Bad News #5: Screen Porch Railings
The contract for our house was priced based on a level lot and our lot is not level. It slopes 10 feet from the road to the river. We understood the contract could not accommodate the slope as we had not yet decided where the house would be located. For the same reason, exterior steps -- front porch and screen porch -- were not included in the contract. As a result, we mentally added money to our budget for the unknowns related to the lot slope.
We did, however, add money to the contract to screen in the rear porch. In our minds, that extra money included everything related to a completely finished screen porch, minus steps.
So we were more than a bit surprised when our project manager sent us a quote for screen porch railings. It was no surprise the railings were required because building codes required them due to the height of the porch from the ground. What was a surprise to us was the fact those railings were not included in the extra we added to the contract for the screen porch. The reason, according to our builder, because the price was based on a level lot. This made us a bit crazy because we understood some pricing was unknown due to how much the lot sloped and where the house would be located, but porch railings would be needed regardless because there was a slope ... never mind how much slope.
As Pete and I talked through how this happened, we realized this was a lesson we had to relearn from the air conditioner experience. Our builder did not provide a total sight line into all the costs that would be involved, but we didn't ask enough questions either. Hopefully, we don't need to learn this lesson a third time. And in an effort to avoid more unpleasantness, we will be meeting with our builder to go over all outstanding costs, known contract overages for our selections and costs for anything that remains to be done that was not in the contract.
Despite the frustration over the railings, we think the style of railing our builder proposed reduces obstruction of the river view as much as is possible. To our minds the railings visually almost disappear into the view.
We did, however, add money to the contract to screen in the rear porch. In our minds, that extra money included everything related to a completely finished screen porch, minus steps.
So we were more than a bit surprised when our project manager sent us a quote for screen porch railings. It was no surprise the railings were required because building codes required them due to the height of the porch from the ground. What was a surprise to us was the fact those railings were not included in the extra we added to the contract for the screen porch. The reason, according to our builder, because the price was based on a level lot. This made us a bit crazy because we understood some pricing was unknown due to how much the lot sloped and where the house would be located, but porch railings would be needed regardless because there was a slope ... never mind how much slope.
As Pete and I talked through how this happened, we realized this was a lesson we had to relearn from the air conditioner experience. Our builder did not provide a total sight line into all the costs that would be involved, but we didn't ask enough questions either. Hopefully, we don't need to learn this lesson a third time. And in an effort to avoid more unpleasantness, we will be meeting with our builder to go over all outstanding costs, known contract overages for our selections and costs for anything that remains to be done that was not in the contract.
Despite the frustration over the railings, we think the style of railing our builder proposed reduces obstruction of the river view as much as is possible. To our minds the railings visually almost disappear into the view.
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| Proposed porch screen porch railings; courtesy of Austin Bayliss |
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