The Masters House

I have held on writing this post for a while as to try and give DR Horton the benefit of the doubt in regards to our warranty claims on our house.

That benefit has timed out.

Before I start I want to say that the overall construction of our DR Horton home is exceptional. In fact it was seeing a house similar to our in the framed stage that really sold me on the builder. The issues that we have had have not been with the overall construction of the house but with a few fit and finish items. Unfortunately while DR Horton builds a great home their service after the sale leaves something to be desired.

The Front Door

The first major warranty issue that we had in the house was the front door. It started when we had a typical Texas thunder storm come through that dumped a couple of inches of rain in a couple of hours. The issue that we had was that the door leaked at the bottom and we were getting water in the entry way.

DR Horton had someone out within a couple of days and ‘fixed’ the issue while I was at work. I come home to find while they may have fixed the gap at the bottom of the door they have now created a new gap in the upper right hand corner of the door (door knob side). This daylight was about 1/4″ wide by almost 2 feet long.

Another call to DR Horton Warranty repair and another visit be a repair man. This time the gap is gone – good job – but now the dead bolt will not lock.

Another call to … you get the picture. This time they get the deadbolt to work but now the regular knob does not – screw it, we will live with it.

The Bathroom Vent

This one was about the same time as the front door. We were getting drips of water coming through the bathroom vent. Called DR Horton, they had someone come out. The guy “retapes” the duct in the attic.

Next storm comes through – same thing – another call. This time the guys comes out and cannot find anything wrong with that vent. He does find something wrong with another vent and replaces it on the roof. He says that he thinks a little more work needs to be done and will need to come out another day.

Never saw him again

Popped Drywall Nails

The first nail I saw was in the master bathroom. One of the drywall nails popped through the drywall and I can see its head (why in the world they used nails instead of screws? I have no idea). I see a second one in the family room a couple of days later.

Call to DR Horton Warranty repair. No call back after a week. Another call – this time asking for a supervisor – told I would receive a call back today – no call. Next Day – asking why I did not receive a call – told I would within a hour – 5 hours later I get the call – schedules to come out on Monday and take a look.

Shows up Monday throws some spackle on the nails and calls me to tell me that he did not find anything wrong with the vents so nobody will be coming out to do anything. I get home and my wife tells me that we (not DR Horton) need to touchup paint the nails with the quart they gave us when we bought the house. Pissed since they are trying to pass the buck an for the fact that I used that quart up I call and explain to them that they need to finish the job.

I am told that they will be out to paint – no show. I call again – be out on Monday they say – no show again.

It has been a month now and no show.

The Survey

During all of this escapade I happen to get a DR Horton email asking for me to fill out a survey concerning my experience with the quality of DR Horton homes. I gladly fill it out and note all the issues that I have noted hear. They even had a nice section asking if I wanted someone to contact me in regards to the issue that I noted. I glad give my contact info in anticipation to vent about my frustration.

The opportunity has yet to present itself.

Conclusion

As said in the beginning the initial construction in my opinion is great – it is a whole lot better then a lot of other builders that I have seen. Unfortunately that greatness is tainted with the fact that after the sale they do not want to stand behind the product.

At this point if someone asked me if they should buy a DR Horton home I would not be able to give them a specific answer. Basically I would explain what I went through and then let them decide if it is worth it.

I think it really sucks when companies do not stand behind their products. I am off now to yell at the sales people in order to get my ceiling paint and more door fixed (yes, I want them out again, if anything, to waste their time).

Technorati tags: DR Horton, New Home Builders, Home Repairs, Texas Homes, Round Rock Texas

This entry was posted on Monday, April 9th, 2007 at 3:33 pm and is filed under Butler House, Repairs . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.