Stetson Homes Inc.

Please send over the list of repairs that you are needing done and we will send the appropriate subcontractor out to take care of them. When Stan brought that client by he doesn't remember the items you told him except for the perma bark on the berm to which we removed and replaced shortly
after. If you would like to post your list to the Revdex.com instead of sending it to us that is fine as well

All items have been successfully settled between the homeowner and Stetson Homes as of today.Stetson Homes, Inc

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because:
Business is outright lyingWe were promised a drain by the super and was told they would start Monday after August End of storyHusband and neighbor were witnessCompany is unethical and lyingWe have also consulted with landscapers and your property is at faultWill keep rejecting anything but what we were promisedAsk your neighbor ***She was there. Sincerely,*** ***

You were promised after a normal watering schedule was adapted that we would reevaluate.  You were promised that after that reevaluation IF a drain was needed we would install one.  At the beginning due to the large amount of water we felt that a drainage would be needed.  Now that the watering was been significantly reduced we have reevaluated the situation and we don't feel that any other steps are necessary.  The supervisor Todd who had recently talked to you was under the impression that we were still going through with the drain at that time though we had not reevaluated the situation. 
 
After discussing the situation with our client, the hoa, city officials, code enforcement for the area, another landscaper and even a soils and hydrologist engineer they have all agreed no other actions from us is necessary for our lot.
 
That being said I do believe you do have a problem with drainage for your lot due to your landscaping and wish you the best in finding a remedy for it.  Arguing that the grass on the property line is wet after the sprinklers runs is nonsense because of course it is going to be wet we have grass there and it needs to be watered.

Before we started construction on our home it was noted this neighbors yard was already draining onto our property.  Throughout our entire build our front yard had an 8'x8' pond in it do to run off from this neighbor.  Our back yard also had a stream of water coming from the neighbors yard...

caused by run off.  At the time we started our lot was considerably lower then this neighbors.
By the time we started landscaping we brought in dirt and as required by city code provided the approriate slope from the house to the property ensuring that we would not have a negitive slope that could cause water getting into the crawlspace.  We proceeded with installing sprinklers and sod at the hottest time of the summer requiring us to overwater 3 times a day in order to prevent the sod from drying up and dieing and even at 3 times a day the sod was still drying up to fast.  After 2-3 weeks and the sod established itself we were able to cut the watering times back significantly and most of the overwatering was corrected.
In bringing our yard into city and code compliance we kept the edge of the yard at the same level as the neighbors.  It was also found that this current neighbor has a low spot in their yard formed by their yard and a large landscaping mound on their property.  Due to this being a low spot in their yard now that our yard is at a correct height the water that was running off their yard onto ours is now puddling and collecting in their yard.  This is an issue with their landscaping and though it wasn't a problem since it was previously running onto our property the issue has manifested itself.  Though our yard slopes to their property (which I might also add that their yard also slopes towards our property) our property also slopes towards the rear of the property and along this property line theirs does not slope to the rear do to a landscaping mound that they have built hence why they have a low spot that is not draining out.
In regards to the gutter down spout drain facing their property it was not intentionally aimed at their house but as almost all downspouts it comes out perpendicular to the house and in fact is at least 20 feet from the property.  If you follow a line from this downspout to the lowest spot on our property (the point of water flow) it does not point to the neighbors yard.  There is no code or city ordinance stating that a rain gutter downspout has to be connected to a drain system.  Also there has been minimal rain since the house was built and so there is no evidence that there is a problem or will be a problem.
We feel that at this time the drainage problems the neighbor is experiencing is a result of their landscaping and not ours though it has finally manifested itself do to our lot finally being finished appropriately.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
The reply by this business contains false statements. We are not satisfied with this response and still require repair to resolve this problem. This first false statement is this: 
"In bringing our yard into city and code compliance we kept the edge of the yard at the same level as the neighbors."
In fact, as evidenced by the attached pictures, the neighbor's yard is higher than our yard. It was graded higher, and the slope off the side of the patio area is quite drastic in comparison to our slope. We believe this is the main issue for the water run off into our yard. In addition, as noted by the super when he came out to inspect the property, the neighbors are also having a build up of excess water. Because their yard cannot handle it, it runs into our yard. I tried to attached a video to this complaint to show how squishy our lawn is along the fence line, which is not the lowest point of our yard. However, the file format was not accepted. This video was just taken and shows how wet our grass is, even though we have not watered since yesterday morning. 
The second false statement is this:
Due to this being a low spot in their yard now that our yard is at a correct height the water that was running off their yard onto ours is now puddling and collecting in their yard.  This is an issue with their landscaping and though it wasn't a problem since it was previously running onto our property the issue has manifested itself. 
Again, their yard is not at the same level as ours, and in addition, we do not have any water build up issues when running our own sprinklers. If the statement by the builder was true, we would have water build up even if the neighbors did not run their water. This is simply not the case. As mentioned above, even when we do not run our sprinklers, we have issues from the neighbor's water run off. When we run our own sprinklers, there is no puddle at the lowest point, and no build up. It is clearly being caused by the neighbor's yard. 
Regarding the downspout issue, this is going to be a problem. As shown in the photo, this is pointed directly at our yard, and there is a slope toward our yard. When it rains and snows, that water is going to run off directly into our yard. There should be a drain under this. When I mentioned this issue to the super, he didn't dispute my claim, but rather said, "oh, it doesn't rain or snow hard here." He didn't disagree with me, but rather tried to say since the weather isn't bad, it's not a problem. This is not acceptable for resolution. 
Regarding this statement: 
We feel that at this time the drainage problems the neighbor is experiencing is a result of their landscaping and not ours though it has finally manifested itself do to our lot finally being finished appropriately.
We would like to know why we were promised a drain install when the super came out to inspect the situation. He clearly saw there was an issue and that was his immediate resolution. Even upon following up with him later to ask about when it would be done, he said, "Don't worry, we didn't forget about you. We have just been busy. We are going to take care of it." However, once the owner's son got out, he denied the drain install. Our guess is because they do not want to pay for it. Why would the builder's own super acknowledge there is a problem from their yard, and promise a drain, but the owner's son backpedaled? 
Lastly, I wanted to make note of something that while it is not related to our specific claim, it does show that this is not the first time this builder has been in this situation. When researching a local site for our neighborhood, I came upon a complaint from a Stetson homeowner in our same subdivision that claimed she had a swamp in her backyard, but Stetson refused to fix it and blamed the neighbor. This sound quite similar to what is happening to us. 
In addition. the builder's lack of responsibility to take care of this issue has caused conflict between us and the neighbors. We have to constantly call them to take care of this, when really, it's the builder who caused this. We want this issue fixed, and will not accept this response. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Stetson Homes, Inc.
339 W. State St.
Ste. 101
Eagle, ID 83616
208-939-7530
 
