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What should I ask for builder

L

lullerby

REGISTERED
Joined
Sep 9, 2022
Messages
10
Location
indiana
Please give me some tips. I am buying a newly build house. Builder says that this is a double stem wall. I see lots of bolts / wahsers / woods all around the garage. Bolts/wahser/woods are directly exposed and they are really annoying and they just look really ugly. Is it the quality of a new house? This is a newly built house but it looks like unfinished. I asked to cover or treat these exposed bolt/washers/woods. What are the solutions to cover up these or make them nicer? Is it OK to have that high stem wall?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jYJXmfn0jDaaFd-xuj71-P1syBrgFx8Y/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P7ISunnB6FvMNpJQcMgyD0weUfDTSTod/view?usp=sharing

drive.google.com

wall3.PNG

drive.google.com drive.google.com
 
You do want a high stem wall, that keeps your siding and plywood sheathing that is under the siding up off and away from the wet ground. I know someone who barely had a stem wall at all, and their sheathing is rotting away because it is too close to the ground. The stem wall you have appears to be perfectly functional from a structural standpoint. (From what I can see now, obviously there is no way to see how they did the rebar originally.)

As for the aesthetics, the exposed bolts/washers appear to be a kind of tie that they use to hold their concrete forms together, and then they snap them off later, leaving what you see exposed. They use a different type of ties here locally, but in your area those ties may be very common, and it may very well be how all of the stem walls look in your area. It might be worth checking around locally to find out if this is common.

As far making it look pretty is concerned, I personally wouldn't bother. If you really want to, you could add some kind of trim around the stem wall to cover it up, or maybe stucco/plaster the whole thing... I don't think you could dig the metal washers out and patch it with a concrete patching product and make it so you can't see it, but maybe somebody out there knows how to do it.

There is almost a 0% chance of the contractor doing it for free. It meets code as far as structure, and there is no code against ugly. If you really want it fixed, prepare to pay for it yourself.
 
The exposed metal wouldn't bother me....the crack on the other hand would....

wall1.PNG
 
Hi ICE,
3rd party inspector said that I need to watch the crack. The house is just built (started Feb 2022). There are two cracks all around the house. The inspector said that if the crack grows after 6 months 10 months, then it needs to be done something. Is this just a settlement process? Or is it possibly somethihng going on?
 
As said not a code issue, I am impressed that there is base at the bottom of the wall and the garage is painted.

If you buy the house, you can parge the cement with a texture to make it look uniform for looks
 
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