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Crooked Walls

raymund | Posted in General Discussion on April 3, 2006 03:39am

Our new house is almost finished and we can see that the walls are not straight, and the floors and ceilings are not level. Some of the walls are off by an inch, top to bottom. In new construction, how much error is acceptable? The errors are very easily visible now that the trim is finished.
Distressed in Northern Wisconsin!


Edited 4/2/2006 8:49 pm ET by raymund

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  1. johnnysawzall | Apr 03, 2006 03:49am | #1

    The walls are off an inch (I'm assuming you mean from top to bottom from one end to another-right?) and they are still not level?

    1. raymund | Apr 03, 2006 03:57am | #2

      The wall at the top is one inch wider than at the bottom. (from the wall corner to the door trim) Also, when the kitchen cabinets went in, both the floor and ceiling were not level. The cabinet guy fixed this with the crown molding.
      My main question is- what is acceptable? It is very upsetting to be able to look at a surface and be able to tell it's not straight. Is this the way it is in new home construction?

      1. RW | Apr 03, 2006 04:08am | #3

        Personal opinion, thats way too much. Most look at the published NAHB minimum standards and think that their "not more than 1/4 inch in 8ft" is absurdly loose. I would agree. You can do better than that with just a level."Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton

      2. exchef | Apr 03, 2006 04:09am | #4

        my partner and i trimmed a 6000sqft house this past summer that had no stieght surfaces none of the windows and doors were on plane and all the headers were out of whack too.the home owner/g.c just wanted to get in( he had been livining with his inlaws for a year and a half) and did not care . i had never seen such shoddy work but its out there
        noah

  2. davidmeiland | Apr 03, 2006 04:12am | #5

    Sounds horrible. Go to the National Association of Home Builders website (might be nahb.com or .org) and find the bookstore section. There is a book called something like 'Quality Standards for the Home Builder' that will give you what they consider acceptable tolerances for fit and finish. Go thru the house and find all of the problems, then compare them to the standards. You may need a level, measuring tape, etc. Once you have your list, go over it with your builder. It will be hard for him to argue with you about things that are objective.

    1. raymund | Apr 03, 2006 05:15am | #7

      Thanks for your answer. I will discuss this tomorrow with our architect, and start a list. Our electrician has never heard of a level, either. Talk about a headache! I appreciate your input for a starting point.

  3. cliffy | Apr 03, 2006 04:13am | #6

    Did your builder lose his level?  An inch out of plumb is unacceptable.  I bet any carpenters on this forum could get within 3/8 of an inch on an 8 foot wall without using a level.

    Have a good day

    Cliffy

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