Cindy
Norman,#2Consumer Suggestion
Thu, December 13, 2007
Some state's attorney generals see contractor fraud as a crime, especially if work was paid for but not finished. It's sad that they don't always see DEFECTIVE work as a crime! Defective work can actually be more financially devastating, because you've typically paid for the whole house, not just a repair. If serious, defects can render a house uninhabitable or of no value. After Katrina or any other disaster it's just a matter of time before all the contractor fraud horror stories come along. People in this situation should file a complaint with the state's attorney general. I hope they'll also file complaints at consumer gripe sites, (obviously you did post one here!). Try also hadd.com which offers info on the site and in reply to complaints. I found sites like these during my own construction defect case and every bit helps. Consumer gripe sites offer much more useful info than you typically get in canned articles that just say "call the BBB" or whatever, which is a joke. Yeah, you should file a complaint at the BBB so that hopefully the number of complaints add up, and just so you can say you did already, but IMO the BBB just protects it's business members who fund it. They masquerade as a consumer protection org. Everyone beware of arbitration clauses with builders and warranty companies! These clauses take away your right to file a lawsuit. Though no one wishes to go to court, and most cases settle before court anyway, the RIGHT to file suit is valuable leverage that you should never give up. If you found that you agreed to arbitration before you knew what it really was, there are few ways out of it, but sometimes you can get out. Since arbitration is often biased in the company's favor, (think "repeat business with corporations"), and it's private, the consumer often loses or gets pennies on the dollar for damages, AND it hides many complaints from other consumers' eyes. If it was NOT favorable to corporations they would NOT be insisting on mandatory arbitration clauses in their contracts.
Kenneth
Dawsonville,#3Author of original report
Fri, June 22, 2007
The painters came on a Saturday, June 16th, 2007 (only because they cancelled their appointment on Thursday after my wife made arrangements to be home) and painted most of the walls and ceilings that needed to be painted. Mr. McClure refused to schedule them on a Saturday just to be a jerk but they took it upon themselves to come out on a Saturday. They didn't finish. After the paint dried I was disgusted. You can see bumps from sheetrock mud that was applied to cover up the nail pops in the sheetrock. You can see sheetrock mud that wasn't sanded properly and in some instances not primed. When I pointed some of them out to the painter I was told, "Well, it's got paint on it now. It can't be sanded." Another excuse. Let me tell you what caused this. Failure to screw or hammer the screws back into the wall. I actually observed the mud guys covering up nail pops without banging the screws back into the wall when I would enter a room unexpectedly on them. Then they would start pounding some of them in. They didn't get all of them. Instead They built up a nice layer of mud over the nail in hopes that it would hide the pop. I couldn't tell just how bad these bumps were until after the paint was put on. I could see some of them and ointed them out to the painter but when the paint went on many more became glaringly obvious. What is wrong with people? I didn't buy this house like this. Some of the walls in my house look like something you'd see in a ghetto apartment where people have put their fists through the walls and then repaired the holes themselves. I'm sick of it. I have paint all over my pictures, my desks, my furniture, my electronics, my clothes, my floors. It is a mess. I'll just add this to the list of damages. Mr. McClure has mentioned in one of his previous posts here that "It had to stop" and "He'll never be happy." You know what? He's right. I cannot be happy with repairs that cause damage to my home. Repairs that are done so poorly that the home looks worse than it did the day we bought it. Repairs that have left bumps all over my walls and paint all over my personal belongings. Lack of repairs that are causing more damage to the foundation of this house. Where in our contract does it stipulate that you can decide to stop repairing my home because I'm not happy with the repairs? And frankly, who would be? It's an excuse Mr. McClure and I believe everyone here knows it except your buddy from PA. You have done nothing to truly resolve all of the problems with this house. You don't even show up to make sure the repairs were done properly. My house is being damaged by you and your neglect of the more serious issues. You're going to buy this house back and then some. I've had enough. If any of you out there read this and buy a home from this man don't say I didn't warn you. You have been warned.
