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Beware DR Horton homes!

First the good: Everyone with whom I have met from DR Horton is very nice, very polite, very gracious and then very apologetic. After a while, though, all the nice talk goes beyond โ€œniceโ€ right up to condescending and insulting, especially when you find yourself in a โ€œblind loopโ€ of talk and nothing done right.

I have trouble thinking of good stuff past that.

Complaints:

First off, when we decided to buy our house in November, 2014, the price had been dropped that day by $4000. The DR Horton representative, Stephanie Sharon, did not tell us and wrote up the contract at the old price. Our realtor, Al Walters, caught that and forced them to give us the listed (that day) price. DO NOT deal with DR Horton without your own realtor to help you-PRICELESS!

Next, of course, was the โ€œpunch listโ€. Most things got done, but not all, like the crack between the kitchen counter and backsplash that took 3 months to get done. Plus, of course, when the superintendent, Brandon Patterson, for our area wanted his โ€œpink sheetโ€ survey checked off, I was told that that would get done and everything else would get done at the โ€œ30 day walk through.โ€ After 45-50 days, when I questioned him for the 2d or 3d time, he told me that there is no such thing as a โ€œ30 day walkthroughโ€ and that I need to file everything on line as a warranty item. I did-MULTIPLE times before finally getting everything scheduled that included flooring problems, dry wall and paint problems, and the caulking defects in the kitchen from the original punch list. That caulking finally got done in late February, 2015. The flooring guys finally came and fixed the floor problems in Feruary, 2015. The painter came, looked around and said there was no point in staying since the dry wall needed fixing first. That supposedly got scheduled twice but then no one could find a work order for it (Torri does that scheduling and does not seem to have much a handle on that if you ever speak directly to her; in fact, when Brandon finally called her to reschedule things, in my presence, she did not seem to be too together to him either and he finally had to โ€œissue an order to schedule dry wall and painting.โ€ That was scheduled for 2 successive days, which seemed bad to me since dry wall repair usually requires at least 2 applications, but Brandon assured me things would be fine. Finally, the dry wall person came and did a credible job, although he made a huge mess everywhere he went (admittedly not unexpected). However, also as expected, the next day, when the painter came and sanded, some areas needed more attention-not a chance, not on the schedule. The painter himself was another story. He came at the appointed time with the wrong color paint. I told him that I had a gallon of perfectly matched paint that I had already used where I re-did our closets, but he said that was the wrong kind of paint (same brand and number as on the DR Horton sheet they gave me at closing AND I already used it and it matched perfectly). He returned 2 hours later with โ€œthe right kind of paintโ€ and went to work. He sanded and painted the repaired walls, but the paint does not match so we now have big patches of a different shade of tan. PLUS he never even got to the trim problems (except to splash wall pain on trim here and there). Neither did he get to the front door. The paint on the front door started peeling off right after we moved in. Brandon looked at it and said that that part of the door is not supposed to be painted but would have been an odd color so it got painted anyway. Now, he says, it need special attention to sand it, prime it and/or repaint it with a special paint that will stick. HERE IS ANOTHER DR HORTON COMMON THING TO WATCH OUT FOR: IF you get warranty things done, DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING UNTIL IT IS COMPLETELY DONE TO YOUR SATISFACTION. Every time someone comes out, they had you a sheet to sign โ€œthat says that I was here.โ€ WRONG. That sheet says to them that the job is done and if you need more work, or the same work done correctly, you file another claim and get in line for another month or two to get work done. Interestingly, maddeningly, the superintendent, Brandon Patterson, told me this morning that that is very common and he has lots of pictures of other houses with shoddy and/or incomplete paint work in multiple houses around us and that โ€œcorporate is aware of itโ€ but that that company is โ€œour painters and I cannot do anything about it.โ€

Personally, I am about ready to get a REAL painter to fix my house and move on (probably what DR Horton is planning on and hoping for) just to avoid going back on blood pressure medicine over this house. Oh wait! The painting supervisors just came by and very nice and apologetic and full of excuses about how Sherwin Williams keeps changing the base formula so the colors come out slightly different, etc. More talk (see above).

