PDI tips from new homeowners

[firstmazda]

I know a few people here have recently bought newly built homes,
My Pre Delivery Inspection is this wednesday!! I\'m so hyped!

Can anyone give me useful tips (like bringing a small lamp or clock radio
to check all the outlets) and anything else to look out for that I might
not think of?

Thanks,
Ray

[Cardinal Fang]

A general checklist from TARION (formerly the O.N.H.W.P.):

http://www.tarion.com/HOME/New+Home+Buyers/Your+Pre-Delivery+Inspection/PDIChecklist.htm

[firstmazda]

^
Thanks! lol I was actually printing it as I was typing up the topic.:)

[SIM SIMMA]

Most importantly.... TAKE YOUR TIME.

This is a huge investment. Nothing should be considered too little or insignificant.

If you are not happy with something note it down.

My first house we zipped through the PDI in 30 mins. Bad mistake as we found a bunch of stuff we didn\'t even think of... like opening every cabinet and opening and closing all doors etc.

My current house I took 2 hours for the PDI.

[SABIO]

Where you can.. Make sure the plumbing is actually glued together. i switched out my kitchen sink a few months after we moved in... and found out that 1/2 the black abs piping wasn\'t even glued together!!!

Please make sure EVERYTHING is in writing.

Look for garbage in the heat vents.... and IN the furnace!! everything they dropped down the ducts during the final work and clean-up falls into the furnace!!!


Acrylic tubs? Wipe them with a wet rag. To see if they hid any scratches with caulking or something. We didn\'t use our master tub for a long while... one day I started to clean it and voila! out of no where this big ass scratch starts to appear. They hid it with what i think was a little caulking....

Open and close your exterior windows..look for damage (do you have the screens). Gutters...caulking and flashing around windows.
Kithchen... door and drawer open and close good? everything aligned? Trim done? everything caulked?

Man.. i could type for an hour... lol
2 cents 4 u

[SIM SIMMA]

Good point about the furnace and the ducts!

Even if it\'s clean (no visual garbage.. I found coffee cups) you\'ll probably want to hire someone to do a duct cleaning (lots of dust)

[firstmazda]

Originally posted by Jobes


Good point about the furnace and the ducts!

Even if it\'s clean (no visual garbage.. I found coffee cups) you\'ll probably want to hire someone to do a duct cleaning (lots of dust)



I\'ve heard a lot worse horror stories like contractors takin a dump in the vents!

[midnightfxgt]

The TARION site is great stuff. I have done a bit of reading, as I just bought a place, but as I dont get it untill Sept of \'07, I am pacing myself. SABIO nailed some good stuff I wouldnt have thought about. The only suggestion I have... Take a camera. Pictures can be a huge help.

Congrats on the house man!

-John

[firstmazda]

Originally posted by midnightfxgt


The TARION site is great stuff. I have done a bit of reading, as I just bought a place, but as I dont get it untill Sept of \'07, I am pacing myself. SABIO nailed some good stuff I wouldnt have thought about. The only suggestion I have... Take a camera. Pictures can be a huge help.

Congrats on the house man!

-John

Thanks! Congrats to you too! You won\'t believe how fast the house comes up.
Feels like forever before the pour the foundation, then all of a sudden they\'re done!

I have my camera with me all the time, we try to sneak into the house every week to see progress.
I took pictures to locate where all the lines and HVAC ducts run in the walls
so I don\'t drill into them later on.

[SABIO]

Originally posted by firstmazda




I have my camera with me all the time, we try to sneak into the house every week to see progress.
I took pictures to locate where all the lines and HVAC ducts run in the walls
so I don\'t drill into them later on.


That\'s what I did. It comes in handy quite often. Just knowing where the studs/cables/ducts are helps a ton.

