[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by Your Favorite Plumber

Perhaps I'm getting somewhat off the subject of this thread, but here goes. I mean no disrespect to you Packer Fan (Go Pack - I too am a member of the Packer Nation) or to the quality of the homes being built in The Villages, but I'm intrigued by the above quote. You have an engineering degree and commercial construction experience in what I assume is Wisconsin, and I have plumbing contractor, master plumber, and journeyman plumber licenses in Minnesota, and a journeyman plumber license in Wisconsin (I was born and raised in Racine, WI). I have experience in residential, commercial and light industrial construction, but obviously my expertise is in plumbing. Over the years of visiting The Villages I've visited numerous jobsites during different phases of construction. I like their choices of Kohler elongated comfort height toilets and Kohler/Sterling fixtures, and Delta faucets. But I question the use of primer/glue cpvc (as opposed to pex) water piping under the slab, plastic push on supply stops, etc. I think the quality of the homes is good but not extraordinary. Like anywhere else in the country, the developer and the construction companies cut costs wherever they can. Unfortunately it's sometimes to the detriment of the homeowner. Just my opinion...

Several things - I was not aware what they used for piping under the slab. However, I like the plastic push on the supply stops - I have the same thing in my condo in Milwaukee- I know it seems cheap, but it works great- I had to pull the toilet to put in a new floor and it was zip zip with no wet floor like the old type of metal stops. However, I was thinking more of the arrangements of where and how they do the HVAC, as well as the windows and lack of gutters. The windows are simple, have the low E coating on the outside of the inside pane to keep sun and heat OUT, and have really good drainage to deal with the downpours. Same thing with lack of gutters. With the downpours in the area, I would be concerned that water would splash up from the gutters and get under the shingles and eventually start leaks. With the lack of basements and the sand around the houses, gutters are not only unnecessary but detrimental in my opinion. Seems like the general quality is good- finishes on the concrete, drywall, etc..

The fact that they obviously did a deep cleaning after construction and before we moved in shows the attention to detail. I was very impressed with my builder walkthru - they guy has been building houses in the villages for 15 years and really knew his stuff.

Ed