Would you buy this new home?

spacejamz · Apr 27, 2024

This is a brand new build (2400 sq ft two story home going for $450K in the Dallas/Ft Worth area) and several of the quarter round joints were done like this...

I have replace all of the 2.5" baseboard with taller 5" baseboards in my current home so I definitely looked at this but wonder if the average person would even notice or care...

spacejamz · Apr 27, 2024

For grins/giggles, this is how my new base boards came out...I used another 2.5" baseboard instead of quarter round for my bottom trim....

BoomerD · Apr 27, 2024

Yours definitely looks better…more “professional.”

pcgeek11 · Apr 27, 2024

Leads you to wonder what else was cheaped out on...

VirtualLarry · Apr 28, 2024

This is what happens when builders 'cheap out' - people get seriously injured!

Story of "nice" house, built cheaply, not properly flashed chimney, lack of extra dehumidifier in HVAC controls/wiring, leading to moisture build-up and black mold in the walls (allegedly).

Lost_in_the_HTTP · Apr 28, 2024

spacejamz said:
For grins/giggles, this is how my new base boards came out...I used another 2.5" baseboard instead of quarter round for my bottom trim....
View attachment 98020

Looks like OGee trim I use for windows and doors.

herm0016 · Apr 28, 2024

spacejamz said:
For grins/giggles, this is how my new base boards came out...I used another 2.5" baseboard instead of quarter round for my bottom trim....
View attachment 98020

The piece on the bottom there is 356 casing.

Lost_in_the_HTTP said:
Looks like OGee trim I use for windows and doors.

ogee is a specific shape that is an element in a lot of different moldings. The sort of S shape or could be described as a sinusoid.

Most people would never notice bad trim, and its very common in track homes. the 70s split I owned had terrible drywall and trim work.

Greenman · Apr 28, 2024

spacejamz said:
This is a brand new build (2400 sq ft two story home going for $450K in the Dallas/Ft Worth area) and several of the quarter round joints were done like this...

I have replace all of the 2.5" baseboard with taller 5" baseboards in my current home so I definitely looked at this but wonder if the average person would even notice or care...

View attachment 98015

View attachment 98016

Quarter round is just a cheap method of covering a gap that shouldn't be there to begin with. It's garbage detail that should never have never been used . It's installed because it's cheap, fast, and easy.

spacejamz · Apr 28, 2024

Greenman said:
Quarter round is just a cheap method of covering a gap that shouldn't be there to begin with. It's garbage detail that should never have never been used . It's installed because it's cheap, fast, and easy.

Not disagreeing but those joints are a complete joke...and on a brand new home, the baseboards should have gone up after the LVP was laid down so it should have covered the gap without needing quarter round...

And I get that most homeowners who pay someone to install new laminate or LVP flooring don't want to pay the extra to have the baseboards removed and then reinstalled to cover the expansion gap without needing quarter round (definitely cheaper/faster/easier to just use quarter round to cover the gap so you don't have to remove the baseboards)

and it looks like they didn't even caulk the top of the quarter round under the base cabinets....

Red Squirrel · Apr 28, 2024

This on it's own would not be a deal breaker for me, but considering this almost half a million dollar home, I would expect better, and it would make me wonder what else they did that's shoddy, such as the plumbing, electrical, vapour barrier, structural stuff, roofing, weeping tile system and other things that can't be fully seen once it's done, and would be hard to fix later if it turns out to be an issue.

I'd want to do a full house inspection before buying. Open up electrical panel and random switch/outlets too just to get an idea of how well they did the electrical. Check out roof to make sure flashing is done right, etc. You will never get a 100% good picture as all the important stuff is behind the walls, but looking at these things can at least give you a general idea of the workmanship.

IronWing · Apr 29, 2024

When maximizing square footage and price/sq foot are the obsessions, quality must yield. If Americans ever decide they would rather have smaller, better built houses for the same price, builders would build them. We've been watching the builders throw up stucco piñatas here for the past two decades. The utter garbage that passes for houses is appalling. Owners are having to buy new roofs on houses that are less than ten years old.

