We have now been building with Taylor Homes for 2 years and 4 months. It has been a hellish nightmare. From the beginning when they dug our foundation, it was an additional $20,000 we paid to get this right. The framers were a mexican crew that framed so out of square, this cost us a door for our wine cellar. Taylor wanted to hang a regular door there anyway even though the caulking on the right would be ridiculious. We offered a solution of a glass door hung in the middle and they said they would check with their vendors yeah right! We gave them a price and said we would split it. In my opinion Taylor does not have an eye for detail as stated in his little radio interview on the website. They don't even understand what making concessions mean or keeping your customer happy means. Our stairwell has so many goosenecks for the handrail due to the fact they built the ceiling to close to it. We paid out of pocket for someone we hired to complete our stairs. Taylor said they would pay for it but when we said it was more they have not responded, understand this staircase had been attempted by 3 other carpenters. Taylors framers put untreated wood up against concrete. No rubber membranes under doors with wood where concrete was to go...you ask yourself how skilled are the subs they hire?
In a change order after they did what they call a redraw of our home we paid a professional architect to draw. We stated we wanted a flat ceiling in our garage. We have arched windows in the front of the home by the garage as well. They never changed it and now we have a partial drywall ceiling hanging right in the arch if this window.
We had in our contract marble walls and flooring in the master shower. Taylor turned around and said they meant Marblene, they agreed to give us credits so we could hire it out and now we have tile and are out another $5,000 with their credits, but we are so happy with the quality of these bathroom guys we hired so happy that we did this , you can see the quality difference from the master bath and stairwell alone.
We have gone over all the photos we had taken and found that the expansive ceiling in our basement gameroom was hung on 2 x 4's not 2 x 6's which is why the additional $5,000 we paid for smooth ceiling will never happen there unless it is corrected it looks like the ocean waves. We had another mexican crew laying brick in below zero temeratures. There are missing weep holes, flashing and a brick ledge in most places. What was to be our beautiful white brick custom home is an embarrassment to usThe thing that bothers us the most is we gave them lists..all of these problems could have been avoided, but then a new contractor came in or it was overlooked and they moved on.
It also seems that once they get the last substantial draw no one shows, it is like they don't know what to do. I have heard this from the others also building with Taylor Homes.
They called another crew in to clean the brick from all the mud and concrete splatter and found they used a cleaner that turned our white brick yellow and our limestone sills we paid additional $2,600 for that are not even limestone are stained as well. We were told when we brought this to their attention "well you picked them" Please, these are the samples you gave to us. How were we to know that you would not show us real limestone that you charged on our contract for in pieces, they do not even go the length of the window. Or the hip roof charge of $2,600 that was never an add on it was in the original plans.
We asked for white tile with white grout, we never saw a sample...ever...we asked for it numerous times, from Nov 2014 when we signed the contract. I even caught the flooring people trying to tile our HVAC room, he showed me a drawing from Taylor as that was where it was to go. I told him no but he had already ground down our concrete flooring that was supposed to be protected as we were having it stained. when they installed our flooring it was Ivory tile and white grout.
The crew that came back to repair our flooring as it was cracked we found went to our dock on the property and used lake water to grout our tile, it is green like the lake now. No one was here to tell them there was water in the bath tub and the outside spigots worked. You say we interfere with the building process, well don't you wish we had gone down there when the last trim carpenter was here it would have saved you 20 something new cabinet doors. two pocket doors, and more trim. You also would have been replacing all the hardwood upstairs if we had not questioned putting it in with no HVAC as well.
The painters showed and were painting trim before it was even caulked, when asked they said they had no caulking. They proceeded to step in the trim paint and give us shoe prints all over the stained concrete flooring. We have had 9 superintendants as they quit or get fired, which Taylor will not admit to this, I have all the emails telling us this and who our new super was now going to be. We also recently were told super number 9 quit. We have not been emailed or called as usual as to who the new one is yet.
