the kitchen was just installed. This was an extremely difficult project.
The heating/cooling duct work installed by the sub-contractor Korte was all completed as stated and anyway the misplaced floor outlet would require major reconstruction. As stated before, it is simply not possible for a customer to find every mistake or oversight. We have decided we do not want this item reconstructed due to basement sealing and bedroom floor reconstruction.
We are well aware that the damaged sewer pipe is off-site and was not the fault of QCH but, as stated before, we feel that QCH had the responsibility to see that it was working and then when they were informed that we had the back-up they should have shown more concern and kept us advised as to what was happening. It is curious that on December 22, 2014 a QCH representative phoned to ask if I knew of any other sewer backups in the area. I said I didn't know.
I did not request a replacement of the part of the failed house sidewalk to driveway slab because of their insistence on placing their granite advertising marker in a large hole formed into the sidewalk and not placing a pre-formed joint. This construction was so incompetent that I chose a different contractor to make the correction.
Of course, I did not expect lawn and shrubs installed in November. We signed the contract in March and it was verbally promised all would be completed within 6 months. Lawn, shrubs, and curb sidewalk was completed by separate contractors this spring.
There were many other items that we discovered while the house was under construction that we were able to have rectified. It was very surprising that QCH routinely made it difficult to find items that needed to be corrected while under construction. Their remarks that we were given opportunities to walk-through before signing off does not excuse their oversights. Also, we did not request any changes for any items already constructed simply because we had a change of mind.