[gatorbill1]

Just did visit of new designer homes on tour south of 44. Nice appliances, same cheap beige carpet in bedrooms, AND push/pull shutoff valves that all up "north" have been replacing.

[champion6]

Originally Posted by gatorbill1

Just did visit of new designer homes on tour south of 44. Nice appliances, same cheap beige carpet in bedrooms, AND push/pull shutoff valves that all up "north" have been replacing.

My house was built in 2011 and is north of 466A. I have not had a need to replace my push/pull valves. I close them every time I leave for two or more days. They continue to work just fine.

[rjm1cc]

Originally Posted by champion6

My house was built in 2011 and is north of 466A. I have not had a need to replace my push/pull valves. I close them every time I leave for two or more days. They continue to work just fine.

Why do you close them? I can see turning off the water to the home so if say a washing machine hose breaks you are ok but I do not see the benefit to only turning off the toilets. What am I missing?

[Toymeister]

Consider the builder's perspective. He has to meet code, after that point there is a finite amount to finish the home. Now would you spend your money on a slightly nicer light fixture, perhaps an extra ceiling fan or something that virtually no one will notice, much less care?

The carpet is new, clean and smells nice. The valves work. This covers over 99% of the target audience.

Are the valves the cheapest available, yup. Should the carpet be removed before you ever move in? That's a great idea!

I do commend you for noticing, I thought that was was almost alone.

The homes are fine. No faulty construction.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by rjm1cc

Why do you close them? I can see turning off the water to the home so if say a washing machine hose breaks you are ok but I do not see the benefit to only turning off the toilets. What am I missing?

Yep, turn off main and shut off water heater.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by rjm1cc

Why do you close them? I can see turning off the water to the home so if say a washing machine hose breaks you are ok but I do not see the benefit to only turning off the toilets. What am I missing?

I agree. Closing the main water valve to the house will provide much better protection against a leak. I would only close the push-pull plastic valves when you need to repair a toilet or a faucet.

[Toymeister]

I am sure the OP would like to hear about home construction in the Villages and nothing about water shut off procedures. What do owners think about how their home was built?

[karostay]

I would say a Villages built home and a manufactured home the quality runs neck and neck.
More up to code short cuts than Google Maps driving directions.
It's what the Villages has to offer overall that's the selling point.

[Toymeister]

Originally Posted by karostay

I would say a Villages built home and a manufactured home the quality runs neck and neck.
More up to code short cuts than Google Maps driving directions.
It's what the Villages has to offer overall that's the selling point.

Do you have any examples of not meeting code?

Did you know that Florida's building codes were dramatically tightened after Hurricane Andrew 27 years ago? So a mobile home from the 1980s in the historical section can in no way compare to a new construction home?

[retiredguy123]

In my opinion, the construction quality in The Villages is comparable to houses being built in most areas of the Country. The house I sold in Virginia cost about 5 times the cost of my Villages house, but the construction quality was actually lower than The Villages construction. For example, I had several high walls where the drywall was very wavy because of crooked wood studs. In The Villages, they use metal studs for the high walls, which results in a straighter drywall finish. I also think the quality control is very good, and they will fix almost anything you don't like during the warranty period.

[justjim]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

I am sure the OP would like to hear about home construction in the Villages and nothing about water shut off procedures. What do owners think about how their home was built?

I am not a contractor or builder but have friends who are and I trust them when they tell me that the homes built in The Villages are “well constructed.” I have purchased three new homes here in the last 13 years with no major issues or problems.

[billethkid]

Originally Posted by karostay

I would say a Villages built home and a manufactured home the quality runs neck and neck.
More up to code short cuts than Google Maps driving directions.
It's what the Villages has to offer overall that's the selling point.

Ahhhhh....NO!

Not where I live and not in any friends and neighbors in other villages.

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by karostay

I would say a Villages built home and a manufactured home the quality runs neck and neck.
More up to code short cuts than Google Maps driving directions.
It's what the Villages has to offer overall that's the selling point.

