About 3 years ago my wife and I decided to build a new home and move closer to our kids and grandchildren. We had a custom builder build it we have now been in our new home for 25 months. It has been nothing but one issue after another. Roofer left roof jacks off vent pipes. Water leaked into hot water heater and fried the control panel. Had to replace water heater. Trim around the front column rotted and I replaced all of that. Paint is cracking all over the exterior and now having to repaint entire house. Painter came to prep house and find three spot where fascia is rotting already. Latest is mold in wall near master shower. Haven’t figured out the cause of that yet. I have spoken to builder and basically they aren’t taking any responsibility and blames subs but says subs aren’t going to help because it’s been over a year. Do I have any recourse? Are there any paths that I can take to get them to take responsibility for poor quality or am I SOL? To sum it up to date I have spent $5k on water heater, $1k on column trim, & $500 on mold analysis. Quote for for painting and fascia trim work is $11k. Not sure how much it is going to cost for mold remediation and walk-in shower demolition and rebuild.

This post was edited on 4/3/23 at 9:10 am

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Posted by poochie

Houma, la

Member since Apr 2007

6247 posts

Posted on 4/3/23 at 9:09 am to bayouself74

Man, that sucks. The rot issues on fascia are probably out of warranty but i would think that if they didn't install the roof jacks properly and that can be proved, they should help. It sucks you spent all that money on brand new and are having issues, sorry to hear.... We built in the same timeframe and would be livid if i was having this level of issues.

What is the fascia material? Wood? Hardie? Wood wrapped in metal?

If you do replace, look into a material that will be rot resistant like hardie or other types of cement board.

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Posted by jfw3535

South of Bunkie

Member since Mar 2008

4657 posts

Posted on 4/3/23 at 9:24 am to bayouself74

Your only recourse will be what is available to you under the Louisiana New Home Warranty Act (I assume you are in Louisiana). It has very strict deadlines on the length of warranties. A lot of things are only covered by a 1 or 2 year warranty (so if you're 25 months post construction, I think you're going to be screwed on much on it). Some limited things, such as foundation, have a 5 year period. You can read the New Home Warranty Act here: New Home Warranty Act

The contractor (and subs) will have no liabilities or obligations to you beyond what is provided for in the act.

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Posted by GeauxldMember

Member since Nov 2003

4388 posts

Posted on 4/3/23 at 9:27 am to poochie

quote:
If you do replace, look into a material that will be rot resistant like hardie or other types of cement board.

If fascia is rotting after 2 years, there’s something beyond a material issue. Find the root cause before simply replacing the fascia.

OP— is the drip edge overlapping the top outside edge of the fascia? Are there gutters? Are the clogged? If water is getting behind the fascia and it’s staying wet, you’re going to have issues with sub-fascia and maybe rafter tails rotting out as well.

If your contractor is not being responsive and passing this off on the subs he was responsible for hiring, I’d go ahead and consult an attorney now. Don’t let the clock keep ticking. Might be good to hire a building scientist to come out to look at and document the issues as well. Good luck!

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Posted by tigerfoot

Alexandria

Member since Sep 2006

56280 posts

Posted on 4/3/23 at 9:47 am to bayouself74

You are probably limited.

I know a lot of people that were building in that time frame that had jobs all out of sorts with the availability of materials and such. I know of one builder that was sheet rocking homes with no windows in em yet, just had them covered in paper. I cant imagine that was a good environment to discourage mold growth. But I am no builder.

I would see an attorney at this point, seems you have way too many issues. Hate that for you.

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Posted by bayouself74

Red Stick

Member since Aug 2016

72 posts

Posted on 4/3/23 at 1:13 pm to tigerfoot

The fascia is wood but it’s the kind with the thick coated primer preapplied. It’s the same as was used on the column trim. I am more aggravated in the fact that I had less issues with previous home I had in Zachary that was 50+ years old and the home I moved from in UC which I had zero issues with in the 3 years I lived in it. Just figured I was moving to a new home and wouldn’t have to deal with this stuff for quite awhile. I think it’s just poor materials and poor craftsmanship. I fixed the column posts myself and the first thing I noticed was there wasn’t space between the post and the wrap and that’s basic carpentry 101. Makes me wonder what else I would find if I deconstructed everything. Thanks for everyone’s advice.

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Posted by BilbeauTBaggins

probably stuck in traffic

Member since May 2021

4395 posts

Posted on 4/3/23 at 2:12 pm to bayouself74

quote:
Do I have any recourse? Are there any paths that I can take to get them to take responsibility for poor quality or am I SOL?

Some homes come with a "new home warranty" that usually only last for a year. You could totally bomb each business's Google pages with bad reviews.

quote:
painting and fascia trim work is $11k

Where do you live? I got a guy off Angie's to paint my entire house and replace some siding, fascia, and other pieces of exterior trim for way less than that.

I saw another person mention, but at least go to a construction law attorney and see IF you even have legal ground to do anything.

You mentioned this is 25 months after the build. I can imagine that the other side would say "it's been over 2 years, not a defect, weather, etc." If the consult is free, do it for sure.

This post was edited on 4/3/23 at 2:17 pm

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