So this is a good one...
I finished up some work for a client the other day, installing shelving and related in a new-old home. It's a home that was built as a model in 2017 and just sold this year by the builder, Shea Homes, in a 55+ community in Denver, NC. I had inconspicuously did a "walk and talk" inspection on FIVE of the model homes going up for sale, and my friend/client bought one of them. I did the final state-rules inspection on that one. The reason for the initial inconspicuous inspection was the builder was selling all the models by sealed bid auction and would not allow a formal inspection prior to bidding. They were also being sold, "as is" which is kind of a gray area. If you cannot get a certificate of occupancy, well it isn't really a house now, is it? Read on for the plumber's nightmares story...
So in the formal inspection, the water wasn't on. Apparently in some cost cutting move, the builder didn't turn the water on so people looking at the model wouldn't use the toilets or wash up or anything. They knew about the inspection but failed to get the water on. I had to return the following week. Water was shut off in the street, not at the home. Nobody could find the meter box because the landscapers covered it up.
So I returned and they said the water was on, but as I let the water run in a lavatory sink to test functional flow, after a minute it slowed to a trickle, then just a drip. Shut it off, let it sit for a moment, and pressure was back. So I had to return again later in the week. Meanwhile they send a plumber out, only to find the water line is damaged from the street, probably from the irrigation they just installed. So they get that fixed, but they break the irrigation in the process. Had to wait for all of that to get sorted out. Irrigation was part of the inspection.
My clients move in 2 weeks ago, and the day after they move in, the sewer backs up into their shower. Out comes the guys with a snake, and they hit an obstruction somewhere near the manhole in the street. The snake wouldn't get through. My friend moves into a hotel. Then another plumber comes with a jet, and then seem to find something akin to concrete stuck in the sewer line, but they were able to push it out to the manhole. Now they think the sewer is OK.
Meanwhile, my client now moves back in and the first morning he wakes up the carpet by his bed is sopping wet. He goes outside and sees that water has dripped off the sill plate and down the foundation wall; it's wet but not dripping. (slab foundation) A third plumber comes, after a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth by Shea Home's Quality Control manager. This guy removes the toilet, finds that it was fully caulked 360 degrees around the base. A bad seal caused a leak, and he thinks the water flowed under the tile, under the wall and was absorbed by the carpet. It also damaged the trim, since they use this MDF Shi* which is nothing but painted cardboard and acts like a sponge. This plumber, the 3rd or 4th involved in the "project" of just sorting out running water and functional drains, had a camera, and he sends it down the freshly cleaned sewer line, and finds a kink in the sewer line that is holding water. Another team comes in, digs a hole in the street, excavates the offending area, and replaces the damaged pipe. I look at the photos and the toilet flange is mounted hard to the concrete foundation base, not the finished tile. That may be why the seal was bad...but that last plumber finally got it right.
What an ordeal. The client was steps away from pulling the "nuclear option" in getting the county to revoke the certificate of occupancy based on the fact that the house had no sewage connection. The builder's construction manager(s) and or quality control managers simply do not want to oversee what their subcontractors do, and do not follow up with checking their work. This was a clusterfuc* of magnanimous proportion.
Thank goodness I can "hold my water" while I was doing some interior work for them...
