Long-term problems in new construction problems?

[Happenings5]

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

I am looking for some advice and will try to keep it short. My husband and ordered a new modular home (CABO guidelines) in the state of Wisconsin. We purchased land and had the house placed on a poured basement, that was finished completely after the modular home was put on, along with a 3 car attached garage. We moved in on 10/07/2005 and around Christmas started noticing a lump in the floor (wood laminate flooring) along where the marriage line/beam would be for the two parts of the modular home. It has since worsened. We have a warranty, but the company who built the modular home says it is the dealers problem stating that it is the flooring, the dealer says it was the contractor who did all the finish work, basement, garage (who was hired by the dealer as the dealer was paid to be the "general contractor"), the contractor has came out and inspected EVERYTHING and says that when the house was placed together on the foundation/basement that one side of the house is higher than the other (we are talking inches here) and that is causing the center beam to be off level and the floor buckling in the house. We have had problems with cracked walls and ceilings, along with the windows near the end of the home that is higher to not want to open. We were told by the dealer that it was because they were new wooden windows and that they will loosen up over time. I worry incase of fire being children's bedrooms as I can barely get them open (if I am lucky). The floor is actually splitting and one of the largest bump/rise parts is at the top of the open staircase to downstairs (we worry of a tripping hazard). We LOVE this house and it costed us $262,000 (a lot of money for us). The contractor says it is unfixable since our basement is totally finished. What can we do? Who do we contact to see if it can be fixed, and if not, what could be long-term down the road problems with the house. We hate to sue and hope to have the problem fixed, but are unsure what to do. Thanks in advance.

I should probably add that the problem with the rise in the floor that you can feel and see is about 6 inches in width and goes the entire length of the house. It is noticeable, but less to touch with your feet along the one end bedroom as it is covered with carpet. We worry that down the road this would lessen the price we would get for our home, and also worry about any long-term effects of it being unlevel could cause to the roof, windows, structure after the warranty is up.

 

[Buk1000]

I am not in WI but I lived there before and keep up on news from that state.

You may be interested in this news article about a new law that may make it harder for people like you to get these issues resolved: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=405124 I have had a construction defect case of my own though it wasn't a modular home, it was "stick built." The various parties in your case are passing the buck, hoping you will give up, or that they can lull you until the warranty IS up. To help prevent these companies from just letting your warranty run out, be SURE all communication with all of them is by Certified Return Reciept Mail. You will need proof you notified them or they'll keep everything verbal and then claim they were never aware of the problem.

Don't just take their word for it that it's not their problem. If it's a new house it's one or all of their problem, but you will probably have to do more than complain to get any results.

Your state may even already have laws requiring you follow some specific procedure, related to the article above. Find out, before it is too late for your case.

Good luck.

 

[Happenings5]

Thank you very much, I found the article very helpful in telling me what to do. I'll send a CRRR letter tomorrow versus our verbal discussions. I do have a written note stating that the house is higher on one end by the person who owns the construction company that he wrote on the back of his business card and signed and left in our door when he came out one day and we weren't home (we didn't know he was coming), so I'll start a file folder with that. Again, thanks, I greatly appreciate your taking the time to answer my question.

 

[acmb05]

262,000 for a modular home? Are you nuts. You could have built a very nice home with averything exactly as you wanted it for that money.

That being said. I think your very first problem was the home was not placed on the foundation correctly. If it had been and they had used a water level on it they would have noticed right away that the foundation is not level and they could have fixed the problem quite easily.

 

[Happenings5]

I thought this was a lot as well until we actually priced around already existing homes and to build a "stick built", and found that in our area this was a good deal. This was the total price for everything, it was one deal, the land, well hook up, septic, modular house, finished basement, and garage. It was an already existing floor plan, but they say it was custom (fee charge here) as we made one change to make the master bathroom smaller and the closet bigger. We did some upgrades and have granite counters and wood laminate flooring throughout the main level (other than the bedrooms). I guess you get what you pay for rings true huh, as we felt we were getting a lot for our money.

We have had several people out who say the foundation is level, it is just for some reason the one end side of the house is not set on the foundation, it is off by inches. This side of the house is also freezing compared to the rest.

Thank you for your input, I greatly appreciate it.