Kenneth
Dawsonville,#4Author of original report
Sat, June 16, 2007
Well, it's been several weeks since Mr. McClure and I had our last telephone conversation. During that conversaion I asked Mr. McClure about the engineering report regarding the structural issues with my basement walls and floors. Mr. McClure claims that he has it but REFUSES to give me a copy. He tells me, "don't you worry about that. I have the report." That must mean one of two things. Either the report doesn't conclusively indicate that my walls are ok or Mr. McClure doesn't want me to have the information because he wants to make things as hard as he can on us because we complained and attempted to make him honor his warranty. I'm betting on number one. It doesn't matter now anyway. The letter is meaningless. After having the company representatives that poured the concrete and Mr. McClure's engineering firm assure me that the walls are "OK" and that cracks are "normal" I have more bad news. My walls in fact are not ok. Like I didn't know this already. Over the last two weeks I have developed 3 more cracks in my basement walls and another across the floor of the basement. They are not hairline cracks either and widened to about 1/8" in less than one week from their initail discovery by me. Now, that brings the total number of cracks in my basement walls to a not so modest 25. Mr. McClure in all of his wisdom didn't make sure the the top of my basement walls had rebar. An extremely negligent ommision on his part. Now, code in Dawson county doesn't require a metal inspection. The design is left up to the builder. None the less, Mr. McClure decided to use less than the full amount and in this case the consequences are are apparent. As a result, my house is sitting on a concrete wall that is breaking apart in chunks. There are 25 seperate cracks that I have counted on the walls. Some are visible on the outside of the home and others are not because they are below the soil line or they don't go all the way through yet. I have 5 cracks across the floor in the basmement slab. 5 cracks. Not good. Would you want to put your family to sleep everynight knowing that the walls that hold your home up are cracked from top to bottom, in some cases all the way through the wall and don't have rebar throughout their entirety? I have visions of these walls collapsing or breaking apart with my family in the home. I have visions of the cracks widening and allowing water in when the weather proofing that was applied to the outside of the wall fails. I have visions of termites coming through the cracks and destroying my home should I decide to close the basement. It is causing extreme anxiety. When I told Mr. McClure about the potential for termites to enter the home through the cracks he said, "Well, you would have to talk to your pest control company about that." Ya, ok! Unbelievable! Now, Just because code doesn't require a metal inspection before the wall is poured doesn't mean that he doesn't have to fix the defects. They are defects. Defects caused by the lack of rebar and mesh in the concrete ans quite possibly a bad mix of concrete as well. We're going to find that out. To make matters worse the slab has no rebar or mesh in it. It may in the footing but not throughout the floor. At least the metal detector that Mr. McClure's engineer used didn't go off when he ran it across the floor. No rebar and no wire mesh. Nice combination for a house to sit on. I have to ask. What kind of person pours a concrete formed wall with 1/2 to 2/3 of the rebar it should have in it? What kind of person pours a slab or driveway with no mesh in it? I have the answer. A person who thinks that he can get away with it. A person who cares more about profit than quaility and durability. A person who hides behind arbitration clauses in his contracts to escape his responsibilty and duty under contract. A liar, a cheat and a disgusting example of a human being. A man who in my opinion has no morals. A man who knows that my family and I have suffered tremendously through the entire Hurricane Katrina ordeal and still is attempting to force us into very costly litigation to get my home repaired. Repairs that I have a right to under contract. A dishonest man, An evil man. Do not do business with this man. He is a crook, a cheat, a liar and one of the worst examples of what the human race has to offer. I will be writing a website about our fiasco complete with pictures of the problems with my home. I want people to see this. In fact, I'm going to release my recordings and put links to them on the website so that people can listen to the exuses and lies with their own ears. I will register it with every search engine. When people google Jerry McClure they are going to find my website. :-) I want people to stay as far away from this man that they can. I'm not going away. I'm the worst kind of person you can try to do this to. I don't take lightly at all to being ripped off. Oh, and Mr. McClure, go ahead and sue me for slander and libel if you think you have a case.
Kenneth
Dawsonville,#5Author of original report
Tue, May 15, 2007
McClure Home Builders: "You would NOT believe the tactics of this man." Asking for repairs is considered a tactic? McClure Home Builders: "This same man failed to keep up his lawn that a weed came up and told us that we put down defective hay on his yard ;). He was told he had to keep up his own lawn." This is a good one. What really happened was I was told by Mr. McClure that Kentucky Fescue was used to seed the areas of my yard that were covered with wheat hay. We moved in during the heart of winter. During the first spring of the year we began to notice grass-like growth so we let it grow. I'm from Louisiana. Lived there all of my life. The only grasses that I know are Bermuda, St. Augustine and Centipede. At the time I had no idea what Fescue looked like. So, as mentioned we let it grow. We wanted it to grow because the wheat haw was beginning to rot away and the grass was needed to limit soil erosion. When these weeds began to grow I asked Mr. McClure about