sp83196

I can relate to this article. I am the proud owner of a lovely million plus "custom" home built by a builder who rarely showed up and was all talk on quality but couldn't follow through. We found out the HVAC contractor was trying to commit fraud by charging us for one system and putting in another (only because I made my husband check the serial numbers). I worked my rear end off for all of the details and finishes which I had to draw and spend time on-site w/the contractors to design even though I had already gone through it all w/my builder prior to deciding he needed to move on. I am not a builder but I have learned a tremendous amount and my subscription to Fine Homebuilding brought sooo many issues to my attention. Unfortunately when I would bring the issues to my builder or subs they looked at me as if I had two heads. They don't want their customers to know anything about the materials or energy efficiency of their house. It seems once they figure out their business formula for building, they are not interested in learning anything more. It's been a long and frustrating road and I have very little faith in so called "custom" builders. I helped the architect design this house so it is truly unique, but my builder got paid too much in advance and moved on to the next project. We held back money which he is now trying to get through litigation (good luck since I documented everything) and we forsee ongoing issues with the overall quality for which we justify holding money to have another contractor fix things. What a mess! Consumers really have no recourse and it needs to change. The next person to call that builder will never know what they are getting into. I checked references, but clearly this builder won't be listing me on his reference list. Ugh!