So they looked at the problems (and agree that there are real problems), took a wall sample to match. They returned a couple of days later with the new match and tried it and it looks like a real match. They set up a day in 2 weeks for โ€œa crew to come and fix everything to make you happy.โ€ They wanted to schedule a day but I insisted on scheduling 2 days for the amount of work that needs to be done/redone.

The big day came: 2 guys showed up with a list of 3 rooms and some walls here and there to repaint and then they said they are supposed to leave. After a few calls, the supervisors came by and insisted that I did not show them the entire house and that we would have to reschedule to do the rest. I finally got in touch with the DR Horton supervisor, Brandon Patterson who was tied up and could not come over and he told me (again) that this is a recurring problem with these painters and that all he can do is come by tomorrow and look and reschedule a different painter that he gets when this happens (he says frequently) (and, WHY is it that DR Horton used these painters in the first place? When this is such a recurring problem and this other painter is โ€œthe next step in the process?)

So, now, we get to fill out another warranty request โ€œso the office will know there is a problemโ€ and clean up after todayโ€™s partial job and put the furniture back-AGAIN- and wait to see if the rest can get done.

NOW, General Quality Issues

Very few electrical outlets and wall switches in large rooms with multiple pathways. 3-car garage: only 2 electrical outlets, one on each side, about 35 feet apart. Thatโ€™s all. When I asked the electrical contractors that DR Horton uses about adding more (at my expense), they said โ€œSure, easy, call this number and schedule a person to come look at it.โ€ I did; they never did call back. Seems to be typical of DR Horton subcontractors. Just save yourself hassle and get your own contractors to do whatever modifications you need.

Then one of DR Hortonโ€™s electricians had to come out to fix another problem and he, again, said, โ€œSure, Iโ€™ll get you a quote.โ€ Never heard from him again.

Just get Tony Alvarado at Trident Electrical to do it-we called him and he is a genuinely nice guy, reasonable and fast with GOOD quality work (unlike DR Horton subcontractors).

Our master โ€œwalk-in closetsโ€ wereโ€ small (of course, we knew that, but thought they were adequate) but we did not realize HOW small until we put clothes in them and realized that the doors would not open and close-the clothes were in the way. I had to take down the doors and replace them with bi-fold doors and had to replace the simple shelving with adjustable shelving.

The โ€œhardwood floorsโ€ are anything but โ€œhardโ€. We asked and were assured that these were โ€œengineered hardoodsโ€ that are finished around and not just simple cheap laminate. Maybe, but you should play like Bill Clinton and make them define every single term used. Now, Brandon admits that the surface of the floors is โ€œpretty softโ€ and will be marked easily with chairs, high heels, etc. We have been very careful to put felt on all furniture legs, put down rugs everywhere, etc. Still, the felt comes off and the bottom of the chairs that have protective bumpers on them already still mar the floor. My exercise bike and elliptical have wheels on them to help move them out for use-those wheels leave grooves across the floor. Brandonโ€™s response: โ€œWell, thatโ€™s not really all that noticeable unless you look at them in the light.โ€ So, I guess we just keep it dark and we will be OK with it.

Granite counter tops are nice, and maybe this is standard, but it would seem to me that if you know they are porous and stain easily, part of installation would include sealing them. WRONG. We were told on our orientation that we were responsible for sealing them. Ditto for the grout in the tile floors-again, maybe that is standard and I expect too much.

Hot water heater: tankless, mounted outside and, granted, this is coastal South Carolina and it does not freeze often, but it DOES freeze sometimes and we were told that if it is going to freeze, you have to leave the water running to keep the unit from freezing up and costing around $2000 to fix. Is there a good reason not to mount it in the garage to prevent that? Sure, costs more to vent it from inside. So, what if we are out of town and the temperature drops? Really thoughtless construction.

Garage door: has already broken twice and had to be re-worked as far as the installation-once right after we moved in, and again after 2 months. Again-might want to get your own subcontractors.

Light fixtures outside are cheap plastic. Inside, things like toilet paper holders are plastic;

Reason of review: Poor customer service.

Preferred solution: Deliver product or service ordered.

Dr Horton Cons: Lot of lip service, No action on promises, Really poor subcontractors.

Location: Summerville, South Carolina

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