Grand Homes; GRAND MESS

[Rakin]

I'd heard Grand had a high employee turnover but it sounds like you've had 3 warranty guys in about a year (including Ace) ??

That's quite a few.

[4knowledge]

Yes sir first two moved on were in transition upon receiving our home. Great men, put forth great efforts however they only have so much authority to make things happen
Ace was just given the title no true experience with customer service, people skills, young & immature, nothing of urgency unless it was baseball. Nothing against novice but one has to recognize their ability & skill & be willing to listen & learn from those with experience. He too came in with the attitude of some of the workers quantity vs wuality so he allowed alot of patch work, over looked areas I guess hoping we would tire out. So what he called a second list was actually the first list that was never checked off or initialed by him nor signed by us, we initialled items that were corrected to our satisfaction items that were not corrected were moved to the updated list.
Trying to work 8 to sometimes 10 hr shifts 5days a week come home to whats suppose to be a turn key home, but instead full of chaos document every room, pictures every room with area(s) of concerns, document each txt, email, phone conversation is a bit much for a person with a family, thats a bit much to do just to go after a company to bring them down as Ace stated, we don't have the time, energy or money to fight such a large company. However we will stand our ground for what's right & for our family. Something tells us our house is NOT the first house Grand has messed up, so any ill thoughts or feelings about Grand is not stemming from us, its what they have built they've built this reputation. So instead of ace leaving well enough alone he decides to step in on a statement made months before he came on board, & to try to water down my complaints & the truth that was adding insult to injury especially when we are living it, have all the proof
The bottom line is Grand is trying to make it right, they are 3wks short of a year to get several things corrected
We are thinking positive.

[mbounds]

Be a wary homebuyer when dealing with Grand Homes. The homeowners at Enclave were not aware their homes were built on fill dirt (four feet) with a substandard retaining wall that violated the International Building Code (running water next to the wall; bearing capacity). The Sales Agents neglected to mention this fact as well as the lawsuit that was filed (and won) due to the flooding of the subdivision next to the wall. Homebuyers have walked away or sold - at a loss.

The situation was covered by local TV and radio, but nothing done to alleviate the situation, which will continue.

Buyers - do your research!

[loves2read]

Thank the local town/county for its weak building codes/oversight
Something like that should have been caught immediately by the planning dept IF the city's codes were stricter...
The builders build to code--
Want better building--enact stricter building codes...hire more inspectors...and have a city council that is not sucking up to construction/development money for increased tax revenue

[mbounds]

The city of Dallas was completely enthralled with Grand Homes. Mary Suhm and crew came to a community meeting to address, and actually stated that the flooding was due to the Chapel Valley Homeowers. They did not do their research, as there was never any flooding to our subdivision since it was built in 1979. They also stated that we were "dripping" onto the Grand Homes property - and NONE of our homes "drip" - the roofs and gutters flow into our yards and onto the street. Further, they stated that the retaining wall was built one inch inside their property line - however, they had to move a section of the wall as it was on a Crossing Lane Property. The promise to have gutters and downspouts run to the Enclave street was also neglected, as was the 4" requirement for soil next to the retaining wall. The City required a french drain to be installed on the Enclave property, however, it was removed during construction.

International building codes forbid buildings within 25 feet of a retaining wall, and there cannot be a waterway between the wall and existing homes. This was ignored.

The Enclave homeowners, according to the city and captured on video as well as written meeting notes, are responsible for maintaining the wall and the small space between the retaining walls and our homes, but there has been no attempt to clean it up (construction debris, soil pushed above our foundations, trees growing in between). The space between the retaining wall is 4 inches to one foot.

The City of Dallas Chief Engineer, Elias Sassoon, stated on video that he just "rubber stamped" the plans. No thought to codes or deed restrictions.

There are now "For Sale by Owner" signs on the Enclave at Bluffview property - homeowners wanting to get out due to foundation and other problems (no street parking; driveways that cannot accommodate cars).

[rwbimmer]

I read the OP about their build with Grand and I just can't seem to find where it was ONLY the builder's fault..... There is no builder on the face of the earth that builds a "perfect" house every time.. That is why we hire our own inspectors. I am finishing up by build with Grand and so far it has gone very smoothly... I didn't have to complain about them not giving me my earnest money back, I have no reason to try and specifically try and talk to their sub contractors, the only complaint I have is that it has taken about 7 months. Which, looking back now... I would not want to rush them, I want a quality product. From the time we set down in the Builders meeting I had MY licenced and bonded Inspector with me and made it very clear that he would be performing the Phase Inspection. After all the troubles it seems the OP had... and she even stated her husband is a "skilled" carpenter, it seems as though their problems would have all been solved by hiring their own inspector... Seems common sense to me.. They have people working for them, so why would you not hire someone who is working for you to make sure you are getting what they promised?... Just my opinion.. We are set to close in about 3 weeks and so far my inspector during two phases of the three phrase inspection found 2 issues that were corrected right away... Now there are always things that can go wrong but I feel confident that when he does his final inspection that there will not be many, if any, issues. I am not partial one way or another, just figured I would share my Grand Home experience from Frisco, TX

[4knowledge]

Unsure what OP Means assume you r referring to me 4 knowledge, with you referencing statement of my husband being a carpenter.
Let me clarify I was simply stating my experience with Grand, to share as well as get information. It wasnt to say that was everyone's experience, based on what I read prior to our building with them most comments were good but once I made this post others made me aware of other complaints on same company. I guess if you want to say our faults were to assume people / companies will be honest is fault of ours, we asked our realtor about getting an inspector we were told which we knew to do so at end which is what was done , we visited site daily and made note of every finding guess trust was our biggest fault. This was our first build and we learned alot will definitely do a few things differently. Just NEVER experienced anything like this up north but understand that was preexisting build.
Im happy you didnt experience what we did and based on information we have now moving forward we will be doing not only more in depth research & cross referencing but have an inspector in on each phase now we are aware.

[rwbimmer]

OP(original post). I just believe in being fair... I am not saying the builder wasn't at fault but our build process with along without a hitch because our builder knew right away and up front that I would have an independent inspector on site for every phase and it really set the tone for the whole build. The inspector found some issues and they were corrected, stuff I would have never known to look for. Example, fire place vent and ac vent can not be in the same "draft" area.... fixed right away. My experience with Grand Homes was great but there is a catch with that.. I would have to say that Grand's management are a bunch of idiots but my builder was great and exceeded my expectations simply because I was up front but respectful and let him know right away what I expected and did what he expected of me. Great home, we have been in two months now.. Had a few issues, needed AC flow rebalanced, needed a few sprinkler repairs and there were a few junction boxes that got covered up that shouldn't have been but the problems were fixed right away and we are loving our new home. We actually just got our HERS rating certificate in and the house came in at a 65. So, not too shabby.