Westheimer Lakes North - Westin Homes - Have Some ?'s

[lp1971]

Originally Posted by LML1919

Hi! Funny enough I stumbled on this post and I feel like I wrote it lol. Boy isn't building a house exciting yet crazy because you have sooooo many choices?!
Here's my problem....
I could build a Westin Sedona in a neighborhood I think is okay or I could build a Meritage Longhorn in a neighborhood I love. The Westin has a wow factor and the Meritage is just simply huge. My question are:
Which is a better builder?
Anyone have any thing to comment on their home (good or bad)?
Electric bills?
Energy saving?
Would you have your second fav home in a place you love or your fav home in an okay subdivision?

Any insight is greatly appreciated! I feel like I've been racking my brain like crazy lol
(:

I like Westin home because of the floor plan and design. The workmanship is okay. However, Westin made me nervous since my builder Jed seems does not tell me the whole story and I really don't know what happens next. This is one of our biggest investment and we have a hard time to recommend Westin with friends because of the followings:

So far I hardly get the straight answer from my construction manager (Jed) and area manager (Brent).

As a home buyer, I don't feel they are honest to us. This made us wonder whether this is the Westin's policy or just individuals we were dealing with. Don't take me wrong, they are nice, polite people but not professional.

For example:
1) We upgrade for water softener loop ~$650. They softed all outside bibs. This is completely incorrect softener preplump. Back and forth and they said this the way Westin home do. (As I know no other builders do this way) since the soft water will kill grass, plants and especially cost me ton of money for salt if I water my grass. They eventually installed one non softened bib for me from the help of Westin VP.

2) Recently I found my 2 car garage receptance is only 15 amp and it could not run my little 10 inches mitter saw (breaker pop). At first Westin electrican told me this is WLN community regulation. (I called PCMI and talked to Melisa and Rachel. There is no such regulation from comminuty development). Then
Jed (builder) told me Westin install 15 amp in all the garage unless I upgraded.
I told him I will check with my neighbors to see they are having the same issue with 15 amp. He told me it is irrelavant since this only applied to my house??? What is the heck???
Now, I called home depot to install all my garage openers to see whether they actually installed dedicate circuit for the openers. If not, I will see the breaker pop when open and close the gagrage doors.

I think they crewed up my home this time since who would install 15 amp in the gargage circuit. (maybe in the 70s)
I will check and see if other homes are with 20 amp and mine is not. If this the case, I will talk to some one in corporate office and even BBB if I need to. It really pissed my up big time for this size of home and money.
And the actual cost for 15 amp to 20 amp at the construction phase is less than $10.

[honycombe]

My house has the breaker box on the outside. From what I understand, this has become normal?? Anyways, house is brand new, breaker box on the outside and not within my fence. With the floor plan I built, having it within the fence was not an option. One night, my dog went to the side window and barked. She's a German Shepherd and her bark scares me. I noticed that evening that I wasn't getting internet, but didn't think much of it. The next morning, still no internet. I had my husband take a look....long story short, the door to the breaker box was opened, and the only switch flipped controlled the internet & security system. Freaked me out. I am pretty sure the only reason why no one every broke in was because of my dog. Since then I have had the security company come out. He said that although my alarm does have a battery back up, it only lasts for a certain amount of time before the battery goes dead. He did say I can order a gadget that allows the alarm to connect wirelessly. (I apologize for not being more specific, electronics is not my forte.) This gadget allows the alarm to monitor, without the ability for someone to flip a switch and turn it off. It's @$250 and will be an extra $8/month. Personally, I find it asinine that I have an alarm that could easily be turned off by a flip of the switch from someone who knows exactly what to do. Thankful for my dog though!

[a_guerrajr]

That's why I'm extending my fence past breaker box and ac units.
I did like other builders putting the box inside the garage.