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The new-build punch list your builder never came back for
Settling cracks, builder-grade finishes and unfinished trim — what is normal, what is still the builder's problem, and what is worth fixing now.
There are a lot of new houses around Leander, and a lot of them have a short list of things that never quite got finished. The builder's crew came back once, maybe twice, and then the calls stopped being returned. This is what I get asked about most, and roughly how I would think about it.
What settling actually looks like in the first year
A new house moves. The framing dries out, the slab settles, and the seasons here swing hard enough that everything expands and contracts. Some cracking in that first year or two is completely normal and is not a sign anybody did anything wrong.
The ones I would call cosmetic are hairline, usually running from the corner of a door or window frame at an angle, or a fine line along a drywall seam or where the ceiling meets the wall. Those are the house relaxing. They patch and texture out and, if the house has finished moving, they stay gone.
The ones worth a closer look are wider than a hairline, keep opening after you have patched them, run in a stair-step pattern, or come with a door that has started sticking or a floor that has developed a slope. That is not necessarily a disaster either, but it is a different question, and a drywall patch is the wrong answer to it.
Chase the builder before the window closes
Most builders give you a warranty period for exactly this, and most people let it lapse because the list never feels urgent enough to make the phone call. Anything structural, anything to do with the roof or the exterior envelope, and anything that was simply never finished properly is worth putting in writing to them while it is still theirs to fix.
Put your list in writing and date it, even if you also phone. A dated list sent inside the warranty period is a very different conversation from a phone call you made “sometime last spring”.
The things I actually get called out for
- Interior doors that never latched properly, or that swing open on their own.
- Trim with corners that have opened up, and caulk lines that have cracked and shrunk back.
- Texture that does not match where a repair was already attempted once.
- Shelving and closet systems that were fitted to drywall rather than to framing, and have started to sag.
- Baseboard with gaps over uneven floors, and quarter round that was never run.
- Blank walls that the house was clearly designed around — built-ins, an accent wall, a mantel that never happened.
What is worth doing now, and what can wait
Anything letting water in gets fixed now, every time. Anything that is getting worse rather than staying still gets looked at now, because it is cheaper to deal with a small version of it.
Cosmetic cracking is the one I would genuinely tell you to leave for a bit. If the house is still in its first year, patching now often means patching again. I would rather come once, when it has settled, and have it stay fixed.
Related: Home Maintenance & Repairs
More from the blog
- How I price a job, and why I won't guess over the phone
- Is your shower failing, or just ugly?
- Before you call anyone: the photos to send
- One visit or three? How to group a punch list
- Drywall cracks: which ones matter and which ones don't
- Why a texture repair shows, and how matching actually works
- Choosing flooring that survives a Central Texas house
- Gutters: what they are actually protecting, and when to clean them
- After a Texas storm: what to check, and in what order
- Cabinets: reface, repaint, or replace?
- Interior painting: the preparation is the job
- Building outdoors in this sun: what actually lasts
Ready to get that list handled?
Send a few photos and I'll tell you what it takes. Free written estimates across Leander, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Round Rock and the towns nearby.