it because I wasn't sure if it was Fescue or not. He told me it was Fescue. So, we let it grow a little more. There were so many of them they looked like grass that was starting to sprout. After about 5 weeks we noticed that some of this grass has seed pods on top and resembled a weed that we had in Louisiana. It was at this point I could tell that this was not grass but weeds. Literally thousands of them. It was obvious to me that the wheat hay that was used was infected with seeds. In other words my yard was seeded with wheat hay seeds as well as Fescue. Nice. Now, these weeds that strongly resemble those we had in Louisiana are extremely difficult to get rid of in Louisiana. The only way I knew of to kill them was to pull them out by the roots. I was concerend. I again called Mr. McClure and told him of the issue. It took him another two to three weeks before he came out to look at it. He didn't have any answers. None of my neighbors that had wheat hay had this problem so I couldn't get any answers and asked a landscaper that I called out what to do. I was informed that the entire yard had to be poisoned to kill these weeds. I didn't like that answer and relayed it to Mr. McClure. A short time later I asked the gentleman that worked for Wallace Landscaping what I needed to do when he came to do work on our lawn. We use Wallace Landscaping to take care of our Bermuda grass. He told me to cut the wheat hay down to less than 2" inches and it would die off. These instructions would not work on the weeds in Louisiana. In Louisiana, the weeds would be back. That was my concern and that was why I felt I shouldn't have to pay hundreds of dollars to control weeds that were seeded in my yard by Mr. McClure's landscaping company. I followed those directions and it worked. Problem solved for everyone. When I asked Mr. McClure about the problem he didn't have any answers. It is Mr. McClure that took weeks to come out and look at the issue. It was Mr. McClure that told me that it was Fescue before I realized it was weeds. It is Mr. McClure who would like to lead you to believe that I'm an idiot. Sorry Mr. McClure. I'm far from it. Mr. McClure attempted to test my intelligence the first time he came over to my home to look at the issues we were having with the doors and trim moulding. When I showed Mr. McClure the trim moulding that was pulling away from our ceilings I was told, "It's doing that because you moved in and turned the air-conditioning on. It wasn't like that before you moved in." I looked at him with a blank stare. And it was at that very moment that I knew I was going to have a problem with Mr. McClure. I don't fancy people who lie to me. I never did. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and leave plenty of opportunity for them to see the error of their ways. But when it continues to the point where I have to wait 8 months to get air conditioning in my fourth bedroom above the garage, When it takes 13 months to correct my crooked cabinetry, when it takes 14 months to fix all three of my leaking toliets, when it takes 13 months to fix my bouncing floors, when it takes 16 months to fix a short circuit in my light switches, when it takes 3 or 4 attempts to get all of my doors to close in my home, when it takes four visits from the masonry guys who can't seem to find the right color mortar to fix my fireplace, when it takes numerous visits to waste my time I get tired of it. Mr. McClure I'm tired of it. You have no excuses. Have a good day sir.
Jerry
Dawsonville,#6UPDATE Employee
Mon, May 14, 2007
Thank you Rip-OffReport.com for giving this business the opportunity to supply a rebutal to this person. McClure Home Builders will not be giving any more rebutals to further comments from Ken. It is now obivious to all he is neverending. Thank You, McClure Home Builders, LLC
Jerry
Dawsonville,#7UPDATE Employee
Mon, May 14, 2007
All reports of problems from other home owners for McClure Home Builders LLC has been corrected to customer's satisfaction. Thank you Shawangunk - Middletown, New York. We've wondered your very same questions. You would NOT believe the tactics of this man and how we've gone over and beyond to TRY to make this man a happy one. This same man failed to keep up his lawn that a weed came up and told us that we put down defective hay on his yard ;). He was told he had to keep up his own lawn. It had to come to a stop! He can not be pleased and will NEVER be a happy man. Any person to spend Christmas Day typing a multi page gripe must have a very lonely life. Thank you,,
Kenneth
Dawsonville,#8Author of original report
Mon, May 14, 2007
I wanted to clarify the second paragraph in my previous post. When we did our initial walk through none of the issue were prevelent. It was after we moved in that I noticed the cracks in the slab of the basement. It is unknown at what point in time that those cracks developed between our looking at the home and our moving in. The cracks in the basement walls are what developed after we had moved into the home and that is what I was talking about in paragraph two of my post above. A third crack has developed in the same location as the other two cracks in the salb within the last two months or so. It developed and spread across the floor in about three days. Mr. McClure was a witness to this. I guess my point is that if we would have had an inspector come in and do an inspection of the home prior to our move in then it is anyone's guess if those two initial cracks would have been there when the inspection took place. We also had a realestate agent here and she did the final walk through for us. She never notified us of the cracks, the trim or the doors. Trust in those who are supposed to help you bit us on that one. Live and learn. You have to unsderstand. This is the first new home my wife and I have ever purchased. I fall into the category of home buyers that THOUGHT by buying a new home we wouldn't have these issues. I am ignorant no more. Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that these problems are not being corrected under warranty.
