I did not buy in Corona, but I did buy in Murrieta, and was told that all of Southern California is serviced by the same Homeowners Warranty office, so even if you were to purchase in Corona, your experience will most likely be like mine if your builder is Pulte.
We closed on our Pulte home for almost a year now, and there's been multiple problems, including heating, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, and even health/safety. And although Pulte's Homeowners Warranty has a decent response time, the one answer we keep hearing whenever there's a plumbing/heating issue is that Pulte won't fix it, either because their engineers said so, or because that is how all the homes in the community are built. They say this even when it's not true and NONE of the houses are built like that. And even if it's an obvious health, safety, and/or structural concern.
One of the plumbing issues we are currently having is with our shower walls. Per manufacturer installation instructions, the openings in the walls where the copper pipe comes through behind the tub spout must be sealed with caulk in order to prevent water leaking into the walls, which could cause serious water damage and mold issues in those areas. I have spoken to 3 separate plumbers about this, and they all said that they have seen some sort of water damage or other related to water leaking into these openings. You can google or search Youtube for shower valve installation videos by Moen or other professionals, but just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here are some links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcBdjH4Fdik&feature=youtu.be
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20018994-Should-I-caulk-around-a-bathtub-faucet.
NOTE: go to the post by clevere1 on February 19, 2008 for photos.
Yet, when Pulte's plumber (from NP MECHANICAL) came out, he refused to caulk the wall openings because (in his words) "that's not part of [his] company's contract with Pulte". He said he would let his office know to have someone contact me about it, but that I'd have to deal with Pulte about that problem on my own. Almost 3 weeks went by, and no one from NP Mechanical or Pulte got back to me. So I emailed Pulte and attached some screen shots of the Moen's installation video to show that, per manufacturer's instructions, the holes need to be sealed in order to prevent potential water damage.
Today Kevin Short from Pulte Customer Service called to say that his plumbers don't caulk the wall openings because "that's how [Pulte] do all their houses". He said that even if the caulking is instructed by the manufacturer, Pulte doesn't have to follow it, because they do things by THEIR OWN STANDARDS. And of course, as always, Kevin told me that even though Pulte won't fix it, I'm welcomed to do it on my own.
This, in fact, was the same thing he told me when we had a safety concern regarding the gas pipe in our kitchen cabinet, which was sticking out about 9" into our cabinet where we (and most people) keep our pots and pans; This is not only an inconvenient space hog that takes up precious cabinet space, but also a hygiene and gas leak concern. Yet, when I brought it up with Pulte, Kevin told me they won't fix it because this is how all the houses in my community are plumbed. Again, he suggested that if it bothers me, then I am welcomed to get my own plumber to fix it. That presents at least 3 issues: (1) getting someone else to do the work voids Pulte's warranty, (2) that is NOT how all the houses are done - I have pictures of the gas pipes from both Pulte's Sales Office's model homes and also my neighbors' homes to prove it, (3) why do I have to pay to fix a brand new home that's still under warranty, especially since the bad work was a result of Pulte's lack of quality control?
When I told Kevin it's not true that all the houses are piped like that, and that I can email pictures to prove it, his response was that Pulte revises their engineering constantly and so not all houses are built the same, but that my pipe was done correctly at the time my house was built per Pulte's engineering plans! Really? Can anyone hear something not quite right here???
So much for superior quality control, unparalleled customer service, and commitment to stand behind their products!!!
Some other problems we've had:
(1) Our sprinkler was leaking for months during the drought, because their vendor Platinum Landscape kept blaming the puddles in our yards on faulty programing and neglected to check the piping system. By the time they figured out it was one of the parts, we were already out of hundreds of dollars in water bills.
(2) Their flooring people left broken light bulbs, loose nails and staples, and even a razor blade under our newly installed carpet, one of which stabbed my knee, pierced one of my ligaments, and gave me excruciating pain for 2 days, and shooting pains that still lingers even now.
BE SMART. STAY AWAY from both PULTE HOMES and PULTE MORTGAGE.
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