David Weekley Design Center

[Cimboa]

Originally Posted by ethanw

This is my second David Weekly home that we finished this year in Riverstone. David Weekly is very good with the home designs and they use top materials. Weekly is also the only builder I know to stand behind their warranty even after several years. In my first house they came back to fix some issues with materials, after NINE years. No builder will do that. The energy savings are FANTASTIC... In a 6000 SF home with two 5 tones AC units the highest electricity bill was $250 for the hottest month of the year. You can't beat that.

But the building process craftsmanship is HORRIBLE. Don't expect Germans to build your house, we're on the border with cheap labor so you do the math. Actually for the money we pay we do get a lot of house and part of that is the cheap labor. You must watch and inspect you house like a hawk during the building process. PM me if need more guidance on this topic.

DO NOT use any upgrades from David Weekly and any builder for that matter, unless you have to. That's where they make their money. Just pay / upgrade for stuff that can't be done after house is finished. Things like big ticket items, different cabinets, tile, extra bedrooms, stuff that can't be done by a contractor or by you (DIY).

But if there is stuff that you can add after the house is done, things like crown molding, ceiling fans, etc, etc, while you building the house, just get the contractors name and phone numbers and call them after the house is done. You will be surprised how much less it costs to add stuff after. Trust me it works and they love making some money on the side during weekends or when they can.
Example: Weekly will charge $250 for a ceiling fan and the lights. I paid the contractor $60 each , parts and labor and added 6 of them to the house, same brand with the existing ones.

Also paying the guys during the building process works as well Just need some balls to do it...and also strike the right balance. You can't just pay everyone
Example: Weekly will charge me $600 just to run the main power cable in my backyard around the corner (for a pool to be built later). Usually they run it across diagonal to save money. I paid the electrician $75 and he did the job right for me.

As for the water softener, indeed don't get their $6000 which is a very cheap brand anyway. Pay just $3200 and get a Kinetico which is one of the best brands in the industry.

Again PM if you need specific help. I will be more than happy to help you save some money.

Regards
Ethan

I'm looking for an affordable new or relatively new DW home in the Shertz, Cibolo, Selma area. Any help would be appreciated.

[lhafer]

Builders make most of their money at the design center. I say think about what you are willing to do DYI later and don't get those upgrades.

We spent most of our money on wiring for our house. It's a PITA to do this later. Carpet? We chose standard. Upgraded the pad. Tile came standard, but we chose a grade or 2 up because we liked the design of it better, plus we needed bigger tiles to cover a huge area.

We ended up getting wood floors from the design center for our study and dining room. Wood floors in there were standard in the dining room, not in the study. But we upgraded the level of wood. SOOOO glad we went with the builder's wood floor because we had a leak from our master shower that seeped under the wall and under the wood floor in the study within the first year. Guess who got to replace the wood floor? The builder. If we had gone with another company, we would have been out that money to replace it.

[westsideteacher]

Originally Posted by Cimboa

I'm looking for an affordable new or relatively new DW home in the Shertz, Cibolo, Selma area. Any help would be appreciated.

Ask that question in the San Antonio forum.

[araibb]

Originally Posted by ethanw

This is my second David Weekly home that we finished this year in Riverstone. David Weekly is very good with the home designs and they use top materials. Weekly is also the only builder I know to stand behind their warranty even after several years. In my first house they came back to fix some issues with materials, after NINE years. No builder will do that. The energy savings are FANTASTIC... In a 6000 SF home with two 5 tones AC units the highest electricity bill was $250 for the hottest month of the year. You can't beat that.

But the building process craftsmanship is HORRIBLE. Don't expect Germans to build your house, we're on the border with cheap labor so you do the math. Actually for the money we pay we do get a lot of house and part of that is the cheap labor. You must watch and inspect you house like a hawk during the building process. PM me if need more guidance on this topic.

