Bad inspection on new home. **UPDATE - now with photos!**

What a lovely home! I am glad you are working things out.

I'll second those who mentioned even new homes have problems. I inspected our house every day during the construction process and worked with the builder. It was the second house he built for us. The siding had problems and he just walked away. We consulted an attorney who advised us the take the $ offer he made, because even if we won in court, we probably wouldn't collect.

I'm so glad it worked out. They did a great job on the remodel - you'd never guess the house was 60+ years old! Enjoy the short commute and kid-friendly neighborhood!

Your sellers should have already told you this, but make sure you know how to daily clean and maintain the floors. I love the marble kitchen floor. The diamond pattern is so beautiful, and I love it when the floors look like they continue past the walls and are on the diagonal. I am not a fan of grout. 

Marble does have specific ways to care for it, just like stone surfaces. Your seller should have all that info for you. 

Our landlord gave us a huge binder with all the paperwork/warranties for all the home components. It's an easy way to keep track of everything and have the info handy for repair people. We were the first people to live in our townhouse, and new houses do have a few issues while the house is settling, everything starts working all the time. 

Our townhouse has the Bellawood prefinished floors in a dark ebony, and there's a specific cleaner that's the only thing you're supposed to use. Other than that, a swiffer and damp "mop" is all we use. We also have the wood in the kitchen, which I like because it's not so hard on my back. 

The dark floors do hide dust and footprints until the sun hits the wood. It's nice to know exactly how to clean the floors without damaging them or making dirt or footprints more visible. 

The photos did make the wood floor look like it had a high gloss finish. There are different choices for the floors. If you decide that you don't like the finish, there's a designer trick where to get a really glossy look with minimal care, they put down two coats. First is high gloss and then they put on a top coat of satin. What finish you prefer is completely your preference and not an issue of a right or wrong way. I just figured since you have children and want to do a lot of entertaining that you would appreciate getting as much info about care and maintenance as possible. 


I meant to mention this before, but since you're concerned about some of the issues that the inspector uncovered, you could ask for the seller to purchase you a home warranty for a year or two. Our seller purchased a plan for us, and we were so fortunate that we had it because the furnace died and had to be replaced the first fall we lived there. We could not have afforded that otherwise. 

You can also purchase the home warranties yourself. I recommend them--get the kind that will replace appliances like dishwashers, etc. for anything that isn't brand new and has it's own warranty. 

Our house in Michigan had an amazing cook's kitchen before they were de rigeur. All Viking appliances, even a garbage disposal (I think that's what happened to Jimmy Hoffa...) The sellers didn't include the huge Sub Zero refrigerator, so we had to purchase a large refrigerator to go in that place.

We got an amazing deal at the Sear's outlet, but we also bought the 5 year extended warranty. So glad we did because the computer panel for the ice maker had to be replaced several times. We even had to have a repairman come on Christmas Eve because I had a houseful of guests plus ones staying with BIL/evil SIL and had no ice plus the computer panel was making the freezer get too warm. 

Dh and I live by the motto that if it can break, it will, and it will break one day past the manufacturer's warranty. The low cost of the warranties on electronics and appliances really isn't a lot to pay for the peace of mind and knowing that your items will be replaced if something happens. We've had to use the warranties enough times to justify the expense. Plus many pay for accidental breakage, etc. It's so easy to break an electronic device or appliance or get a dud. 

The new washer in our townhouse was horrible. It sounded like a jet taking off, and it took over a year to get it replaced. Dh insisted that it should sound that loud, but I didn't think so. Dealing with the manufacturer was such torture that we bought a used LG front loader that we found at a local thrift shop and let our landlord deal with the washer on his own time. We love our LG.

That's a gorgeous home! I'm so happy you had a good outcome. 

where do you teach? i went to both lovett and kolter ... oh and johnston ... then private school.

Merge, we love our townhouse and have an amazing landlord. Dh and I just seem to be magnets for strange stuff happening. We just roll with it.


Dh didn't want to make our landlord move the new top loading washer and dryer that was in our townhouse to make room for the front loading set we already owned. I really didn't want to get rid of this set because we got such a great deal on it, it was a front loading set that didn't have any issues like molding, had lots of special features, etc. Dh insisted, so we sold our set to the foreman of our moving crew. His sister really needed a set, and we got our money out of it. 

Dh really regretted selling our set. I was really upset but didn't give him a horrible time because I've made dumb decisions like that before. It was really sweet that dh kept looking for a replacement front loader and found such a nice one for me, and it cost less than $200! Love our local Durham Rescue Mission thrift stores, they're awesome!

Other than being incredibly anal about the way to take care of our floors, our landlord is awesome. We've lived here for almost 3 years and are deciding whether we want to move or stay longer. 

I love your new house and can't wait to see photos of how you decorate and make it your own. I have a degree in interior design and love real estate and decorating homes.

Your new home reminds me a lot of the one that we bought in Michigan. It was a remodeled 1946 brick bungalow with a 2 car garage (unheard of in Detroit) vaulted ceilings, a huge kitchen with vaulted ceiling, and hickory hardwood floors--hickory is a very hard wood--we dropped a heavy stocking holder accent piece off our 7' tall armoire, and the accent piece dented, not the floor. 

Our kitchen was also on a concrete slab floor. Our pipes burst one Christmas while we were in town, and we decided to check on the house one night as we drove by. Good thing we did because our kitchen flooded and was about to overflow onto our hardwood floors in the dining/living area. Thankfully our remodel had been done right and there was high quality board between the slab and the tiles. We just had to clean up the water, no permanent damage. Our house didn't have a basement --which was strange, and there was a very cold spell that froze the pipes under the house. 

I love older houses because they are built so solidly and have amazing craftsmanship. People were proud of their work and that showed. Enjoy making this amazing house your own! 

So glad it's worked out. It looks really nice.

Beautiful home - I love the kitchen!