Home Construction Quality
 

Hi all. My wife and I are seriously considering moving to TV along with a couple of other options. My main question concerns the quality of the homes in TV. We are most interested in a new home that is CMU. Does anyone have any feedback, good or bad, on the construction quality?

Our concrete courtyard villa was directly hit by the 2007 tornado and other than losing some shingles and broken windows there was no structural damage. Lots of damages to furnishings and rain damage to sheetrock that had to be replaced. These homes meet the Miami/ Dade building code the toughest in the country.

Cmu?

Concrete masonry unit.

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Check out Goldwingnut's youtube channel. Gold Wingnut Productions LLC - YouTube

He provides videos to owners that can't be there to see their homes being built. You can see how things are done.

Concrete Masonry Unit.....concrete block with stucco exterior finish.

I understand that they have stopped using poured-in-place concrete for the new houses. They are using concrete block construction (CMU). In my opinion, the construction quality is good, and the quality control is very good as compared to most new construction I have seen over the years. Also, they are excellent when it comes to warranty issues. If you want to move to The Villages, I wouldn't worry about the construction quality. The main thing to look for is a good location and avoiding noise issues, especially traffic noise.

Having watched, in great detail, several dozen homes being built here in The Villages I can tell you that mistakes are few and the quality of work is very good. The men and women building these homes have honed their skills and know their trades. I've talked to some of the workers in many of the trades and to a person everyone is glad for the success of the development because it means guaranteed work for years to come, something rare in the construction trades. When asked about the quality of work they all say the same thing, their foremen are very tough on them and demand quality, the screwups don't last long and don't get passed from one contractor to another. Too many screwups leads to poor quality work which leads to lost contracts and there are 4 or 5 more companies that will do the same job. They seem to take great pride in their work.

Yes, in some of the spec homes builder's grade fixtures and finishes are used, just like everywhere else, this is adequate for the desires of most, many want to upgrade. I replace all the appliances within the first 2 years because I didn't like the noise, they made or the configuration (side-by-side frig), it was a choice, but not one everyone makes. Looking at the newer spec homes, most come with many upgrades that were previously found in the custom-built homes in response to mark demand.

CYV's used to be built with poured concrete exterior walls, that changed shortly after moving south of SR44 to CMU walls. The CMU give greater ease of flexibility in the design and layout of the homes plus it cut the construction methods from three to two being used.

I've heard some people complain that they take shortcut and that's how they build so fast. This is a false statement. The speed of the building is a testament to the high level of coordination that is going on to build the new communities. You wouldn't call a Mercedes or a BMW poor constructed just because it comes off the assembly line in a few hours, of course not, it's a refined and well organized manufacturing process, the same can be said about homes built here in The Villages.

Yes, there will be some complaints because sometimes there will be errors that were overlooked. I expect to see some of those complaints on this thread over the next few days. Considering this will be only a couple of people out of the 2500-4000 homes they are building every year and the percentage is very small.

Thank you so much! Great info.

Thank you. Great info.

I was an engineer and a building contractor before I retired. The home we purchased was constructed in 2005, and I must say it seems to be well constructed as compared to homes in many areas of the country. The developer has developed specifications and has engaged a stable of home builders that can mass produce these homes and ensure quality construction. I cannot speak for older homes built in the 80's and 90's.

If you do opt for a designer I would STRONGLY recommend Gold WingNut. We completed our designs exactly one year ago, flew back to the UK and the borders closed due to Covid. We are as yet to return to the US to see our home despite it having been completed last June. Don was there for us throughout the whole build process, sent me regular updates and when we noted a slight deviation with the location of a wall socket for the TV, Don's help with resolving was without a doubt exceptional.

In the end with no signs of the US\UK borders re-opening we decided to rent our dream home and Don was once more there to help by sending photo's that we could use to advertise. Not only that he even helped sort out the purchase and delivery of our white goods for our new tenants.

When our tenants moved in they noted a small tear in the lania screen. We contacted the Villages Maintenance department and the next day a guy was out to repair it, no questions asked.

So whilst I have yet to see my home, as I said I every confidence in the quality. Watch Don's video's as he goes through in detail the construction process, each home build reveals a little more information.

Good luck with your purchase.

Home Quality
 

This is our second home in The Villages. The first was a block and stucco villa built in 2007. Our current home is a block and stucco Lily built in 2020. The villa came through unscathed during Irma, A friend stayed in our villa, the area his home was in had a mandatory evacuation. Villa never lost power or cable/internet. Very energy efficient home.

Our current home only had a few minor issues we found after we moved in. All minor and cosmetic, pocket door ends were a tad rough, one sidelight on the front door was upside down, and a cap broken on a sewer clean out. We have only lost power once in 9 months at this home, an issue with a substation. All issues were quickly resolved by the warranty department without question. This home is extremely energy efficient.

Crews building here have the construction of these homes down to a science. If you examine the home plans may series have the same interior layout for the kitchen, dining room, and living room. The changes between model are in the bedrooms and garage. In my opinion, this makes construction almost assembly line efficient.

We are. extremely satisfied with our current home's build quality and overall construction. As with all things man made I know there are some issues with some homes, but the warranty department seems to go above and beyond to correct the issues.

Don’t expect the quality to be the same as up north like Chicago. No conduit, no copper pipe, crappy windows that fail every few years etc. one nice thing is the concrete block although we had brick up north. Weather is beautiful especially in the winter