Buying a new house is supposed to be a happy exciting time, especially a newly constructed home…read more The whole process has been a nightmare !!!
Where to start? We researched the business on the BBB and other reviews prior to signing the contract. We toured their spec homes and the models. The only issues we could seem to find was the lack of follow through with warranty items after closing. We have built new homes before and had such limited warranty issues with those builds, that we decided that building a house from the ground up from an A+ (BBB) rated locally owned company would build a solid home.
Structurally, the house seems sound. We know what is behind the (VERY FLAWED drywall). However, once the drywall went up, the issues started!!! We never even met the first site manager we had. The second site manager was such a yes man that he would tell us things that were not carried out by the company. He would also make excuses and blame everyone but himself or the company. It was always the tradespeople that were behind the closing delays. Our original closing date was supposed to be November 28. We received word just a few days prior that the closing was delayed. We had two more closing dates come and go without the house being completed enough to get the certificate of occupancy issued. Electrical was such an issue. They had to move the meter box, then blamed the power company for why there was no power to the house. After many calls to the power company, we were finally told that something was not connected, which was the builder's responsibility. Once the meter box had power, there was still no power to the house. The site manager didn't know he needed to call the electrician back in to make the final connection to the house.
There were still issues that needed to be addressed when we went to the closing table on 24Jan. Against our better judgement, we closed, as the temporary apartment we were staying in had already been pre-leased to another tenant. The home inspection, that we were glad we paid for, brought up several issues, one being the fact that a couple of the windows would not open correctly. The site manager (the third person we had to deal with), told us "if you are not window people, I wouldn't even worry about it" and that to fix it, the drywall would have to be ripped out. Umm, what????? Luckily, when the window guy came out, it was a fix so simple, he was in and out in five minutes. Why didn't the site manager know how to fix this.
We were given a letter guaranteeing completion of the items within 30 days of closing. We are still having issues getting these items addressed. We both work full time, and we will get notified that someone will come by the next day to "look at the issue", but not to fix the issue. We have taken so much time off of work for this house...
There is a huge lack of quality control with the tradespeople. The drywall is a disaster. There are so many flaws in the drywall, with crooked walls, rough areas in the walls, etc. We had custom shutters installed and the drywall surrounding each window is a different size, so each window had to be carefully measured.
The counters on either side of the stove are not level by over a quarter of an inch. We probably would have never noticed it, but the stove we selected is a slide in with a lip that is supposed to rest on the counter. The cabinet people came first to 'look at it' and blamed the countertop installers. The countertop installers came out to 'look at it' and they blamed the cabinet people. However no one will take ownership and fix the issue.
We had a pocket door installed by the builder. The pocket door is warped, so they brought out a replacement. They did not spray the door prior to delivery. They painted around the edges and said the painter would come out to paint it after it was hung. It is still sitting in our garage awaiting installation, because the trim guy refused to put it up because of the jacked up paint job. So now, it will probably end up being warped too...
The security system that was pre-installed shorted out as soon as the security company plugged it in. The whole box had to be replaced. The low voltage subcontractor pretty much said the security company fabricated this issue so that they could 'install their own equipment'. I smelled the distinctive smell that shorted out wires have.
The grout in the bathrooms are different colors the flexible grout in the corners is not the same color as the rest of the grout. The upstairs bathroom floor had to be redone because the tradeperson did not install the tile correctly, and before we even moved in, the grout was cracking and coming out.
Getting the warranty dept to respond to warranty requests is terrible!! With as bad as a job the contractors did, it is no wonder they had to expand their warranty dept, as the recording on their phones say.
I could go on but I am running out of room!!!