Kenneth
Dawsonville,#9Author of original report
Sun, May 13, 2007
Unless you have first hand knowledge of all the issues and timelines involved here it is pointless for you to inject your opinion. If I had to guess I would think you are either a builder, a friend or a relative. We did an initial walk through on the home and none of the more serious issues were present. No inspector would have detected the major structural problems with the foundation that presented themselved 3-4 months after we moved in. They didn't exist at the time. Mr. McClure was provided a punch list during that initial walk through. Mr. McClure has since been provided an up to date punch list. Some items on the list were repaired but repaired improperly. Some items were repaired fully. Some items have been ignored on that list and some items have been caused by Mr. McClure's attempted repairs. Generally the more serious and costly issues have not been repaired. The fact is that Mr. McClure is not fully honoring the warranty on the home. How is that my fault? Mr. McClure has had 17 months to resolve many of these issues. He has chosen which issues he will resolve and which he will not. If Mr. McClure chooses to fix all of these issues I will be the first to post it here. The bottom line here is that he is not properly repairing the issues that were reported to him. He has not done what he said he would do in some instances. In my opinion he has stalled the repairs of my home intentionally in an attempt to frustrate me in hopes that I would give up and go away or an attempt to avoid having to make those repairs all together. I'm tired of the games. I have a contract, an attorney and the resolve to correct Mr. McClure's way of doing business. I want to make sure that no one else has to go what we've gone through. In my opinion, if you can't do business honestly then you have no business being in business.
Shawangunk
Middletown,#10Consumer Comment
Sun, May 13, 2007
How could you possibly be in such a hurry that you could not do a proper walk through and home inspection? Could you not afford to put your family up in a local motel for one night so you could go through the home buying process properly? YOU chose to rush through things, and not do things the proper way. YOU closed on a house without even looking at it, and without providing a "punch list" to the builder at closing. YOU did not even bother to have a licensed home inspector come out to look at the house (this COULD have been done before you even arrived as you would not have had to be present for an inspection). It sounds like you were under the impression you could just sign away your life on a house, and everything would be absolutely perfect from day one. It is common knowledge that this is NOT the case. This is why there are things like walk throughs, inspections, punch lists, and warranties. You basically CHOSE to decline the majority of these. Explain now, how the builder is at fault, and why you are smearing his name across the internet in this manner?
Shawangunk
Middletown,#11Consumer Comment
Sun, May 13, 2007
How could you possibly be in such a hurry that you could not do a proper walk through and home inspection? Could you not afford to put your family up in a local motel for one night so you could go through the home buying process properly? YOU chose to rush through things, and not do things the proper way. YOU closed on a house without even looking at it, and without providing a "punch list" to the builder at closing. YOU did not even bother to have a licensed home inspector come out to look at the house (this COULD have been done before you even arrived as you would not have had to be present for an inspection). It sounds like you were under the impression you could just sign away your life on a house, and everything would be absolutely perfect from day one. It is common knowledge that this is NOT the case. This is why there are things like walk throughs, inspections, punch lists, and warranties. You basically CHOSE to decline the majority of these. Explain now, how the builder is at fault, and why you are smearing his name across the internet in this manner?
Shawangunk
Middletown,#12Consumer Comment
Sun, May 13, 2007
How could you possibly be in such a hurry that you could not do a proper walk through and home inspection? Could you not afford to put your family up in a local motel for one night so you could go through the home buying process properly? YOU chose to rush through things, and not do things the proper way. YOU closed on a house without even looking at it, and without providing a "punch list" to the builder at closing. YOU did not even bother to have a licensed home inspector come out to look at the house (this COULD have been done before you even arrived as you would not have had to be present for an inspection). It sounds like you were under the impression you could just sign away your life on a house, and everything would be absolutely perfect from day one. It is common knowledge that this is NOT the case. This is why there are things like walk throughs, inspections, punch lists, and warranties. You basically CHOSE to decline the majority of these. Explain now, how the builder is at fault, and why you are smearing his name across the internet in this manner?
Shawangunk
Middletown,#13Consumer Comment
Sun, May 13, 2007
How could you possibly be in such a hurry that you could not do a proper walk through and home inspection? Could you not afford to put your family up in a local motel for one night so you could go through the home buying process properly? YOU chose to rush through things, and not do things the proper way. YOU closed on a house without even looking at it, and without providing a "punch list" to the builder at closing. YOU did not even bother to have a licensed home inspector come out to look at the house (this COULD have been done before you even arrived as you would not have had to be present for an inspection). It sounds like you were under the impression you could just sign away your life on a house, and everything would be absolutely perfect from day one. It is common knowledge that this is NOT the case. This is why there are things like walk throughs, inspections, punch lists, and warranties. You basically CHOSE to decline the majority of these. Explain now, how the builder is at fault, and why you are smearing his name across the internet in this manner?
