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Old 04-15-2013, 02:14 PM
 
24 posts, read 129,246 times
Reputation: 28

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I'm building a house with David Weekley. They are planning to pour the foundation next Monday. I'm trying to decide if it's worth hiring my own inspector to check things out? The project manager does not have a problem with it at all, and says if it's worth my peace of mind go for it. (I really like him, so far he has been great to work with). But, he says he doesn't think it's worth it because 1) they hire an "independent" inspector to come look at it before the pour and 2) they engineer the slab for that particular soil/area of Houston and the specific floor plan. He said inspectors often don't appreciate this which means despite the inspectors sometimes coming back with exceptions rarely are they real problems (meaning DW doesn't change anything as a result), but rather it's just the inspector not knowing David Weekley's way of doing things. Given DW's reputation, I'm not too worried, but my home up in St. Louis had foundation issues (it's 60 years old) and it cost an arm and a leg to have it remediated.

What do you think?
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Old 04-15-2013, 04:12 PM
 
Location: Breckenridge
2,367 posts, read 4,698,639 times
Reputation: 1650
They just did not design old foundations like they do now. They did not even do soil analysis. I would not worry too much.
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Old 04-15-2013, 04:47 PM
 
20 posts, read 44,540 times
Reputation: 14
I'm about a month ahead of you with Perry rather than DW. I choose to do a phase 2 (presheet rock) and final inspection. Given the fact that they are doing whole neighborhoods, bringing in the sand to build up the dirt for the foundation, I talked to my dad (a Structural Engineer) and said I shouldn't need one for prepour. With the upper end production builders, I wouldn't worry about it. Lower end or pure custom? I would. Save your money for elsewhere.
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Old 04-15-2013, 04:47 PM
 
1,743 posts, read 3,823,849 times
Reputation: 2430
Waste of time. There is an engineer on site for the entire pour and has the last say on the pour. That is who the warranty company is bound to...so what he says goes.
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Old 04-15-2013, 08:04 PM
 
24 posts, read 129,246 times
Reputation: 28
Thanks a ton. You've saved me some time and money.
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Old 04-16-2013, 09:00 AM
 
1,650 posts, read 3,806,661 times
Reputation: 1489
I paid for the 3-phase inspection with the pre-pour being the first and all 3 were worth it.
The inspector did find minor things and I got the same schpeal from my PM as you did.
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Old 04-16-2013, 12:24 PM
 
24,014 posts, read 15,106,139 times
Reputation: 12967
Wonder what the builder's rep told those folks up in the Woodlands whose house was built on a known fault line? This is Texas. Anything goes wrong and you are hosed.
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Old 04-17-2013, 09:23 AM
 
131 posts, read 537,533 times
Reputation: 51
It's more of a quality control thing than the inspector trying to change the engineering of the slab. Mine found all sorts of rips and tears in the vapor barrier, and a large part of it not taped together. Plus a nice bottle of pee hidden in a trench...

I'd say it's worth it. The inspector is doing an entirely different job than the engineer signing off on the pour.
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Old 04-17-2013, 10:07 AM
 
Location: The Greater Houston Metro Area
9,053 posts, read 17,207,643 times
Reputation: 15226
Since you are doing the other 2 inspections, if you use the same inspector, the pre-pour will be pretty cheap.
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Old 04-17-2013, 06:45 PM
 
10 posts, read 36,197 times
Reputation: 14
I am also building a new home and had told the builder I would want the pre pour inspection done. They said no probs and that it would be ready for inspection on Friday. It wasn't. Then they said Monday, and it still wasn't. You won't believe that by the time the inspector went on Wednesday they had poured the concrete already without a single word or heads up. Is this typical or is there something shady going on here?
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