Punchlist Completion Quality

Hi, We closed on new construction back in December. One of the biggest items on our punchlist was related to the bathroom, which is otherwise very nice. The walls are slate (or some sort of large, mineral-looking) tile (maybe about 2 or 3 foot squares). Above the sink/mirror is a light fixture coming out of the wall, but they clearly broke the slate around the wiring hole such that there's a... [more]

Hi, We closed on new construction back in December. One of the biggest items on our punchlist was related to the bathroom, which is otherwise very nice. The walls are slate (or some sort of large, mineral-looking) tile (maybe about 2 or 3 foot squares). Above the sink/mirror is a light fixture coming out of the wall, but they clearly broke the slate around the wiring hole such that there's a messy, jagged overlarge hole (about 1" - 2.5"; again it's jagged and uneven) still visible. The realtor promised this "would be fixed" by closing. Obviously, it was not. They've been fixing things extremely slowly over this time, but finally came to do the hole. I had warned them that it's probably not just something that can be patched; I want this place to have resale value, and if you just slap some crap into the hole it's still going to clearly be an issue. The contractors assured me they would make it look really nice. Their work lasted about 15-20 minutes, and basically they put a rough, gray, gravel-looking putty had been filled into the hole. It sort of matches the color but is clearly a patch and not a fix. They told me there's not really much that can be done... And I sort of agree, except it seems like they need to literally take out the wall. Curious what people think should be done. Is this reasonable on their part? Is it reasonable to tell them to come back and take down the whole freaking wall for a few inches of hole? I just want to be fair. We are having some other issues too -- specifically, there's outdoor space with wooden decking that the realtor promised would be "sealed and finished", but which we neglected to ensure was in the offering plan. They wouldn't agree to do this work in closing and said the wood should be fine and last long... but this past weekend I saw the wood was buckling in the hot sunlight and lifting at the corners in a couple places, in some cases 2-4". Curious what people think should be done about that too. Thanks! [less]