Rick
Gearhart,#2Author of original report
Tue, May 19, 2009
SO FAR----- Most light bulbs have failed, even in hallways where seldom used. Garbage disposal failed Formica counters have bubbles in them Raw sewage leaked under house do to improper instalation of pipes. Appliances did not meet energy efficient requirements for Oregon rebate Five cabinet doors have fallen off, several had to be re-hung correctly. One drawer fell out due to poor workmanship. One shelf in cabinet fell due to cheap plastic clips being faulty. One wall plug failed. Exterior wall plugs/switches not installed correctly to meet energy star standards. Heat stat improperly installed allowing cold air to blow up from under house onto back of stat. Bedroom air vent fell out of ceiling Kitchen wall plugs went dead for a while, but seem to have healed up so we can not find problem to fix it. Lights dim when furnace comes on due to it drawing a full 120 amps and makes low houl when starting. 200 amp panel they installed has a total of 980 amps wired to it, and they were supposed to have allowed for us adding a hot tub. Total draw for a holiday is 120 amps for furnace, two 30 amp ovens, a 40 amp stove top, then the additional draw of lights, garbage disposal, bath fans, water heater, washer, dryer,etc. Lights flutter in den/office all the time. Electrician says the only way to fix is to re-wire half the house over to new panel when we add hot tub that it turns out we will have to wire for anyway. Clouset rods drop out of brackets because they were cut short or improperly installed. Outside of house trim above windows where you could not easily see was not painted, and we live in a verry wet area. Walls not square to 90 degrees, so don't cut shelving for anywhere until you see what angel they actually ended up with. Master bath clouset door sets in a 45 degree wall, but doorway measures 45 degrees on one side and 50 degrees on the other. Porch posts are not plumb vertically, so you can see it with your eye. Plug-ins pull in and out of the wall, so you have to find a way to anchor them in the wall. Kitchen sink was not installed properly, and would have resulted in the counter rotting away. House not sealed to foundation, so mice got in. Oven had a defective temp control, but had to cut the wire to the back of it so we could get it out for tech to fix, because the oven was installed before surround was on and didn't allow for anyone to ever remove it from the finished house. Seat in shower not propeerly installed so there was black mold growing between pan and tiled seat insert. Found huge holes in wall behind mirrors when I removed mirrors to build frames to surround them. They use thin hard drywall, so picture anchors do not stay in the wall very well. Not a problem till you go to hang a heavy mirror or shelving. I want everyone to know it would have been far, far better to have built a stick house as for quality, value, and speed. If you want something to continually work on, buy one of their houses, and you will learn all about home repair.
Rick
Gearhart,#3Author of original report
Wed, March 21, 2007
My nightmare with PH may finally be over. A worker came on a Sunday, February 18th I believe (yes, I said a Sunday)to finish the last things on my roof so it would be done properly and meet manufacturers specs on the shingle packages. Highlights of this mess are- I was GRABED by sales manager Dave Conway and told to leave the sales lot because I was taking pictures of the model house that I purchased, that a letter to me from their attorney says they cannot build because we changed all the carpet to laminate flooring so the outside of the house is bound to be different. Made no sense to me. The Woodburn Police were called, and told me it was harrasment, not assault as I thought. The BBB is absolutly worthless because PH has a good rating and they closed my case because Dave Conway told them my house was completed and I just couldn't be made happy. At that time, my heat pump was still missing; and they had not properly finished my roof. The Oregon Building Board stepped in and did an inspection, with PH being cited for 14 noncompliance items, several of which were HUD violations. I believe my house didn't meet the standards for a Good Cents Home ,as explained to me by the Good Cents people, because PH tore the gaskets used to seal a single switch box in half and used a half on each side of the double switch boxes with a large gap left in the middle. Cost savings about a buck. Also, they just plain forgot to gasket one of the boxes. I found that they had not sealed the sink to the counter when I replaced the cheap stainless one that came in my home with a cast iron one. Jerrimy Chrisman (yes the one who is talked about in the other persons report)told me to go ahead and report PH to the OBB because they were not covered by them. The OBB was quite interested to hear that when I called them, so they sent the guy to do the inspection. Chrisman also agreed to do a mold inspection, but once back at his office, changed his mind. By my wanting to do the contracting for the foundation, which I am so glad I did, PH slid a whole bunch of other responsibilities off on to me. I suddenly am responsible for running the gas lines and water lines under the house. This is just a partial list, but I am tired of typing. Remember FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS BUY PALM HARBOR HOMES.