Pulte @ Las Calinas? (Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando: for sale, insurance, condo)

[wisescorpiogirl]

Does anyone know what happened with Taylor Morrison @ Las Calinas? How come they are moving out and Pulte homes are moving in? Anyone has experience with Pulte? Are their homes any decent? Seems that they've mainly built townhomes around this area to date. Seems so odd that Taylor Morrison would pack up and leave, they were selling out their homes like hot cakes. Are they moving into a new development?

[Fl1150]

I think their part of the development is sold out and if go on the website it saids closeout so they done building homes and I think Pulte has decent quality because they are top rated builder.

[em922]

We live in Las Calinas, but I have not heard a reason why Taylor Morrison sold out to Pulte. The TM sales agent we worked with seemed to think that Pulte must have offered them something good because TM was selling well. The last I heard they were not moving to another development, but that has been a few months.

I don't know anything about Pulte's quality. We did go to a meeting that they had for the residents. They mostly just discussed their plans for the neighborhood and answered questions. We have watched the model go up and they are doing block construction like TM. It will be interesting to see it once completed.

[pthunell]

Are there any updates that anyone can share on Pulte in Las Calinas?

I'm very interested in buying a block home in the Las Calinas area and Pulte seems to be the only builder available.

Has anyone bought a home from Pulte? What has the quality of the build been?

[ShakenStirred]

Originally Posted by wisescorpiogirl

Does anyone know what happened with Taylor Morrison @ Las Calinas? How come they are moving out and Pulte homes are moving in? Anyone has experience with Pulte? Are their homes any decent? Seems that they've mainly built townhomes around this area to date. Seems so odd that Taylor Morrison would pack up and leave, they were selling out their homes like hot cakes. Are they moving into a new development?

Taylor Morrison took a big hit because of this:


New Home Nightmares: Part 1 - The tip of the iceberg | Firstcoastnews.com


If you look at the picture on the page above...you'll notice that the housewrap they used was Green Guard Classic Wrap. This is a woven, perforated product and is not a good product for this climate. Most smart builders have switched to non-woven, non-perforated products. 98% of the moisture intrusion problems I've inspected had Green Guard on them. Was it a product issue, or was it that whomever was installing the Green Guard was not a trained or certified installer and was installing it wrong? It's hard to say, but in the end, if you're new home is leaking that's really a secondary issue.


Without getting to scientific, the woven product are first coated, and then, to achieve a breathability the punch holes in the product. If you take a sample of this product, put it over a glass or jar with water in it, put a rubber band around the top and turn the glass over, this type of product will leak like a sieve. Take a product like this and install it incorrectly, and you have compounded the problems.


Our climate (hot, humid) dictates that a low perm (5-20 perms), non-woven, non-perforated housewrap be used. The type Taylor Morrison used was an entry level, barely meet code type product. It's sad that some builders have to learn things the hard way, and at the expense of the homeowners.

Pulte, on the other hand, does everything right. Typar housewrap and flashing on all corners, headers, etc. and they actually go above and beyond every other builder in Jacksonville and Orlando currently.




SS

[pthunell]

Originally Posted by ShakenStirred

Taylor Morrison took a big hit because of this:


New Home Nightmares: Part 1 - The tip of the iceberg | Firstcoastnews.com


If you look at the picture on the page above...you'll notice that the housewrap they used was Green Guard Classic Wrap. This is a woven, perforated product and is not a good product for this climate. Most smart builders have switched to non-woven, non-perforated products. 98% of the moisture intrusion problems I've inspected had Green Guard on them. Was it a product issue, or was it that whomever was installing the Green Guard was not a trained or certified installer and was installing it wrong? It's hard to say, but in the end, if you're new home is leaking that's really a secondary issue.


Without getting to scientific, the woven product are first coated, and then, to achieve a breathability the punch holes in the product. If you take a sample of this product, put it over a glass or jar with water in it, put a rubber band around the top and turn the glass over, this type of product will leak like a sieve. Take a product like this and install it incorrectly, and you have compounded the problems.


Our climate (hot, humid) dictates that a low perm (5-20 perms), non-woven, non-perforated housewrap be used. The type Taylor Morrison used was an entry level, barely meet code type product. It's sad that some builders have to learn things the hard way, and at the expense of the homeowners.

Pulte, on the other hand, does everything right. Typar housewrap and flashing on all corners, headers, etc. and they actually go above and beyond every other builder in Jacksonville and Orlando currently.




SS

Shaken,

Do the block construction homes of Las Calinas built by Taylor Morrison have water intrusion issues too? Is Pulte using the correct weatherization product on their new block built homes in Las Calinas?

Thank you for the excellent advice you continue to give on how to protect a house.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by pthunell

Shaken,

Do the block construction homes of Las Calinas built by Taylor Morrison have water intrusion issues too? Is Pulte using the correct weatherization product on their new block built homes in Las Calinas?

