Think twice (or even three times) before hiring Home Design Manufacturing to build your home.
We have been in our Home Design home for 5 years now and are STILL fixing issues that should have been caught by them during the building phase and are now facing a major reconstruction project.
The concrete on the foundation is crumbing, the logs still leak through gaps and knotholes, we had to have all pipe associated with the boiler repiped, valves were installed upside down, the HVAC guys were not able to diagnose boiler error codes (my husband had to figure it out and teach them) and then they didn't know how to repair it, thin cut stone was substituted for full stone in the main chimney without our knowledge or consent (that is now cracking), the bay windows were never insulated, the fireplace smokes and downdrafts to the point where it is unusable (the flues were built backwards and the chimney too short), we still find random shingles on the deck (no windstorm necessary), they buried so much crap that trees won't grow properly, they used decorative gravel (the stuff that's like ball bearings) in the driveway instead of crushed so it's unstable and now we have to have it removed and replaced... That's just the tip of the iceberg. I could go on and on but you get the picture. And that doesn't include problems we caught ourselves during construction.
What should be our dream house is instead a total nightmare. We keep thinking it's going to end but every layer of trouble fixed reveals new layers and new trouble.
And at every step, someone in that organization blames someone else and none of them will take responsibility. That's the worst of it. With money, time, and new tradesmen, everything can eventually be repaired or replaced. But the fact that they won't own up the the issues is disgusting.
Out of their mouths come the words, "We want you to be happy" yet they don't back it up.
Poor materials (including substituting low quality for what was ordered and paid for), poor construction/installation (although their carpenter and contracted tile layer were excellent, everyone else was average at best and most were below par, some we out and out fired during construction), lack of on site management (Home Design GC was rarely here, relying more on reports and emailed photographs), lack of cleaning up the job site (we had to do most of that ourselves and are still digging out dumped concrete in the garden), and Home Design having mastered the art of putting off warranty work until it is no longer covered are each reasons in and of themselves not to hire them. All of them together? Seriously not good.
Forewarned is forearmed.
Better yet, hire someone else. read more
