how picky can I be over our new build

[kiwibella]

We've lived in our home for just over a year. The house has probably been standing for eighteen months - two years. I need to call the developers about the cracking that is appearing around the place. Do I show them every area that I can see has appeared or should I expect that some of it will be considered "general wear and tear". As well as surface cracks being obvious in the plaster on the walls, there is also some in the join with the skirting boards, around the door frames (especially external and windows), the top of the staircase. And what about paint that seems to have blistered and peeled on the door frame. I'm just not sure what to expect to be repaired.

Did they give you a pack when you moved in which explained about settling? Because that what it sounds like, TBH.

When we lived in a new build, our neighbour got the pipes that go into the radiator painted after they had lived there nearly 2 years, as bits had been missed.

I think you should contact them to see what they say.

Which builders are they? [nosey]

thanks... it's Barratts. They've been fab so far - always come immediately whenever we've had any probs. The guys are still on site which is helpful.

Homepack - good idea! Definitely settling. They've repaired (plastered over and painted) a couple of small cracks before but at the time the guy suggested waiting a while cos more would appear .

did you do a 'snag' list?

We have always had the builders back to deal with biggish cracks due to settling. They have always come back and sorted it.

I used to make a snagging list and send it to them. Did it for forst 18-24 months of moving here, and at the last two new builds we have had.

is a snagging list just a list of probs that need to be attended to?

Weve been in our nre build for 3 months. We love our house but Taylor Wimpey said that they dont as a rule fix 'settling' We had massive cracks between the stair skirting and the stairs so they HAD to fix it.

We have now got a kitchen cupboard hanging off. The windows in our kitchen wont stay open. The tap in our granite worktops is loose and wont swivel between sink. There are loads of little things that need fixing and my DH went to see them in the sales office today and they said that they dont deal with it now - we have got to ring their customer services I think that thats a bit crap tbh as we have only been here three months!

I bet they'd fix it if you went into the sales office when other buyers were there and complained loudly.

so happy to see this thread, also in a new build and cracks appearing everywhere, very unsightly, and some round cracks where the plaster looks like its been pushed out by nails underneath.

have rang a few times but they want to wait a while before coming back - how long is a while though?!

also got huge crack by the stairs - looks alarming!

think i will do long list and email it to them.

Yes we did consider that Thediary but DH is going to go the customer services route on Monday and see how long it takes them.

Messymissy the round cracks are called nail pops and i think all new builds get them. When we did our snagging list we had a load repared but ive seen a few more now. I think DH will just pollyfilla over them as its easier than waiting endlessly for Taylor Wimpey to come and fix them - also they keep appearing so we will probably just tackle them when they appear.

The cracks really piss me off - the ones on our stairs were massive and i thought that it was apalling that they said 'oh well we dont usually do anything about settling' ffs but they did fix ours as they were so bad.

yes you are supposed to compile a snagging list. if you aren't confident doing it yourself you can get a snagging company in to do it. it's very normal to have a list of about 100-150 snags. big list to help you here

I think it helps that the builders are still on site, ie they are still selling houses and the last thing they want in this house selling climate is a person living there saying the builders are useless to potential buyers.

I think it would become much more difficult for you to get them to fix settlement cracks once they have left the site.

I would try to get them to fix it now for you although I don't think they are obliged to do it. We have bought a "new build" it is actually 10 years old but the vendors gave us their pack from when it was new. I was reading all about the settlement cracks and in ours they definitely don't fix them.

We have had 2 new builds now.

With each of them when it got to about 20 months after we moved in, we went round the house and listed everything we thought needed sorting out.

This included cracks. The first company we bought off told us that they would only sort out cracks where you could get the edge of a 2p in and this is what the crack list on.

Once we had done the list we emailed it to customer services and asked them to let us know when they would be round to sort it out.

As long as the list is with them before the two years is up they have to look into the issues though it can take some time chasing tthem up.

If in doubt list everything, they can always say no to a few things. We had windows sanded and repainted as they shouldn't be peeling within that timescale unless they weren't primed and painted correctly.

We also included the nail pops in the list which they had no issue with.

thanks sushiqueen... very helpful.

I'm off to look at your link ruddy. Thanks.

In a strange way it's reassuring to know there are so many probs out there. The guys have been wonderful so far. I'll have to make some time to go around with house and make a list of every little mark.