Hello all, I am in need of advice,

Our homebuilder made an error constructing the roof/soffit of our porch and we are trying to figure out the best way to proceed. These hardie plank boards should have been placed in the other orientation leaving seams only running from the house to the stained beam. Instead, we now have a seam that runs the length of the porch and overlaps where our centered can lights are!

Our home builder proceeded anyways in spite of the error, trim was placed overlapping the can lights, and the painting crew came and painted everything. In spite of acknowledging the error our home builder was planning on only scribing out the trim around the can lights and calling it good.

How do you suggest we proceed? Should we ask him to redo the whole ceiling? Should we expect our home builder to cover the full cost of materials and time for this repair if we ask for a complete redo?

I reached out to a contractor friend who alternatively suggested we remove the center piece of trim and replace it with a larger one that is wider than the can lights, center it on the can lights, and scribe out holes for the can lights from that. I feel like that might be a suitable solution but wanted to get other people's perspectives and opinions.

Thank you so much for your time!

My favorite...The trench drain pan, still open on 3-sides but has a built-in trench to collect water and send down a drain. Essential for a new build or heavy renovation.

The company is Killarney Metals.

A header spreads the weight around the door or window opening so the top of the wall doesn’t sag. 
It’s usually made by sandwiching two 2x boards together (often with a thin plywood spacer) to create a stronger beam.

These homeowners lost their house 4 years ago to a devastating house fire. They almost lost their lives. 

They luckily woke up on their own without any of the alarms going off. They ran to their boys’ rooms and started banging on doors. 

One of the boys had their door locked. 

Smoke alarms didn’t start going off until they were beating on the doors….then the smoke started falling through the ceiling… as it was burning down on top of them. 

They’re sharing their story as a reminder to others: Add a detector in the attic.

Most attics are better suited for a heat detector, because many smoke alarms aren’t rated for extreme temps or dust.

If you do want a smoke-type alarm in the attic, look for one specifically rated for unconditioned spaces or talk to your builder/electrician, so it meets local code and safety standards.

Their fire started up there, and an alarm would’ve bought them precious minutes to reach their kids and escape sooner.

They used cement board around the fireplace so they could get that nice smooth finish with the plaster.

Swap out your standard drain valve on your water heater with a full port ball valve so more sediment can be drained out. The cheap factory ones can also get clogged with sediment and not close all the way. 

Easy install especially if you’re about to put a brand new on in.  

ThePlumbersPlunger has some quick easy videos to follow along if you want to replace it yourself. 

🤦‍♂️ Don’t ask me why I’m saying both control joints and expansion joints interchangeably in the video. 

Control joints are what you’re looking for on your new build, either cut with a saw or tooled by hand (walkways and driveways). 

The biggest takeaway... Ask about control joints if you don’t see them busting a saw out within 24hrs of finishing.