Kenneth
Dawsonville,#14Author of original report
Sat, May 12, 2007
To address Mr. McClure's statement that all other customer's have been 100% satisified I would like to say that I have spoken with one of his customer's that purchased a home with the same floorplan as ours. I drove to the Nestlebrook subdivision here in Dawsonville, GA where my wife and I looked at that home before we bought this one. We didn't purchase that home because we didn't like the neighborhood. I wanted to see if the current owner was experiencing any of the same issues with his home. I was invited in by the home owner after telling him who I was. I asked the owner if he was experiencing any problems with the home. The first words out of his mouth were, "My doors don't shut right." After walking through the home it was obvious that he was experiencing many of the same problems I am. Screws popping through the sheetrock, trim that was seperating from the sheetrock and most importantly, a crack across the basement floor in the same exact location as my home. This indicates a defective design or the ommission of proper reinforcement of the concrete in that area. Furthermore, his room upstairs was not heating or cooling properly. I noticed only one crack in the basement walls of his home. Far from the 14 that I have. Now, as to whether or not this customer has complained to Mr. McClure after my visit and how Mr. McClure has responded I have no clue. Maybe he did, Maybe he didn't. I can find out though and will report back. Throughout the repairs that were made to my home, many of which did not resolve the issues, we have dealt with dust from sanding, dust from the masonry guys grinding on the fireplace in my livingroom. It's so bad it's in my audio equipment, the same dust in every seam of the wood floor, mortar chips on the floors, paint on my personal belongings, paint and sheetrock mud on my carpet, in the grout of my tile, on the steps of my garage and on the floor of my garage and paint on my driveway. Mr. McClure didn't even attempt to clean the mess up when it was pointed out to him. It's left for me and my wife to clean up. Would anyone in their right mind be 100% satisfied that they have to go through that for months on end because things weren't fixed right the first time? I am simply amazed that Mr. McClure thinks that I have been unreasonable throughout this entire ordeal. I have been patient for 17 months. I have been flexible for 17 months. His failure to address ALL of the issues leaves me to believe that he made those choices intentionally. Voice recordings do not lie. Recordings where Mr. McClure was notified repeatedly of issues with the home. Recordings where Mr. McClure stated he would address the issue and then didn't. ReRecordings that leave me to believe that Mr. McClure knew exactly what he was doing was in violation of contract. Deciding what to fix and what not is not an option in that contract. If you would like to see the quality of Mr. McClure's work please feel free to e-mail me at (((email address redacted))) and I'll be more than happy to give you a tour. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
Kenneth
Dawsonville,#15Author of original report
Sat, May 12, 2007
To address Mr. McClure's statement that all other customer's have been 100% satisified I would like to say that I have spoken with one of his customer's that purchased a home with the same floorplan as ours. I drove to the Nestlebrook subdivision here in Dawsonville, GA where my wife and I looked at that home before we bought this one. We didn't purchase that home because we didn't like the neighborhood. I wanted to see if the current owner was experiencing any of the same issues with his home. I was invited in by the home owner after telling him who I was. I asked the owner if he was experiencing any problems with the home. The first words out of his mouth were, "My doors don't shut right." After walking through the home it was obvious that he was experiencing many of the same problems I am. Screws popping through the sheetrock, trim that was seperating from the sheetrock and most importantly, a crack across the basement floor in the same exact location as my home. This indicates a defective design or the ommission of proper reinforcement of the concrete in that area. Furthermore, his room upstairs was not heating or cooling properly. I noticed only one crack in the basement walls of his home. Far from the 14 that I have. Now, as to whether or not this customer has complained to Mr. McClure after my visit and how Mr. McClure has responded I have no clue. Maybe he did, Maybe he didn't. I can find out though and will report back. Throughout the repairs that were made to my home, many of which did not resolve the issues, we have dealt with dust from sanding, dust from the masonry guys grinding on the fireplace in my livingroom. It's so bad it's in my audio equipment, the same dust in every seam of the wood floor, mortar chips on the floors, paint on my personal belongings, paint and sheetrock mud on my carpet, in the grout of my tile, on the steps of my garage and on the floor of my garage and paint on my driveway. Mr. McClure didn't even attempt to clean the mess up when it was pointed out to him. It's left for me and my wife to clean up. Would anyone in their right mind be 100% satisfied that they have to go through that for months on end because things weren't fixed right the first time? I am simply amazed that Mr. McClure thinks that I have been unreasonable throughout this entire ordeal. I have been patient for 17 months. I have been flexible for 17 months. His failure to address ALL of the issues leaves me to believe that he made those choices intentionally. Voice recordings do not lie. Recordings where Mr. McClure was notified repeatedly of issues with the home. Recordings where Mr. McClure stated he would address the issue and then didn't. ReRecordings that leave me to believe that Mr. McClure knew exactly what he was doing was in violation of contract. Deciding what to fix and what not is not an option in that contract. If you would like to see the quality of Mr. McClure's work please feel free to e-mail me at (((email address redacted))) and I'll be more than happy to give you a tour. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
Kenneth
Dawsonville,#16Author of original report
Sat, May 12, 2007
