The Homark Company, Inc

see attached

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
In response to Homark, they claim they do an on-site cleaning and inspection. The cleaning was never done. My wife and I cleaned up all construction debris that was left in the house. This includes a wire sawdust, sheet rock dust and all cardboard boxes that were left from doors, lights, etc.
As to the cabinets I never said anything about my cabinet color in my complaint, but yes the cabinets are very cheap quality and the styles and doors are completely different colors. Very noticeable in the light. It could be that it was dark enough in the viewing of the home and the other homes that I could not tell the difference in colors. I will provide pictures of the different colors if necessary
My doors in the marriage wall were an inch and a half below the doorstop upon completion of the house which was installed after the house was set. If Jeremiah [redacted] from homark would have done a final inspection I would have thought he would have seen this and corrected it. I had Homark fix the door issue but when I returned the doors were still three quarters of an inch below the door stop, which if you can imagine, looks very bad. So I had them come back again to get proper gaps in the three doors. If they would have installed the doors properly the first time there would have been no course of action on their part. It's not my fault if it takes three times to get three doors installed properly. To make matters even worse is they reinstalled the same trim all three times so now the trim has been nailed on three times and there are all kinds of nail holes in them. It looks horrible. This was also not my complaint.
Next brings me to the door knob placement. Before I even bought the house I wanted raised panel doors but what Homark wanted pricewise for the doors was too much. So I talked with Kelly [redacted] from Homark (the salesman) I told him just put in your standard doors then I will keep the jams and reinstall raised panel oak doors at a later date. Kelly said that would be fine. Kelly never told me that the doorknobs would be at 40 inches. The standard door knob is 36 inches. At the current 40 inches the doorknobs do not work with any standard raised panel door. This also was not in my complaint but since Jeremiah brought it up I responded.
This brings me to the ceiling. The ceiling in the kitchen and living room are so bad that you can see every seam through the tape, paint, and texture. I have in writing from Jeremiah [redacted] that these are bad and agrees that this is a legitimate claim and that he would not deny that. After finding my two huge holes in my top plates and bottom plate where wire was run and not insulated allowing heat to escape from house to attic, I was tired of everything and wanted to just be done with Homark . I was fed up with all of Homark's delays. It was Kelly [redacted] 's idea to wait until spring in case any more cracks develop. This conversation with Kelly was a couple of days after I discovered the holes in my walls. That's when he said let's wait and then I agreed to thinking that I could open the windows in the spring so humidity could escape.
Next comes allegations from Jeremiah [redacted] where in this process began with Revdex.com one statement is given that says the truth must be told. I am getting allegations from Jeremiah [redacted] that I got in his face. This is a bold face lie. He was at my house three times when I was present. The first he was there alone sometime in July. It was very hot that day and Jeremiah [redacted] was doing work in the attic. My family and I went to Dairy Queen to get some refreshments and even brought Jeremiah [redacted] back some ice cream. So it wasn't that day. The second day him and a coworker, his name is Dallas,was there. The only confrontation was I said that if I had known these cabinets looked so bad, it would be a dealbreaker. I was in the kitchen, he was in the dining room, I was never in his face. Dallas can confirm this if he still works there or if he does not work in there. I would think Homark could find him. Remember that the truth must be spoken. The third time Jeremiah [redacted] was there to look at the ceiling was, I think after I painted it. That's when he would look at getting it replaced. I have cameras installed for surveillance and one camera looks in at the kitchen and dining room and I have one in the entryway and also one on the exterior of the house facing my driveway. I have video of this meeting that I can present to show no and I quote in my face ever took place. If that is not enough I am willing to take a polygraph test with Jeremiah to prove that I was never in his face and that he is lying
Another thing that I would like to address is that Jeremiah [redacted] stated that they hired outside contractors because I was unwilling to wait. Truth is it was very rainy out that spring of 2014 and Homark was very behind. I can produce records of the rainy spring along with testimony from my concrete contractor about the unusual rainy spring. It was because of this rainy spring that Homark had to hire outside contractors because they were so behind with my house and many others. I am sure Homark could produce records of that year and previous years and you can compare setting dates and finished product
This brings me to the issue of the flies in my attic. Jeremiah [redacted] says there will be flies because I live on a lake. I wasn't aware I should not buy a home from Homark because I live on the lake. I have tons of flies in my attic and have pictures to prove it. I thought they might be coming into my attic through the vent holes but I still cannot confirm this. But another possibility is the soffit on the west side of my house is a little short and does not touch the facia leaving a little gap. All soffit delivered to the job site was precut by homark. I am going to install another security camera and face it to the soffit very close to the facia to see if any flies enter. If video surveillance confirms, this will be another added complaint. Being mid-March it is tough to get flies around so this will have to wait to a later date. The cameras will be a good way to prove this because they only record when movement is present so I won't have to look through a lot of video.