The building process:
Form LLC
Build a few dozen -> few hundred houses
Profit
Dissolve LLC as soon as last house sells
Repeat

Greenman · Apr 29, 2024

spacejamz said:
Not disagreeing but those joints are a complete joke...and on a brand new home, the baseboards should have gone up after the LVP was laid down so it should have covered the gap without needing quarter round...

And I get that most homeowners who pay someone to install new laminate or LVP flooring don't want to pay the extra to have the baseboards removed and then reinstalled to cover the expansion gap without needing quarter round (definitely cheaper/faster/easier to just use quarter round to cover the gap so you don't have to remove the baseboards)

and it looks like they didn't even caulk the top of the quarter round under the base cabinets....

The joints are a joke, but they're what I would expect from a production flooring company. They will always push the bottom end of quality until call backs reach the point that it isn't profitable.
The thing that pisses me off about using quarter round is that there is a similar method that's just as easy but requires the use of a saw instead of a hand cutter, and looks far better.

My house had several issues when I bought it, all of which I pointed out at delivery. I also declined to have the builders subs make the corrections as I had no desire to go through having them working in my house while my dogs lost their minds, and I could do a better job. There were a couple of electrical issues issues that the sub repair, but that was more about teaching them a lesson than correcting the problem.

pete6032 · Apr 29, 2024

The 2nd picture does not look like a new home. Looks like trim that has been painted several times and there is overspray onto the floor. Looks like my 70 y/o house.

spacejamz · Apr 29, 2024

Greenman said:
The joints are a joke, but they're what I would expect from a production flooring company. They will always push the bottom end of quality until call backs reach the point that it isn't profitable.
The thing that pisses me off about using quarter round is that there is a similar method that's just as easy but requires the use of a saw instead of a hand cutter, and looks far better.

They could have easily thrown some caulk over the rough edges and even filled the gap a bit to make it look nicer but they didn't even do that...

spacejamz · May 11, 2024

I am repainting my baseboards to freshen them up so I thought I would just throw a pic here....

Greenman · Jun 2, 2024

A clean cut in line makes a huge difference in appearance. The drunks with Parkinson's disease that painted my house ran the wall color over the top edge of the trim for reasons that no sane person could ever understand. They also used paint that's about as durable as a butterfly wing, except in the places where the drips and runs are, it holds up well there. I've been correcting it a room at time using urethane trim paint. I have to wait a few weeks between rooms so I don't blow an aneurism from the boiling rage that ingulfs me every time I correct the crap work.

spacejamz · Jun 2, 2024

Greenman said:
A clean cut in line makes a huge difference in appearance. The drunks with Parkinson's disease that painted my house ran the wall color over the top edge of the trim for reasons that no sane person could ever understand. They also used paint that's about as durable as a butterfly wing, except in the places where the drips and runs are, it holds up well there. I've been correcting it a room at time using urethane trim paint. I have to wait a few weeks between rooms so I don't blow an aneurism from the boiling rage that ingulfs me every time I correct the crap work.

I am pretty good at cutting in where the wall meets the ceiling but I don't have much luck trying to cut in on the top of baseboards. I have gotten really good at taping though LOL

[DHT]Osiris · Jun 2, 2024

Greenman said:
They also used paint that's about as durable as a butterfly wing

That stuff is great. In-laws had some painting done in a bathroom one year a few moons ago who hired, let's say, less than capable workers. I swear that stuff scraped off if you breathed near it. Swathes of it were missing within a year.

Greenman · Jun 2, 2024

That will happen if they put latex over oil. On one bath remodel I did repainting the door was part of the job because some of it had peeled. I peeled off the rest of the latex and the door looked brand new. Client was happy, I didn't have to paint, that's a win win.

[DHT]Osiris · Jun 2, 2024

Greenman said:
That will happen if they put latex over oil. On one bath remodel I did repainting the door was part of the job because some of it had peeled. I peeled off the rest of the latex and the door looked brand new. Client was happy, I didn't have to paint, that's a win win.

That's probably exactly what happened. It looked a lot like a latex glove peeling off, and I know they didn't touch the coat underneath nor put on a primer coat. They intended to be there for a single day and get their paycheck.

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