It took a great deal of consideration before I finally decided to write a review of Forbes Capretto Homes ("FCH"). I don't like writing a negative review (or at least a serious one) without exhausting every other relief-seeking avenue first, and now that I've done that, here it goes:
I would advise strongly against building with FCH. The company charges you a premium price for a cut-rate product, and not only will they not stand behind their work, they'll flat out insult you for trying to hold them accountable by asking them to.
We have had so many issues with our house I can't go into full detail, so I'll just hit some highlights. A former worker for FCH had informed me that FCH "rushed" though my neighborhood to "make more money".
PLUMBING
Minor issues: copper lines broke free inside the walls from their tethers, causing a loud BANG whenever we run the washing machine, bath faucets installed improperly. Major issues: not having a check valve being installed on our sump pump, which led to our basement flooding. Somehow, this passed town code when it shouldn't have (hmmm).
ELECTRICAL
Every electrician I've hired to fix my electrical problems had commented on how a baboon must have been hired to install our wiring. We've had quite a few of electricians because we have some weird, ghost electrical issue that keeps causing circuits to "pop" for no apparent reason. Still can't get it right.
INSTALLATION
When our appliances were installed, there was a foot-sized dent in our stove, two fist-sized dents in our fridge and our microwave looked like it was kicked off the back of a truck, and they were all installed that way! The microwave didn't work due to the damage and it was the only appliance that was replaced.
The wrong hardwood flooring was installed and FCH "fixed" it. The new hardwood shriveled up and left huge, gapping spaces between our boards. When I consulted a hardwood flooring guy, he told me FCH probably rushed to fix their problem and didn't let the new floor acclimate to the moisture of the house.
Our basement flooded the 1st time during the building process because FCH left the sump pump unplugged. When we brought it to their attention, FCH said, "Oh that? That's no big deal. We will cut the installation in the basement at the water level and inspect the furnace". That didn't fly with me.
FCH's stereo installers stole over $1000 from us by selling us equipment they never installed. Luckily, that same company realized what happened, apologized sincerely and refunded our money. This is not necessarily FCH's fault, or at least I don't suspect it is, but still worth noting.
TILE WORK
The grout is breaking apart and the tiles are beginning to shift up. I consulted a tile guy who explained it was improperly installed: FCH did not use a sub floor for the installation. My tile guy said this was common for some of the "cheaper" builders to do.
MY COMPLAINT
The tile issue was the final straw, so I decided to call the Warranty Coordinator, Darcy. *Please note* that although our warranty is supposed to cover manufacturers defects for a good deal of time (6 years, maybe), our actual warranty period is one year and we are obviously outside of this period.
Darcy accused me of not properly maintaining my grout. I told her I did everything FCH told me to do. She then said she spoke to the installer and the practice they utilized is a standard industry practice, so FCH would claim no fault. I asked politely for her to reconsider, because what might be a "standard practice" for other less expensive builders should not be the same for FCH. Further, this is an obvious problem directly tied to their installation process, and if FCH turns down my complaint without so much as a drop of empathy as they were doing, why would anyone want to build with them? Would you pay them a half million dollars for trash? I didn't think so.
My complaint fell on deaf ears. Darcy sternly denied my claim. I then informed her of all the other problems we've had that we paid for (basement flooding, electrical work, a bunch of other stuff I could think of at the time, etc. ), and she still wouldn't budge. I told her I may need to consider legal avenues against FCH or contact the Better Business Bureau, and she said, "You know what, it's like you ordered a meal in a restaurant and didn't like your meal, so you're going to complain about it". I reminded her about the check valve I never got, and the better comparison would be I order a cheeseburger and didn't get a beef patty, which is just a cheese sandwich. FCH serves cheese sandwiches and calls them cheeseburgers.
Now I guess I'll have to seek legal help and contact the Better Business Bureau. I don't know what that will get me, or where, or how much I'll have to spend to get there. Either way, I'm screwed, but you, you are not screwed yet! Find a better home builder, or at least don't say I didn't warn you. read more