The excessive moisture problem is only in the attic where Jeremiah [redacted] installed the wires from my off-peak heating. He left a fist size hole through the top plates and a two fist size hole in the bottom plate leading to the basement. As I have a full basement all my heat was leaving the basement and going straight up to the attic condensing and leaving the insulation in the attic soaking wet. I have not had the wall cavity tested for mold yet but I will have that done and if any exist I will add that to my complaint. I tried to get a hold of Homark about this issue so it could be addressed quickly but no one would take my calls, so I was forced to fix the issue myself which includes insulating the two plates and also removing wet insulation from attic drying out the cavity and reinstalling new insulation.
The door exchange was devised because of the lack of info I was given on the issue of my replacing the doors myself. If you remembered the door knobs were drilled at 40 inches. The cost of the doors and the cost of fixing the drywall were about the same. They stated that they could not fix the ceiling without making a mess, so I was able to hire a drywall contractor that would guarantee there would be no sheet rock taping compound dust left upon completion. Seeing as I already had to clean the house once after Homark was supposedly done, I didn't want to have to clean taping compound all over again.
Jeremiah [redacted] said that they could not comply with my unreasonable conditions. All I wanted was my house to be clean and free of sheet rock dust. My wife and I spent so much time cleaning the house once. If the job was done right the first time we would not have to worry about it. I reminded you to Jeremiah admitted the taping job was a legitimate claim. Secondly I didn't want my heating/cooling system going while taping was taking place after all who wants all the dust in their furnace and ductwork. Yes, all I was getting at was the runaround and I was tired of it.
I contacted the Minnesota Department of labor because I was scared that my house was not attached to the foundation. After all this was a big investment and I had to protect it. The only way Homark secured my house to the foundation was with four-inch screws through the rim joist to the sill plate. I talked to a civil engineer and he said that that was not code. So I hired him to come out and do a formal investigation on how my house was attached and submit it. I think Homark forgets that for most people this house they buy is the most expensive investment they will make their entire lives, so we have to protect it
The leak in the h (image)

FYI, this is concerning Complaint number: [redacted]...as of 7am this morning.... The Installer from Bath Fitter came in and addressed my concerns and complaint and fixed them. I wanted to thank you so much for your help its funny how quickly they got back to me after starting this complaint...

with you. Now they are very quick to address any concerns I was having. Again Thank YOU ..

[redacted]response has been scanned in and converted to text below (original document is available using the online complaint system).
The following letter is in response to the February 29, 2016 received consumer complaint made to the Revdex.com of Minnesota and North Dakota by Mr. [redacted]...

[redacted].
Before I directly address the issues listed in the complaint I would like to provide Some background information about The Homark Co., Inc. (hereinafter "Homark") Standard operating procedures as well as the interactions between Homark and Mr. [redacted].
Once Homark completes the manufacture of the home, it is the dealer's responsibility to complete the set up and any on-site finish work required on the home, unless otherwise stated in the purchase agreement. In this case, the dealership is owned by Homark. Homark uses the services of a licensed home set up company to install the home on the supporting structure, in this case a basement. Homark then uses a Homark employed on-site finish crew to complete the marriage line drywall finishing, marriage line door and trim installation, end wall siding, end wall soffit, fascia, and drip edge installations, drywall cracks from transport, and floor covering not able to be completed by the manufacturer. Homark then, as a courtesy not a requirement, will provide an initial cleaning and inspection of the home. This is not a professional cleaning.
During the busy summer months it is not uncommon for the set up company to complete the installation of multiple homes back to back. This process usually takes a little under half of the time it takes to complete the on-site finish work. Therefore it is not uncommon for a home to sit empty waiting for the on-site finish crew to arrive to complete the process. In the case of Mr. [redacted]'s home, he was unwilling to wait for Homark's crew so Homark had to hire subcontractors to complete the on-site finish work.
Mr. [redacted] first complained about the cabinets in his home. He did not approve of the shade variance between the doors and the cabinet styles. The materials Homark uses during the construction of the cabinets are pre finished materials from 2 different vendors. The doors and drawer fronts come from one company and the style material from another, Mr. [redacted] had walked through display homes on the sales lot which had the same style cabinets with the same shade variance. In fact, he walked through his home near the end of the production line and never said a word. The only
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complaint I am aware of from this walk through is that the under mount sink he wanted was not correct. We changed the sink prior to the home leaving our facility.