We have a porch over a pool bath room we paid $23,000 paid in full to put in it has been ripped out and redone numerous times . They don't even put door knobs on your doors, they stuff the holes with paper. Our pool room doors blew open and we had a bird in their crapping all over our drywall and vanity and farm sink. We are paying to heat and cool this house...come on...The newest concrete pour has all the water going towards the house and we now have mold growing in our pool bathroom. Taylor was made aware of this and has done nothing as of yet.
Our entire basement molded last year because they were drywalling and painting in the home with over 90% humidity and had never installed the HVAC. They were ready to lay our 5" maple hardwood when we had our super call the flooring company and stop them as this would have buckled, they agreed. You had a friend of the VP of production bid the mold job off photos. He had a crew of 2 guys who admitted they were not certified in mold, the owner came out to meet with me as I am very well versed in mold remediation. I explained to him the situation, he agreed with me and told me he was told it was only a small area. He left the job and did not finish. He said Mr. L was a friend of his back in his 84 lumber days and apologized to me. After 101 days of no one working on our home they finally agreed to go with the company we checked out that was certified with a solid reputation complete the remediation.
When we signed the contract Novemeber 2014 we were told 6 to 9 months. We were even okay with 12 to 14 but this is 29 months and we are sick about it. Mr. Taylor will tell you they never give a build time..you do when your selling it. We purchased expensive furnishings based on corporate here last year telling us we were going to close in a few weeks, our newest super did the same thing to us a year later. We have had expensive items in our pole barn with no climate control.
Since August when the last trim carpenter was here they hired, he decided to remove all our cabinet pulls and center them instead of listening to what "we" told him as there is never a super here onsite when the trades are unless we call them with a problem. He ruined our pocket doors that were re-ordered numerous times and caused damage to the trim and our garage door now will not open. He stated he was new in business and had worked for his dad for years and that this would be done in a day. WOW
Each sub are slobs we spent 18 hours cleaning the house for the first time and have done it 5 times since. No one cares for your property and no one watches these crews either.They put cinder blocks and drywall in all our new tubs, they will tell you if they are scratched they have a guy who can fix it...really? We have had no one here for months. I have talked to 4 other couples in the surrounding areas also building with them and they are still suffering the same issues we are. You say on your website in your interview: Quality control inspections, an eye for detail . You follow a logical building process like hanging expensive chaneliers when ceilings are not even painted and sending the closet man to hang shelves when walls and trim are not done.
We have had enough. We have given them numerous lists over and over and some things get addressed and others passed by. When we talk to the VP of production he says he will investigate or we hear crickets. They do not care and they are crippled when it comes to communication in my opinion. Mr. Taylor will tell you about their nearly 15,000 homes built and their 2011 ethics award and their BBB rating. This does nothing, We want our home finished. Mr. Taylor? You have never been here , nor have you ever seen our home. Only pictures and the video and that Mr. L. took when he was here as we poured our heart out to him with all our concerns, only telling us they would make it right.
We find out later that unless it is on a change order in writing it does not matter. We are tired of your words that mean nothing...Our home was put on your Face book page with videos as if you are proud. it makes us sick. I should post my pictures but I am sure you will have them removed from FB. This is real life Taylor Homes and to me you are a joke. I was in the building industry for over 26 years sir...I have never seen anything like this...We want to move into our Quality Brick home built by someone who understands, cares and delivers quality. This to me is Definetly NOT Taylor Homes.
#2Author of original report
Wed, September 20, 2017
Most of the building problems were due to the unskilled subs that you hire along with no super to babysit them as this is so needed. Maybe the fact that we have had 9 supers to date as they have either resigned or been fired and passed the torch to the next that has not been made aware of the specifics of our job, this should be something corporate does not the homeowner.
You can't be serious about the 42 change orders, which Taylor lives by, being an issue. It specifically states in your contract "Any changes to this agreement or blue prints require a change order signed by both parties".In fact everything that a homeowner wants, any upgrades paint colors, railings, fixtures require a change order. Could this be the meaning of a custom home? The change order would also usually mean an upcharge to the homeowner as well. As a builder isn't this a good thing? You also state in your radio interview that you make customizations to all your homes to accommodate the home buyer, wouldn't this under Taylors contract require change orders as well?
