Quote:
Originally Posted by Maestro
My wife's sister and bother-in-law built their first home and one things they wanted was an attic fan, it was the only thing not on the options list, they fought with the track home build to put one in and add it as an option. You would think this should not be a big deal. Well, the builder would not agree to put one in. Attic fans in the summer can cut down on your cooling bill during the summer so it was worth it to them to pay to have it built in while the house was being constructed.
Since the builder refuse to add it to the contract (never found out why they would not agree) the bother-in-law went into the house while they were building it and installed the fan and figure he would have it wired later. Well the builder found out about and had his workers rip it out. Needless to say it lead big fight between the build the my wife's sister and brother-in-law.
The wife and I bought a brand new house and it was not from a track home builder, it was considered a semi-custom home they had basic plans but you can modify they how you want, the build would do whatever you want within reason. We planning on building out retirement home and we will do the same thing work with an individual build not a track home builder for all these reason.
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Both of my current homes are from a track builder. The first go around I had to argue with them on having custom wiring and lighting done to the home. We went back and forth for about a month until they finally agreed to do it. They gave me a price for what it would cost for the things I wanted with their mark up. In the end, they stepped away and told me to work with their electrical subcontractor directly. It was fine by me as I was able to get more custom electrical work done for the same money. The sales rep told me they were pushing back because they didn't want to pay for custom work before the house was officially sold to me. I told them I wold pay for the custom work up front to remove any risk.
As far as the attic fan, I had one put in after I moved into my primary home. It was no big deal to wire it in as there was already an accessible junction box near where the attic fan was installed. With regards to why the builder was inflexible, it could be due to Energy Star standards. With the vacation home I had built, the builder would not allow anything to be done to the home without their involvement. I understood why. For any hole that was put into the drywall or studs, they spray foamed the gaps. This was done to seal up any air leakage as the final validation for the home to be handed off to me was a blower door test. The builder pressurized the home and it had to meet a certain spec outlined by Energy Star before they could release the home to me. I can see having an attic fan would change the dynamics of the home. The HVAC unit the builder put in is pretty impressive for a track home builder perspective. The HVAC unit doesn't use a metal flue pipe. It's all plastic because of how efficient the unit is.