Just Say No

A while back… way back… back before I closed on this latest house… back before I moved out of the previous one… I decided that my moving and move-in process should be different. This is my 4th house, 2nd new-build.

Here are a couple of my favorite posts detailing my last new-build home-buying experience: “The Real Deal” and “It’s About To Go Down”. I chronicled my journey with the last home a lot more because it was a smooth and happy experience. This one… has been everything but happy and smooth. Seeing as though this was the biggest purchase of my life, well-thought out and strategized, I was initially excited when I walked the model with my realtor, Peggie Simmons of Realty Marketing Group. You remember her from this post don’t you? Miss Peggie was a real trooper with me through this ordeal. Yes I consider it an ordeal. I truly can’t thank her enough, and can’t imagine EVER buying a home without her.

The layout was everything I wanted. And although the price was going to be higher than I’d anticipated, I’d been blessed with the funds to handle it. This was my “big girl house”, with the “big girl mortgage!” The joy continued as I signed the contract and learned that I’d only be displaced and in temporary housing (the Momster’s place), roughly 4 months. (Contented smile and sigh with eyes closed) Right then and there, I decided that this move and move-in would be totally different, for the better, than any of my other moves, and soon started working towards my new move goals. More on that later. Unfortunately, the joy didn’t continue. It was soon squelched by one bad incident, non-responsiveness and misrepresentation after the other by, hands down, in my opinion, the absolute worst home builder known to man, Gehan Homes.

Do Not Buy A Gehan Home!

Flat out, don’t do it! Save yourself! Just say no! This symbol displays exactly how I feel about Gehan Home Builders. Every time I see a Gehan sign or see the guys working on the next sets of problems and issues they call homes on my block, I have ill feelings about them. I’m trying not to be bitter about everything, but I’ve been in my new home for almost three months now and I still feel this way. I really do believe I’m going to need professional help to get over the way I was treated by this company. Seriously, I’m just beginning to see that now. And I’m sure you’re like, “well what the heck did they do?” Before I start, I have to tell you that the issues I’m about to share will be significantly condensed so that this post doesn’t go on and on into the new year. Especially with the first issue. It could really be a stand-alone post. And also, most of these issues have been completed/resolved. So here we go…

Flooring. I was in a skip-to-my-lou mood the morning of my Design Center appointment, and it went quite well. Miss Peggie joined me for this fun and exciting part of the process as she did with any and all appointments for the house. We were both happy and looking forward to the next four or five hours of selection process. I managed to get all the major items I wanted and remain within my budget. Yay me! I asked the design center rep if I could make any changes to my choices, and she promptly informed me that my selection was final as of that day and if I wanted to make any changes I’d have to pay a $250 change fee. No worries. It’s a small price to pay to get exactly what I want. Knowing that I wasn’t 100% sold on the flooring I chose, I did some research and three weeks later, after seeing those floors real and up close in another home, not just two sample planks on a stand, immediately I didn’t like them and wanted to change them. So I sent an email to the rep. Almost a week went by and upon following up with her she finally directed me to talk to my salesperson. So I emailed my salesperson. After hearing crickets for another week, I sent another email copying them both. More crickets for almost a third week so I decided to stop by to have the “floor change” conversation in person. I was told to email him by Wednesday of the next week exactly what I wanted to do and he’d get started on it. Fine. By then, I’d vetted a couple of contractors who did flooring and had decided I would simply take the standard flooring and lay the floors I wanted after closing. In not more than 24 hours after sending that email to him, I received an email from the salesperson saying his superior said no, they wouldn’t be able to change the floors. No explanation. No “I’m sorry we were unresponsive and lead you on for three weeks”, just no. This is where steam blew out of my ears, my head spun around and a deep growl rose up from the innermost part of my belly, and poor Miss Peggie had to hear me go completely off. Not just then, for several weeks… well, I haven’t really stopped, I just calmed down significantly. I can’t remember when I’d been that mad, at anybody or anything. I was mad at ALL of them. Especially this “superior.” Who was he? I soon found him and emailed him. Mark Moskal, Division President. Then I called him. I spoke to him three times, suggested options that even included me spending more money with them to pick out different flooring, and the answer was still the same, no. He felt that any changes made after the design center visit, even a day after, would only cause missteps with the process. Now mind you, flooring goes in at the end of your build-out. My home at the time of my change request, didn’t even have walls; just the framing.

I tried everything. I couldn’t complain to the Registrar of Contractors because it wasn’t a building/contractor issue. I solicited legal advise and was informed that since the contract stated that a change could take place with a $250 change fee, but had to have manager approval as well, that the builder is not in breach of that contract. (Deep angry sigh) I’m a Leo, and an overachiever, so the fact that I had no way to retaliate greatly displeased and irritated me. Ok so, here’s the rest of “the list” and I can go through these quickly… somewhat quickly. Shall we?

• My dry wall walk through with the construction manager lasted all of 5 minutes, until Miss Peggie intervened and started walking around pointing out several things and asking questions. She was not feeling any of it either.
• After talking to Mr. Moskal and asking him to at least provide a free washer and dryer for my trouble, the washing machine they installed was rusted and had dirty standing water in it a week before my final walk-through.
• There was a missing wall – the partial wall on the side of the refrigerator. I don’t have a picture of it, or any other pre-finished pictures for that matter because by then I was so un-enthused by this house and the whole process. But here’s a graphic I created and sent to them to further my case, as they attempted to say the wall was an option I didn’t select.

