All Forum Posts by: Dan Marl
Dan Marl has started 17 posts and replied 100 times.
Post: New house - garage door does not seal at the floor
- Posts 100
- Votes 26
Originally posted by @Bruce Woodruff:
If you have it ground down it will be a very obvious spot. Will you be ok with that? I'd just have them try a thicker weatherstrip like @Jerry Lucker said. It'll work just fine.....that looks like a <1 inch gap?
I am ok with the looks once it is ground out. I rather have that than have snakes, critters, rats, leaves, water during heavy storms, etc coming into the garage. I rather nip the problem at the bud.
The builder said a weather strip will fall out after 6-12 months as this is what they do previously on other houses.
Post: New house - garage door does not seal at the floor
- Posts 100
- Votes 26
Update: The builder says they will grind the concrete to flatten it out. But the closing date is coming up very soon!
Let's say it's not done by the closing date, what recourse do I have? Can I push out the closing date until it's fixed?
Post: What utilities to keep on while showing empty house?
- Posts 100
- Votes 26
Hello all,
The property is in the Dallas area.
Thank you all for your advice! Seems like the consensus is to keep the utilities on except for the internet. The builder says they keep the utilities on for 3 days after the date of closing so I'll open new accounts with the utility companies then.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Post: What utilities to keep on while showing empty house?
- Posts 100
- Votes 26
I searched through the forum but couldn't find the answer.
I am going to have an empty house to show to potential renters (it's a new build). What utilities should I open under my name in order to show to renters?
A friend told me it should be electric, gas, water.
Another friend said only electric because if gas and water are turned on, someone could accidentally leave it on and cause damage or run up the bill.
What do you all do?
Thank you!
Post: New house - garage door does not seal at the floor
- Posts 100
- Votes 26
Originally posted by @Paul Vail:
The picture isn't too clear -- is that cord wood stacked up to the left of the door?
I think it's some material as the builder is not done building the house.
Post: New house - garage door does not seal at the floor
- Posts 100
- Votes 26
Originally posted by @Paul Vail:
Um, for a town road, that kind of crown is great for water runoff. For a garage, they are feeding you BS. So if you take a long level (6') and crawl around on the floor in the garage, is their 'drainage pitch' evident all over? Or roll large marbles or tennis balls in different directions. Or buy a laser level (https://www.lowes.com/pd/Bosch...) and use a length of white trim with some centimeter or inch marks on it -- set the level in one corner by the door, then walk around to random points in the garage and hold the test stick upright. Is it all level or did they muck up the pour?
Also, most newer garage pours in my area leave a ~3cm drop just inside or outside the door threshold so the driveway isn't flush with the garage floor. Hopefully you have that. If not, what would stop wind-driven rain from coming in under the door if the drive is otherwise flat or worse: pitched toward the door? Hard to say from the picts how big a gap that is.
What's your recourse if the builder blows you off? A door seal will last quite a while (like, years), but this will be unsightly from both inside and out. How do you explain that to a potential buyer? They need to grind that down. Afterward, you can always epoxy-seal the whole garage as an upgrade feature to hide the grind and make things right.
Yes, the garage is 3 cm higher than the driveway (it's like a mini-step). So for them to grind it, they are just grinding a step that is only 2 feet wide by 2 cars long. I will push them to fix because it looks unsightly and you right, I have to think about future buyers.
Post: New house - garage door does not seal at the floor
- Posts 100
- Votes 26
Originally posted by @Michael Frabotta:
@Dan Marl I would push them to repour a portion of the driveway in front of the garage. I am a builder and their excuse is laughable. This was done wrong and they should be liable to fix it and make it look better than just grinding the concrete flat.
You are right Michael. I will push them to fix it.
Post: New house - garage door does not seal at the floor
- Posts 100
- Votes 26
Originally posted by @Jerry Lucker:
As a rehabber for 20+ years I would think that a heavy duty, properly installed weather strip would easily do the trick and last a lot longer than than you've been led to believe. Fast, inexpensive, effective.
You have a good point. Thank you!
Post: New house - garage door does not seal at the floor
- Posts 100
- Votes 26
Originally posted by @Pat L.:
You may only need to grind a small trench wide & deep enough to allow the door to close down into it. But water may accumulate in it & possibly compromise the door base.
All the neighbor's house doesn't have this gap so I think their driveway is curved somewhat. But not as much as mine. Thank you for your input.
Post: New house - garage door does not seal at the floor
- Posts 100
- Votes 26
@Carini Rochester
Thank you! I will push the builder to fix it.