Capstone Homes, LLC.

I sent this email to the customer today:Mr. [redacted]-Attached is a photo taken yesterday of the crack on your front porch.Also attached is a copy of the warranty book that was supplied to you at the time ofcontract.  As you know,  it is the Capstone...

limited warranty thatguides what who does what after settlement on the home.Page 12 of this document indicates that a cosmetic crack needs to be greater than ¼” to be awarrantable item.  This crack on your porchis clearly within tolerances, and it is therefore not covered by the warranty.There is no action required on the above from Capstone Homes, and none will be taken.  It is my understanding that our concretecontractor informed you of this when he was on sight. The top coat of the driveway is absolutely our responsibility, and we apologize for thedelay.  We have had a breakdown in communicationwith our paving contractor.  As ofyesterday, that was resolved.  We willperform this work in a timely fashion. I will be supplying this email and the attached information to the Revdex.comin response to your complaint.  I amsorry that we have not been as attentive to your needs as you require.  Enjoy your new home.

It is unfortunate that you had an issue with the HVAC system. Capstone Homes has a two year mechanical warranty and we stand by that warranty.
I attached the warranty information for Rheem. They offer a conditional warranty and a limited warranty. The conditional warranty must be registered for within 60 days of installation and is NOT transferrable. Subsequent owners do have the balance of the original base Limited Parts warranty. 
Rheem did stand by the warranty and replaced the parts. You are correct the conditional warranty is not something that was ever signed up for by Capstone. I am not sure if the client we built the house for signed up for the warranty but in either case the conditional manufacturer warranty does not transfer. 
We are sorry to hear that you had an issue with the HVAC but glad that you had a limited warranty through Rheem to help address the issue for you.

Revdex.com,
 
We have tried to reach out to the customer but have not received a response. Our service group recently has been in touch with the a real estate who has listed and re-sold the home. We found out that the customer passed away. This week we spoke with the real estate agent...

and offered a copy of the warranty book for the new owners since there is still a structural warranty on the home. 
Thanks,
 
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]

Review: Purchased my home 10/12/12., built by Capstone. My Hvac system was never registered with Rheem by Capstone so when the coil failed the labor charges of $650.00 were not covered by Rheem as they would have been if the unit had been properly registered by Capstone when installed. I am asking to be reimbursed for theses charges. In addition the brick front steps going into the house in the front are falling apart due to mortar that was either mixed in correctly or mixed in temps too cold. I sent a letter in the beginning of August and two follow up emails with no response. Letter was sent to Mr [redacted]Desired Settlement: Refund for labor charges associated with Hvac repair. Repairs to front steps

Business

Response:

Our HVAC warranty is for two years. This is not a warrantable issue with Capstone. This home was built for another client in 2010. We are very sorry for the problems encountered with the HVAC system, but this is not an builder issue.

Consumer

Response:

Review: Having problems with the sales brochure and the blueprints not matching. Now the house is being build and it a combination of both. They admitted the bedroom was the wrong size. The sales brochure stated 16' x 14', the room was built 14' x 12'. They would like to replace a half wall with an open railing for a 7.5' open area on the second floor overlooking the first floor. The sales brochure also states of fake dormers which our house was a first of new revisions. The blue prints also changed that show the floor extending to the window in the dormers. Now all we are getting is sorry.Desired Settlement: The house cost is $248,000 with 1790 square feet, we lost 58 square feet in the bedroom. It comes to $138 per square foot, at 58 square feet $8035. Now with the dormers I will have to have someone open up the frame work and make them useable if I would like. I tried making a fair offer of the railing and a french door refrigerator. I shopped around at lowes and can pick on up for around $2500. I know the railing they are offering can't cost over $1000. I feel the railing and the fridge is a fair offer to meet. They said a regular fridge or the railing. I feel I am being taken advantage of. And want both for it to be fair.

Business

Response:

[redacted] is correct that there was an error on the floorplan sheet that was initialed by the [redacted] at the time of contract. That document is attached. The dimensions in the owner's bedroom are not correct as listed. The room, however, is drawn to scale with the rest of the house.

The "Greenville" plan is listed at 1793 square feet on that initial page. The house that is being constructed on the lot for the [redacted] shows a square footage of 1791. The difference in 2 square feet is related to the thickness of the drywall. There is absolutely NO missing square footage in the house. The full plans are attached. While Capstone acknowledged the error on the floor plan, the [redacted] were also shown completed Greenville homes that had a Owner's suite that was the size of what was built rather than what is shown on the floorplan sheet.

Because of this error, we offered to give the Mays a railing (instead of a knee wall) at no charge.

Regarding the dormers, Capstone Homes has never represented that the dormers located on the front of the house would be functional. The attached floorplan that was initialed by the [redacted] does not show the dormers to be functional. The second floor shows and area that is listed as "unfinished storage/Opt. Bonus room". There are no window represented on the plan (either standard or optional). All other windows are represented on the prints. Older versions of this house did have a single dormer that was functional, but the two dormer elevation chosen by the [redacted] has never been built. When our draftsman originally drew the prints for this house, the draftsman used an older version of the home as the basis for creating the [redacted] home which was presented to the client. This earlier version featured functional dormers, which was not a part of their original contract. This error was corrected prior to the start of construction or the preconstruction meeting with the [redacted]

In summary, Capstone Homes understands our mistake with the incorrect dimensions for the owner's suite, and we have offered to compensate the [redacted] for our mistake. The issue of the dormers was not a mistake, as we are building the home we promised in the contract.

