Toll Brothers

[nuhusky11]

Bought a toll brother house since sold. Hated the floor plan as tons of wasted space but the kicker was my shower actually fell through the ceiling as did one of my neighbors. Building crew was still finishing the community so when it happened to my neighbor first they joked around how it was so rare. Then it happened to me guess it's not so rare.

A coworker I had in another state also owned a toll brothers house. Hated his house as well as toll brothers failed to provide yard drainage so any rain resulted in a flooded basement. Will never buy toll again. Really pretty houses but look under the covers and it's not so pretty

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by nuhusky11

Bought a toll brother house since sold. Hated the floor plan as tons of wasted space but the kicker was my shower actually fell through the ceiling as did one of my neighbors. Building crew was still finishing the community so when it happened to my neighbor first they joked around how it was so rare. Then it happened to me guess it's not so rare.

Can you elaborate on what you mean when you say that your shower "fell through the ceiling" and also if you know what caused it that would be great to hear too. Sounds like the makings of an interesting story. I'd love to know what neighborhood this was in too.

[n1ey]

The price of cheap OSB can be 1/3 the price of plywood. However, everyone seems to fail in putting this into perspective. The quality of OSB is dramatically inferior. As part of the overall cost it is small. Large builder relying upon OSB are only padding their margins by a little to deliver a vastly inferior product. Labor costs remain as the major pricing issue. Fixtures, cabinets, treatments, etc. can all cost considerable amounts. High end products will cost a lot of money. In the long run utilizing plywood instead of OSB is a small cost.

We are talking about large scale corporations nickeling and diming the building of a very expensive product, which is a house with a very high price tag.

[tribechamy]

Originally Posted by n1ey

We are talking about large scale corporations nickeling and diming the building of a very expensive product, which is a house with a very high price tag.

Have to admit I didn't know what these guys built when this topic first came up, assumed it was cheap-o apartment complexes or something from the description of building standards here.

But I was just looking through some of their existing developments - those are VERY expensive homes! If it's true that they're using inferior materials (and frankly, it looks like it, underneath all of the decorations) that's terrible. It seems like another problem is creating a glut of properties in a very small acreage. Is this accurate as well?

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by tribechamy

But I was just looking through some of their existing developments - those are VERY expensive homes! If it's true that they're using inferior materials (and frankly, it looks like it, underneath all of the decorations) that's terrible. It seems like another problem is creating a glut of properties in a very small acreage. Is this accurate as well?

That's what I was told. They have to comply with zoning laws, though.

I saw a Toll Bros. development in a neighboring town 15-20 years ago. I have a friend who is constantly touring new homes and she dragged me along. I was blown away by the amount of staging they did. I remember one house had a boy's bedroom and it was decorated with Red Sox memorabilia with baseball cards artistically fanned out on the bed. The houses appear to be gorgeous. That's why I was so shocked.

Current developments in the state:

http://www.tollbrothers.com/search?c...116&s_state=MA

[nuhusky11]

Community was in down south. Toll failed in install the shower pan properly. The correct install involved a latex sheet over which you lay a concrete type of material then you tile the shower. I'm not a contractor so the material names is probably all wrong. So the shower did not literally fall through the floor however it leaked so badly the ceiling plaster below did completely cave in and turned into paper mâché. Problem started as cracked grout so they fixed the cracks. Few weeks later more cracks so more fixes. Eventually I noticed water dripping out of ac vents until water stains appeared and then the cave in. But it took months of arguing with toll for them to fix it. From what I was told neighbor had the exact time problem, the pan ie the rubber mat was not installed correctly. When they tore up the tile and concrete the pan was not flat rather full of creases which is what seemed to be causing the problem.

Shower aside it was the small stuff that annoyed me. Front of house was done with moulding but they never carried the nice details around the windows to side or back of house. Toll also likes to pack the houses in, we had five feet on either side of house between neighbors. Also and I understand it was Florida but all the same the windows were all single pane. Not exactly energy efficient

[nuhusky11]

Final rant, floor boards in master were not even there was a slant. A ball would literally roll from one side to the other. Toll said they could fix it but that would mean ripping up entire second floor. Opted to live with the slant but it never stopped annoying me

[brienzi]

OSB has been used in the NE since it's inception and will continue to be. There is nothing wrong with the product as my own home has it on exterior walls. Built in 1995 and NO problems..
If a builder can save a buck they will and there is nothing wrong with OSB if installed correctly. I know because my father was
a builder..But we always used plywood on the roof. That has changed in recent years with OSB on the roof and other materials added to keep the integrity of the roof.
And isn't OSB more GREEN than other materials..