[mejahu]

Which builders do the building and have you been satisfied with the work? Some builders who build in many states and advertise a LOT have had serious complaints. To check on a specific one, do a search of the name - complaints. I was surprised to see which ones had the complaints! It made me rethink wanting a new house! :'(

[Talk Host]

It is my understanding that the builders in the Villages are employed by the developer. They are not outside contractors. That's my understanding.

[mejahu]

So, would you say quality is "job one"? What about the siding flap? ???

[mzmom3]

I'd say be careful. There are decent builders and then ones that aren't as good. It also depends greatly on the superintendents who were in charge of your "project." I'd think paying for an inspection would be a good idea. Know what you're getting. You can get stung and it will cost you if not right away, later. Remember, The Villages may be promoted as a "friendly" place; however, they are developers and out for the almighty buck. Just be aware of what you are buying.

[villager99]

at least back in 99 when my home was built,things like vinyl siding and carpet installation were done by local private companies.

[al96m]

This past week we had a FREE residential energy audit conducted by SECO,what they found was interesting,he found a 14 degree swing throughout our home, with the thermostat set @ 78,the supply vents varied from 60 -74 degrees,he made recommendation which we called into Village Home Warranty,(we've been here 5 1/2 months) so now its wait and see time.

[JohnZ]

al96: Thanks. Good information. We've noticed a temp differential in our Couryard Villa. Our bedroom is warmer than the rest of the house. Our bedroom is also furthest away from the air handling unit. I suspect that this phenomenon is related to high air temperature in the attic and I'm thinking about installing roof vents to bring the temp down a bit. The other option is to increase the insulation of the duct work which is not really a practical option IMHO. Also, I noticed somewhat of a design flaw, in that the air-return in our bedroom is about 4 feet away from the forced air vent so some of the cold air being forced-in is getting sucked out. The cold air being sucked out and returned to the air handler is heated-up dramatically as it must pass through the hot attic before being recirculated. The air-returns are also pretty close to forced air vents elsewhere in the house. Soooo, the short circuiting of the air contributes to an inefficient air cycle. I know that the cold air decends and hot air rises....but there's still plenty of opportunity to short circuit the system. An air conditioning unit with higher cooling capacity may, and I emphasize may, solve the problem, but the designed-in inefficiencies could defeat it and this would only result in higher cooling costs. But, the fall and winter months are coming up and so I'll think about attic ventilation next year.....but I think that's the solution. I'll let the forum know how it goes.

[Avista]

We live in a Savannah Courtyard Villa--Stoneybrook. We were commenting how even the temp stayed in each of the rooms. The only room that is sometimes a little warmer is our office. We attribute that to the fact we have 2 computers on all the time.