New homes aren't built badly. They're built fast. One superintendent runs several houses at once, every trade is paid by the unit and moves to the next job, and the final walk-through catches what's visible from eye level. Quality control isn't absent — it's spread thin. The result is predictable: a set of defects that show up in the same places, house after house, and almost none of them are visible to the person living there.
Every inspection covers hundreds of individual items. These are the ones that keep showing up in North Georgia new construction.
Every shower pumps warm, wet air into your insulation instead of outside. You won't see it until the mold does.
$2,000–$6,000Typically covered at month 11 · your bill at month 18A $20 piece of metal. Without it, every rain sends water behind your siding and into the framing, silently, for years.
$1,500–$6,000Typically covered at month 11 · your bill at month 18Water stands instead of draining. It finds the subfloor, and the first sign is a stain on the ceiling below.
$3,000–$8,000Typically covered at month 11 · your bill at month 18Every storm walks water to your foundation instead of away from it.
$1,500–$5,000Typically covered at month 11 · your bill at month 18Tape installed in the wrong order channels water into the wall instead of out of it.
Thousands of gallons a year dumped exactly where you least want them.
Nails pull. Bolts don't. The most common cause of deck collapse, holding up the deck your kids stand on.
$1,200–$4,000Typically covered at month 11 · your bill at month 18The safety valve that keeps your water heater from becoming a projectile, piped where it can't safely discharge.
$200–$600Typically covered at month 11 · your bill at month 18The outlets near water and the breakers that catch arcing faults. Cheap, required, frequently missed.
Two wires under one lug. Loosens, overheats, and it's inside your panel where you'll never look.
That wall is a fire barrier. Holes for wiring and plumbing left unsealed defeat it.
Screws inside the duct catching lint, runs too long, or terminating in the attic. Fire risk, and a dryer that never quite dries.
The spec is on a card stapled in your attic. Measuring what's actually up there against what you paid for takes two minutes, and it comes up short more often than you'd think.
$200–$600 a year, every yearTypically covered at month 11 · your bill at month 18When the primary drain clogs, nothing catches it. The overflow comes through your ceiling.
$1,000–$4,000Typically covered at month 11 · your bill at month 18Insulation blocks the vents, the attic can't breathe, heat and moisture build above your ceiling.
Unsealed gaps where conditioned air escapes into the attic.
You're air-conditioning your attic. Happens more than anyone admits.
A hole in your ceiling insulation, right in the middle of the house.
Subfloor never properly glued and screwed to the joists. You hear it every day, in the same three spots, and most owners just learn to step around it.
$400–$1,500Typically covered at month 11 · your bill at month 18Not secured to the cabinet base. It shifts when you lean on it, and that works the caulk and sink seal loose.
Mounting nut never fully tightened. Every use works it looser, and eventually it leaks under the cabinet.
Gaps, skipped runs, wrong product. Outside it's a water path into the wall; inside it's where trim and tile fail first.
Loaded with dishes and held by drywall anchors.
Tap it and it sounds empty. No adhesive underneath means cracks and loose tile later. You can check this one yourself.
Where pipes, wires, and vents pass through the wall. Mice need a quarter inch.
This list isn't exhaustive. It's what keeps showing up.
Georgia law requires your builder to give you a written warranty on any residential job over $2,500. It must state what's covered, state a duration, explain how to file a claim, and pass through manufacturer warranties on appliances and equipment.
In writing. Can't find yours? Ask your builder for a copy — it's required documentation, not a favor.
Commonly 12 months, but the duration comes from your warranty, not a universal rule. Read yours.
Your warranty spells out how to file. Following it exactly is what keeps a claim alive.
I'm an inspector, not an attorney. My job is to document exactly what's wrong with your house, in writing, while your warranty window is open. What your warranty covers — and what to do if your builder won't honor it — is between you, your warranty document, and if it comes to it, a real estate attorney.
General information about Georgia law, not legal advice. Warranty coverage and duration vary by builder and by document — read yours. Cost ranges are 2026 national averages for illustration.
One inspection, documented in writing, delivered with time to spare before your warranty closes.
