The Pulte Homes Experience - Pulte's Appraiser's Report

Below the appraiser's statement on this same page I have made some notes. These notes tie together some of the statements made by Pulte Homes and then makes points that are relevant to reality. Please read on.

A. Items which we believe need repair or replacement. A number of construction defects were discovered by the homebuyer subsequent to the sale. Some of these items are subtle and would likely be overlooked or ignored by a typical purchaser.

The front stoop may have a slight pitch either towards or away from the house, instead of being level. some brick tuckpointing is required.
The front door Palladian window has some partial rotting along the sill. The sill should be replaced.
There is a slight gap between the exterior bricks where the garage and house walls meet which requires tuckpointing.
A hairline crack on front decorative column
There is a sunken section of the sidewalk which needs to be raised or replaced
Small crack below and to the right of service door to garage. Some minor fill is needed at the foundation
Stippling on family room ceiling should be painted
Refinish spot on wood floor section at front door where some water damage was observed.
Middle-small bedroom closet has wood casing which is slightly bowed. Door striker plate needs adjustment.
Slight crack in wall/ ceiling joint over the stall shower.
Bearing plate missing on joist below family room. Two small pieces of wood are required
Basement stairs in need of repair or replacement
Some bridging missing between floor joists under family room
Back hall door into garage needs minor carpentry.
Shoe molding replacement required along kitchen island
Front panel of dishwasher needs replacement
Re-install cabinet in kitchen and match color of stain on mismatched door
Replace molding on baseboard in dining room (kitchen shared wall)

B. The owner of the residence had other criticisms of the workmanship which we viewed as not affecting the marketability of the residence. Some of these include corners of the walls which are not at perfect 90 degree angles, slightly uneven trim work around doors and windows, and other minor items. These are items which we believe are typical of new construction in this price range. The items listed above in the first category are pertinent and should be attended to. Our rough estimate of the cost to repair/replace these items is $10,000. This dollar figure reflects, in our opinion, an ample amount to cover these items and also reflects a market reaction to such a list.

Rust stains on concrete driveway (The owner believes this is from the reinforcement rods beneath the surface, although we believe it is from motor vehicles).
Outward bulge on west side exterior rear wall, possibly in vinyl siding. This bulge is barely detectable under observation. There is no indication that this is a structural problem from our observation.
Inward bulge on first floor, west exterior wall. Very difficult to notice and does not appear to be a structural problem.
1/4" slope between toilet and washer/dryer on bathroom floor. Does not affect performance or livability of residence and is not noticeable without a carpenter's level.

Now it is time to start assessing the information that has been provided here on this site. Remember that Pulte Homes had previously stated that my house was fine and they would no longer perform any more warranty repairs. Well here comes THEIR OWN EXPERT finding in his opinion $10,000.00 worth of defects! How can that be when Pulte takes the position that no more problems exist. Now lets look at what this "expert" seems to overlook.

In reference to some of my complaints, he states "Some of these items are subtle and would likely be overlooked or ignored by a typical purchaser.". What he fails to acknowledge is that under Ohio law, even if a potential buyer would overlook an item, I am obligated by law to inform the buyer of any and all known defects in the house.
Appraiser notes "The front door Palladian window has some partial rotting along the sill. The sill should be replaced." He seems to omit the fact that water pours into the foyer when it rains. He did not mention the water stains on the inside of the sill.
This is a great one! You need to refer back to the pictures page to refresh your memory of the broken floor joist that was missing the bearing plate. He states "Bearing plate missing on joist below family room. Two small pieces of wood are required" but fails to acknowledge that the joist is broken! He also fails to note the other joists in the same area that have failed, cracked and twisted.
Appraiser (not a cement contractor) gives this opinion about our driveway "Rust stains on concrete driveway (The owner believes this is from the reinforcement rods beneath the surface, although we believe it is from motor vehicles)." My car did this? Forget the fact that we park both cars in the garage (where no "rust stains" exist) and my wife's car is a 1998 model. Yes my car is older, but her side of the drive has as many if not more so called stains on it. Did I mention we park the cars in the garage!
"Outward bulge on west side exterior rear wall, possibly in vinyl siding. This bulge is barely detectable under observation. There is no indication that this is a structural problem from our observation." Here is another great observation from this guy. First, I have aluminum siding, not vinyl. He did not pull any siding off, nor has anyone from Pulte. Yet he feels confident enough to say that nothing is wrong. Interesting, maybe he has x-ray vision.
Here is one that I know is a structural problem. He states "Inward bulge on first floor, west exterior wall. Very difficult to notice and does not appear to be a structural problem." I personally watched workers try to fix this with no success. They ended up putting a piece of thin plywood under the siding to minimize the "visual effect" of the "inward bulge". By the way, the wall they refer to is a load bearing wall.
"1/4" slope between toilet and washer/dryer on bathroom floor. Does not affect performance or livability of residence and is not noticeable without a carpenter's level. Keep in mind during some of this inspection, I was present. The appraiser had NO TOOLS with him. Yet he was able to see and measure a 1/4" slope on a second level floor. He did not pull the washer and dryer away from the wall where this slope exists. How can he assess the slope without measuring the full length of the slope?

You can infer many things from this report. I was unable to copy the actual appraisal because it was written on 81/2" by 14" paper. My scanner will not scan documents that large. The appraisal did state however that the house should be worth $239,000.00 assuming no defects. It is very interesting viewing this report and then comparing Pultes results to that of my architect, contractor and appraiser. Obviously we are on two completely different pages.

Disclaimer | Home Page | Top of Page