New Construction Problems

Builder forgot to frame basement windows when pouring foundation in new construction home

Q: We enjoy reading your real estate column each week. Our daughter is having her dream house built in Maryland for around $800,000. They picked a “flat” lot to build the house. They paid a premium for that lot. When they met with the builder to discuss options they selected two basement windows to be installed in a large, 24’ x 32’ finished room for the kids. The builder charged them $400 per window.

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Last week they were told the foundation walls were poured so last weekend they drove to the lot to see the progress. The builder did not frame the windows before the foundation was poured. The builder stated they did not forget to frame the windows but that they could not install the windows because of the grade and potential for water leakage. To me this sounds like double talk.

I think they forgot the windows and they did not want to spend extra money to have them installed now. Can you think of any construction reason that would have prevented the windows going in as per the plans? If the builder is in error with the windows what kind of recourse do we have?

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A: We agree with you. It’s unfortunate that the windows didn’t get installed as called for in the plans. We doubt that the builder was unable to frame out the windows. Instead, something happened and they didn’t do it. Instead of owning the mistake and fixing the issue, the builder told you some nonsense that he hopes your daughter will believe. If there was truly an installation problem, the builder would have told your daughter upfront that they couldn’t install the windows or called her when faced with a problem that changed the scope of what could be done.

To unravel this, your daughter should look at her contract with the builder. Don’t be surprised if it is completely one-sided in the builder’s favor. They give plenty of protections to the builder and little to your buyer. For example, the contract may say that the builder may deviate from the plans to accommodate certain building and construction issues and that the buyer has no recourse for those changes.

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Has the builder offered to give your daughter her money back for the windows? If she’s too much of a pain, the builder could simply cancel the contract and return her deposit. We don’t know what options she’d have at that point. It would be spelled out in the terms of her contract. We doubt that there are any state consumer protection laws that would help her in this situation, but you could investigate if your state has any consumer protection laws for builders who are unable to meet their contractual obligations.

Given that you are talking about $800, we doubt that she’ll be able to force the builder to do anything. However, if the builder has a stellar reputation and wants to keep it, she might be able to negotiate with them. Some builders will go the extra distance to make sure buyers are happy. Others won’t do anything. The fix may not be the windows as your daughter wanted them, but there may be some other solution to get light into the basement.

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We wonder whether the builder installed any other windows or doors in the basement. Most modern homes have some means of emergency ingress and egress in basements. Does her home have that and she simply wanted other light to come into the basement?

At this point, we’d suggest she talk to the builder and see what options are available. Mistakes do happen during construction. We’d hope the builder acknowledges the mistake and finds a way to solve the problem in a way that satisfies your daughter.