The builder must fix this if it is centered on the plan. Do not take no for an answer.

Have you verified that it is the window that is wrong and not one of the walls? My dining room window is not centered either and, in our case, the problem is an interior, load bearing wall.

You have taken this picture from left of middle. Why? Is there a doorway that is behind you that is also not centered?

Realistically, how often will someone be lined up to see that the window and chandellier are not centered and in alignment with each other? (ie, if everyone enters to the left of center, even if they were lined up physically, they'd not be physically lined up by sight).

our builders electrician had a lot of our fixtures/recessed lights all out of whack and uncentered. i was up there every day and had to make multiple calls to make him move this or move that.

this would drive me crazy and expect it to be corrected. if it was in the plans...how could it not be corrected? it shouldnt have been done this way in the first place.

the only thing i could think of is that if these windows were centered, would it through off your front elevation and how the other windows would align?

This post was edited by stblgt on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 21:05

northpole,
Boy, am I glad I'm not building a new home today.
I would be extremely upset at that.
That is all I have to say.

AnnieDeighnaugh, in the base floor plan, they have a built-in buffet on the right side of the original picture (left side of exterior picture). We took that out because we have a very long table and we don't want it cramped with the buffet. They adjusted the floor plan to have the windows in the center. This is at the back of the home. The exterior is not centered either :/ We take pictures of the back of the home, but it is always from the other side of the pond, so it is at am angle and not straight on because the pond curves. I use my phone so the resolution is not so good because I can't zoom it in much. I will try to take more pictures tomorrow.

Stblgt, have to check the smaller window below (bar area) and also master window above. Can't really tell from the picture if the smaller one is centered. I will check again tomorrow. This is a photo I have taken a while back, but not focusing on the windows then. The larger set of windows shows more because that is closer to the sides.

Kirkhall, I wasn't standing on a doorway. I was in the kitchen, trying to navigate the trim and millwork material that was on the floor that is probably why I am off center. My other concern is not only the light fixture, but some decorating issues like window treatments. I have not decided if I want colored roman shades for example. Having the windows this way limits my window treatment options, and now I have to try to hide the flaw, so to speak, instead of having multiple options on the drapes and shadings etc.

Dekeoboe, that is a very good point. We will bring a measuring tape tomorrow. Thank you!

Rgps - thank you for your input. It is good to know that.

Appreciate all your input!

From exterior, it appears they are both right of center, but I can't tell if their centers line up vertically or not.

I suspect your builder's only choice is going to be to make that upper window smaller (less wide), and suck it to the left (from the exterior view) to make the 2 sides the same.

This should have been caught long before now and will not be inexpensive to fix.

Good luck.

Thanks Kirkhall. The only problem with that is on top of the windows in question, there is another set of windows (same width supposedly - have to check that too!) in the master bedroom. Less noticeable because the siding goes all the way to the other end of the house in that area. Again, the picture is wonky because of the angle from which it was taken. Looks like there will ba a lot of work involved at this stage, and as much as I don't want to be a pain to our builder, I also would not want to just take it as it is and live with it :/

This should have been caught long before siding went up!!

I've never heard of seamless siding before.

Off center the light to the window and use the additional space at the one end for a shallow buffet. Since it's a builder error, have him pay for the buffet. It will be thousands cheaper than fixing the error. And it will make the room more useful to you.

Robin0919, the siding is steel. It is amazing how they do it. It is rolled in sheets at first and that is how they transport them. And then they crimp it on-site depending on the pattern/size in the design. Looks like lots of work. Took about 2 weeks to finish the whole house. That is why I am very concerned because it looks like there will be a lot of work to move these windows. Many trades need to go back if it will be fixed. I hope they don't tell us it is too late to change now.

Along with the Thousands cheaper that Holly mentions...

Are you building in the north? You are also looking at possible loss of good weatherization by moving that window those few inches. It would not be my first choice, or even second choice... especially since it is a cosmetic issue and not a structural issue. (you might very well make it a structural issue to move it.)

Kirkhall, would you care to elaborate further please on the "loss of good weatherization"? This is our first build, not very knowledgeable about these things. Thank you for your insight.

The buffet is not an option, sadly, as it will not fit the space comfortably, with the rest of my furniture. And not changing furniture either, as we made sure the space can accommodate our furniture, that is why we had them take out the buffet in the first place.

This just occurred to us, would it be less work to take that set of windows out, and change it with a wider window? That way they just need to make a wider cutout (on one side only) for the wider window, and just redo the siding on one side as well. Any problem you foresee with this approach?

This post was edited by northpolehome on Sun, Sep 7, 14 at 0:54

I think if the original plan included a built-in, the window was centered with that in place. Someone didn't adjust the plans when the built-in was removed.

As far as I'm concerned, there's not enough information to determine if the built product differs from the plan.

If the window were to be centered in the wall, it would be off centre from the window below. Is that what you wanted it to look like from the outside? Or, as questioned above, does the first floor window differ from the plans as well?

To my mind, if there's a conflict, symmetry and/or harmonization in the facade is more important than symmetry in the interior. However, every day I see large homes where the exterior windows, especially at the rear, are apparently randomly placed.

It is possible that the change you requested on the interior was accepted, but no change was made to the exterior plan, so the trades ignored it knowing that the outside should line up. Changes in tract homes are notoriously miscommunicated.

I'd like to see the builder's take on this.

This should have been caught months ago during framing. I'm really surprised that such an important feature to you as centering the window wasn't monitored more closely. Especially considering that it was alteration to the original plans. Changes like that sometimees don't get communicated well to everyone involved and it's a team effort to ensure that they get done. Everyone is a part of the team, but only you really really cares enough to oversee that the change gets done correctly.