Mr. [redacted] also did not accept any variance in the measurements of the reveals on his interior door frames, Myself and a member of my on-site finish crew spent 2 days rebuilding interior door jambs to get the reveals to match as close as we possibly could. Next Mr. [redacted] did not like the height of the interior door knobs. He told me he ordered the cheapest door option offered with the intention of replacing the door cores with solid doors from Menards. He stated that he would be unable to reuse the existing frames because the hardware height would not match the new doors. I told him that the door slabs come to Homark predrilled and there was nothing I could do with it.
Mr. [redacted] mentioned the fact that the ceiling drywall seams looked so horrible that it actually made him angry to even look at them. I checked the seams with a Straight edge and there was a little variance, but not a lot. This is a job in which joint compound is added to an already flat surface to cover joint tape on the seams. It is feathered out to blend as much as possible. I mentioned that the homes are sprayed with primer and maybe painting the ceiling would help blend the seams better, Mr. [redacted] painted the kitchen ceiling and said it made it look worse. Again I accompanied my service crew to the home to review this allegation. I do not know about worse, but you could still see Some shadow lines. Mr. [redacted] had been very agitated with this issue. Agitated to the point that he stood face to face with me at his kitchen table yelling at me about how he cannot even sit in his recliner because he might look up and see the ceiling. He got so heated that my service personnel who were at the home with me that trip actually stopped what they were doing to make sure everything was ok. Finally, instead of arguing further, I agreed that Homark would try to make these seams in the ceiling blend better. Homark contacted a professional taper to perform the work. Mr. [redacted] wanted to wait until spring so the windows could be opened to circulate the air. I agreed that this would be best.
In the meantime Mr. [redacted] made complaints about flies in his attic and blamed it on the vented soffit used in the home claiming the holes are too big. The particular soffit he is referring to has vent holes with a 1/8" diameter,
He made complaints of excessive moisture in the home, yet he refused to use the air exchange system in the home while he was away from the lake. Building code states that 33% of the home's air volume must be exchanged every hour. Homark has hired an HVAC company to go to the home twice to verify proper operation of the furnace and air exchange system. On the second trip there, the technician witnessed the air exchange system turned off and towels shoved in the inlets to prevent the unit from working. Mr. [redacted] explained that he uses the electric cove heaters to keep the home at about 50 degrees while they are away from the lake. He doesn't want the warm air of the home being pulled out by the air exchanger. The furnace doesn't run at all until they are leaving their home in Grand Forks to head to the lake. Mr. [redacted] then connects to his thermostat via Wi-Fi so the home is up to temperature when they arrive. There is no air circulation in the home without the furnace running.
In April Mr. [redacted] had inquired with our salesman about the cost of replacing his existing interior doors with the upgrade solid core door option. Once he received the price from our salesman he decided that was way too expensive. Now Mr. [redacted] was willing to accept the ceiling drywall seams as is, if we gave him the upgrade doors and
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installed them for free instead. This was a shock to me given the previous altercation about the drywall. I told our salesman that I would rather satisfy the situation which caused the previous altercation.
On May 8, 2015 Mr. [redacted] and I had a telephone conversation about the possible door replacement. I told Mr. [redacted] that my intention was to do the drywall work as previously demanded, not replace the doors. Again he became agitated and set forth a couple of unrealistic conditions. He closed the conversation with an explicit statement and hung up the phone. My Superior had overheard the last portion of the conversation and asked what was going on. After filling him in, he instructed me to write Mr. [redacted] a letter recapping the conversation and informing him of Homark's intentions to propose a settlement offer instead of completing the service work under hostile conditions. Mr. [redacted] rejected the settlement offer. I am attaching the letter from myself to Mr. [redacted] (document A), a copy of the settlement offer (document B), and the email from Mr. [redacted] rejecting the offer (document C).
Mr. [redacted] proceeded to contact the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Codes and Licensing Division to plead his case. After reviewing the information, the DLl determined that there were no code violations and there was nothing they could do.
Mr. [redacted] had made an allegation that the home was in no way fastened to the foundation. I assured him that it was and told him how it would be done. He continued to insist this was not done. Mr. [redacted] then hired an Engineer out of Crookston, MN to do a walk through to prove there was a problem. The Engineer contacted me with a couple of questions. He wanted to know how the homes were fastened to the foundation sill plate. I told him how the home should have been fastened. He verified that I was correct. He questioned the method as it was not the method listed in the codes. I spoke with the third party Engineer who calculates and verifies whether or not our designs meet any applicable codes and regulations. He verified that the procedure used does in fact meet the requirements of the code. I sent this verification to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Codes and Licensing Division for concurrence. They also approved the design and it is stamped as such. I forwarded this stamped, approved document to Mr. [redacted]'s Engineer and never heard anything else back. On 2/19/2016 I received a call from the MN DEI. Mr. [redacted] had contacted them again. Now he was looking for a copy of the approved design document. I emailed him a copy on 2/19/2016. I have attached a copy of the approved design document (document D).
