[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by Bridget Eichaker

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

The newer homes south of 44 have upgraded windows that I can attest to having no problems. Our homes is 4 years old and none of the windows have failed nor do they rattle. I don't see a problem not having copper piping and conduit is only used where required by code. There are the occasional problems but percentage wise I would have to say they are very minimal.

[MSchad]

Originally Posted by IUFAN

Try Del Webbl

Very “helpful.” Elaborate on why this is your opinion?

[bobm3]

I think the quality is excellent. Very well insulated (which also blocks a lot of the exterior sound) and a very efficient heat pump.

Any new home has some issues. Contractors respond very quickly, usually the next day. Any place else I’ve lived, getting contractors to fix problems is slow, difficult and stressful.

Most people hire a home inspector toward the end of the 1-year warranty period, and they will usually find some things the owner never noticed. Inspectors send their reports directly to The Villages Warranty Department (as well as the owner, of course) and the issues are promptly addressed.

[rmd2]

I bought a vinyl home and have had no problems with it except for a new roof after hurricane Irma 4 years ago. However, if I were buying again I would get a block and stucco home because of the energy use and the noise factor with a vinyl.

[sallyg]

We have lived in old and new constructed houses here. ( I don't like a lot of disruption in my house after having been thru a total remodel, once was enough). I would purchase a newer, previously owned home, in which the owner had already replaced or upgraded many of the features. Lots of newer homes have remodeled kitchens and baths, replaced flooring and fixtures, etc. Looking is fun. Best of luck.

[Nick B]

Simply the best there is no better as reflected by price. It's TV everything is the greatest.

[merrymini]

Contractor built houses do not have the same interior quality unless you are choosing upgrades. That would be true here and up north because I have a house here and in NJ. I also built a very high quality custom home and no contractor can measure up to that. We have been In our house here for over six years and, although I would have put in better quality cabinets and appliances, I can live with what came with the house until they need to be replaced. Stucco seems to be tighter than a vinyl sided so we decided that stucco was for us. My house is not cracked and may need to be painted at some point but every house needs maintenance. If you do not want that there is always the lofts where you get the honor of renting a detached garage for an additional $250 a month.

[Kathryn Putt]

We checked out 4 retirement communities and by far everything in TV topped all of them. And my husband is a retired contractor for residential & hotels.

[daveac83]

If you get a Designer series block home, you get to pick many of the interior appointments, appliances, countertops, etc. They are building a new "Street of Dreams" facility in Brownwood where you can pick all this stuff. I believe in every other series of homes, the builder picks.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

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.

The only question I have regarding the time to build a house is the concrete issue. I am no expert, but isn't it supposed to cure for 30 days before being built upon? Or is that old news.

We had cracks in our lanai in our designer, and when we ripped up the carpet in the living and dining room, we found serious cracks in the slab that had to be addressed. You could tell the house had shifted by looking at the door from the laundry room into the garage, which used to be shut tighter than a drum, but eventually you could see through to the garage at one point. And I watched a tile in the entrance to the master bedroom slowly crack right to left.

I think they're decent houses, but expect some issues. In our CYV, when you flip the light switch to the lanai, the television goes off briefly! But I'm a happy camper.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by CFrance

The only question I have regarding the time to build a house is the concrete issue. I am no expert, but isn't it supposed to cure for 30 days before being built upon? Or is that old news.

I had the same concern when observing concrete block stacked on the slab a day later. I was told they use granite aggregate to provide high strength early.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by John Mayes

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?

One universal complaint is the time it takes to get hot water to points furtheset from the hot water heater. Upgrading to a recirculating hotwater heater if doing a custom build would be something to consider.

[coolJD]

plumbing is not insulated in the concrete.. with recirculating hot water will higher cost because you are heating the concrete or sand around the hot water pipe. I put a small water heater under the sink. Don't waste water waiting for the hot to get there. The concrete slab the house is built on is not insulated.. When cold outside , you can feel the cold tile in the house.. These homes are not like up north.

[Vernon Hud]

Just responding to person that says you can't build on it for 30 days. Concrete takes 28 days to fully cure, the thicker the concrete the longer it takes. You can actually build on it the next day, but high rise builders usually wait 2 days, if you had to wait 30 days, you would have a heck of a time building a rise. I was a bricklayer for 45 yrs in Minnesota, and we would start building on it the next day. If it is properly reinforced, it will be ok. As far as using granite in concrete here in Florida, that is BS. They use mostly a limestone aggregate. I don't believe there is any granite in Florida, besides the hardness of concrete is not determined by the aggregate, it is determined by the amount of Portland cement added to the mixture.

[escudel@bellsouth.net]

Don,
What kind of noises did the appliances make? We have GE Profile and the icebox (yes, I still call it an icebox) has 5 fans and at least one of them seems to be running constantly. So there is always a noise that has become annoying.