Punch Lists and Final Walkthroughs on New Claremont Homes

There is a single hinge in a new-home purchase, and it is the day you sign. Before it, an unfinished item is something the builder must complete in order to be paid. After it, the same item is a warranty claim - still legitimate, still usually honoured, but slower, softer, and dependent on a process rather than on money that has not yet changed hands. The final walkthrough is where that hinge sits, and it is why walking a new house properly is worth more per hour than almost anything else a buyer does.

This article deepens the new-construction guide. It follows directly from the new-construction inspection guide, which produces most of what belongs on the list, and it hands off to the new-build warranty guide, which governs everything you find afterwards.

Set it up properly before you arrive

SCHEDULE IT WHEN THE HOUSE IS ACTUALLY FINISHED, not when the calendar says it should be. A walkthrough of a house with trades still working produces a list of things that were about to be done anyway and misses the things that matter, and it wastes the one appointment where everyone is paying attention. If you arrive and the house is plainly not complete, say so and reschedule rather than walking it out of politeness.

GO IN DAYLIGHT, and bring what you need: a torch, a phone charger to test outlets, a step ladder if you can, painter's tape to mark items in place, and a phone for photographs. Tape is genuinely useful - a marked defect is one the trade can find without translating your description.

BRING YOUR INSPECTOR IF YOU CAN. A professional walkthrough alongside your own is the strongest version of this appointment. If the private inspection happened separately, bring the report and walk it item by item rather than trusting memory.

AND ALLOW REAL TIME. This is not a thirty-minute appointment. A patient walkthrough of a finished house takes hours, and the person showing you around has a schedule that would prefer otherwise. Politely take the time anyway.

What actually belongs on the list

Work systematically, room by room, then the systems, then the exterior. Randomly wandering a beautiful new house is how people miss things.

IN EVERY ROOM: open and close every door and window, and check they latch, seal, and swing without binding. Test every switch and every outlet. Look at walls and ceilings from an angle rather than straight on, which is how drywall and paint defects reveal themselves. Check floors for level, gaps, lippage, and squeaks. Open every cabinet and drawer, check alignment and hardware, look at countertop seams and edges. Run every tap hot and cold, fill and drain every sink and tub, flush every toilet, and look underneath for leaks. Look at grout and caulk lines in wet areas.

THE SYSTEMS: run heating and cooling and confirm both work at every register, not just at the thermostat. Confirm ventilation fans actually move air and vent outdoors. Open the electrical panel and confirm circuits are labelled. Test every smoke and carbon monoxide device. Locate the water shut-off, the gas shut-off, and the main breaker, and confirm you can reach them - a surprising number of buyers first look for these during an emergency.

THE EXTERIOR: grading that slopes away from the house, downspouts discharging away from the foundation, the finished condition of walks, drive and hardscape, fencing and gates, exterior paint and stucco or siding condition, and where you can see it, roof and flashing. Check the irrigation runs and where the water goes.

THE PAPERWORK, which people forget in the excitement: appliance manuals and registrations, warranty documents, the list of paint colours and finish specifications, keys and remotes and garage codes, and any commissioning or system documentation. Ask for the specification sheet - it will matter later when you are matching a paint colour.

Getting it written, and getting it done

NOTHING COUNTS UNTIL IT IS ON THE BUILDER'S OWN WRITTEN LIST, dated, with your copy in hand or in your inbox. A superintendent nodding at a defect is not a commitment; a signed or emailed list is. Photograph each item as you go and keep the photographs with the list.

DESCRIBE THE SYMPTOM, NOT THE REMEDY. "Gap between countertop and backsplash, right of the range" is actionable. "They need to redo the counter" starts an argument about scope. Let the builder determine the fix; hold them to the outcome.

SEPARATE THE CATEGORIES, because a list that mixes them gets triaged badly. Incomplete work is work that was never finished. Defects are work done wrong. Damage is work done and then harmed by another trade. And normal characteristics - some settlement, seasonal movement, minor cosmetic variation that the warranty document expressly treats as ordinary - are not defects at all, and including them costs you credibility on the items that are.

AGREE WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE SIGNING AND WHAT HAPPENS AFTER. Some items genuinely cannot be resolved before closing - a back-ordered part, a finish that needs weather. Those should be written, dated, and specifically committed to rather than left as an understanding. Ask directly how the builder handles items that remain open at closing, and get the answer in writing.

RE-WALK AFTER THE WORK. Items marked complete are not complete until you have looked. This is not distrust; it is that the person who marked it complete was reading a list, not standing in the room.

AND START THE WARRANTY LIST IMMEDIATELY. Some defects only reveal themselves once a house is lived in - the first heavy rain, the first hot spell, the first stretch of the heating and cooling system actually running. Keep a running list from move-in day and submit it in writing well before the shortest warranty period closes.

One structural reminder, because it shapes how this conversation goes. The on-site sales representative and the construction superintendent both work for the BUILDER. They may be entirely straightforward, and they are still the other side of the transaction. A buyer may bring their own representation and their own inspector to this appointment, and doing so tends to make the list better and the follow-through faster.

Anthony Grynchal has been licensed in California since November 2009 and has never seen a buyer regret spending extra hours on a walkthrough - the items you write down before signing get fixed on a different timetable from the ones you notice after.