Your New House
From BuildingHomes.ca
Contents |
Settling of House
Your house gets built from wood, drywall and concrete. All of these things have moisture in them. Over time things will will dry out and when they do, they will start to shink. Not a lot, but enough to start causing some shifting at some key points around your house. And when they shift, you will start to notice cracks in the drywall, doors not staying shut, caulking around fixtures, and hairline cracks in the basement floor.
This is all normal and it is nothing to worry about. In fact, the sooner these things happen, the less likely you'll have to worry about them in the future.
The Tarion Tarion Warranty states that the builder has up to 1 year to fix these things. It's best to wait a year and let everything happen, and then submit a report to your builder. Sure you'll have some cracks here and there around the house, but it's best to fix them once they've finished cracking as opposed to when they are still doing it and having to go back later and do it again.
Ductwork Gaps
We had our central air installed by a 3rd party. When that happened, the installer pointed out that there were small gaps around the ductwork coming out of the furnance. Problem with this is that you lose air pressure in your forced air system.
There's a simple fix for this. Just head out to the local Rona and pick up some aluminum foil tape. This looks just like a roll of packing tape, just instead of it being plastic, it's aluminium foil, and extremely sticky. Should cost around $3.50.
You can feel for gaps in the duct when the furnace fan is running by holding your hand close to the ducts. Place some tape around the gap in this area to close the seam.
Extreme Dust
Your house will be dusty. Really dusty. The drywall, basement floor, and lack of grass in the neighbourhood all all contributing factors to this.
First thing you should do is sweep and paint your basement floor. And then if you can, power wash it. There are some builders that tend to leave a lot of dirt and mud in the basement.
When you move in, you will have a filter installed in your furnance. Replace it. Note the size of the existing filter and then head down to the Rona and pick up a $14 filter.
Sanitary Landfill
There will be a lot of broken brick, wood, metal and shingles all around the exterior of your house. Your builder will clear all the large pieces, but the smaller stuff will be left and eventually covered over with dirt. Do you really want to leave that stuff down there? Get out a shovel and a wheelbarrow and clear it away. That way when you go to dig a flower bed, or base for a patio, you won't be finding this garbage down there. Rain water will also be able to drain away easier.