DO NOT use any upgrades from David Weekly and any builder for that matter, unless you have to. That's where they make their money. Just pay / upgrade for stuff that can't be done after house is finished. Things like big ticket items, different cabinets, tile, extra bedrooms, stuff that can't be done by a contractor or by you (DIY).

But if there is stuff that you can add after the house is done, things like crown molding, ceiling fans, etc, etc, while you building the house, just get the contractors name and phone numbers and call them after the house is done. You will be surprised how much less it costs to add stuff after. Trust me it works and they love making some money on the side during weekends or when they can.
Example: Weekly will charge $250 for a ceiling fan and the lights. I paid the contractor $60 each , parts and labor and added 6 of them to the house, same brand with the existing ones.

Also paying the guys during the building process works as well Just need some balls to do it...and also strike the right balance. You can't just pay everyone
Example: Weekly will charge me $600 just to run the main power cable in my backyard around the corner (for a pool to be built later). Usually they run it across diagonal to save money. I paid the electrician $75 and he did the job right for me.

As for the water softener, indeed don't get their $6000 which is a very cheap brand anyway. Pay just $3200 and get a Kinetico which is one of the best brands in the industry.

Again PM if you need specific help. I will be more than happy to help you save some money.

Regards
Ethan

Hi Ethan,

We are about to start the David Weekley design phase and would love to pick your brain on a few things. Let me know if i can contact you directly.

Thanks,

Araib

[Sollaces]

Before you make firm plans you need to decide what you can live with and what can wait until you can afford it. Some things builders will upgrade and some they won't. They can extend the patio slab. They can add on gutters. Sod the back (sometimes that is extra). Sodding the back yard is important because they do grade it to drain and if sod doesn't hold the dirt down, the next rain storm everything is washed away.

Are you more interested in energy efficiency? Ask if they put in ridge vents. Roof flashing. Radiant Barrier. Ask if their outside A/C uses the newer Freon. If you know you'll eventually put down wood floors then ask for their builder carpet and replace it later on. One upgrade I wished they did was painting the inside more than the standard flat. . . Which wipes off with each wipe. I mean there's the choice between two colors for the interior but not the quality of paint.

I think countertops are a biggie and should be upgraded. If you want a regular door to the master bathroom instead of those flimsy half doors, ask about it. We also had them put the fuse box and the internet box all in the laundry room. I didn't want anything up high in the master bathroom closet like our last house. No! No repairmen walking through our master bedroom. . . Just no!

We also asked for a gas dryer outlet and they charged us too much for it. We also wanted one bathroom to be handicapped with a rail in the shower and a higher toilet. Now we had a Morrison home and they gave a 10 year structural warranty (Think that is the right number there) and I can't remember how long the warranty was on everything else. Two years? I know nail pops didn't happen until after two years.

One thing we did was have the framing inspected. We also had a bug company come in and coat the lower framing with a termite / pesticide.

[Sollaces]

A friend had a David Weekly home in Grand Lakes. One of her windows was installed upside down. She couldn't figure out why one window leaked.

[huma281]

Originally Posted by ethanw

But the building process craftsmanship is HORRIBLE. Don't expect Germans to build your house, we're on the border with cheap labor so you do the math. Actually for the money we pay we do get a lot of house and part of that is the cheap labor. You must watch and inspect you house like a hawk during the building process. PM me if need more guidance on this topic.

Ethan

True. When I walked DW homes years ago I noted the poor craftsmanship on all of their homes being built. Ended up in a DW home, but I told the construction manager the number one item on my list is to build the home better. He followed through and I'm a happy customer. Hired my own home inspector and flew down to Houston to inspect the home for every building phase meeting might have helped.

As far as upgrades, I read every thread in the Houston section when it came to new home purchasing years ago. The best advice I saw was, upgrade the things that would be more expensive to add on later. This would be stuff like electrical, plumbing, cabinets, patio gas line out, backyard patio or extended patio, etc.

Just realized this thread is from 8 years ago, lol.