I could not disagree more. I bought my home in Hillboruogh 5 years ago - we have had 30 renters or more in there over that time. It has been through 2 Hurricanes - Irma was a direct hit as a cat 1 hurricane.
We were in it for 10 days over Thanksgiving and my wife commented that it was amazing how it looked the same as it did 5 years ago. The extent of our maintenance in that time has been -
1. Regular Powerwashing
2. Yearly Filter changes and one cleaning of the HVAC
3. A few sprinkler head fixes
4. 2 cleanings of the supposedly "cheap" carpet that looks like the day it was installed.
5. Deep cleaning of the grout in the showers and bathroom.
6. A circuit board in the HVAC was replaced under warranty
7. Some minor touch up paint.
8. Replaced one of the flush valves in the toilet.
9. The only major problem we had was the shigles did not seal correctly which was fixed under the manufacturers warranty.

Nothing major has broken - we basically put up window shades and furnished the house. It rents about 10 months a year.

I challenge you to beat that with any other builder. The build quality appears to be on par with any other builder I have seen for the price, in fact actually better.

From what I have seen my neighbors have seen the same thing.

Full disclosure - one of my duties at my current employer is handling facilities and construction projects, which we do a lot of. Based on this I will tell you the build quality is excellent and the pace and organization of building is amazing.

So what exactly are your complaints????

[retiredguy123]

Just to point out a few other construction quality features that I was impressed with in The Villages houses.

1. The interior doors and trim tolerances are some of the best I have seen. I am extremely picky, but I didn't need to ask the builder to adjust any of my doors.
2. The trim painting job was very neat and almost looked like it was factory coated.
3. T&D, who does most of the new concrete work is an excellent concrete company, and very helpful and responsive with warranty issues.
4. The Great Lakes flooring company is an excellent company that installs much of the new house flooring. Obviously, the carpet is cheap, but no carpeting is going last more than about 5 years anyway.
5. Munn's is an excellent HVAC company. This summer, they fixed my AC system within 4 hours on a Saturday under the 5 year warranty.
6. The designer push type light switches are usually an optional extra charge in new houses, but standard in The Villages.
7. The Villages warranty program is the best and most concerned about customer satisfaction that I have seen anywhere.

I was involved with construction work for over 40 years, and I don't think there is a problem with The Villages construction quality.

[John_W]

There is code and then there is above and beyond, which is what a builder would do for himself. When I lived in Pensacola from '77 to '82, I acted as general contractor on two homes I built from my own plans. In Florida you don't need a contractor's license if you're going to live in the home yourself for one year. You also don't need an architect's seal on your plans unless it's commercial property. I had a residential designer draw up my plans and spec sheet for about $300 from my design.

In the panhandle they don't use masonry, it's all stick built just like Alabama. The local joke was we called Pensacola "LA", which stood for Lower Alabama. I used 6" exterior walls instead of 4" exterior walls. The cost was not much different since they are set on 24" centers instead of 18" centers. This allowed me to use 6" R19 batts instead of the normal R13 batts in the walls. Then I covered the outside with R2 insulfoam boards for a total of R21, except in the corners of the home I used plywood for strength. I also used a plastic vapor barrier, but before the drywall went up and I used up about 10 cans of spray insulation foam filling in all the corners, T's, bottom plates and top plates and around windows after the home was framed. Also insulated interior walls around bathrooms and laundry rooms and the wall between the garage and the house.

I also was able to do things that builders usually don't include or charge extra such as a central vacuum, five ceiling fans, a fireplace, a thrash compactor in the kitchen. Here's a view of the kitchen. I used Merillatt Cabinets which were above average, I got a good deal on the cabinets for $3500 and I designed it with a 10' breakfast bar.



Here's is the exterior. I did all the outside and inside painting. There are ways to save money, for example I didn't sod the yard, instead I used a 100 yards of sod and plug the entire yard and within six months I had a beautiful yard. I also kept every tree that wasn't in the way of the foundation of the home.



I'm disappointed with some of the features of TV homes. The push-pull valves I've had Kiley & Sons replace all of them, in fact they won't do any work it push-pull valves are in place. I've replaced the bathroom faucets. I've replaced the kitchen appliances, I had the carpeting removed from the dining room and had wood floors installed in the DR and Kitchen. I'm sure many of you have done the same. That 2600 sf home in Pensacola with a 2 car side entrance garage in 1979 cost me $52,000 to build, the lot was $15,000 and the pool was $8,000.