Have question about brick

[firemanjj82]

...on my new home. We have been building a house for the last 2 1/2 months. It was already framed, decked, and shingled when we got in on it, but we were able to pick out everything except the brick. We went through with it anyways and went to the design center and made our choices based on the brick. Over the last week, we have seen the brick go up without thinking anything about it till the paint went on. The paint completely clashes with the brick. We looked at our contract and the copies of the orders that we made at the design center and the paint is right, but the brick is wrong. I went on the manufacturers website to verify the brick colors and what is on our order and what is on the house is different. I have talked to a realtor about what our options would be, but I also wanted to get some opinions on here too. How far do you think I can push this. My wife hates the brick and we all know what that means. Plus, the houses next to us have the same brick also. Kind of defeats the purpose of a custom home.

[bowhntrmatt]

Seems like this would be in the contract. You should get what you want. You are paying for it. Tell them to tear it down and give you what you want. Be tough with them.

[DrenalinJunkie]

every custom builder I have ever worked with would do what they needed to do to make it right.

With the way things are now days........... they would be stupid to lose a sale over brick.

[Atfulldraw]

every custom builder I have ever worked with would do what they needed to do to make it right.

With the way things are now days........... they would be stupid to lose a sale over brick.

This.

But if I was the builder, I would offer a cash payment instead of tearing off the brick.

Helps people decide just how much they hate something.....
(Let's see, do I want to change the brick or go on a cruise?)

[aac_shooter]

Be firm in your decision. If you don't budge they will make it right, especially if you threaten to walk.

[klepdo]

I was a builder before the company I worked for went under. Do not listen to or trust what the sales persons tells you. Call or go talk to the owner or president of the company. The sale person will feed you a line of crap. If they talk they lie then blame it on the builder. Go way above there head. Before you look stupid get a brick and call the brick rep and ask them what color the brick is or what was delivered to the house your buying.

[El Coyote]

This.

But if I was the builder, I would offer a cash payment instead of tearing off the brick.

Helps people decide just how much they hate something.....
(Let's see, do I want to change the brick or go on a cruise?)

yeah but a crusie is only for 7 days unless you find a good island girl , you still have to come back to the house for the next 20+ years i'd push hard to get them to change it

[Bisch]

This EXACT same thing happened to us many years ago. We bought a house and we picked the brick. We came out to look at how things were going and they had completely bricked our house with the wrong stuff. It was ugly as heck. I went and complained to the realtor and his amswer was "you have to live with it. Besides, look at all the great trees in your yard". I was fuming and down to the builders main office I went. I started in on the the guy there and he said " Wait a minute - the brick on your house is not the brick you chose?". I said no it isn't. He then told me they would check it out to verify and take care of it. Within a week we they had taken down the wrong brick and put up all new and correct brick.

You may have to do battle with somebody at the builder but if that was in the contract somewhere then somebody needs to eat the mistake and fix it for you.

Bisch

[center punch]

I went on the manufacturers website to verify the brick colors and what is on our order and what is on the house is different.

I hope you didn't choose a color off of the website. Surely you had a brick sample. What brick company is it? If it's one of the big 3 (Acme, Boral, or Hanson) I'd call the rep to verify what color was actually shipped to the job.
If it doesn't jive with your selections, your builder is on the hook. If it does, you're on the hook. Might I suggest changing paint colors?

Also, there's a good chance if they have to re-order brick, the wait time could delay your closing. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I'm telling you...I've seen it happen.

Good luck.

[Stan R]

If in fact the brick is not what is in the contract I bet they will change.

[firemanjj82]

The contract states Bilco Georgetown, but the brick is Bilco Lexington. A hand written page states Boral Georgetown, but neither Georgetown's look like the brick that is on the house. I had a sample board of Bilco Georgetown at the design center and it was brown, the sample online is brown, there is hardly any brown on the house now. I plan on talking to the builder, but probably won't be till Monday. I will drop a line to the project manager and CC the head honcho too. I agree, it needs to come down and the right brick to go up. I am not in any hurry to close. We are not in a house that we are about to sell or anything, so this could go for a while. I am not really concerned about them compensating me in any ways either, just fix the mistake. I just was wanting to see if there were others out the that had the same issue.