You need to check with your sales reps in the office as I along with the other four homebuyers in Kentucky in talking have all said we were given a time frame for building of their homes as well, although your contract says different. So, please do not act as though this is unusual and that we just don't understand, I think we all know better.
As far as payments you state on every draw "substantially complete" even though you skip the most basic order of building:
Installing drywall, painting, trim and foors, hardwood flooring without HVAC when the hot temperatures of Kentucky are in the 90's with high humidity. The hanging of homeowner purchased lighting before the ceilings are painted, closet shelves and mirrors, Mr. Taylor we have two tubs with water and one commode that is working right now after over two years into the build.
You have been aware of the mold in the pool bath that has been paid in full since May and have done nothing. The last super told me he was asked to remove the vanity and drywall in the molded room. This is a BIG NO NO, I was then told to get a mold bid and Taylor would get one as well...where is yours. I sent mine months ago.
What was agreed to was Taylor Homes building us a "Quality Brick Home " on OUR lot. We assumed after reading and listening to all the videos on your website, that YOU understood how to build a home, this is why we hired you.
After finding out that your real company name is "Taylor Building Corporation of America" AKA Taylor Homes is when we started to find all the negative reviews eerily similar to our troubles with you. We now know that this is not just happening to us with your company, there are others going through the same thing even now.
In all your rebuttals to complaints, I see excuses, you never specifically address anyones concerns. You clamor on about Taylors statistics, your doing the same thing with us. Blaming us 42 change orders, disagreements, interfering with the building process. Winners of the 2011 Torch award for ethics,that was seven years ago where are your ethics now?
How you mention you just finsihed 3 homes just this last week. The fact that you even have the gall to mention this knowing we are 2+ years into this build, confirms to me that you have no conception of customer service, you lack communication skills and class and then you ask us to accept your apology?
We do not accept your apology: understand Mr. Taylor no one has been here working for months. You can not get a job done if no one is here. What we would agree to, is that we should have never signed the contract for you to build our home. We have regretted it every day for the last 852.23 days.
How can you work through ANY issues with no communication? As no one from Taylor has contacted us since our last super resigned. Do you believe our issues are not legitimate? How would you know you have never been here, I was told the VP of production was here a few weeks ago stopping by the homes you are working on in the surrounding areas after our 9th sub resigned. He did not stop by here...why?
Mr. Taylor we do not care how many homes you have built. The length of time you have been in business, which to me is a complete miracle. We have paid you $500,000 for a "Quality Brick home built on our lot" with attention to detail, quality control checks as your website states...where is it?
Chris
Louisville,#3UPDATE Employee
Thu, September 14, 2017
First and foremost, we apologize to our customers for any grief and aggravation's that the construction process has caused. It is agreed that there have been complications in the building of this home; much more extreme than the normal complications we even typically endure. Honestly, a lot is due to the complexity of all the unusual customizations, 42 Change Orders (some with multiple changes on each), as well as interference during the building process. Regardless, we assume full responsibility for our part and assure you that this matter will be 100% resolved. Although not perfect – no home ever is--upon 100% completion it will be a quality home. As stated in multiple documents, literature and clearly understood my past present and future customers, for the some of the reasons you mentioned – is exactly why we do not under any circumstances ever provide a completion date nor are there ever any verbal agreements. We are paid after the home has reached a certain stage of construction (not beforehand); so it's in our best interest as well as our customers for the home to move along as quickly as possible. Both parties clearly understand the above along with many other terms and conditions "in writing" so everyone's expectations are crystal-clear. And if it truly wasn't understood what both parties were agreeing to, you should've never allowed construction to begin until you fully understood what you had already agreed to. The reasoning for this, is that in this industry a multitude of delays occur, things absolutely happen along with disagreements. Although, we always strive to work through and resolve any legitimate issues to bring closure to our homes. We believe that it is very relevant that we have successfully built thousands and thousands of homes for customers and we have received glowing letters of recommendation once the homes are completed (3 more just last week). At this point of construction, we all must agree that we are not at the completion phase but like you, hope to be there as quickly as possible. Again, please accept our sincerest apologies as we work through dispute resolution to resolve any legitimate outstanding items.