Homes by Towne

Shotty workmanship - felt as if my concerns were petty, almost since day one they have been in and out of my house, due to carpet coming up in several rooms, lack of paint on the walls, ceiling, two toned colors on ceiling, they did not tell me the grout wasn't sealed, found out the hard way by spilling coffee and couldn't get the stain out, let alone other things that grout picks up, my flooring is still suspect and waiting to see it in another home, but it seems I'm the only home that has this flooring that appears to be bubbling up. Waiting to see a home that I was told has the same flooring. Moved in, in July, its now October, I've had about 40 "settling cracks" and counting. My neighbor moved in a month prior to me and no settling cracks in his home. Cracked tiles, missing grout in areas. My dishwasher didn't work, had a broken hot water heater. Not just cracking along the walls where it was taped and mudded but every window has cracks along the pane and coming out of each of the corners. BEWARE they don't tell you this in the review stage... flat paint through out the house, except the closets. You will need to put semi-gloss in those critical places, like your bathrooms and kitchens. I feel like they slapped these together like apartment buildings. The pile on the carpet is so low that you are poking your feet with staples, this is on a daily basis for me. If they push the staples down too far, the carpet will come up. There were holes you could put a pen down in the corner of the stairs due to them shorting the drywall. the carpet is not pulled to the edge of the wall, so you can see the space between the carpet and wall or where the drywall was shorted. Three windows needed to be replaced due to some black type of material in between the pains, the super acted as if I was over reacting until he couldn't get it removed himself and then realized it was an issue.4 more still need to be replaced and that doesn't even include the windows I just washed, that have debris I can't remove and scratches. I have been here for almost three months and it does not feel like a home yet. for what you spend on a home, you should feel like it is your home, the moment you walk in. That is not the case. I would highly recommend purchasing an existing, and putting money into the redo. I have done that in the past and this time I wanted new as I didn't want to have to redo so much. I wanted to relax a bit and enjoy. I wish I would have spent $150K less on a home and bought existing and put that money into a home with good bones and just redoing things as I go. The first super that came into this house to inspect after I moved in, was disrespectful, condescending and down right rude. I requested that he never be allowed back in. I understand there is never perfection when you move into even a new build, but to have all of these issue, is ridiculous! One of their nails found its way into my tire, they do not do a good job of clean-up, so if you buy, beware of that $200+ later...for replacement. There are things that I won't even put in a claim for as I'll just fix them myself as I just want this to be done, so I can make my house a home. I'm having them take care of the big stuff, and ill do all the many, many small tedious items. The two people in the office that I worked with to purchase this place, I would never recommend either, they were also rude, unresponsive, or very late responses. It was once they had your signature, they pretty much brushed you off. Would never, never put someone through this. My brother, his wife and my sister wanted to see the house as it was being built, so they went to the office for guidance on where it was, as I was not here. I never told them how rude the office people were (had I known they were coming, I would have) but that was the first comment they made, actually it was arrogant and rude. So much more I could write here... but I think I've left enough for you to have something to think about.

We have received the rebuttal from Mrs***The photos that are attached are of the wall in questionHowever, these photos are three to four weeks old and were taken while the wall was still in the construction process (note the unpainted base board and bottles, etc.)Mrs [redacted] knows this as she was in the home this past Saturday, August 6thThis home is only recently become fully complete per the original schedule.The concerns she has outlined in her rebuttal are not the concern she expressed to us in the original phone conversation that initiated the complaintThese are pictures of items that are given the incomplete stage of construction at which they were takenThese are all items that do not appear in a finished productThis has been communicated to Mr [redacted] by my construction and sales staff.My concern is that the wall is still constructed with the mortar with which she was originally unhappyThis does not and cannot changePreviously, she has made it clear she would not accept the wall with the mortar the way it is with the grain and texture (please see response letter)It is as I have stated previously; that it is constructed from the materials we have available for this purpose.I propose that she view the finished wall now that all of the peripheral and paint items have been completedI believe she will be quite happyThis will take only minutes of her time if she can make herself available from Monday through Friday, 8:am to 4:pmIf she is agreeable to this, I will arrange access to the home for this purpose.We hope that this will be acceptableOnce we have reached a mutual agreement we can then proceed with the orientation and closing processPlease let me know if you require additional informationThank you again