To address Mr. McClure's statement that all other customer's have been 100% satisified I would like to say that I have spoken with one of his customer's that purchased a home with the same floorplan as ours. I drove to the Nestlebrook subdivision here in Dawsonville, GA where my wife and I looked at that home before we bought this one. We didn't purchase that home because we didn't like the neighborhood. I wanted to see if the current owner was experiencing any of the same issues with his home. I was invited in by the home owner after telling him who I was. I asked the owner if he was experiencing any problems with the home. The first words out of his mouth were, "My doors don't shut right." After walking through the home it was obvious that he was experiencing many of the same problems I am. Screws popping through the sheetrock, trim that was seperating from the sheetrock and most importantly, a crack across the basement floor in the same exact location as my home. This indicates a defective design or the ommission of proper reinforcement of the concrete in that area. Furthermore, his room upstairs was not heating or cooling properly. I noticed only one crack in the basement walls of his home. Far from the 14 that I have. Now, as to whether or not this customer has complained to Mr. McClure after my visit and how Mr. McClure has responded I have no clue. Maybe he did, Maybe he didn't. I can find out though and will report back. Throughout the repairs that were made to my home, many of which did not resolve the issues, we have dealt with dust from sanding, dust from the masonry guys grinding on the fireplace in my livingroom. It's so bad it's in my audio equipment, the same dust in every seam of the wood floor, mortar chips on the floors, paint on my personal belongings, paint and sheetrock mud on my carpet, in the grout of my tile, on the steps of my garage and on the floor of my garage and paint on my driveway. Mr. McClure didn't even attempt to clean the mess up when it was pointed out to him. It's left for me and my wife to clean up. Would anyone in their right mind be 100% satisfied that they have to go through that for months on end because things weren't fixed right the first time? I am simply amazed that Mr. McClure thinks that I have been unreasonable throughout this entire ordeal. I have been patient for 17 months. I have been flexible for 17 months. His failure to address ALL of the issues leaves me to believe that he made those choices intentionally. Voice recordings do not lie. Recordings where Mr. McClure was notified repeatedly of issues with the home. Recordings where Mr. McClure stated he would address the issue and then didn't. ReRecordings that leave me to believe that Mr. McClure knew exactly what he was doing was in violation of contract. Deciding what to fix and what not is not an option in that contract. If you would like to see the quality of Mr. McClure's work please feel free to e-mail me at (((email address redacted))) and I'll be more than happy to give you a tour. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
Kenneth
Dawsonville,#17Author of original report
Sat, May 12, 2007
To address Mr. McClure's statement that all other customer's have been 100% satisified I would like to say that I have spoken with one of his customer's that purchased a home with the same floorplan as ours. I drove to the Nestlebrook subdivision here in Dawsonville, GA where my wife and I looked at that home before we bought this one. We didn't purchase that home because we didn't like the neighborhood. I wanted to see if the current owner was experiencing any of the same issues with his home. I was invited in by the home owner after telling him who I was. I asked the owner if he was experiencing any problems with the home. The first words out of his mouth were, "My doors don't shut right." After walking through the home it was obvious that he was experiencing many of the same problems I am. Screws popping through the sheetrock, trim that was seperating from the sheetrock and most importantly, a crack across the basement floor in the same exact location as my home. This indicates a defective design or the ommission of proper reinforcement of the concrete in that area. Furthermore, his room upstairs was not heating or cooling properly. I noticed only one crack in the basement walls of his home. Far from the 14 that I have. Now, as to whether or not this customer has complained to Mr. McClure after my visit and how Mr. McClure has responded I have no clue. Maybe he did, Maybe he didn't. I can find out though and will report back. Throughout the repairs that were made to my home, many of which did not resolve the issues, we have dealt with dust from sanding, dust from the masonry guys grinding on the fireplace in my livingroom. It's so bad it's in my audio equipment, the same dust in every seam of the wood floor, mortar chips on the floors, paint on my personal belongings, paint and sheetrock mud on my carpet, in the grout of my tile, on the steps of my garage and on the floor of my garage and paint on my driveway. Mr. McClure didn't even attempt to clean the mess up when it was pointed out to him. It's left for me and my wife to clean up. Would anyone in their right mind be 100% satisfied that they have to go through that for months on end because things weren't fixed right the first time? I am simply amazed that Mr. McClure thinks that I have been unreasonable throughout this entire ordeal. I have been patient for 17 months. I have been flexible for 17 months. His failure to address ALL of the issues leaves me to believe that he made those choices intentionally. Voice recordings do not lie. Recordings where Mr. McClure was notified repeatedly of issues with the home. Recordings where Mr. McClure stated he would address the issue and then didn't. ReRecordings that leave me to believe that Mr. McClure knew exactly what he was doing was in violation of contract. Deciding what to fix and what not is not an option in that contract. If you would like to see the quality of Mr. McClure's work please feel free to e-mail me at (((email address redacted))) and I'll be more than happy to give you a tour. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
Jerry
Dawsonville,#18REBUTTAL Owner of company
Sat, May 12, 2007
McClure Home Builders went thru hell and high water to please this disgruntled customer. All other customers for this business have been 100% pleased with their new home. McClure Home Builders phone number was included with this customer's complaint should there be any concerns with this business please feel free to call. Many references can be provided to back up that this builder builds a great home. Thank you, McClure Home Builders, LLC
