New home tips

  • Thread starter Thread starter jmoney74
  • Start date Start date
NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
This is not necessarily a new home tip but may be more important for new builds.  Change out your door locks as soon as you move in.  You don't know how many contractors through the builder and builder personnel have a copy of your keys.  In my only house that I purchased new long time ago, someone was trying to open my front door using a key around 1:30 A.M.  I figured one of the contractors was sleeping in my place since my unit was one of those that came back due to the previous buyer backing out and buying a larger place with the same builder and was the straggler of that particular build phase.

jmoney74 said:
Any tips on brand new home when moving in?  Spray for bugs?
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Good reminder.  I'll try to buy and then return the old one.. if I can find the exact model.
 
Sorry, I may have confused you with my rant.  :P  But I meant hire a locksmith and have all your locks re-keyed.  It should be less than $100.
 
According the my builder, the builder and theirs contractors use a special builder's key to enter the home during the construction.  As soon as home owner's key insert into the door lock and turn to lock or unlock the door for the very first time, the builder's key will no longer works.  It will reset the lock and only accept the home owner's key.  If your new home came with this type of door locks, make sure you use your key on every door locks right away to eliminate builder's key access and maybe you don't need to call a locksmith to rekey your locks.
 
jmoney74 said:
Did any of you have issues with bugs? 
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Like ants?  Check any opening that vents out:  the range hood is highly suspect if the opening is low to the ground.  Spray for ants to prevent more entry into house, but once they're in, it's pretty much a losing battle, especially during summer
 
Jet spray water on the entire roof, where roof tiles meet all vertical walls, all top, side, and bottom edges and sills of all windows, sliders, front door and French doors. Look for signs of water intrusions. Typical SoCal rainy days after a home purchase is not enough to expose the defects until several years passed. By then the warranty would have expired. Save all your poops and then flush them at one time. During construction workers' drywall mud, plaster and other caulking compound were washed down the drain and partially clogged the drain.
 
Epoxy your garage floor before you move in.  You can easily do it yourself by buying the stuff online or at Home Depot.
 
yaliu07 said:
The I-R-V said:
Epoxy your garage floor before you move in.  You can easily do it yourself by buying the stuff online or at Home Depot.
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why?
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People on here say it's better to do it when the garage is brand new so it holds better.

I'm going to do the snap tile route. 
 
Out of sigh out of mind I guess.  My buddy has the Racetrak tiles and they are working well.  Slide in some thin rubber flooring to dampen the sound underneath. 
 
The I-R-V said:
Epoxy your garage floor before you move in.  You can easily do it yourself by buying the stuff online or at Home Depot.
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If you want the epoxy to last, I would avoid epoxy (Rust-Oleum) from Home Depot or Lowes. It won't matter if your floors are brand new or old, you'll most likely be in for a nice surprise during the hot summer months when you drive onto your epoxied floor with hot tires.

Garage Journal is a great source for info on epoxying floors.  A lot of folks on there are using Legacy Industrial's or U-Coat It's product for the do-it-yourself route.  There's also some nice decking/flooring material available from Garage Flooring.
 
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