Build quality ?

[jimbo2012]

During the build, walk thru or after moving in what things did you notice that needed to be fixed or corrected.

:ohdear:

[John_W]

We moved in July 5, 2011 and had no gigs on our walk through and have not encountered any problems with our masonry CYV.

Our next door neighbor who hasn't retired yet, came in last week for short visit and found their master bath and bedroom flooded with water. After checking they found the leak was in the slab below the master bath. They called the TV warranty department and was told everything was covered within two years, and it had only been 14 months. Within a week they had several crews come in and rip out the wet carpet and flooring, the damaged dry wall and cabinets and jack hammered into the slab and fixed the leak. They brought in giant blowers and now have the home now back to original condition at no cost to the owner.

[Bogie Shooter]

What ever you find will be fixed.

[graciegirl]

What ever you find will be fixed.


I completely agree.

Do NOT worry. They didn't get to this level of success by ripping anyone off.

Anytime I called warranty they came in 24 hours.

[jimbo2012]

I know that, just wanted to know what issues were found in order to avoid them later on.

I plan to be there during the build and wanted to keep an eye on things.

[justjim]

We moved in July 5, 2011 and had no gigs on our walk through and have not encountered any problems with our masonry CYV.

Our next door neighbor who hasn't retired yet, came in last week for short visit and found their master bath and bedroom flooded with water. After checking they found the leak was in the slab below the master bath. They called the TV warranty department and was told everything was covered within two years, and it had only been 14 months. Within a week they had several crews come in and rip out the wet carpet and flooring, the damaged dry wall and cabinets and jack hammered into the slab and fixed the leak. They brought in giant blowers and now have the home now back to original condition at no cost to the owner.

WOW! One of the major problems of building a house on the slab, (and they all are except the manufactured homes) if you have a problem with plumbing in the concrete you are talking major dollars that is not covered by insurance. I guess we just hope and pray that the plumbing outlives us. :faint: Anybody know how long the pipes in the concrete are likely to last?

[A-4 Skyhawk]

I got them for a dead schrub and a loose grab bar in the tub. They were ALL OVER IT !!! Up north the builder would have been long gone to his next project. In TV's they knock themselves out to resolve issues QUICKLY and MAKE YOU HAPPY. What a GREAT PLACE !!!

[graciegirl]

I know that, just wanted to know what issues were found in order to avoid them later on.

I plan to be there during the build and wanted to keep an eye on things.


You will be so surprised. They have large teams who are specialists in every area. Teams for digging, Teams for footer, teams for roofing, teams for painting exterior, teams for painting interior, teams for plumbing, teams for electrical ,even teams of women who run a bead of silicone caulking material along all interior surfaces to keep out little tiny critters. Each is a different team. One day we counted 38 different people from several teams working on the home all at once. At the end of the day the builder leaves notes to tweak something or redo it if it needs it. You aren't going to find much wrong if your experience was like ours and the experience of our neighbors and the people who we know well.

I DO NOT work for the Morses, never met them, but I am a HUGE FAN!!!

I am me, just me Grace Helene who loves her house.

[mulligan]

Fyi, the pipes are not in the concrete, but buried below it. still have to cut the slab to get at them though. CPVC pipe will last indefinitely if assembled correctly, and protected from physical damage.

[justjim]

Fyi, the pipes are not in the concrete, but buried below it. still have to cut the slab to get at them though. CPVC pipe will last indefinitely if assembled correctly, and protected from physical damage.

Mulligan: Of course, you are right. I have seen them poor concrete slabs here in TV. My point is that you can't easily get to a leaking joint or pipe under a slab. In the past, most of us had houses built on crawl spaces or over a basement. I have also noticed how quickly they do the "rough Plumbing" prior to pouring the concrete. As was posted, Warranty fixed the problem but if it had been a few more months....... $$$$$$$!!

[D&Lsunfun]

Take a chance,
Columbus did,
lokk what happened!!

[graciegirl]

Take a chance,
Columbus did,
lokk what happened!!


No one wants to take a chance with probably the biggest expenditure that they will make in a life time.