• There were two missing light switches because they accidentally dry-walled over them.
• The guest bathroom casing does not sit leveled on the tub and debris trickles out from under it. They say that’s normal.

• They painted the kitchen and bathrooms in flat paint, not semi-gloss as per standard in every other house in America. But there’s semi-gloss paint in all the closets.
• The guest bedroom closet doors were not bolted down.
• They ordered the wrong granite counter tops. I ordered a satin finish and they ordered a polished finish. After checking the paperwork, I was able to catch the error in just enough time, thank God. But wait there’s more!

• Then they cut the granite counter tops incorrectly.
• I selected the range top package with the microwave hood and the single side-oven. They installed a double oven. At least this screw-up worked in my favor 🙂

• Then there was the cable installer who found that the main line he needed to run his lines through in order to set up service were blocked, and he had to re-schedule my installation appointment pending a special, heavy-duty flush that had to be performed before he could continue. The guy who performed the “flush” said he’d never seen the lines so clogged with construction debris that should have been cleaned out a lot sooner than then…. oh wait, there’s more!
• I think I should mention, there were a total of 3 construction managers during the 3 month process.
• And the biggest ongoing deal… when I moved in, there was a heavy mildewy / dirty socks smell whenever the AC kicked on. I changed the filters on day 5 in the house and they were disgustingly filthy. I’ve never seen so much gunk on filters before in my life. They were so dirty, I’m sure they were the original filters put there after the AC was installed.

• Fast forward 5 service calls later… Chas Roberts emptied and tilted the condensation pan so the water doesn’t sit and get stagnant, cleaned the evac coils twice, and cleaned and re-sealed the ducts. Because they have to go into the attic/crawl space each time, and it’s located in the master closet, now my off-white carpet in there is so dirty and in need of cleaning. Uggghhh… So after running the fan for 24 hours, finally the smell went away, but every now and I stop and sniff, believing my nose detects a faint scent of mold and mildew. I think that’s because of the trauma this whole process has caused me. At one point prior to closing, I even tried to walk away from this house, but I had $7,000 on the table that I couldn’t get back, and I wasn’t about to reward them for being such a horrible home builder. I was mad, but not crazy. I truly missed the CalAtlantic (now Lennar Homes) experience, with my all-time favorite salesperson, Dahlia Feiter. With the exception of it taking eight and half months to build, (I was a little upset then, but now I appreciate it), every single process was on point, and Dahlia didn’t miss a beat. I never wondered about any part of it because she always kept me abreast of what was going on, and even sent me pictures of the progress. If they had’ve had another property in my area, in my price range, I certainly would’ve purchased from them/her again. (sigh and fond memories smile)

Climbing down off the ledge…

Now back to whether or not all my new move and move-in plans went off without a hitch… Given all I just shared, moving day was a little bittersweet, but I was determined to dive right into my plans, which had me committed to myself to have the house completely done in 30 days. I felt once I saw it decorated with the glamourosity of the Ingrid Bohannon touch, I’d fall in love and all would be right in the world again. This is how I climb down off the ledge of anger and disappointment. Sadly, that didn’t happen. I did complete the house in exactly 32 days, but I just about killed myself getting it done. What the heck was wrong with me?!?! And with every vendor appointment, every task, every item in my playbook, nothing went according to plan. There were “hitches” all over the place. Everyone’s price was more than their quotes. And because I so strategically coordinated things to be done, one setback triggered a another setback with something else, and on and on and on and on. So in the past I’d never done backyard landscaping, but this time, I had it done the first week I was in the house. I usually don’t hang the chandeliers until after all the decor is set, so that it’s the finishing touch to the room, but this time I wanted to have all the lighting installed prior to the furniture being brought in. And I wanted all the access walls painted first too. Basically, I wanted to create that Fixer Upper, Love It or List It, Flip or Flop staging/reveal process. Well that didn’t happen at all. Though I am still struggling with being excited about my new home, I was and still am, so grateful to be here. I know I’m extremely blessed, and I deeply appreciate God’s favor and goodness every time I walk through the door…. then I look at those floors, haha!!!!

The floors aren’t bad, they’re just not what I wanted. I wanted a no-grout, longer, wider, laminate, and a tad lighter, grayish look on the floors… oh well.

Getting to Happy

One of the ways I can get to happy in this house, is by having my own home inspection. I just want to make sure that a major leak, mold infestation or electrical fire isn’t laying wait in my house right after the warranty runs out. I don’t trust that this house has been built well. The workmanship is shoddy and it’s built really cheaply in my opinion. I mean, the garage wall from the inside of the house vibrates heavily when the car is running, as if there’s no insulation there. (deep sigh) Moving on… the other way to happy here for me is to immerse myself into all things home decor, yes!!! The next few posts will be room reveals and decor processes, so you’ve been warned. Thank you for reading all the way to the end, haha!!! And I’ll see you in the next post. Take care :)xo