Dan Ryan Builders, Inc.

Shoddy workmanship, honors warranty, but still shoddy

Sales: As expected, they will try to convince you that “upgrades,” such as deck is extra, don’t buy that line.

Customer service: Arrogant project manager Adrian Bucatari badmouthed other buyers for being too picky about imperfections (I guess trying to intimidate me into not complaining?) He gives circuitous non-answers, spouting regulations such as how they don’t legally have to fix wall defects if can’t be seen from certain number of feet. Or when asked how loud the near by construction would be, he just spouted noise ordinance regulations and how they are allowed to make as much noise as they want morning to evening. So what? I didn’t ask what the regulations were, but tried to find out how he operates. We were nothing but cordial to this guy, one would think he would have a modicum of courtesy to the people who fund his salary. This was all before closing! Lucky for him the issues weren’t dealbreakers. I wonder how lax he would be when spending hundreds of thousands of his own money? No doubt this kind of cavalier attitude trickledown to his workers. Warranty manager was more personable, albeit not easy to get a hold of due to all the defects he has to fix. They did try to fix most major issues, but spent way too much time & inconvenience dealing with such issues in a brand new house.

Workmanship: Evidence of shoddy, unprofessional work. Roof leak within a year (their solution was to leave a bucket in the attic), moulding left floating instead of glued/nailed, unstable banisters, piles of dirt & debris swept into vents, kitchen drawers used as trash cans by workers, fixtures coming loose from walls due to improper anchoring, paint spray on all door knobs, sinks, etc. Gobs of spackle/caulking not smoothed out before painting, silicon caulking smeared on glass, wood flooring improperly installed so there are permanent (not related to humidity) gaps between planks, large enough for feet/furniture to catch, misaligned cabinets & drawers, uneven wood staining, improperly connected fuses leading to power loss to appliances in middle of night, GFCI keeps tripping & shutting off appliances, etc. etc.

Materials: Everything will be truly “builder grade.” Low end appliances, cabinets, flooring (engineered wood with the thinnest veneer that begins to peel & splinter immediately), flat crumbly paint that stains easily, toilets that require several flushes.

We moved into our Dan Ryan home in November, Once you close on your home and move in and they have your money, the customer service is horrible! It took us almost a year to get them to address the punch list items and that was only with us constantly staying on top of them One item was not fixed correctly and we did not agree with their attempted fix and now that time has proven that the item is not fixed, they now refuse to properly fix it because "it's past the one year warranty" We now had a plumbing leak which damaged our hardwood floor in our kitchen When it happened, they told me that it was covered under warranty and that someone would contact me to fix the floor Now, after weeks of waiting and the warranty manager not answering her phone & refusing to return my calls, she now claims that it is not covered and flat out lied about ever having told me that someone would call to come out and repair it DO NOT buy a house from Dan Ryan unless you are willing to pay for repairs due to their poor workmanship out of your own pocket!

- Kitchen configuration plans were wrong so the kitchen was installed wrongAsked to "compromise"
- Extra support beams were placed in the basement to make it virtually impossible to finish This was due to apparently one of the pages in the plans being wrong They were ultimately removed, but was a fairly significant mistake
- Garage door was damaged during the build and the "fix" was to put the service sticker over the damaged area
- Crooked front entry way columns - it took them months to get this fixed The gentleman that originally installed these had a drug problem
- Gutters/Rook leaking rain on side of house and not draining
- Patchy grass because of poor landscaping practices They did not use top soil They just put seed on top of the hard dirt/rocks and said it would grow It hasn't It is very easy to spot the Dan Ryan homes in our neighborhood versus the other builders solely by the poor landscaping

When shopping for a new home my husband and I were excited to locate a Dan Ryan Community in an area we wanted to move. We found the sales staff friendly and patient with us a first time new home buyers. I had heard some online chatter about various builders so came to Revdex.com to see if DRB was doing well by their customers. We decided to buy with them and settled in April. I can honestly say that while we found minor issues with some items during our 5 month build process the staff worked hard to make things meet our satisfaction and the home we have is one we are proud of. We had one tiny warranty issue since closing and had a prompt response that was repaired by the plumber within a day of calling. I know not everyone has glowing things to say when the come to Revdex.com but I hope this post helps those review savvy buyers like us to consider DRB. You can not be the price quality balance they offer.

In short my experience with the whole Dan Ryan home buying ordeal was and is awful... First the closing was unprofessional ie. certain parties were not at the settlement location on time, in fact I didn't leave my 11am settlement appointment until 7:30pm. By then I had lost my moving crew and had to stay in my apartment an extra day past my lease. Most defects in the house are dealt with in a patch up mode instead of a complete repair. Still trying to get bad spots, nail pops,cracks, painted-over sanding dust, unpainted areas repaired today 11 months later.....(will cont. later...