I don't think it is taking a chance to build a home here. It is rock solid.

[mulligan]

D & L, you're responsible for a gap in the social network. Quit screwing around and get down here!!

[justjim]

Jimbo: We closed in January 2012 on our Lily in Sanibel. We had nothing major in our walk-thru or on our "punch list". After moving in, we had warranty come back and adjust our sliding glass doors to the lanai and we had an irrigation pipe that leaked. Overall, we were very pleased with the quality of construction and the response from warranty. However, I should point out that my wife and I are not "picky" people. This was not the first home we had built. We learn years ago when dealing with contractors, pick your battles and give the construction superintendent time to correct the subs mistakes. In other words, let the "super" do his job and your relationship with him/her will be a good partnership.

[swrinfla]

As I so often seem to do, I'll offer an historical perspective!

I closed on Monday, 01/24/2005. I had until the following Friday to identify "issues."

When I met with the builder that Friday afternoon (at about 1:00 pm), I had a small list of perhaps 10 items. He immediately got on his walkie-talkie, issued instructions and orders. Within minutes, the house was swarming with folks repairing all the issues.

At the end of that same day, all issues but one had been resolved.

That one issue was resolved the following Monday; the plumber simply didn't have the required part on his truck on Friday!

My "issues" were almost totally "cosmetic." A small hole in the drywall here, an improperly installed blind there, this and that.

Most of my friends "up north" had insisted that I'd end up with a cheaply-built, shoddy home. Not the case!

Yes, this story dates me, but I am convinced that the emphasis on quality established by The Developer has not nor will it become a negative!

SWR
:beer3:

[jimbo2012]

I have nothing but confidence in the warranty folks fixing anything.

Perhaps I didn't make my self clear, I just wanted to know what items to look for that they subs may have overlooked on your home.

[albertehill]

We had only 2 issues that were a bit annoying.

1st; the cleaning people did a good job, but contractors came in after them and left the tile quite a mess. Spots that we could not remove with the recommended cleaning method...We eventually moved our furniture out to the lanai and then the cleaning crew came in and redid the floors (and they did a great job!).

2nd; the warranty on the landscaping is not 1 year, but 30 days (I believe). I had told them that some of the plants were planted improperly (when reviewing punchlist), and they did replace a shrub when is died. The real problem was with 3 oak trees they had planted. Within 3-4 months, they died (and they had plenty of water). I've heard that some people have had to pay to replace theirs, but I did not. Just watch how well things are planted. A shrub here or there is not expensive, but 3 oak trees would have been.

[Hank N Judy]

Mulligan: Of course, you are right. I have seen them poor concrete slabs here in TV. My point is that you can't easily get to a leaking joint or pipe under a slab. In the past, most of us had houses built on crawl spaces or over a basement. I have also noticed how quickly they do the "rough Plumbing" prior to pouring the concrete. As was posted, Warranty fixed the problem but if it had been a few more months....... $$$$$$$!!

The house I moved from in Cape Coral, Fl the water lines were run in the attic. Don't know which way is correct, but if something starts leaking in the attic i think it would be easier and less expensive to fix.

[Markam]

While our house was in excellent condition, my advice would be to check and operate EVERYTHING, even if it seems like they couldn't possibly be incorrect. In our case, all of our windows were difficult to operate. Turns out that ALL of the springs were incorrect and had to be replaced. This was done without issue by the window contractor and, while here, they found several missing pieces of weatherstripping.

[skyking]

We have had a few, very minor problems and each was fixed within 48 hours. We built four houses in Ohio and none were finished as meticulously as this house in The Villages.

