Lombardo Homes makes every effort to complete all of our outstanding work as soon as possible. In order to accomplish this, we group work by area and community so that the contractors can be as efficient as possible. Also, local municipalities typically will not allow us to bond for spring items after May 15th, so we must complete newly built homes along with the closed homes, so that we can meet our customer’s closing needs.
The soil needs to be thoroughly dry to prepare the area for the driveway and walks, therefore the weather is the most influential factor when completing delayed exterior work. Once the driveway is prepared for concrete the forms have to be inspected by the local municipality (where applicable). After the inspection is passed the concrete can be placed/poured, weather permitting, to ensure it is not damaged. After the concrete cures, grading can take place. Again, the soil must be dry enough for heavy equipment to shape your home site. If you have ordered sod and irrigation from Lombardo Homes or are doing on your own, you must first wait until the final grade inspection / as-built is passed through the local municipality. In a perfect scenario with dry weather, the process from preparing for the driveway until grade inspection is passed will take 15-17 working days.
Lombardo Homes provides a final grade to shape your home site drainage pattern to match the plot plan provided to you and submitted to the Municipality. Until the home site is vegetated, rain events will wash the surface away, exposing rocks and other miscellaneous debris. A finish grade is provided to customers that purchase sod and irrigation form Lombardo Homes. A finish grade is intended to remove large stones and debris to prepare the home site for sod. This is done after irrigation as the trenching of the underground pipes will produce stones, large clumps, and debris.
Lombardo Homes typically lays out the schedule based on several factors. First, we look at closings that are approaching the May 15th cut-off from the municipalities as all of the exterior work needs to be completed to acquire a full CofO. Second, we look at the soil conditions of the neighborhood. Sandier sights will dry faster and allow us to complete the work on them sooner. We do not hire additional contractors to complete delayed exterior work. Our contractors have been with the Lombardo family for years and meet our expectations for quality and efficiency. We could not promise outside contractors enough work to get the dedication and guaranteed quality that we have with our current trade partners.
Although we do a preliminary grade during the winter months to ensure drainage from the home, the final grade may have to add or remove dirt in those areas. The surveying engineer is required to check elevations in multiple points around the home. If the home is not within the municipality specifications it will not receive a final certificate of occupancy.
The street tree is not covered under the one year warranty and is very hard to maintain during the dry summer months. To ensure the best survival rate, we plant trees twice a year, once in early spring and in the fall.