Now that you have the background information of this case, I will proceed to replying directly to Mr. [redacted]'s allegations.
1. Complaint: "interior of house was not cleaned at all. When we moved in we had to clean out wire rough in material sheetrock dust and sawdust. And anything else that would be considered construction debris. Contract states that they are not to pick up the lot but the inside is to be clean"
Response: The customer is correct that the purchase agreement states that the site cleanup is the responsibility of the purchaser. It however does not state anything about
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cleaning the interior of the home as Mr. [redacted] claims. Before a home leaves the Homark facility it is very thoroughly cleaned. During the setup and on-site finishing of the home, more construction debris is created. When a home is sold by a Homark owned retailer, as in this case, a Homark based on-site finish crew performs the on-site finish work. Upon completion of the home our crew cleans the inside of the home as a courtesy. It is not a "professional" cleaning, but we do our best to wipe down counter tops, cabinets, Scrub linoleum, and vacuum carpets. In the case of Mr. [redacted]'s home, he was unwilling to wait for our crew to finish their current project and move on to his. Homark had to hire subcontractors to complete the on-site finishing of the home in an effort to get Mr. [redacted]'s home move in ready in a time frame he would accept. Mr. [redacted] had moved into the home prior to any Homark personnel arriving at the home. Homark was unable to witness the alleged mess left behind by the subcontractors.
2. Complaint: "material and labor the clean fix and replace damaged sheetrock insulation and spray foam on wire run down thru attic to basement"
Response: Mr. [redacted] had a specific location in the basement in which the wiring for the electric cove heaters was requested to be run. Somewhere in the communication process this request got lost and the wires were run to the standard crossover location in the attic. On-site work was completed to extend these circuits from the attic crossover location to the requested location in the basement. No sheetrock was removed in this process. A hole was drilled in the top and the bottom plate of a wall to run the wires into the basement. Upon completion of this process, the holes in the top and bottom plates were not foamed. Some of the alleged moisture issue in this location can also be accredited to the improper or non-existent use, by the customer, of the home's air exchange System as described in earlier paragraphs of this response.
3. Complaint: "all taping and texturing that still needs to be done"
Response: Homark had a professional drywall finishing company in agreement to complete this work. The date was not yet set as schedules had not been aligned. Mr. [redacted] then, as a result of anger due to being denied $3,420.00 in free upgrade doors and free installation of the doors, set forth unrealistic demands in regards to the completion of the drywall work. Mr. [redacted] stated that he was "not going to accept one single speck of dust" after the work was complete. I began to explain the procedure and told him that many precautions would be taken, but stopping all dust was not possible, He then repeated himself "not one single speck of dust". He went on to tell me that we better get it lined up soon as it was going to start warming up. He stated that the parties completing the work were not allowed to use the heat or air conditioning in the home. He made sure to emphasize that the hotter it gets the more miserable the workers are going to become. Mr. [redacted] ended our conversation with an explicit statement saying he wanted us to hurry up so he could "get us the [redacted] out of his life" then he hung up the phone. It was very clear that Mr. [redacted] was not going to be cooperative in the process of completing the service work on his home. At that point I was instructed by my Superior to recap the conversation in a letter to Mr. [redacted] and propose a settlement
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offer to him in place of completing the service work in a hostile setting. Mr. [redacted] rejected the offer.
4. Complaint: "fix leak in hwr system, toilet, master shower and also there is a leak between my marriage walls in winter there is water dripping onto basement floor."
Response: Homark has hired an HVAC contractor to go to the [redacted] home twice, at the request of the customer, to verify proper function of the air exchange and heating systems. On the second visit the HVAC Technician witnessed the HRV system not being used at all. The unit was off and towels were stuffed in the inlets so the air could not pass from the home to the outside and from outside in. The technician removed the towels, turned the furnace on, and verified function of the system. He found no problem with the System when it is being used as the unit's instructions state. The customer was informed that he must use the System, and when in use it must be used as the instructions state.
I have no records or memory of an issue with a toilet. The Master bathroom shower had a drain line drip into the basement which was repaired on 10/09/2014, I have heard nothing until now about any other problems with this shower. The alleged leak between the marriage walls into the basement has not been investigated as Mr. [redacted] became hostile before Homark service personnel returned to the home. This is most likely caused by Mr. [redacted]'s refusal to use the furnace and HRV systems while away from the home. The code mandated 33% air exchange per hour does not happen in this home when these systems are not in use. The air becomes moist and stagnant. Condensation is a certainty under these conditions.
