Follow Up Post...

Hey everyone, so I said I would follow up on my last post, so here goes.

RH sent out their contractors very quickly after I made the service call. They showed up a day earlier than they should have, but I let them do their thing anyway. They went around, measured air flow in and out of the vents and returns, took the temp of each room and so on. They pretty much said the house heats and cools okay, but the vents and dampers needed to be adjusted, which they did for me. And get this...no joke. When I described the problem to one of the contractors about how some rooms are hot and others are cold, their response was, "It is not our equipment, it is your house. It is RH design of your house. We can not fix that. Talk to them about changing the design of your house." Really, dude??? Did he really say that? These  people don't know what to say out of their mouths to customers.

Now, we have had a problem with the thermostats blanking out in the house since the first month we were here. I have called them twice to fix it. First time they said, its an electrical issue so I asked that the electrician come out. This time they said my filters are too thick for the system. We purchased a few CASES of these nice, white, hypoallergenic filters (my kids have dust allergies). They told me to get the blue, cheap ones instead. The annoying thing is that even when we had the blue ones, it still blanked out. So, we are two service calls into this. One person says one thing. The next person says its something else. In the meantime, two of my thermostats still go blank at random times. I will have to go buy the other filters. So, do yourself a favor...make sure that you buy the cheap blue filters for your new home.

While we are on the topic of HVAC, it was really cold here a few days this past winter. My entire heating unit shut off and would not come back on for several hours at one point. I called, and they had contractors come out several hours later to fix it. By the time the contractor arrived, I guess my fireplace melted the pipes and it clicked back on. I asked how I can prevent it in the future...I was told that there is no way. That is a bit scary, I have to say... I prefer not to have my heat go out on the days when I need it most. Thank God we are one of the lucky folks who have dual units.

In yet even more HVAC news, there was a ticking noise we heard nightly. RH sent out their contractors and they cut a hole in my ceiling to find the source of the noise. Apparently, the straps holding up the metal things that carry heat and causing it to rub against something and it makes a knocking noise. Interesting. Unfortunately, that noise is back now. But they are willing to fix it,  so that's a plus.

While here, RH guys fixed my gutter vibration issue. I am thankful for that, cause it was really loud. They put rubber behind it, which seemed to solve the problem. Also, a lot of small issues were addressed like closet doors sticking, gaps at the front and garage door, my front porch light wasn't working because of a photo cell sensor had gone bad and some water issues. That light sensor worked but has since gone out again. Also, they showed me some winterizing things that needed to be done. I can appreciate that.

We are also having some grading issues, which are trying to be worked out. My yard gets swampy after it rains. They tried raising the low spaces that were low, but it's still a mess. I'll talk to them about that.

**This post was written a few weeks ago and I forgot to post it, so sorry if some things are outdated. We are now to the point of our ten month meeting. I have a list of things that need to be worked on. Thankfully, it is mostly minor things. We are settling into the house. Is they're any thing that I should make sure not to miss?

Overall, I wish I had been a more informed consumer when purchasing this house. I think if I had to do it again, I would buy a previously built house. I caution you to make sure you know exactly what you are getting when selecting upgrades. Some things were not worth the money. Some things were not done as expected. I'll be posting a better update about issues we have had about upgrades and how you can try to protect yourself. More on that later. Until then, take care!