 
 
[redacted]
[redacted]
 
 
 
Re: ID #[redacted]
 
 
Please find our response to the...

complaint filed with the Revdex.com in the items listed below:
 
·         Severe Drainage Issue- In order to save money, Ms. [redacted] chose to plant hydro-seed as opposed to sod in her backyard. She requested that we install berms along the outside edge of the entire backyard. The seed required substantial watering to grow however there was no place for the excess water to drain so it caused puddles to form in the backyard. We attempted to put a drain in to let the water drain out but were unsuccessful. She withheld $2500.00 that Ms. [redacted] owed Stetson Homes & hired another landscaper to resolve the problem. In this case, sod would have been the best choice especially because she had 2 dogs & the berms should not have been placed along the property without paying someone to have extensive landscaping done.
·         Frontier Fence has been contacted to come out & stain the fence posts the week of April 17th. This was an additional expense that Ms. [redacted] did not pay however, we will agree to have this done as it should have been done a year ago.
·         Dented cooking hood was a stained cabinet that was fixed to Ms. [redacted] satisfaction at that time.
·         The nails in the carpet were addressed at the time that it was pointed out.
·         The sharp edge on the tile was fixed when it was brought to Stetson’s attention.
·         Weed fabric & shredded bark was installed in the planters as requested. This does not mean that weeds will not grow.
·         Stetson Homes was not aware of the entry way wood that was never stained & we would be more than happy to meet with the homeowner regarding this.
·          There was a leak in the laundry room that once it was discovered, we repaired it immediately. It did take about a month for the hardwood floor to be replaced which is too long. However, it was fixed to the homeowner’s satisfaction a year ago.
·         Stetson Homes is unaware of any stucco cracks however, stucco is a concrete product and is prone to small cracks & this was explained to the homeowner’s when this was chosen to be the exterior of their home.
·         A small sink hole was repaired in the yard which was caused by sprinkler trench settling.
·         Stetson Homes is unaware of a broken kitchen faucet.
·         Stetson Homes is unaware of the baseboard garage cracked threshold.
 
 
Obviously as a builder, we do want our customer to have the best experience & be more than happy with the end result. We pride ourselves in our work & feel for Ms. [redacted] having to deal with the plumbing leak & issues with the backyard. However, we did what we could to resolve these issues & what was within Ms. [redacted] budget.