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my dispute.
We
have received the response from Homes by Towne and wanted to see if the below
resolution would be accepted and also keep us on track for a Friday 8/12/
closingWe
ask that the flaws along the meeting point of the wall and the mortar be fixed
and the electrical socket fit more flush or no gaps present so that objects
cannot be stuck behindThe mortar has lightened up more since the last
pictures (as you can see in the top pictures) to more resemble the shade of
the modelWe are asking that the acoustic and paint be touched up in these
areas and we will be pleased with the finished outcome with no refund or
demolition requiredIf this cannot be achieved we would also be acceptable of
seeing how a piece of finishing trim would look where the wall and the mortar
meet

We have received the rebuttal from Mrs. [redacted]. The photos that are attached are of the wall in question. However, these photos are three to four weeks old and were taken while the wall was still in the construction process (note the unpainted base board and bottles, etc.). Mrs. [redacted] knows this as she was in the home this past Saturday, August 6th. This home is only recently become fully complete per the original schedule.The concerns she has outlined in her rebuttal are not the concern she expressed to us in the original phone conversation that initiated the complaint. These are pictures of items that are normal given the incomplete stage of construction at which they were taken. These are all items that do not appear in a finished product. This has been communicated to Mr. [redacted] by my construction and sales staff.My concern is that the wall is still constructed with the mortar with which she was originally unhappy. This does not and cannot change. Previously, she has made it clear she would not accept the wall with the mortar the way it is with the grain and texture (please see response letter). It is as I have stated previously; that it is constructed from the materials we have available for this purpose.I propose that she view the finished wall now that all of the peripheral and paint items have been completed. I believe she will be quite happy. This will take only minutes of her time if she can make herself available from Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. If she is agreeable to this, I will arrange access to the home for this purpose.We hope that this will be acceptable. Once we have reached a mutual agreement we can then proceed with the normal orientation and closing process. Please let me know if you require additional information. Thank you again.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
[redacted]

We first became aware of Mrs. [redacted]es’ Revdex.com (Revdex.com) complaint on Friday, August 5th. A notification had been sent about ten days prior but was captured in our spam filter and remained unnoticed until an inquiry of the status was sent from you the morning of Friday, August...

5th.Previously, on or about Tuesday, July 26th, I had a conversation with Mrs. [redacted] about a stone wall under a bar in the kitchen that faces the Family Room. Several weeks earlier we installed a decorative interior stone wall accent at Mr. and Mrs. [redacted] direction. This was done through a Change Order which is our process for material changes to construction. The stone and mortar used to construct the wall were the same stone and mortar used on the exterior of the home. Mrs. [redacted] had expressed her displeasure with the appearance of the interior wall with our superintendent explaining that she was unhappy with the color of the mortar used. In her view it did not match the “buff” mortar she had seen in our model home.In our industry, builders are dealing with issues of available materials due to the explosion in housing demand. Natural and mined materials like sand have inherent inconsistencies from mining in different sites that do not yield the same colors, textures and grains from quarry to quarry. Because of this we have language in our contract that informs the buyer of these possibilities and allows us to retain decision making authority in matters of material variance.We explained to Mrs. [redacted] that there are several factors that determine a final finished product and that the mortar would lighten as it cures over the next weeks. She refused to accept this fact and demanded that we reconstruct the wall. In an effort to make Mrs. [redacted] happy, we agreed to remove the stone wall and reconstruct it our expense. This time we contacted several outside sources looking for sand that would yield the color closest to her expectation. We had sand trucked in from West Texas for this specific matter.We reconstructed the wall with the new sand. She then said she didn’t like the wall because it had larger pebbles in it than the one in our model home. The issue was now not color but grain. In myconversation with her she wanted to know why it didn’t look like the stone and mortar used in our model home. I explained that the model home was constructed seven years ago and that there were other factors that contribute to a final finished product. She then wanted to know why we didn’t use the same materials that were used on the exterior of the home. I explained to Mrs. [redacted] that the mortar, sand and stone used on the exterior was what we had built the interior wall with in the first place, the wall she demanded we tear down and replace.Now, Mrs. [redacted] wants the money she paid refunded. I am offering to the [redacted]es:1. That we remove the wall at our expense, refund their interior stone wall purchase price of $812.00 and then we can resume the final walk, acceptance and closing procedure.We believe that our effort to make Mrs. [redacted] happy has been demonstrated time and again. As a part of our continuing effort to provide a quality product and highest level of customer satisfaction, Homes by Towne of Texas, Inc. has pledged to operate our business to the high standards set forth by the Fort Worth Revdex.com. In doing so, we have agreed to respond to customer complaints through the appropriate channels outlined in their program documentation. This letter is intended to demonstrate our commitment to that standard. If additional information is desired, please do not hesitate to contact me.Sincerely,Ray B[redacted]