It will cost thousands to do any type of change that involves moving or changing the window. The entire wall would need to be reframed, with a new header created, and all new interior and exterior cladding installed, wth patching the drainage plane and insulation properly. It would compromise the house wrap and insulation quality of the wall at this point, if done poorly.

It's really not a good idea to go down that path without offering to share the costs with the builder and being prepared to have the air tightness and energy efficiency of the home potentially compromised fom workers resentful of the redo without getting paid for their time. You would need to know what to look for, and inspect the whole process closely.

Of course, if you want to go down the road of completely deconstructing a. whole wall only to rebuild it, it's your right to insist on it. Just don't expect your builder to be very much on board with that solution. He could refuse to do anything. And very few courts could be persuaded that the home as built was ''significantly'' different than your plans. At least not enough to make any action worth undertaking.

It's in everyone's best interest at this point in the build to find a compromise that doesn't involve deconsttructing an entire wall. It would be much simpler to move the light and do a very narrow buffet, even if it's a simple shallow 12'' one that is more like a narrow sofa table than buffet. No, it's not what you envisioned. It can still work to make the room work as built.

In my experience to get a window centered in a room it is necessary to note it on the plans or show dimensions either side as "equal". Expecting the framers to see it is centered is not wise. Even with a proper contract drawing it is wise to check the rough framing.

Without the plan no one can tell you if the GC is obligated to correct the window location. It is the GC's job to check the work but I still check everything when no one is on site. It doesn't take much to avoid the pain of errors.

Rrah and worthy - Here is the plan from July. I believe it clearly states the window should be in the middle. I will post the other levels too.

Hollysprings, yes, this is something that we should have monitored more closely I guess. However, this is a 5500 sqft home. It is not the only change that we made to the original floor plan. We had caught a lot of mistakes in the process as well such as a window that was not the same color as all the others (they replaced), hallway that is off by at least a foot, walls that were supposed to be smooth but ended up textured. The builder fixed those issues. In any case, thank you for your insight on the work that needs to be done. We will think about this and see what would be the best route to take. I really appreciate your explanation.

Renovator8, kindly take a look at the plans too and tell me what you think should be done at this point. I appreciate it!

Here is the master bedroom, the windows should align, they are the same width. We will check later if they are aligned from the outside. Hard to see because there is a pond at the back. The side that has a bigger measurement is an exterior wall, so we assumed it would be in the middle. I hope that is a correct assumption.

Here is the plan for the basement, directly below the dining room. It looks like the one on the right is larger. That is the end of the house where foundation is. Not too concerned with this window as it is small, so if it is a little off, it is not very noticeable I think, or I could be wrong too (?!). Thank you everyone for looking.

I'm willing to bet that the framers have framed this house many times and went with past precedent instead of the changed plans. If that is the case, they need to make it right.

Is this a huge PIA? Yes, but that needs to be viewed in context. I'd be surprised if the fix is 2% of the cost of that home.

Neither drawing could be clearer. But if you reinstall the dining room window, on the facade it will be out of line with the other windows that were installed as per the plan. That would drive me nuts!

A simpler solution to my mind would be to reinstall the pot lights and chandelier box so they will centre on the middle of the window, not the room.

This post was edited by worthy on Sun, Sep 7, 14 at 20:06

Trebruchet, this is the 2nd house of the same floor plan. Not sure if these framers did the first house as well because they are fairly new in working with our builders. We will hopefully update everyone here what solution they would offer, if at all. Thank you all very much!

Any word from the builder, North?

Carol

Hi Carol, thanks for thinking of us. They were out there today with the framers, possibly assessing the issue. No one has contacted us yet what the plan will be. Hopefully by tomorrow. In the meantime, work continues in the other parts of the house.

I would imagine there is going to be a lot of pressure to accept the non-centered windows, all three of them above and below.

If it's possible, I would stick to my guns to have at least the dining and basement windows centered. I agree it's a big job...then again, we've all moved or installed new windows when we renovate. So we know it's not impossible.

Thank you to everyone who shared their inputs on this. Our builder asked for a meeting today (which in our experience, has not been a good sign). At first he insisted that the house is built per plan, the plan we had agreed upon back in December. Since then of course, a lot has changed with those plans, including removal of the buffet that was originally on one side of the buffet, around May I believe. I insisted I have the July revision of the plan, pictured in my earlier post, that clearly states both sides to be equal. He said we did not request for this change with the windows, and it is the "computer" that automatically adjusted this when the buffet was removed. I said we did not mention anything about that anymore, because it was already drawn how we wanted it to be (so why do I need to tell the draftsperson to change it further?). Also on the same level of the house (main floor), there have been many other revisions that deviates from the original plan in December, and those have all been done as per the most recent floor plan (the one we did not sign, according to him). I told him this is what is in their software now (that customers can access) as "final plan," so how was I to know which changes the draftsperson did vs those that the "computer automatically generated" (and are therefore not going to be followed by the subcontractors). A lot more discussion went on. In the end, I am happy to report that they had agreed to change the dining room windows. That is really the biggest concern for us. We can live with the basement windows not being changed. I realize the midpoint for both sets of windows will not align when the dining room ones are changed, but no one will really see that from the back except for a few neighbors across the pond. And we did not insist on the master bedroom windows above either, as we would like to hopefully not make it any more difficult for the builder as it is now.

Thank you again for all your advice on this.

So happy you came to a resolution! Was really feeling for you as I'm pretty OCD and and accidentally off-center dining room window would have made me not want to eat in there!

Kiwigem, thank you very much! That is really appreciated.

Great resolution, I'm so glad for you.

I am very glad the builder made good. It was not your fault, so I am glad the builder is taking ownership. I don't think you will notice the bedroom nor basement windows so I think you did well at your meeting. I imagine it was a tense meeting and I am sure you are glad it is behind you.

Carol