Warranty on a new home expiring

[GreenLantern]

Hey, my warranty is up in a few days but I've got one last chance to make a claim, I've spent a lot of time going over the house and cosmetically I think I've got most things noted: cracks, nail pops, grout, doors leaking etc.. just curious if anyone has any tips on stuff that might slip through the cracks.

[calgaryblood]

Will home warranty cover cracks and nail pops? Those things are pretty normal in any new home and isn't a warranty issue in my opinion.

[Schraderbrau]

We just did our one year and one thing I noted that we had fixed was some of the tile in our bathroom sounded hallow when we would step on it. Turns out it had broken lose of the adhesive so they popped the tiles and reset them. We also noted some grout chipping that was fixed. We also had some baseboards repainted.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Will home warranty cover cracks and nail pops? Those things are pretty normal in any new home and isn't a warranty issue in my opinion.

I think that's covered for the first year but not after that, at least it was when I bought a newly built condo.

[Methanolic]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Will home warranty cover cracks and nail pops? Those things are pretty normal in any new home and isn't a warranty issue in my opinion.

ANHW does not require a builder to repair nail pops. In my experience most builders will gladly patch these but will not paint the repair.

[ken0042]

What I found helpful was to go through my upgrade list from the builder. It helped jog my memory, and I actually found something that they missed doing that was an extra cost.

The one thing for me was finding a 20 amp circuit that led nowhere. Turns out they had it terminating in the cold air return, in a junction box. Apparently they pulled one too many lines, and had it going there. Took the electrician and his apprentice over an hour to find.

The two nail pops, I should have just fixed myself.

I had a couple of windows that didn't close right, they have changed the windows they use now to have a better guide.

[sworkhard]

The big things to look for are things like loose siding, shingles, etc and any water related design defects ( flashings are installed correctly, and so on) . Cosmetic issues are normally only covered for the first 1-2 years.

My dad's a former master builder who's now a building inspector. He's done a few inspections for people coming up on the one year anniversary of moving in and it's surprising how many things that would have appeared correct to a quick once over the day the house was finished show defects one year later. A big one he's caught a few times is improperly installed vinyl siding.

[GreenLantern]

Ya I did notice a few spots on my siding and have that claimed. I have a patio door that isn't closing properly as well as a garage door with the molding on the bottom that is all warped. I'm going to check my shingles today and I am thinking I might poke my head into the attic? Shine a light around to look for any obvious leaks, I have no reason to suspect but might be worth a check.

My understanding is they fix paint cracks/nail pops but won't re paint. I've been told if they aren't really bad just leave them. The one we have is really bad, the actual nail end is popping out and is very sharp, not sure how that happened but it needs to be fixed. The other one I think I will just leave. I actually found a list of what to look for and what is considered acceptable/not acceptable on their website so I went through that and it was a big help. That tipped me off to the siding among other things. Thanks for all the tips today is my last day to make anything count.

[Shazam]

You will get nail pops for the next ten years. Best you learn how to repair them.

[Schraderbrau]

We also found some ground along the foundation that had sunk. They came in and back filled any sunk spots.

[EVERLAST]

Really look at your furnace carefully.

You might be very unhappy if you haven't pulled the doors off before and lookEd inside to see if it's leaking condensate anywhere.

If it's leaking it corroding rapidly. I see a record number of furnaces under 5 years old already at 75% of the lifespan.

After 31 years in the furnace industry even I am left shaking my head at this.

Take every advanTage of your warranty if possible.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Shazam

You will get nail pops for the next ten years. Best you learn how to repair them.

Are you talking about in drywall? Do they just nail them in new homes? I have always used drywall screws...

[Ace]

I'm currently dealing with a builder who i'm assuming is going to go bankrupt, and if not bankrupt certainly is very cash tight. As such my advice to you is even though you submit the list to your builder, go through the formal claim process with the new home warranty program. That way if the builder doesn't complete the repair, you wont be getting any denial claims by the warranty company when you try and file through them after the year is up.

[Table 5]

I would recommend putting a claim on anything and everything you think is an issue, no matter how small. The whole warranty is a sham to protect the builders, not home owners. They are scum-sucking weazels that will try to get out of covering anything they can....and anything that's filed past the deadline is a non-starter.

I'd also recommend getting someone out who knows what they are doing and inspecting the whole house for issues before your Warranty is up. We made the mistake of trusting the contractors who the Warranty program sent out.

And yes, I am totally bitter.