I foolishly just had a town home built by Shoopman in Westfield, Indiana. Shoopman is a small builder. I thought I would be able to get a better quality home, especially since the company is considered a Diamond Builder. He rushed to start the building having not replied to all my questions and thereby shorted me on some options. He does not "speak" with you, does everything by email. None of the employees are (given responsibility) able to answer any of your serious questions, they must send the question to Mr. Shoopman and wait for his email response. There are very few actual employees. Most everyone is sub-contracted. Imagine your builder not knowing how something as important as the plumbing is run in your home and telling you to contact the sub-contractor directly. I have never had to do this with any previous normal builder. There are numerous defects under warranty. He did not even complete my closing punch list. Worst of all, he installed inferior shingles on my home, 3-tab with a 65mph wind rating versus dimensional shingles with a 135mph wind rating. I have lost several shingle tabs 6 times since closing. Yes, they got replaced under his warranty which is a 2-10.com warranty. But at 2.5 months after closing, one wind exceeded 65mph and he has completely voided my roof warranty. So much for my 2-10. They concur with his prerogative to void the warranty. Two roofers and my insurance adjuster have found the roof to be a total loss due to wind damage. I am now paying to replace the entire roof. Now we are fighting over a crack in the driveway. He sends me an email to say that there is no warranty on concrete and includes a document that clearly states that the builder is responsible if the crack is wider than 1/4" or 3/16" vertically. I could go on but have to close this somewhere. I have opened cases with BBB (waste of time), BAGI (waste of time), and the Attorney General's offices (still waiting). I will post all the negative reviews I possibly can to warn others. Please learn from my poor experience and stay clear of Shoopman Homes.
And if a certain realty company (SEARS) says otherwise avoid them, too. They failed me also in this project.
I forgot that on 2/21/2017 I posted the following:
If I could give negative stars, I would. They may be good builders, but it is difficult to know. The process they put the customer through is impossible. There are approximately 3 to 5 employees in this company. They contract everyone else. They do not have a super to oversee construction, the owner does this -- or tries to do this all himself. I was unable to even communicate in person with the owner until closing. All communication is conducted by email. Even to ask a simple question. They can't even tell you where something they should know about, such as where the water lines come from or go to, such as which way a door should swing open, and so forth. Instead, they make you speak with their subcontractors directly. Whoever heard of such a process? This indicates that the builder is not in charge of all aspects of building your home. And the sub may or may not always answer their phone. If they do you end up dealing with the sub instead of the builder. Most builders go through a house thoroughly to ensure you find nothing at closing. This company requires you to find everything yourself, all their problems! Numerous problems in the paint, the drywall, caulking, the gaps in outside doors, dent in the garage door, spilled paint, damaged trim/baseboards, nail pops, etc. Including the dirt/debris they left behind. They give you only 2 days prior to closing to go through the house and, in my case, did not complete all the closing items. Like a fool, based on a promise, I closed and now I am left to get these corrected myself read more
