Warranty Issues

Do you ever have those days where if it can go wrong, it will? To quote my favorite, “When sorrows come they come not in single spies, but in battalions.” (Hamlet Act 4 Scene 5) It really does! Have you ever heard the rule of three…the bad energy stays around until three bad things happen. Sometimes I think understanding that and believing that allows me to get it out of the system. Like I know three things are coming, so what’s number 2 or number 3. This week has been quite a few things…some weeks it seems like a rule of 10…but in the vein of serious issues to deal with there were some doozies this week. And it all started with last weeks discovery of a water spot on the ceiling of my living room.

If you’ve followed our story, we used a not-so-great builder for our new farm house which took about 18 months to build a simple 2,000 sq. ft. box in the middle of my pasture. (Didn’t follow that…it’s a three part series.) We finally moved in at the beginning of September 2022. Now, 4 months later, my worst fear is coming true. We are asking those same crappy contractors to come out and fix things on warranty. Further more, those things are inside closed, sealed, painted walls. When we were looking at issues of mold and mildew on the joists between the 1st and 2nd floor, I was worried something would happen and we would never know.

The first picture shows what we were seeing in the living room that alerted us to the issue. The good news is that the builder was responsive! They replied immediately to my email and text. The bad news…it’s the same problems as before. Shitty work has caused the issue and the unnecessary disruption and additional work . If people just did their job right the first time, there wouldn’t be an issue. The copper pipe that went to the bathtub faucet was loose in the wall. The constant moving around caused the poorly soldered junction to come loose and leak. They added the wooden block and brackets to keep that from happening again. It looks a lot like some thrown together solution. But as long as it works (and I didn’t pay for it)!

What I’ve learned this month is the importance of warranty work! Builders offer a 1, 3-5, and 10 year warranty. Different things are covered under each section. For example, trade work like plumbing and electrical are in the 1 year range while the foundation and roof are usually in the 10 year range. Jst like everything else, every builder is different. What’s important is to pay attention when they get that information to you. Value Build was supposed to send me a link to their warranty information online. Of course, I never got that email! I still haven’t even though I asked again about it when this situation came up. Some builders put warranty information on a sticker in the cabinet under the sink or to the right or left of the sink. Either way, make sure before you close or sign off on anything that you can get to that information.

You can also warranty an older home with a 3rd party home warranty. There are a few companies I have used in the past for clients. I prefer Home Warranties of America because they offer a product that lasts 13 months and covers most HVAC issues. Old Republic is another company that I have used. They offer many different packages depending on what you are worried or concerned about. I always suggest a client get one when they buy a home with an older or questionable HVAC system. HERE is a great place to compare. They run about $500 – $700 per year but could potentially cover an appliance or system that fails due to a problem that wasn’t detected during inspection that could cost you thousands. It’s like an insurance policy. You pay a deductible or a trip charge and they cover a portion or the entirety of the repair. Read the fine print carefully and ask questions! Recently I have had a few home warranties refuse to replace HVAC systems for 1 reason or another because those regulations change so frequently. In fact, we just had an HVAC regulation change in January.

I think the biggest benefit to using a Home Warranty is that when something goes wrong, you make one phone call. There is no searching for a plumber and a dry wall guy. You don’t even have to vet the technicians. The home warranty company, or in new construction, the builder, does that for you. It is tough to figure out who is good and who is questionable. I don’t know enough about plumbing to know if they are telling ne the truth or not. I do get a vibe from people and I’m a decent judge of character, but none of that was beneficial when building my house, soooooo….

I am a big DIY-er…but I am not going to learn how to fix the plumbing while it’s leaking through my ceiling. I’ll just pay the professional