Another thing is pay attention to the corners where the walls meet the ceiling. You can tell if they did a good plastering job. Take some time and look at the walls too, everything is painted builder white, which means your eyes get all wacked out if you stare at them to long (I think they do it intentionally). But checking out the walls you can see if all the studding is straight, damaged wallboard etc.
Good thing is once you move in you still have your 30 day list to submit.(and the 1 year)
The only problem with the PDI is if you make a 30 page list and want all the stuff fixed.... they can delay your closing date to fix it all.....
....almost like blackmail, \"Here\'s your house, oh, you want that fixed, no prob,...it\'s gonna take a month\"
Just make sure it\'s all written down... they can take care of it later...unless it\'s major major stuff....

[KenYork]

+ flush toilets, turn on all faucets, check water pressure... and under sinks for leaks.
all windows and exterior doors for drafts.

like sabio said.. could go on and on.. should make a checklist and print it out.. bring it with you.

[Caz]

Check everything to do with your plumbing as it can do the most damage. Turn on every faucet and let it run for a while. Working in the industry, I have heard many, many horror stories of ceilings falling in due to leaks under tubs or nails/screws putting holes in pipes in the walls.

[fourtrack78]

Hey firstMazda,

Like above check ducts, furance, outlets and plumming.

Ducts & furance: Get them cleaned regaurdless. Use ontario duct cleaning. Its worth it exspeically with summer comming around you\'ll have the Ac blasting.

Outlets: just cheack them all. never heard of a bad case yet.

Plumming: leaks, toilet paper down the toilet and listen for knocking pipes. Mine knocked for about 31/2 years. the buider said it would go away.

Doors and cupboard drawers: make sure they open and close.

Popped nails in the wall, they will come out eventually.

sqeaky flooring

Ceiling (stuco)

just make sure you look and take your time. You\'ll get so excited because your in your new house.

Hope this help\'s

Cheers

[firstmazda]

WOW
huge thanks again to all of you.

I should hold a TM3 PDI meet at the house!
you can all inspect the shit out of it!
we\'ll scare the builder into fixing everything then and there. LOL

Thanks again

Ray

[Caz]

Originally posted by firstmazda

we\'ll scare the builder into fixing everything then and there. LOL

I know that tribute will sometime have a person or team there to fix stuff as the PDI is taking place. I guess that is what it takes to be the best with customer service (according to Tarion and JD Power\'s)

[KenYork]

Originally posted by fourtrack78




Plumming: leaks, toilet paper down the toilet and listen for knocking pipes. Mine knocked for about 31/2 years. the buider said it would go away.





Try this... (http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/rm_plumbing_pipes_valves/article/0,1797,HGTV_3776_1376102,00.html)

[SABIO]

OK... So what happened??? Was your house junk or what??

Post some pics of your new castle!!!

[firstmazda]

LOL,
thanks for the interest! Our PDI actually got moved to May 15th,
The site super didn\'t realize we had moved our closing date from the 17th to the 31st.
And he was stressing \'cause our kitchen hadn\'t arrived on time.

I\'ll let you guys know how it goes, and if the wife says it\'s ok, i\'ll post
a few pics.

Ray

[firstmazda]

So I did my PDI today!
took 3 hours! Happy to say that everything we pointed out was all minor nicks and dents and
stuff. Nothing big!!

Can\'t wait \'till the 31 when I get my keys! but then comes the mortgage....

Here\'s a pic of the house:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d101/firstmazda/house.jpg

Thanks again all of your for your great tips!!
Ray

[MazdaTree]

looks nice, I like the balcony:)

[firstmazda]

Originally posted by MazdaTree


looks nice, I like the balcony:)
Thanks!
that\'s my \"smoking hut\" when i\'m too lazy to walk down the stairs
and out to the porch. hahaha

[MazdaTree]

is the balcony right outside of your room?

[firstmazda]

no, the master is the back of the house,
that will be the office/computer room.

[SABIO]

Very nice. :)

[firstmazda]

Originally posted by SABIO


Very nice. :)
Thanks!
Thanks again for all your tips.

[Cardinal Fang]

Congrats FirstMazda. I hope they remember to put in the balcony railing before you move in.