5. Complaint: "finish installing baseboard in stairwell on main floor the baseboard never got installed"
Response: The purchase agreement states that the stairwell is the responsibility of the purchaser. Homark provides a frame out which is to be removed when the home is on site. The customer had no means to remove this, so as a courtesy, Homark removed it for him so he could get the stairs built.
6. Complaint: "replace and repair cabinet drawers I had a cabinet maker come to my house to review the problem and he found that the drawers improper size and improperty installed. The people I purchased the house from made an effort to fix the drawers but their efforts were wrong size drawers and using cardboard to shim rails of the glides"
Response: There was an issue with the drawers in the home. The drawer itself is made of a material which is wrapped with a hardwood looking contact paper. This material comes to Homark pre wrapped and ready to be cut to size. We had an issue with a batch of material received which had the wrap seam in the wrong location and some of it started to come loose. Homark replaced all of the drawers in the home from a new batch of material correcting this issue. Mr. [redacted] made complaints of a couple drawers not closing as Smoothly as others. He demonstrated to me how he felt they should operate. He basically wanted to tap the drawer and have it close itself. Though this would be nice, not typically a reality. The weight of what is actually in the drawer will also affect how the drawer
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operates. Mr. [redacted] has "soft close" drawer guides in his home, which because of industry tolerances in materials, may need shimming to properly align. This is a standard operating procedure Homark uses when adjusting drawer guides. Homark had made adjustments to the drawers in question and I believe even replaced the guides in an attempt to satisfy Mr. [redacted]'s complaint. The last time Homark service personnel were at the home, they checked the drawers and found nothing wrong with the way the drawers operated.
Mr. [redacted] made a comment in his desired resolution statement in which I would also like to address. He spoke of the fact that our homes are not built to the same codes as stick built homes. In this case he is incorrect. The manufactured "HUD approved" line is not built to the IRC, code it is built to HUD codes and standards. His home is a modular home which is built to the same IRC codes and standards as a stick or site built home. The complaint Mr. [redacted] has is about the electrical inspections. I have explained this to him on multiple occasions, I have also spoken with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Codes and Licensing Division who is the governing body in regards to the building codes. On a stick built home, an electrician is required to have a "Rough in and a "Final" inspection done on the wiring by a certified electrical inspector. This is the document in which Mr. [redacted] is seeking. In a production line setting the codes and regulations are the same, but the inspection process is different. Prior to building any home, Homark must submit all plans to the MN DLI Codes and Licensing Division for approval. Everything from wall, floor, and roof design, to plumbing, electrical, and heating is subject to pre-approval. Every Modular home produced is inspected by a MN DLI Codes and Licensing Division Inspector at various stages throughout production. They inspect much more thoroughly than any on-site building official. They check the grades of lumber used, type, size, and number of fasteners used in specific locations, wiring installation, gauge, breaker size, receptacle location and spacing, plumbing and electrical testing procedures and results, the list goes on and on. The point I am trying to make is that the "Rough in" inspection document in which the on-site electrical inspector claims he needs does not exist nor is it needed. The home is already approved by state's highest officials on this matter. Now the basement or any other electrical work in which Mr. [redacted] hired an electrician to do outside of the structure manufactured by Homark is subject to these on-site inspection procedures.
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In summary, I believe Homark has made adequate attempts to satisfy Mr. [redacted]'s concerns every step of the way. Homark takes a lot of pride in the product we produce. The process is not without flaws and mistakes can happen as is the case with any industry or any person. Even through the hostile behavior and inappropriate actions and comments by Mr. [redacted], Homark attempted to resolve the situation by presenting a settlement offer. This offer was more than adequate to cover the expenses of any remaining legitimate warranty claims against Homark. The majority of Mr. [redacted]'s dissatisfaction is of his own doing. He had every opportunity to order the upgraded interior doors he actually wanted at the point of sale. The fact that he did not want to pay for them then, should not mean Homark should be expected to pay for them now. Mr. [redacted] has made multiple attempts with state governing agencies and even hired a private Engineer in an attempt to find a problem with the home. Each attempt has ended with the same result, Homark has built the home as ordered by the customer with no code violations and no defects which have any negative impact on the usability or integrity of the structure whatsoever.
I thank you very much for the opportunity to respond to these allegations and appreciate your time spent to review all sides of this matter. ([redacted] Revdex.com Response Letter 3-1-16.pdf)