North Creek Construction

Review: My contract to build a house stated completion (turn key ready) within 6 months of signing. This was the understanding between myself and the builder (David Edmundson). It has now been nearly 9 months and the house is not complete.There was a Punch List contract signed at closing that stated the "punch list" items would be complete within 2 weeks of that signing. That contract is also unfulfilled. In addition to the contract failures, there are latent defects. Erosion protection was never installed after final grading and seeing. Now there are numerous trenches cut into the yard and rocks are exposed everywhere. A lack of protection to the tile floors during construction has damaged and stained the finish. The list of frustrations created by the builder, listed below, contribute to this desired settlement.1. Lack of effort and progress. North Creek Construction has continually delayed to failure despite being given assistance and additional time for completion.2. Mistakes and rework have plagued the project from the beginning. i.e. The foundation was off by 1 1/2 feet, the bump out was put on the wrong side, three rooms were framed incorrectly by 1 1/2 feet, and the hardwood finishing was so poor that 3 attempts were needed to get it somewhat acceptable.3. Poor planning was a consistent theme of construction. Last minute redesigns were needed for the recessed shelves and the tile pattern in the shower due to the placement of framing and plumbing. The same lack of planning in the placement of joists lead to lights having to be relocated, and a drop down for the hood vent. This drop down lowered the hood to an unacceptably low height, which the builder failed to remedy. Windows were forgotten, and some ordered with the wrong grill pattern, gas shutoff valves were forgotten, and the list goes on.4. A lack of commitment to quality was clear in both the execution (uneven drywall) and the decisions (wanted to install hardwood outside of the manufacturers guidelines).Desired Settlement: Refund for the items in the signed Punch List and the latent defects described above (tiles finish, tile staining, erosion damage to grading, rocks exposed in grading). Within the punch list are prices associated with each item. David Edmundson signed that these prices were accurate.The Punch List items total to $3,500, with reductions taken for completion to date. The desired settlement for tile re-finishing/cleaning/sealing is $800. $1000 for the grading repairs. Total settlement is $5,300.

Review: We signed a contract, with a $15,000 deposit, with [redacted] North Creek Construction, in March of 2013 to build a custom home for us. When he hadn't started our home by Sept 2013, we tried to get our money back. We had to threaten to sue him to get him to start our home, which he did in February 2014 with an updated contract saying that he would finish by August 31, 2014. We finally closed on Dec 29. [redacted] made several serious construction mistakes: he didn't extend the garage, do the coffered ceilings, put brick on the walkway, put in the right windows, and many other items that were specified in our contract.

He never communicated with us about what was happening with the house -- he built it as if it were a spec house and not a custom house. He was impossible to get in touch with. He has no office and no staff. He didn't answer phone or email. He is the worst builder we have ever encountered.Desired Settlement: We just want other unsuspecting people to know about our experience.

Business

Response:

We did sign a contract in March of 2013 to build a house for

this client. But what the client is not

disclosing is that this was a contract to build a home on a lot that we did not

own, in a neighborhood that was not developed yet. We met in a big field with no road, no

utilities, and with a drawing of lots that had not been approved by the

county. We were not the developer of

this property and had no control of the development. The client knew this and still wanted to

build on this particular lot.

Because of this uncertainty, our contract was modified to

state that the completion would be about 6 months after the lot was build ready

and we were able to close on the purchase of the lot and the construction

loan. (we cannot build on a lot that we

don’t own)

The developer was held up for several reasons that had

nothing to do with us, so in February of 2014, when the lot still was not ready

to purchase, we met with the clients and the developer at the same time to

decide what to do. I offered to refund

the deposit, not build the house and let the clients out of the contract, but

the clients decided that they wanted to continue on with the build. We were able to close on the purchase of the lot

in May of 2014 and completed the home in November of 2014 which is right at 6

months, as stated in the contract.

The clients were already very upset at the beginning of the

project because of the delays in getting started, which were out of our

control, and therefore communication was strained throughout.

As far as the items that were not completed per the contract,

each of those items were decisions by the client. The framers made a mistake in the garage

size, and I offered to immediately correct the problem, but the clients decided

against it instead they wanted to add a large dormer on the roof of the garage

to enlarge the bonus room. The clients

decided on a vaulted ceiling in the living room instead of coffered ceiling and

wanted to move the coffered ceiling to the kitchen. We met at the house and they decided that the

coffered ceiling would not work out well in the kitchen, so we gave wainscotting instead, at their request. At the end of the project, there

were some items that we were waiting on a decision from the clients. These included adding brick pavers to the

sidewalk, changing out windows, and a few other things. The clients decided they did not want those