:)

[BETRTHNU]

Originally posted by firstmazda
Here\'s a pic of the house:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d101/firstmazda/house.jpg
Ray

oh man I can already see you son or daughter hang dropping from the balcony or that small window on the right to try and sneak out at night...

[Caz]

Nice house, compliments to the office that designs for your builder. LOL

I love that brick colour.

[firstmazda]

Originally posted by Caz


Nice house, compliments to the office that designs for your builder. LOL

I love that brick colour.

LOL yes, Kudos to them! haha

That brick colour was our definite first choice, we didn\'t like any of the other
choices we were given.

[Kevin@nextmod]

Nice car! Nice choice of color. :P

And congrats on your new home. Looks pretty spacious. :)

[OTUA YM]

Congrats firstmazda.

Keep that photo of you shinny car handy,
Because for the next two years your car will be covered in dirt. :D

The expenses have only just begun......
Mortgage, Furniture, Painting, Blinds/Curtains, Landscaping, Fences, Walkways, A/C, Central Vac., Garage Door Opener, Taxes.... and on and on and on.
..... FUN WOW. :sarc

But its still fun to be able to say its MY HOME.

Enjoy.


BTW....
Be prepared for lots of phone calls and headaches trying to get all those PDI fixes.
Builders/Trades People like to stall and hope that you give up, and stop bugging them.
My builder waited till the middle of the 11th month before they finally did the fixes.

If you can, hold off as long as you can on any PDI wall repairs and repainting.
Nail pops usually take a while before they start to show, so more may occur within the next year.

And from my experience, if its a simple fix that you can do yourself,
then... Do It Yourself !!!
Most of the flunky tradesmen do quick, half-ass jobs.
They want to get in and get out as fast as possible.

[firstmazda]

Originally posted by OTUA YM


Congrats firstmazda.

Keep that photo of you shinny car handy,
Because for the next two years your car will be covered in dirt. :D

The expenses have only just begun......
Mortgage, Furniture, Painting, Blinds/Curtains, Landscaping, Fences, Walkways, A/C, Central Vac., Garage Door Opener, Taxes.... and on and on and on.
..... FUN WOW. :sarc

But its still fun to be able to say its MY HOME.

Enjoy.


BTW....
Be prepared for lots of phone calls and headaches trying to get all those PDI fixes.
Builders/Trades People like to stall and hope that you give up, and stop bugging them.
My builder waited till the middle of the 11th month before they finally did the fixes.

If you can, hold off as long as you can on any PDI wall repairs and repainting.
Nail pops usually take a while before they start to show, so more may occur within the next year.

And from my experience, if its a simple fix that you can do yourself,
then... Do It Yourself !!!
Most of the flunky tradesmen do quick, half-ass jobs.
They want to get in and get out as fast as possible.



LOL thanks! That clay gets everywhere! Makes me feel like not washing my car for a whole year!
It\'s just gonna get dirty again as soon as I pull out the driveway.

And I know about expenses! haha I\'m getting married in November so I got double the stress.
Don\'t know where to put the money towards, couch to sit on vs. wedding photographer or
microwave vs. wedding cake.

I\'m glad the majority of the PDI stuff was minor cosmetic things like nail pops
and drywall dings, so I\'m not too concerned if they\'re slow to getting at it but
wow, the 11th month!! your builder was cutting it close! haha

[SABIO]

Originally posted by OTUA YM

If you can, hold off as long as you can on any PDI wall repairs and repainting.
Nail pops usually take a while before they start to show, so more may occur within the next year.



I disagree. We spent the day before we moved in painting the entire main floor. You spent a big sum of cash for your new place....Why live with Builder White walls.
You want a home. When you get home after work it feels so much better....
Just think how much harder it will be to paint once you have all your furniture in the house.
And after 18 months we only have 3 *nail pops.... big deal..

paint the kitchen and living room now....or it will never get done...
I\'m glad I did. And my friends who are still living with builder white 2 years later tell me they should have done some painting too..

2 cent:)

[Caz]

+1