Complaint Review: Centex Corporation

The home we purchased from Fox & Jacobs Homes on 1/18/07 has numerous construction defects, some of which may be major, that have not been effectively and permanently corrected under the terms of the contract or warranty.

The problems include:
1. Water seeping in between the wall and floor baseboard in my kitchen; puddles formed at least a foot away from the door so that was not the source of the incoming water. Fox & Jacobs engineers could not determine its cause with any degree of certainty.
2. Cracks in the mortar and bricks around the entire perimeter of the exterior of the house. I have identified three instances of broken brickwork on the east wall, one instance on the north wall, one instance on the west wall, and one instance on the south wall, and an area outside the window of an upstairs bedroom where the mortar has separated from the brick. There is also a crack in the foundation at the southwest corner of the house.
3. An upstairs bedroom door that will not shut properly, due to house shifting and movement.
4. A very strong fish odor in the upstairs gameroom and bedroom area, especially pungent in the evenings.
5. Water leak into the drywall near my shower in master bathroom due to unsealed shower installation. Mold beginning to form on the drywall.
6. Gaps between the shower backing and the drywall in downstairs bathroom where the wall and the plastic shower backing do not meet.
7. Our microwave was used and sold to us as new when we closed on the house. My husband found food remnants in it that indicated that it had been used by someone working on the house.
8. A noticeable bulge in the south wall interior surface. According to the house inspector we hired the bulge is 1 from level.
9. Areas under the carpet that have a crunchy texture and sound when stepped on.
10. Squeaky floors.
11. The door frame of one of the master bathroom closets is not flush with the floor; it is lifted away from the floor.
12. The sod along the north side of the house was not properly laid, so it eroded during the periods of heavy rainfall early this spring and may have compromised the integrity of the drainage system. Water now forms along the retaining wall that sits between our home and the neighbor. When we first moved in, my husband was able to lift the sod and found underneath broken concrete, plastic, rocks, and other debris that was not cleared away before laying the sod.
13. The windows in the home are not properly sealed as evidenced by traces of dirt that blew in during a windy afternoon.
14. The front door is not sealed adequately and it is possible to see light seeping in at the bottom right hand corner when the door is shut.
15. The back door is not sealed properly.
16. The concrete in our driveway and front walkway is pockmarked, stained, and uneven. The concrete in our walkway has several paw prints of a small animal.
17. The kitchen cabinet doors n the northwest corner do not close properly.
18. A gap between the air vent cover and the ceiling in our laundry room.
19. On North wall exterior, the dryer vent cover is separating from the brick veneer because it was not properly attached.
20. The frame around the garage door is separating from the brick.
21. I found two cracks in the interior walls of the home: one beside our stairwell closet, and one in the ceiling in one of my master bathroom closets.
22. The frame on the door of the southwest bedroom upstairs is about one inch off the floor surface.



Elizabeth
Denton, Texas
U.S.A.