things done and for us discount the price in accordance for those things not

being done.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[redacted] NEVER offered to return our deposit of $15,000. We asked many. many times and can provide email evidence. We did meet with the builder and developer in Feb 2014 and tried to get our money back. The developer personally vouched for the builder, they offered us $5,000 to not terminate the contract, the builder agreed to begin construction by February 27, 2014 and complete construction by August 31, 2014. Against our better judgement, we agreed.First Addendum:[redacted] – Lot Contract Addendum dated February 13,2014Due to the significant delays in the development and availability of the lots on [redacted], North Creek Construction and the Purchaser’s agree to the following modifications to the previously signed contract:? North Creek Construction (NCC) agrees to lower the purchase price by $5,000. This discount comes from a $2,500 discount on the price of the lot by the developer and a $2,500 discount on the price of the construction of the house provided by North Creek Construction.? NCC agrees to commence permitting and construction of the purchaser’s home right away, within a few weeks.? NCC agrees to have the purchasers’ home complete by August 31st 2014. If the construction of the purchasers’ home is not complete by August 31st 2014, NCC will discount the price of the home by $1,000, and an additional $1,000 for each month the home is not complete after August 31st 2014.When it became evident that the house would not be completed by August 31, 2014, and that we would not be able to get our deposit back, we contacted a real estate attorney, [redacted] with [redacted] and [redacted]. She drafted, and [redacted] signed, a second addendum, as follows:SECOND ADDENDUM TO CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTThis Second Addendum to Construction Contract is rnade on this 2nd day of October, 2014, to the Construction Contract dated the 25'l'day of March,2013 and executed on the 7thday of April, 2014 between [redacted]. and [redacted] (the "Purchasers"), and NORTH CREEK CORPORATION d/b/a NORTH CREEK CONSTRUCTION (the"Seller") for the construction, purchase and sale of a residence on Lot , [redacted] (the "Property"), which was modified via Addendum dated on the l3'l'day of February,2014 (the "Contract"). The following provisions are incorporated into and made apart of the Contract:Seller has until December 1, 2014. to complete construction of the residence on the Properly as described in the Contract and deliver to Purchasers a valid certificate of occupancy.Seller and its President, [redacted] have, jointly and severally, executed a Demand Note of even date with this addendum in favor of Purchasers in the amount of$23,661.93 (the "Note"). The Note will be held in escrow by the Purchasers' attorney, [redacted], Esquire of the law firm of [redacted] & [redacted], P.C. until December 1, 2014.If the Seller completes construction of the residence described in the Contract on the Property by December 1,2014, the Purchasers' attomey will destroy the Note. If construction is notcomplete on the residence described in the Contract on the Properly by December 7,2014,the Contract will automatically terminate and the Purchasers' attorney will deliver the Note to thePurchasers. Upon delivery of the Note to the Purchasers, the Purchasers will have all rights and remedies available to collect the amounts owed by the Seller and Mr. [redacted]on pursuant to theNote.All provisions of the Contract that do not contradict the terms of this addendum shall remain in full force and effect.When the house was STILL not complete by December 1, we informed the attorney that we wanted to walk away and for her to begin the process of enforcing the Demand Note to get back our deposit plus out of pocket expenses. It was on our attorney's advice that we tried to calculate the cost of all the items that were done incorrectly or left undone and to make an offer to [redacted] that would compensate us for his mistakes. That's what we did. She drafted and we executed the Third Addendum December 8, 2014: THIRD ADDENDUM

TO CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT This Third Addendum to Construction

Contract is made on this 8th day of December, 2014, to the

Construction Contract dated the 25th day of March, 2013 and executed

on the 7th day of April, 2014 between [redacted] and [redacted] (the

“Purchasers”), and NORTH CREEK CORPORATION

d/b/a NORTH CREEK CONSTRUCTION (the “Seller”) for the construction,

purchase and sale of a residence on Lot , [redacted] Court, [redacted] (the

“Property”), which was modified via addenda dated the 13th day of

February, 2014 and the 2nd day of October, 2014 (the “Contract”). The following provisions are incorporated

into and made a part of the Contract:

Seller agrees to lower the purchase

price of the Property to $307,500.00.

Closing will take place on or about

December 29, 2014 (the “Closing”).

Seller agrees to perform no further

work on the Property between the date of this addendum and the Closing.

Seller agrees to allow the

Purchasers’ flooring sub-contractor access to the Property to refinish the

hardwood flooring prior to the Closing.

All provisions of the Contract that

do not contradict the terms of this addendum shall remain in full force and

effect.

[redacted] assertions that we held up any of his progress is patently absurd. I have dozens or emails that I could present to support this but I will offer one. This is an excerpt from an email that the attorney sent to [redacted] on December 3, 2014:" [redacted] –

I have received your email this

morning and have cced the [redacted] on this email, so that they will have a copy.

I will shortly be forwarding you emails that I sent last week, because it is

clear to me in reading this email that you have disregarded many of

them.

With respect to a walk-through

on December 1 – you never responded to my email, so it was not scheduled.

However, as you noted in your email, the [redacted] did come by, but when they

discovered the windows and the sidewalk were not completed they did not feel it

was necessary to view the entire property.

The house is not 100% completed

as agreed. It does not conform to the contract specifications. You may be able

to sell the house, but it is not the house that the [redacted] agreed to buy. Even

if you want to argue that the windows were not a part of the construction

contract, which we would specifically deny, you yourself have conceded that the

brick pavers were not installed. You stated in your email that you verified on

November 24 that the brick pavers were still available and you scheduled

installation for the weekend, but cancelled them at the last minute when you

received no response from the [redacted]. However, I sent you an email on November

24 which specifically stated that the [redacted] would not be purchasing the home

UNLESS the windows AND THE SIDEWALK WERE COMPLETED. With that in mind, I cannot

fathom why you would have cancelled the work. "We do not need or want any further correspondence from [redacted]on. We just want others to be aware of [redacted]'s record as regards home building. There are many others who can substantiate our allegations.Thank you for helping us to provide information on [redacted]on and North Creek Construction.

Regards,

[redacted] And [redacted]