Thank you for the excellent advice you continue to give on how to protect a house.

I have never seen "weatherization" on a CBS house (or the concrete high rises I lived in either). It's not that water can't go through block/concrete. It's just very unusual. Only time I ever experienced it personally was when Hurricane Andrew blew 130 mph wind driven rain through the walls of our Miami condo. The interior drywall got somewhat damp - and warped a little - and the metal office furniture against the exterior wall got a bit of rust on the back - but that was it. We did have more major water damage coming down from the roof (most of it blew away) - but that didn't have anything to do with the block/concrete. In the end - we let the drywall dry out - the metal furniture too (it hid the minor drywall damage) - and that was that for that part of the condo. We did have major insurance claims for water damage from water coming down from the roof area - and common area damage too - and concentrated on those claims.

In terms of living here - we haven't been through a hurricane - much less an Andrew type storm. Just 2 strong tropical storms (in 2004/05 - can't remember exactly when). Not a bit of water damage at all (although some roof shingles blew off and we had to replace them). Robyn

[pthunell]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

I have never seen "weatherization" on a CBS house (or the concrete high rises I lived in either). It's not that water can't go through block/concrete. It's just very unusual. Only time I ever experienced it personally was when Hurricane Andrew blew 130 mph wind driven rain through the walls of our Miami condo. The interior drywall got somewhat damp - and warped a little - and the metal office furniture against the exterior wall got a bit of rust on the back - but that was it. We did have more major water damage coming down from the roof (most of it blew away) - but that didn't have anything to do with the block/concrete. In the end - we let the drywall dry out - the metal furniture too (it hid the minor drywall damage) - and that was that for that part of the condo. We did have major insurance claims for water damage from water coming down from the roof area - and common area damage too - and concentrated on those claims.

In terms of living here - we haven't been through a hurricane - much less an Andrew type storm. Just 2 strong tropical storms (in 2004/05 - can't remember exactly when). Not a bit of water damage at all (although some roof shingles blew off and we had to replace them). Robyn

I was thinking about in a previous post ( //www.city-data.com/forum/jacks...-county-3.html ) Shaken has spoke about micro cracks in stucco that can result in moisture getting behind the stucco. It may not be an issue with block but I'm not clear if there should or should not be a weatherization product attached to the block.

I did speak to the Pulte rep yesterday for Las Calinas and they have an additional cost option to fill the block with foam for energy efficiency. If it's closed cell foam then water cannot penetrate it so that should take care of keeping the moisture out. I would definitely choose to fill the block with foam given the option.

My Wife and I are committed to buying only a newer block home so it may take some time to find one but I'm willing to wait. I'm not dealing with the potential problems with a frame house in a Florida climate.

[Robyn55]

I do remember that post about microscopic cracks in stucco - but haven't bought a microscope yet . Just IM non-expert opinion - I don't think you have to worry about water getting behind the stucco into the block/interior walls for the most part. Unless there is something wrong with your roof. Either in terms of the way it's designed or built. In terms of getting water off the roof. I can imagine this happening in a structure with an ill-designed flat roof (mostly found in commercial construction) - but it's hard for me to come up with a scenario like that in a normal house.

The one exception to this that I can think of would be like the one we had in Andrew. Wind-driven rains. And very strong winds at that. Not a situation most people are likely to face. Ever. Much less on a regular basis.

I'm not familiar with filling concrete blocks with foam. Don't know whether there is any proven advantage - in terms of insulation or anything else - or whether there's any downside. Like is it easier for termites to enter a house if the blocks are filled with foam? I really don't know. I do know that we have insulation boards on the inside of our house. IIRC - we had furring strips installed on the block. Then the insulation boards (which were shiny like aluminum foil on at least one side) were attached to the furring strips. Then the drywall went over that. I don't know if that was/is a standard way to do things. Whether it's a good way to insulate - or whether adding foam into the blocks would result in better insulation.

BTW - when it comes to energy efficiency - we took an energy course sponsored by FPL before we built. About what things make sense in NE Florida - and which don't (in terms of a cost-benefit analysis). And one thing that has stuck with me after all these years is the single largest energy waster in Florida is HVAC duct work that isn't sealed properly. Apparently - it isn't that hard to seal things properly - but a lot of contractors are sloppy and don't take the time to do things right. Robyn

[pthunell]

Shaken,

I've looked online, but am not finding a clear answer as to whether or not block homes need some type of weatherization wrap to keep moisture out. I'm leaning towards it not being necessary, but would appreciate it if you could provide some insight.

Do you know what the quality is of the Taylor Morrison block built homes in Las Calinas is? My Wife and I are very interested in the block built homes and if we aren't able to move down and purchase a Pulte home before they all sell, then we would wait for a Taylor Morrison home to go up for sale in that neighborhood to buy.

I'm hoping the quality is much better than the wood framed homes TM built that were a part of the mess in that news report you linked to.