We are purchasing a new construction bargain builder home. It's not custom, and we have basically no say in anything to do with the construction. We've been going into the house and checking in on things as the construction has progressed.

Last Friday morning when my husband went in, he heard water. There was a giant puddle downstairs, and the outside spigot outside that room was on full blast. He turned it off, and didn't have time to look at anything else before going to work, but he could tell there was baseboard and drywall damage. I emailed the builder to figure out the situation.

Later that afternoon at 3pm, I went in. Turns out there was water upstairs, too, a full puddle in one of the bedrooms on top of the OSB subfloor, with the OSB swelling. I called about it, and was told they knew about it, there was a leak probably under the subfloor (looking at what they've done since, I suspect it was in the wall), and they'd turned off the water. Not sure why they didn't try to soak up the standing water.

Fast forward to Monday morning, my husband walks in, and carpet has been installed upstairs. I immediately expressed concern with installing carpet over still wet (even damp) subfloor. The builder claims they had the AC on full blast and made sure the subfloor was dry before installing the carpet over the weekend. My question is, is this possible? I would think OSB would take a lot longer to dry out once saturated like it was. Is the fact that the OSB was starting to swell (leading to uneven flooring) a valid concern that they should have to address, or do I just need to living with it knowing I'll be grinding it down if we change the flooring down the line?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PomDdpywShEKC2s7A
https://photos.app.goo.gl/udEHzWZvzK3nbSEd6

My first question would be what was the leak from and did they fix that?

They thought it was probably from hitting a pipe with a nail prior to the water being on. They had just turned the water on to the house last week. They've cut holes in the walls and found/repaired the leak.

I think a moisture meter will work through the carpet. I'd get a cheap one and test the wet spot and a dry spot to see how different they are. Bigger deal upstairs on wood than downstairs on concrete.

https://www.amazon.com/Moisture-Reddragon-Detector-Humidity-Building/dp/B0894STPY2/

First off, leaks happen and the leak should be repaired correctly and to your satisfaction. Then...have the builder pull back the carpet covering the impacted sub floor, pull the subfloor up, put new subfloor down (glued and screwed), put carpet back down (assuming it is dry). If they won't do that, then do everything you can to walk away, they're not a good builder. Care to share the builder?

I know it's easier for me to say then for you to do, but I'd try to get out of the contact all together at this point.

Who knows what else was done sub par. My brother is dealing with a ****ty builder now. He's had tiles fall off his shower, a crack through the middle of the living room, a countertop cracking, cabinets never painted, just primed, etc. He has a lawyer and at this point it's just a race to get something before this ass hat files bankruptcy and starts another company.

Name of builder?

I'd pay for an independent inspector and get a third party report for documentation in case you need it

They will cancel the contract. If they are smart, they will also have you sign something that agrees to nondisparagement. They don't want you knocking on the door of the eventual buyer and telling them the story since they have no intent to disclose anything to them.

That is what we are expecting. I feel awful for the eventual owners if that's what happens. Unethical companies gonna be unethical.

Still waiting for a response, but it's still Monday morning, and I'm sure it has to go up the chain how to respond.

Update:
They are working to make it right. I talked to the construction manager. A restoration company is being called in, and will evaluate for mold in addition to getting everything dry. They are removing/replacing everything we've asked to be replaced. They've invited us to come up while the restoration company is there and talk to them and the construction manager, and also to stop by any time. They will be updating us as the work proceeds, and we will see the final report from the restoration company. They will pay for our third party inspector before closing.

They think what we observed on Saturday was in some part due to another leak that they didn't find previously. There are still questions about why the insulation and drywall from the original leak wasn't removed 8 days later, but I'm feeling better with the steps moving forward.

That sounds like a great response from the builder and I know it is a relief not to have to start over from ground zero with another builder!

I would try to asses the following:

Whose response is this? What I mean is "The Builder" is not one person or even one group of people.
In other words, did this come down from corporate and now the Regional guys on down are pissed or the PM is getting blamed and going to take it out on your new house or maybe one sub is to blame and they are gone altogether?

It seems like they have opened the door for you to be more involved so I would be interacting with them at all levels to try to understand the dynamics and then act accordingly because at the end of the day there was at best gross incompetence and at worst gross negligence which is not explained away by a great reaction after the fact.

Glad they're making it right.

Ready for another update that includes 20-20 hindsight and plans for this house's future ....