After taking possession of my new home, I noticed our entry doors haven't been installed well.
First of all, I noticed I needed to pull/push on the door in order for the deadbolt to lock into place which told me the door wasn't properly aligned so I took a closer look and the misalignment is very clear.
When investigating, I found a crack at the lock point - looks like the recess has left the frame too thin/fragile at front of the frame. I glued/clamped this to avoid it getting worse while I got the issue resolved.
Given these flaws I contacted my builder who inspected the doors and "found no justifiable reason to repair/replace them" citing the bow in the door and misalignment is "within tolerance". I understand toelrances are built into the construction industry for a reason, but when that tolerance means my doors don't function correctly and already have a vulnerability, I'm less understanding, especially when I paid decent money to upgrade the doors.
I had the manufacturer inspect the doors and he cited the same tolerance and said his report would reflect the response I already received from the builder. It wasn't until I challenged him on this that he seemed to be showing some understanding. The point at which I changed his mind was when I used my tried and tested line, "Would you be happy if this was on your new home?".
In the end, my builder has agreed to not only repair the doors, but replace them entirely.
The lesson in this, as I've stated in previous posts about building a home, is to never let the builder walk all over you because they will at every chance they get. Challenge them to ensure you get the quality outcome you expect and deserve.
