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Old 09-01-2013, 12:09 PM
 
164 posts, read 286,260 times
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Originally Posted by meh_whatever View Post
I must have visited a horrible Garman home, because the model home we saw had crooked walls. I rate them somewhere below Toll Brothers on quality. Above Toll Brothers on style.
YIKES. Certainly good to know, though.
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Old 09-01-2013, 04:23 PM
 
Location: My House
34,937 posts, read 36,111,885 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SouthernInSeattle View Post
YIKES. Certainly good to know, though.
Like I said, could've just been a bad house.
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Old 09-02-2013, 02:26 PM
 
Location: RTP area, NC
1,277 posts, read 3,538,786 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cncsmomndad View Post
We built a new house with them last year. We are happy with the design of our home, happy we got to make changes to the kitchen that other builders wouldn't let us do. This was the 4th house we've had built from the ground up so we have a basis for comparison. There are very certainly some issues we had with them specifically some of their staff. Quality of construction. Okay. Definitely need better job oversight by the super who was in our subdivision. Would we build with them again? 50-50 and I know others feel the same. You're welcome to DM me for more information if you'd like.
You make a good point - I should add to my prior note that we visited our site almost daily since we lived close by. Any errors/potential errors we noticed (e.g., wrong tile boxes in the wrong bathroom) was fixed quickly or fixed before it was an issue. So perhaps we didn't run into as many issues since we were onsite so much?

Also, at the time we were building we were told Garman doesn't do model homes -- so I am wondering which house/which subdivision was noticed with the uneven/crooked walls? Did they do models then stop or was the 'model' a spec house they were building? In any event, it'd be interested to hear more of that story. They were kind enough to let us walk through any home they were building at the time so we could get a sense of floorplans, flow, quality of materials that were being used, etc versus seeing a 'model' home.

What do I wish I had them do instead of not doing?
Well....I do wish I had customized my closets -- I was SO 'done' with decisions by then, i couldn't bear to think of any sort of "custom closeting" so went with the standard and it is a bit of a pita to do closet re-orgs now that they are filled. That is my bad as I should have recognized that I really really like cubbies in a closet and I should have asked to have cubbies in each closet rather than having to retrofit cubbies into one end now for each closet. <sigh> It can be done, but is causing groaning by my DH. and bolt cutters. and spot painting. plus cubbies. <smile>

Also, I wish I had clarified frame mirrors in the bathrooms. For some reason, I wrongly thought framed mirrors were 'standard' and they are not. of course, that is probably a trending type of thing and the trend is over? In any event, it does still bug me.
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Old 09-02-2013, 04:49 PM
 
Location: My House
34,937 posts, read 36,111,885 times
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I think it was a home someone backed out of purchasing that became a temporary "model" while they were finishing it up.

It was in Wedgewood here in Cary.

We were fully underwhelmed.
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Old 09-02-2013, 05:19 PM
 
164 posts, read 286,260 times
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Originally Posted by WeLuvNC View Post
the bathrooms. For some reason, I wrongly thought framed mirrors were 'standard' and they are not. of course, that is probably a trending type of thing and the trend is over? In any event, it does still bug me.
The non framed mirrors bug me all around, but I will admit even the overly large mirror that is framed is starting to lose its appeal for me? I know personally, I plan on taking down any large mirror and will put up two separate smaller framed mirrors (you can find them reasonably priced), and will use a glass/subway tile behind them from the vanity up to the ceiling. (Something we can DIY easily to save the $, not expecting the builder to do so)
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Old 09-03-2013, 01:45 PM
 
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We were at our house almost daily. As in sometimes twice a day, but never not here for more than a day. We chose the lot, house, everything. What is harder to keep up on are things that can be hidden behind framing, built ins or cabinets during the day when we weren't here. i.e. drywall that is damaged then the subs come by and build right over said hole. Cracks in door and window framing that isn't evident until you've moved in and viewed in a certain light. If I hadn't been out here everyday, we would have had a big framing snafu with the cabinetry that would have overhung a window once installed. Meaning drywall, framing, siding would have all had to been ripped out and re-done to accommodate the extra cabinetry we chose to have installed. I read the draft plan for the house and the cabinetry plan. Apparently no one else on site did.

ETA they still don't do model homes, but they ask current homeowners if buyers can tour their home or buyers can tour spec homes. As far as I know, this hasn't changed.
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Old 09-03-2013, 01:51 PM
 
Location: My House
34,937 posts, read 36,111,885 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cncsmomndad View Post
We were at our house almost daily. As in sometimes twice a day, but never not here for more than a day. We chose the lot, house, everything. What is harder to keep up on are things that can be hidden behind framing, built ins or cabinets during the day when we weren't here. i.e. drywall that is damaged then the subs come by and build right over said hole. Cracks in door and window framing that isn't evident until you've moved in and viewed in a certain light. If I hadn't been out here everyday, we would have had a big framing snafu with the cabinetry that would have overhung a window once installed. Meaning drywall, framing, siding would have all had to been ripped out and re-done to accommodate the extra cabinetry we chose to have installed. I read the draft plan for the house and the cabinetry plan. Apparently no one else on site did.

ETA they still don't do model homes, but they ask current homeowners if buyers can tour their home or buyers can tour spec homes. As far as I know, this hasn't changed.
That is probably the case. I know that the home we looked at had a sign out front that indicated it was open and it had a Garman rep there for quite a good many weekends in a row until it sold. I think she told us that someone had contracted to build, then something came up like a relo... I forget exactly... so it was for sale while we toured it, but they were changing some things out toward the end that the original people who wanted it built had picked, and going with stuff that they thought would work better.

As I said, we were underwhelmed. I mean, it is basically tract, so I wasn't expecting it to blow me away or anything, but the crooked wall issue is one I've seen more often in tract than in custom. Considering the number of homes we looked at, I can safely say that we saw weird stuff like that in a VARIETY of homes, though.
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Old 09-03-2013, 02:05 PM
 
164 posts, read 286,260 times
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All very good things to know, thank you all so much for the input. We've done lots of research, and would have never came across these sorts of comments had we not had the neutral platform to ask, so we are VERY appreciative.
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