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January 7, 2008
Sloping floors in new construction -- advice?
Hi,
I am in contract on a high floor of one of the new high-rise Brooklyn towers. I went to look at it recently, and noticed that the floor was slanted. That is, the height of the floor seems to change by about half an inch over the span of a 12-foot-long room, and seems generally uneven throughout the apartment, within about that same half-an-inch tolerance.
The building is poured-concrete construction.
How worried should I be? How can I tell if it's a structural problem or just cosmetic? Do I have any wiggle room in my contract? (I have a lawyer, but wanted to ask here too.) Does anyone have advice? Thanks!
Comments
Hard to tell if it indicates any structural problems but sloping floors in new construction sure speaks of sloppy workmanship and I would be nervous about what other evidence of sloppy workmanship you will eventually find.
Posted by: Left Hook at January 7, 2008 3:09 PM
1/2" in 12 feet, that's almost 1/300 which is pretty good for new (or even old) contstruction and well within the tolerance for poured concrete.
Posted by: guest at January 7, 2008 3:46 PM
Find the door and use it.
Posted by: guest at January 7, 2008 6:52 PM
6:52: 10% is a lot to lose.
Posted by: zinka at January 7, 2008 7:18 PM
How far along is the construction?
Generally, concrete is poured within certain tolerances and then after it cures, a self leveling topping is applied over the floor to bring it up to snapped elevations.
Check and see if they have done this yet.
Posted by: guest at January 8, 2008 12:02 AM
12:02: The construction is nearly complete and the wood flooring is in place.
Posted by: zinka at January 8, 2008 1:59 PM
I wouldn't sign that contract...
Posted by: GHB at January 8, 2008 3:16 PM
3:16: I signed the contract before the floor was in place.
Posted by: zinka at January 8, 2008 3:25 PM
when you say 'seems' -- are u making an eye judgment or is this something you measured?
What kind of flooring is over the concrete?
Posted by: guest at January 8, 2008 3:38 PM
3:38: It's visible to the eye and also measurable (the distance between the windowsill and floor varies). It's wood/veneer plank flooring.
Posted by: zinka at January 8, 2008 3:45 PM
given that the contract is signed -- your cure lies in the walkthrough. get it added to the punchlist. if the issue is not resolved, threaten litigation or ask for a credit.
Posted by: guest at January 8, 2008 3:52 PM
They're throwing up these ugly friggin towers at the rate of one a week and you're surprised that the quality of the construction is suspect?
Posted by: guest at January 8, 2008 5:43 PM
This seems within tolerances for poured concrete to me.
But what I find weird is signing a contract on something that hasn't been inspected yet (because it hasn't been finished). Am I being naive? Do people really do this? If you do this, how do you protect your deposit if something is made too poorly to buy?
Posted by: guest at January 9, 2008 3:50 PM
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