Adair Homes, construction of walls allows rain to enter home through the siding which causes mold under the carpets Caldwell, Idaho

Dear Adair Owners,

Any construction company in Oregon has challenges in building a home in Oregon. From the standard state building codes which require a code that is either non-applicable to your home, to the site where the home is built, to the overall quality of materials and how these materials react in a given environmental situation.

Adair Homes do provide a quality home and just as it is with even your million dollar home built in Oregon, the same tips apply. For example, take our lot which was built on the side of a gradual slope with an older home built above it on the slope. Since we knew the terrain with it's almost impenetrible clay soil which works like a conduit for water, we were very concerned to find our 41/2 foot tall foundation to be a swimming pool. We had been watching for this, but had not found a solution and a solution was desperately needed. Since both homes are in a secluded area with all forest and meadows surrounding the homes, we had witnessed the water table to be at surface level in the winter with little streams that quickly filled in the test holes for our new alternative septic system. Yes, we went with DELTA Whitewater septic system as they had survived and remained intack and working throughout the Hurricane Katrina situation. We didn't know what to do about our foundation when it became a swimming pool. Who would ever know that water damage could destroy homes on top of a hill, or near the top like our home?

Being "old hands" about foundations and basements in Oregon as we had previously owned the home above us, we gymied a $50.00 sump pump and laundry basket and garden hose to continue emptying water out of our foundation. Sure enough, there were streams of water rising out of our basement floor like little artisian wells. We had consulted a geotechnical engineer prior to the build and had implemented his plan to little avail, especially since the streams were welling up in our foundation. We found John's Waterproofing to totally keep moisture out of our foundation with a large specially built sump pump with battery back-up and a specially designed industrial material to literally stop any mold and any bacteria from ever escaping the foundation floor. Now we understood why so many homes in Oregon were caving in on themselves and sliding down mountains--clay soil and underground streams with a high water table during the winter rendered the 3 ply poly foundation covers useless! The state code requires only a 3 ply barrier, so most builders do only this much and not more.

In regards to the siding. I too was very concerned about the siding and we had a huge debate with Adair that brought me in contact with one of the head owners of Adair Home Builders. I've had lots of experience being a sqeaky wheel at the age of 62 years. I had the county come out 3 times, Adair out 3 times, and the Louisianna Pacific Rep. on alert. I also asked advise from our finishing carpenter who had an excellent history of building these multiple homes and with a company different from Adair also look at it.

I learned that the siding is a difficult endeavor as Louisianna Pacific directly states the degree in which the nails need to be placed to adhere the siding and the warranty is actually with Louisianna Pacific, not Adair. I learned that if the nails were too flush, the nail would penetrate the thin membrane that LP uses on its siding. Once penetrated, moisture was free to get into the siding. While the county agreed that such practice could place a home at risk with such siding, the warranty could easily be voided. The county also told us that the siding was within the code and would fall out of compliance if just one nail penetrated the siding. We then asked our painter to paint with additional puttying around nails of all exterior siding and we consider this siding to be temporary until we can afford new siding this summer.

Additionally, new home buyers in Oregon need to check everything from the excavating to the final finish, keep up with the care required, be sure not to penetrate the siding, and don't place any dirt or attach anything to the siding. If you don't do this, water and moisture will creep into the interior walls and destroy the home.

My point is don't be afraid to be a squeaky wheel the minute you question something, learn as much as you can for each material or labor in question. Also, as with any home you hire a contractor and subcontractors for, watch every step they make and keep good repoire with them throughout their portion of the build. A firm demand already supported with a good relationship with a subcontractor, prohibits problems from happening later on. Adair Homes came out and repaired after the Mexican subcontractors had partied and left garbage strewn on our property when they were to have been diligently applying the interior mud to our dry walls and had messed up in places. Adair came out again because the light fixtures were incorrectly cut and had to be repaired to accomodate the wall plates and electric fixtures.

Adair will get on these subcontractors and you will get good results. Early on I had a few Cadet heaters replaced. These heaters are energy savers and sure do a much cleaner job of heating than forced air and heat pumps for a much lower cost. The Cadet heater owner whom I spoke with had no problem sending me new heaters that Adair breplaced for frree. On my own and through word of mouth from other professionals we hired, led us to excellent subcontractors for the work we needed done. Our bill from Adair for our two-story 2,080 sq.ft. home was $107,000 with all the extras ie. skylights in upstairs baths, a 41/2 ft. tall foundation which now works for a lot of extra storage, and extremely easy care, well planned accessible storage spaces.

Our home is everything that Adair promised and more and is a Civil Engineer's dream come true--ask our son who lives in his own home and is a Civil Engineer about what he thinks of our home and you'll find he shares our ideas about it.

My advise when working with contractors/subcontractors is to keep good repoire by starting out that way and immediately "get on them " if they don't do the job right followed by many "thank you's". Your home is a huge investment that no matter who you hire, you must be educated about what takes place every step of the way.