Kenneth
Dawsonville,#19Author of original report
Sat, May 12, 2007
It is now just about five months since I filed my first report here. I have since been in touch with Mr. McClure regarding the remaining issues. Mr. McClure has taken the position that he has done all that he can for me on the more serious issues. Why am I not surprised? In an attempt to bring closure to this case I recommended that Mr. McClure and I get together, go over my written list and his list and find out where we are. He refused, stating that he won't do that because, "it ain't never going to end." It is blantantly obvious that Mr. McClure is positioning himself to appear to have done all repairs that he can. I have news for him. Most of the repairs made to this home were cover-ups and did not address the cause of the problems. He was made aware as such earlier this week during our telephone conversation. The boards on the top of the railing of my rear deck were twisting as a result of not being mounted properly. These issues were brought to Mr. McClure's attention in one of my letters to him back in December. He came out last Thursday and replaced the wood with what appears to be non-pressure treated lumber. Mr. McClure states that the lumber is indeed pressure treated and that they no longer make the dark green pressure treated lumber. He states that he cannot help what color was used. Now, my deck railing doesn't match the rest of my deck. I didn't buy my home this way. Furthermore, the issue that has caused the railings to pull away has not been resolved and the rest of the railings are beginning to pull away. This is 5 months after Mr. McClure was first notified of the issue. Good home builder that stands behind his work? You tell me. The seperation in the planks of my wood flooring are so wide now that you can stick a nickel in between them. They are so wide in some places that you can see the subfloor beneath them. It has become a chore to get on our hands and knees to clean debris and dirt that accumulates in these cracks out of them. We have taken pictures of this. I have been told several times over the course of this nightmare by Mr. McClure that the wood flooring was glued down. I am beginning to believe otherwise because when we walk in areas of the home that are not normally traveled upon the floor pops and creaks. This is not normal for wood flooring. We have been told for the last 3+ months that someone would be coming out to take a look at it. We have yet to see anyone. Mr. McClure stated in a phone conversation earlier this week that he isn't going to replace the flooring. Having someone come out to "look" at is not the same has having someone come out to fix it. If that means ripping the floors out of the house and installing them properly then that's what it means. My wife pointed out the issues with the driveway to Mr. McClure when he arrived some two weeks ago waiting for the painters to show. This issue was brought to his attention within one year. His response was, "Nope." He refuses to address the issue. He claims he is not responsible for erosion of the soil near the driveway. My wife also mentioned that we still sweat in our bedroom when the HVAC system is set to 72 degrees. In winter, the room becomes unbearably hot. We have been forced to leave our bedroom door open so that the hot air can escape from the room in winter and the cool air can enter the room from the rest of the house in summer. Mr McClures answer to this was, "nope" as well. My wife and I have very little privacy in our bedroom since we moved into this house as a result. We have gone round and round on this issue from day one. Nothing has been done to truly address the cause. The HVAC guy came over and changed the thermostat to read 2 degrees more than the actual temperature of the home. It has done nothing to correct the issue. My guess is that the evaporater for the home is too small and is not removing all of the humidity from the air within the home and/or is incapable of cooling the home entirely. Secondly, the plumbing to the room must not be of the correct dimension. I don't know what the answer is but something is wrong. The HVAC in the room above my garage is uncontrollable. If I set the thermostat to 76 degrees it runs constantly and feezes me out of the room. Some days I have to set it to 81 degrees or 70 degrees. This problem is not resolved and Mr. McClure has been aware of this issue since he installed the unit back in August of 2006. On some winter nights both units will blow cold air all night long. Nothing has been done to correct this. My children have become sick several times as a result of this. I go to bed with heat blowing and then wake up in the early morning hours to find that the house is 62 degrees or less. I have to turn the systems off, wait 20 minutes and then turn them back on before they blow hot air. It is miserable and I have lost countless hours of sleep as a result. Recently I took a job after losing my corporation in Louisiana. I am on 90 days probation as is customary with any new job. My wife is usually off on Thursdays but has recurring doctor appointments every Thursday. Mr. McClure was notified of this on Monday of last week and claims to have scheduled the painters to come out and finish painting the interior of my home wich has been patched from the nail pops for the last 3.5+ months. I informed Mr. McClure that the only day available is Saturday. He refuses to aknowledge the fact that he has had over 5 months to address the issues with this home. He had another 12 before that to fix most of these problems. He refuses to come on Saturdays. It is with deep regret that I have no other option than to file suit against Mr. McClure. I've had enough of the lies, deception, failure to abide by the contract etc. My family and I have suffered a tremendous amount of stress since moving to Georgia. Mr. McClure could care less. In fact, in my opinion, he has gone out of his way to add as much stress to our lives as he can in hopes that we will give up. That's not going to happen. I don't take lightly to being lied to and ripped off. I informed Mr. McClure that my attorney has received my paperwork regarding everything that has and has not transpired in this debacle. I am currently waiting to hear back from her.