Review: Beginning with the initial involvement with Capstone Homes we have been misled and did not realize it until settlement. Some examples would be the size of counters, number of lights, electrical outlets, and other things. The main reason for this complaint is that since the initial walk through in April, 2013, the 30 day list which we e-mailed to the office and other issues that needed repairing, we have been ignored by [redacted] (Managing Partner), the office staff and contractors who were assigned to handle these repairs. Many of the repairs we were told were cosmetic since settlement date had passed. Even cracked woodwork that was only seen after moving in. It has now been almost 6 months since we settled and many of these concerns have not been addressed. We have issues with water in our crawl space well not draining and afraid of seeping into the crawl space, hollow ground around foundation, cracked siding and other things that Capstone is aware of. We were told at settlement not to call the office but to e-mail whatever problems we had. Since August all of our e-mails have been ignored by the office and [redacted] and we are still waiting for a response. This company does not deliver what it says it will and we are very disappointed as we know many in our neighborhood are. Hopefully you can be of assistance and help us have our new home in better shape. Thank you.Desired Settlement: Would like for all the concerns we have with our new house repaired or replaced as promised.

Business

Response:

Capstone Homes freely admits that our communication was poor from the end of August until this complaint was filed. We have made contact with the [redacted] and we are addressing their concerns.

We have attached two emails that discuss the idea that the customer has been misled. This Revdex.com system does not allow enough attachments, but Capstone's documentation will show that the home that the T[redacted] contracted to build with Capstone Homes is the home that was built by Capstone Homes. Prior to settlement, there was an issue with the availability of water service in the [redacted] community, and this issue was related to a dispute between the developer of [redacted]. It led to a delay in settlement for the [redacted], and Capstone Homes was neither the cause of this delay nor was Capstone any party to the dispute. We simply could not connect to the water system in the community. This caused a hardship for the [redacted] and Capstone Homes agreed to allow the [redacted] to store their belongings in the house prior to settlement so that they would not incur additional expenses for storage. This is a significant liability issue for Capstone as a builder, but it was done as a courtesy for the [redacted]

Capstone Homes strongly denies that anyone has EVER been misled about how we do business and what we represent to our customers. We argue the exact opposite- that our building process is open, honest, and informative, and that we deliver the home that we promise to our customers. We are an honest company. We will own communication failures with the [redacted] but it is offensive to accuse Capstone Homes of misleading anyone. There is substantial written evidence that Capstone Homes built what we said we would build, and we have gone beyond the requirements of our limited warranty to satisfy this customer.

The [redacted] have minor repairs that are necessary to make to the home. We do have photographic evidence that the lot does not have "hollow ground" around the foundation, but the lot is graded properly and is draining properly. Any water that is left in the crawlspace access may remain after a rain event, but this access is exposed to the outside. The conditioned crawlspace is dry and performing as designed.

We have gone to great lengths to correct issues that the [redacted] have raised, and we will continue to honor our warranty obligations that we promised to keep when the [redacted] contracted to purchase their home with us.

Capstone Homes has much more documentation that it can provide in its response, but the Revdex.com system does not allow more attachments.

Review: On May 10, 2013, I moved into my home in the development of [redacted] which I purchased from Capstone Homes. The home is located at [redacted]. Almost immediately, I noticed a problem with the drainage on the property. There is standing water in the back and side of my house. When it rains, I have a stream of water that is like a small creek. I have spoken with representatives of Capstone Homes and have sent numerous e-mails to them. They acknowledge that there is a problem, and have taken photos of the standing water, and they have assured me that it will be corrected. I have lived in my home for over a year now, and the problem is ongoing, and I feel like Capstone seems to be ignoring any immediate resolution to the problem. My fear is that Capstone Homes will leave this development without correcting my drainage problems.Desired Settlement: Capstone Homes needs to hire professional engineers to assess what needs to be done to correct the drainage problems. Perhaps some re-grading of the property and a French drain put in to remove the standing water. I am sure if they hired knowledgeable engineers, these drainage issues can be corrected.

Business

Response:

The issue with [redacted]'s side yard has been repaired. The issue with the back of his yard is related to a community drainage problem that is not something Capstone Homes can address. Capstone met with the Sussex Conservation District at [redacted]'s home yesterday. Sussex Conservation District monitors stormwater management in Sussex County, Delaware.

The attached letter is written to the developer to correct the problem. As the letter states, the corrective action needs to be done in the common area behing [redacted]'s lot.

[redacted]'s lot receives stormwater run off from lots that are further up the street and higher in elevation. There is an excess of water flowing through his yard during rain events, but the solution is a modification to the community drainage plan. This solution requires action by the developer not the builder. It is Capstone's position that we have addressed all of the issues that we are able to address in this situation.