Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post - hoUse hunting- The Good, the Bad, the Realty Ugly- for LadyWENDY-

Cloudbringer · 03-05-2001, 06:27 PM

You are lucky not to have put money into that place, LW!

I built mine, but that's a nightmare of it's own! One story that's sort of funny now, but had me hysterical when it was going on-

My Cape Cod house is a balanced design. If there's a window on one side of the entry there's one on the other...mirror image from the outside. But of course inside the living room and kitchen occupy one side and the bedrooms and half bath the other side on ground floor (upstairs is all br/bath and hall)

So of course it matters which side you put the driveway on, because you want it on the side of the living rm and kitchen (back door is in kitchen). Well, I contracted to have a driveway that was single width at the road and tapered to double width near the house, for two cars to park. The salesman (son of the companies owner and making his FIRST sale to me...sigh) even drew a little sketch for the contract. Okay so one day I drive by and see they've got the drive roughed in (was January/Feb they were building) and I can't see how it's going to fit. The property line seems to close. So I mention to my friend (who was splitting the house purchase with me). She knows that by now CB could cheerfully strangle the builders from other problems so SHE looks into this...are you ready for this? The contractor was going to put the double part of the drive smack UNDER my living room windows to fit, because there was no leeway on that side of the house- too close to neighbors! I HAD A FIT , a genuine CB is p'oed HISSYFIT (not pretty, ladies and gents) reamed out the salesman and the vice-president of the firm and er.. the upshot of it all...the contractor sent me flowers and the house plan was flip-flopped to accomodate the drive on the other side (my lot's on a corner). I had them over a legal and financial barrel. The framers were set to start the next day. You see, the contract specified the side of the house the drive was on and showed it as a normal drive not overlapping the living room. If they built it on that side, they couldn't legally put the drive where I wanted it because of property line restrictions. BUT if they went ahead and flip flopped my interior design to accomodate the driveway move, they were violating the agreement already in the contract as well...and I made damn sure they knew I knew it! I could cancel the contract if they couldn't fulfill it as written. hehehe

They were also losing money as the framers couldn't start and they had $$$ sunk into my house already.

Moral---Don't mess with an anxiety-ridden Cloudy! hahahahahahaaha Of course the basement was already poured so my little windows are on the wrong side of the house...but what the heck!

And the BONUS? I forced the idiots to give me an ENTIRE double wide driveway, at no extra cost to me. Hey, anybody need a deal negotiated?...hehehe

------------------

Storm-Queen
Purple Rose of the Black Knight

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[This message has been edited by Cloudbringer (edited 03-05-2001).]

03-05-2001, 06:27 PM	#7
Cloudbringer Ironworks Moderator Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: Upstate NY USA Posts: 19,737	You are lucky not to have put money into that place, LW! I built mine, but that's a nightmare of it's own! One story that's sort of funny now, but had me hysterical when it was going on- My Cape Cod house is a balanced design. If there's a window on one side of the entry there's one on the other...mirror image from the outside. But of course inside the living room and kitchen occupy one side and the bedrooms and half bath the other side on ground floor (upstairs is all br/bath and hall) So of course it matters which side you put the driveway on, because you want it on the side of the living rm and kitchen (back door is in kitchen). Well, I contracted to have a driveway that was single width at the road and tapered to double width near the house, for two cars to park. The salesman (son of the companies owner and making his FIRST sale to me...sigh) even drew a little sketch for the contract. Okay so one day I drive by and see they've got the drive roughed in (was January/Feb they were building) and I can't see how it's going to fit. The property line seems to close. So I mention to my friend (who was splitting the house purchase with me). She knows that by now CB could cheerfully strangle the builders from other problems so SHE looks into this...are you ready for this? The contractor was going to put the double part of the drive smack UNDER my living room windows to fit, because there was no leeway on that side of the house- too close to neighbors! I HAD A FIT , a genuine CB is p'oed HISSYFIT (not pretty, ladies and gents) reamed out the salesman and the vice-president of the firm and er.. the upshot of it all...the contractor sent me flowers and the house plan was flip-flopped to accomodate the drive on the other side (my lot's on a corner). I had them over a legal and financial barrel. The framers were set to start the next day. You see, the contract specified the side of the house the drive was on and showed it as a normal drive not overlapping the living room. If they built it on that side, they couldn't legally put the drive where I wanted it because of property line restrictions. BUT if they went ahead and flip flopped my interior design to accomodate the driveway move, they were violating the agreement already in the contract as well...and I made damn sure they knew I knew it! I could cancel the contract if they couldn't fulfill it as written. hehehe They were also losing money as the framers couldn't start and they had $$$ sunk into my house already. Moral---Don't mess with an anxiety-ridden Cloudy! hahahahahahaaha Of course the basement was already poured so my little windows are on the wrong side of the house...but what the heck! And the BONUS? I forced the idiots to give me an ENTIRE double wide driveway, at no extra cost to me. Hey, anybody need a deal negotiated?...hehehe ------------------ Storm-Queen Purple Rose of the Black Knight \ [This message has been edited by Cloudbringer (edited 03-05-2001).]