Jerry
Dawsonville,#20REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, May 11, 2007
McClure Home Builders went thru hell and high water to please this disgruntled customer. All other customers for this business have been 100% pleased with their new home. McClure Home Builders phone number was included with this customer's complaint should there be any concerns with this business please feel free to call. Many references can be provided to back up that this builder builds a great home. Thank you, McClure Home Builders, LLC
Kenneth
Dawsonville,#21Author of original report
Tue, April 03, 2007
It has now been 3 months since my last report. Mr. McClure has repaired some things and other things have yet to be taken care of. In the Interim, I received a threatening letter from an attorney representing Mr. McClure. Cross bracing was added between each floor joist in the basement. This eliminated approximately 90% of the bouncing floors we were experiencing but it created another problem. The wood flooring has seperated in several places throughout the home. It also caused many more pops in the floor as you walk through the house. Mr. McClure was notified of these issues over one month ago. He has yet to do anything about it. The areas of floor that wre sunken have not been corrected. We have had another round of nail pops fixed in the sheetrock. Approximately 250 of them. We are waiting for a painter to come paint the entire inside of the house as a result. I kicked the painter out of my home last week because she was insinuating that I was a liar. She stated that she primed and put two coats of paint on the walls last time she was here. She infact did not prime anything and put only one coat of paint. In some areas she didn't even repaint the wall but opted to touch up areas where nail pops were finished over for the first time. You can see these spots on the walls. Two days after I asked her to leave I proceeded to pressure wash my front deck and porch railings because they were beginning to exhibit signs of mold. The paint of the railings flew off under the pressure. Low and behold, there is no primer on the wood underneath. And, there was only one coat of paint applied. My driveway, which crosses over a creek, is at risk of collapsing due to soil erosion. Mr. McClure refilled one of the problem areas with dirt. This has done nothing to correct the initial problem. The problem is that the dirt was brought in to pour the driveway over was not compacted and not enough dirt was used. The dirt is slumping or eroding away. I spoke to a grading company and they expect that an extra 10 to 15 loads of dirt need to be brought in to correct the problem. I had two inspectors come out and look at the cracks in the basement. One of them was a Georgia certified engineer. He stated that several of the cracks need to be epoxied. Mr. McClure brought in his own inspection company at the behest of his attorney. The first representative from this company used a metal detector to check the basement walls for rebar. He found that there wasn't enough rebar in the walls and informed Mr. McClure that he wouldn't be able to sign off of the structural integrity of the wall as a result and that he'd have to get the owner of the engineering firm to come out and take a look. A week or so later this gentleman arrives to inspect the cracks in the basement. The only tool he used was his eyes and a flashlight. He stated that the walls were ok and no structural problems exist. Amazing. He also informed Mr. McClure that most builders will extend the warranty on the walls for 3 or 5 more years just to be sure there won't be anymore problems. Mr. McClure refuses to do this. Therefore, it is my opinion that these cracks need to be at minimum epoxied to stop any further expansion. Also, to stop insects (termites) from gaining access to the basement. I have yet to receive a letter from the engineering firm stating there is nothing wrong with the structure. During the time I wrote my initial report on this website another 2 cracks have developed across the floor in the basement. One of them is over 1/8" wide. I was told that this is normal by the engineer. Simply amazing. The cracks in the fireplace have been repaired but the idiots who did the repair used the wrong color mortar. I still sweat in my bedroom when the HVAC system is set to 70 degrees. The HVAC system is capable of reaching 68 degrees in winter but barley. Most of the doors in my home have been fixed again for the third or fourth time. There are still several that are very hard to move indicating stress on the hinges. There are multiple electrical outlets and light switches in the home that wiggle in the wall. There is a bulkhead of landscape timbers that hold back one of the gardens near my front porch. The top two timbers are bent and pulling away from the structure. Mr. McClure was notified of this some 6+ months ago. Nothing has been done as of yet and as a result several other timbers are beginning to pull away. While Mr. McClure has attempted to repair some problems in the home the list is certainly not completed. Mr. mcClure has done everything he can to avoid proper repairs. I have to constantly badger him to get a response and usually when I do get a response it is BS. Stay away from McClure Home Builders L.L.C. I feel he is dishonest and not willing to do what it takes to correct the problems 100% in my home.