[cosmiccowboy]

This problem is not as uncommon as you would think. The color in a cement brick is a process of firing/curing and colors may vary between batches. Most of the brick samples I have seen have a color disclaimer on the back stating that brick is made from natural materials and the actual brick may not match the sample exactly. Also remember that concrete brick absorbs water and the color changes dramatically from wet to dry. Even assuming the wrong brick went up I looked at the Georgetown and Lexington pictures on line and they are both in generally the same color family...I'm surprised that a paint color would look well with one brick would clash with the other...

It sounds like the real problem now is that your wife has decided that she "hates" (in your words) the brick. Would it satisfy you and your wife if the builder repainted the trim to better match the brick on the house?

Either way, you are in a tough situation. Building a "custom" house can be an incredibly stressful experience on a marriage. You have to make choices and selections early and in many cases the result doesn't look at all like what you expected...that can be especially true with paint colors...that small 2 square inches of color doesn't look too bold until you see several hundred square feet of it and then it is too late...

Good luck!

[firemanjj82]

This problem is not as uncommon as you would think. The color in a cement brick is a process of firing/curing and colors may vary between batches. Most of the brick samples I have seen have a color disclaimer on the back stating that brick is made from natural materials and the actual brick may not match the sample exactly. Also remember that concrete brick absorbs water and the color changes dramatically from wet to dry. Even assuming the wrong brick went up I looked at the Georgetown and Lexington pictures on line and they are both in generally the same color family...I'm surprised that a paint color would look well with one brick would clash with the other...

It sounds like the real problem now is that your wife has decided that she "hates" (in your words) the brick. Would it satisfy you and your wife if the builder repainted the trim to better match the brick on the house?

Either way, you are in a tough situation. Building a "custom" house can be an incredibly stressful experience on a marriage. You have to make choices and selections early and in many cases the result doesn't look at all like what you expected...that can be especially true with paint colors...that small 2 square inches of color doesn't look too bold until you see several hundred square feet of it and then it is too late...

Good luck!

I know what you mean and it hasn't played a tough role in our marriage, but when I talked to my project manager, she thought the brick didn't look right either and that she wasn't going to say anything because she thought that we were one of those couples that liked things off the norm. She also agrees that it looks like the wrong brick and seems to be on my side with it and that she will do what is necessary to make it right, but that she needs to notify the managers and all that tomorrow. I am just afraid that they will turn out to be like any car sales manager: when she talks to them about it, they will do as little as possible to make it right where as I will hold my ground to make it like it was suppose to be. This isn't something that I will see every now and then; it is something that I will see for years to come and I don't want to regret going through with it and being passive about it.

[center punch]

Well, the good news is it's Bilco. Not a very expensive brick, and with concrete brick, there's usually little to no wait time involved.....it MAY BE as simple as tearing down the old and putting up the new. I hope it's that simple and all works out.

[kashmoney]

I know what you mean and it hasn't played a tough role in our marriage, but when I talked to my project manager, she thought the brick didn't look right either and that she wasn't going to say anything because she thought that we were one of those couples that liked things off the norm. She also agrees that it looks like the wrong brick and seems to be on my side with it and that she will do what is necessary to make it right, but that she needs to notify the managers and all that tomorrow. I am just afraid that they will turn out to be like any car sales manager: when she talks to them about it, they will do as little as possible to make it right where as I will hold my ground to make it like it was suppose to be. This isn't something that I will see every now and then; it is something that I will see for years to come and I don't want to regret going through with it and being passive about it.

your right. I think she probally is not going to try too hard because she made the mistake of not checking the options on the contract and then checking to see if they dropped the right brick. Kinda of an expensive mistake. If it was my home I would def push for what you want as it is the biggest investment any one makes. If it is in the contract then I would think legally they would have to correct it unless there is some kind of fine print. Plus if they dont fix it every time you drive up to your home you will just be ticked off because you will see the brick you did not want.Good luck and keep us updated.