[Happinow]

I expect that most of you have seen my posts regarding a water issue we had since we moved in May 9th. We got 2 larger storms right after we moved in from hurricane Beryl and Debbie. Both dropped somewhere around 8" of water. One storm lasted a day and the other a week. Our lot literally flooded to the tune of about a foot of water outback and down the side of our house. At one point it came over into the lanai. We immediately called home warranty and got the old shuffle....don't worry, if it drains in 48 hours, its ok. Between those two storms we called Home Warranty several times, our Super several times, and the builder a few times and were given the same story.....it's Florida and we get water here. Knowing that WE should not be getting all of this water we went to the District and spoke with people there. They finally got off their duff and called in an army of people who physically came out to look at our lot. All of them admitted that we had a major water problem. As it turns out, a huge amount of water was coming off the golf course and the lot behind us into the back of our house, thus flooding us out every time we had a major rain. Due to the fact that our house goes back so far on our lot, there was no swale between the golf course and the lot behind us, as there is in between and behind houses in The Villages. Sometimes we would get 2" an hour and it would flood our lot. They had to put a ditch (about 3-4 feet wide by 3-4 feet deep), for the lack of a better term, between our lot and the golf course (it's on the Villages land between our house and the course) to catch the water and direct it down the course into a retention pond. The water problem is now fixed and we love our lot and home. The point I'm making is that if you know that something isn't right, keep pursuing it until someone listens. Most of the people we spoke with said that they did what the plan said when the house was built and showed us the plan on paper. We told them while it may look good on paper, it wasn't working on our lot. It took a long time to fix our problem but we finally got someone to listen. Be persistent and you will get the attention you need.

[graciegirl]

...

[shalomuall]

We closed on the 30th of August. Builder told us to email him and he will handle any problem we find, especially since we were there only for 2 weeks. He was true to his word. We had 2 small tiles on the roman shower floor that were uneven and hurt our feet, they came and replaced them. Theh lock on our screen door out of the lanai was broken - replaced. The granite seam was not smooth - taken care of, the water stopper in one of the master bath sinks did not work - the whole thing was replaced. The air in the a/c did not feel like it was circulating correctly - we had to return to VA so he said as soon as we come back for a visit, they will be there. Also had issues with some of the irrigation heads - replaced. WE were very impressed. We were also told to continue to email him or call the service dept every time we come for a visit and then do a big inspection in a year. The builder told us that the villages expect them to perform to their best or they will be out of a job. Been very impressed so far.

[hotrodgirl]

We closed on the 30th of August. Builder told us to email him and he will handle any problem we find, especially since we were there only for 2 weeks. He was true to his word. We had 2 small tiles on the roman shower floor that were uneven and hurt our feet, they came and replaced them. Theh lock on our screen door out of the lanai was broken - replaced. The granite seam was not smooth - taken care of, the water stopper in one of the master bath sinks did not work - the whole thing was replaced. The air in the a/c did not feel like it was circulating correctly - we had to return to VA so he said as soon as we come back for a visit, they will be there. Also had issues with some of the irrigation heads - replaced. WE were very impressed. We were also told to continue to email him or call the service dept every time we come for a visit and then do a big inspection in a year. The builder told us that the villages expect them to perform to their best or they will be out of a job. Been very impressed so far.

I do find that cause for some concern. It seems there were quite a number of complaints. I will not be quite so understanding should I have many major problems! I am glad to hear, however, that all is being taken care of to your satisfaction! We pay a significant amount of money for our homes and I would expect those corrections to be made pronto! It seems they replied timely and were able to take care of all but one item. I definitely will be keeping my eyes open for inconsistencies! Thanks for posting!

[Trayderjoe]

We closed on our house in 2006, and there were a few things that needed to be corrected and they were worked on promptly. The team leader we met with just about implored us to make sure that we identified anything that we felt needed to be taken care of and to call back if we found anything else. An earlier poster indicated that you should check all of your windows (I agree-but also your doors and entry into your lanai!) and we did find several that did not open and close properly. My wife also noticed a small gap under the front door-a great way to help cool the outside down and let "visitors" into the house.
The one thing that we "missed" (it probably wouldn't have mattered as far as the builder was concerned since we bought an already constructed home) is that (and I don't know if they still do it) plastic shut off valves were used for all of the water lines in the house (leading to the sinks and toilet). The piping is also PVC and when I recently tried to shut off the water to a sink, I couldn't get the valve to shut off and had to shut off the water supply to the whole house in order to repair a leaky faucet. Perhaps I didn't turn the valve hard enough, but it felt like it might snap in my hand and since the line was PVC, everything "shook" while I tried to turn the valve. Deciding that "discretion was the better part of valor", I hired a plumber to come in and replace the plastic with stainless steel and braided supply lines. It cost some $$$, so you might check the specs for materials and see if you can negotiate on the materials of construction.

