Bercury Homes

Review: I recently purchased a new construction house built by Bercury Homes in April 2016. Due to issues with closing and our loan, the builder, Bill B[redacted], agreed to allow us to move into the house for one and a half weeks prior to the actual closing date as we had already closed on our former house and essentially did not have a place to stay. During this time, we began experiencing issues with the front door not latching shut. The door could simply be pulled right back open, even if the door was "locked". We also noted the dead bolt on one of our downstairs doors would not latch as it appeared to be misaligned. However, these problems were short lived and seemed to have resolved when the weather turned colder after moving in. After officially closing on the house, the weather began warming up. The front door became increasingly difficult to latch to the point of requiring 30 minutes of opening and closing the door and lifting up on the door handle in an attempt to get the door to latch. The degree of difficulty was variable depending upon the temperature; the hotter it was the more difficult it was to get the door to latch. Ultimately, we ended up using an alternate door as we were fearful we would be unable to get the door closed.

In addition to having issues with the door latching shut, the seal at the top of the door was notably not fitted properly as sunlight was visible along the top of the door.

I reached out to my realtor regarding this issue. She attempted to contact the builder's realtor ([redacted] in Butler, PA) to convey the issue. I did not receive a response from my realtor from the builder, and I reached out to my realtor again to let her know that I would contact [redacted] myself as the issue needed rectified urgently. She gave me the contact information and suggested I ask for [redacted] or [redacted] at [redacted] I left a message on [redacted]'s voicemail on April 18th and received a call from [redacted] on April 19th. She stated that she had talked to Bill B[redacted] who recommended that we follow up with [redacted] who was the contractor. I called [redacted] on April 19th and he offered to come to look at the door on April 20th.

Of note, I did express that I was not asking for the builder/contractor to come to the house on my voicemail to [redacted] I simply wanted the manufacturer or warranty information to call the manufacturer myself to have the issue rectified. [redacted] stated on her voicemail that [redacted] had told her that "he did not know the manufacturer information and he would have to come look at it".

[redacted] left a voicemail on April 20th stating that he got "tied up on a job" and would not be able to leave the job site until 4-5:00PM. He stated that he wanted to know if he could come out in the morning of April 21st. I left [redacted] a voicemail on April 20th at approximately 4:00PM on my way home from work and expressed my concern as the door had become increasingly difficult to latch shut and we had not been able to use the door over the last few days due to this (the door was latched at the time and we were fearful we would not get it latched again). I noted that this was an inconvenience in relation to the door that we were using not being directly accessible to parking. I did state "it is what it is" if he could not come to the house but stated that I would prefer for him to come on the 20th. [redacted] never returned my call and showed up with a partner the morning of April 21st.

I was not at home during the time [redacted] and his co-worker were at my house; I was at work. My husband was home when they first arrived but left shortly after for work. My babysitter was home with my 2 year old son. I did confirm with [redacted] that neither my husband or myself had to be home during this time. He stated this was fine as long as someone was home at the time. I told him that my babysitter would be there with my son but she would not be able to make any decisions. I did not receive any calls from [redacted] with any issues while he was at my house.

When I came home from work, the door was "fixed". The door does latch shut. However, there are multiple areas where the paint is chipped as a result of carelessly removing the door handle to lower it. There is also a lengthy area where it appears that the door was chipped away along the side of the door. The paint is also missing in that area. There is a demarcated ring on the inside of the door where the door handle had previously been. I initially believed this was dirt, and some of this did wipe away with water and a paper towel. The residual is a result of the paint being scratched. The issue with the seals was not addressed. You can now see out the top left of my door to my neighbor's house. Sunlight also streams through along approximately half the length of the top of the door. The door itself is also now cracked lengthwise along the left hand side which was not present prior to having the door "fixed". I do have picture documentation.

The door was fixed haphazardly. I have not reached out to Bill or [redacted] since the repairs have been made.Desired Settlement: I would like for the builder to have this door replaced. The builder offered to fix the door and this is a result of the repair work. This was obviously an issue prior to our purchasing the house. The issue was not detected, however, as we looked at the house when the weather was cold and this did not become an issue until the weather became warmer. The issue with the seals was an issue that would not have arised from any other situation other than not being placed properly during installation.