[shcisamax]

Happinow: Didn't know you had that issue but glad it finally got resolved.

[champion6]

The one thing that we "missed" (it probably wouldn't have mattered as far as the builder was concerned since we bought an already constructed home) is that (and I don't know if they still do it) plastic shut off valves were used for all of the water lines in the house (leading to the sinks and toilet). The piping is also PVC and when I recently tried to shut off the water to a sink, I couldn't get the valve to shut off and had to shut off the water supply to the whole house in order to repair a leaky faucet. Perhaps I didn't turn the valve hard enough, but it felt like it might snap in my hand and since the line was PVC, everything "shook" while I tried to turn the valve. Deciding that "discretion was the better part of valor", I hired a plumber to come in and replace the plastic with stainless steel and braided supply lines. It cost some $$$, so you might check the specs for materials and see if you can negotiate on the materials of construction.Interesting. Our house was built in 2011 and all those valves are now push-to-open / pull-to-close.

[Trayderjoe]

Interesting. Our house was built in 2011 and all those valves are now push-to-open / pull-to-close.

Champion: Actually, you are correct, the valves were set up the same way in our house (I apologize for the misinformation). However, I still had the same issue in trying to manipulate the valve. I couldn't get it to "close" and it felt like I might break either the valve or the line, hence the need to shut off the water supply to the house in order to repair the facuet. Seeing and feeling how cheaply these valves were, I chose to get them replaced.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

It DOES take a bit of effort to move those valves - pull to shut off, push to turn back on.

I had a similar experience when I replaced the whole shebang on our Delta kitchen faucet recently - ball, seats, springs, etc. - to fix a persistent drip. I thought the water shut offs were frozen in place! Ended up putting one hand on the shut off body and pulled the 'plunger' with the other hand. Worked out o.k. - no problems with the shut offs.

Kinda scary, though! I can see where there could be some problems.

Bill :)

[A-4 Skyhawk]

The trick to opening those valves is to open the faucet or flush the john down stream of the valve while you try to open it. That takes the back pressure off the valve seat and they tend to move a little easier. It also doesn't hurt to have someone standing by the main water shut off valve in case all _______ breaks loose.

[aljetmet]

The trick to opening those valves is to open the faucet or flush the john down stream of the valve while you try to open it. That takes the back pressure off the valve seat and they tend to move a little easier. It also doesn't hurt to have someone standing by the main water shut off valve in case all _______ breaks loose.

Wise man!

Let's see we'll have 4 sinks and a hot water heater.

I wonder how much TV would charge if I asked for a normal shutoff valve.
Let's see, a PCV adapter to go to metal. Some solvent and the valve and little extra labor. How about $20 per.

[jimbo2012]

They (plus all plumbing pipes) probably build up with internal deposits, especially if you don't have a basic whole house water filter.

But yes simple to change out by any DIY

[A-4 Skyhawk]

They (plus all plumbing pipes) probably build up with internal deposits, especially if you don't have a basic whole house water filter.

But yes simple to change out by any DIY

Which brings up a good question. Whole house water filter versus a water conditioning / softener system. Do you or anyone else have experience with the filter? Advantages - Disadvantages ??

[jimbo2012]

People here have said the softener is needed others say no, if you call in a guy selling them he can test your water, guaranteed if he does you need it.

And he'll hit U up for a zillion bucks, HD has them for about $600.

It's a very simple water test you can get in a pet store for aquariums or a pool supplier.

It is best to do your self, for an un-bias test.

I intend to get a whole house filter at HD or lowes under $200, cut one pipe, two fittings, glue, mount to wall done 20 minutes.

[dkrhardy]

We did a water softener, uses potassium, and a whole house filter for less than $800 installed. It is a Water Boss and it was installed by a very nice, private plumber.
Don