I signed a contract with taylor homes in september of 2017 to construct a home for my family; they were paid in full by my mortgager in january 2019, but now in may 2020 our home is still not finished. Taylor homes has been paid in full for 17 months now, and during that 17 months, taylor homes vp of production, gary luttrell, has assured us that the work will be scheduled but it still isn't. My correspondence to the company requesting updates frequently copied the ceo and president of taylor homes, chris taylor, but the highest levels of management at taylor homes refuse to complete the construction they have been paid-in-full for, let alone care to correct the horrible workmanship and all-around horrible experience.
Not only is the construction incomplete, our punchlist has over 180 significant items that need to be corrected, such as electrical outlets that don't work, nails protruding from door frames and nail pops protruding from walls, gaps in walls where the exterior construction material is visible, atrocious drywall finishing throughout, etc.
I signed a contract to build with taylor homes in september 2017; at the end of january 2019, the house was able to finally But barely) able to be issued a certificate of occupancy Co) only because we had to explain to the inspector that my family had been living in a motel room since november. My family ended up having to live in a motel room during november, december and most of january because our builder advised us that we could end the lease for our temporary residence in november. Even though taylor homes' builder advised us that there was no way the construction would proceed into november, taylor homes felt no sense of urgency to get the necessary work done so a co could be issued.
Even though there was clearly a lot of work left to be done on the house to include installation of doors and holes in drywall, day after day in november, december and january, the house sat empty and no work at all was being done on it while my family, including my infant daughter, lived in a motel room. Additionally, this is 15 months after signing the construction contract.
Taylor homes' construction of our home caused countless problems at literally every phase and turn that resulted in me having to pay large amounts of money to remedy. Most of the problems can be attributed to just a few major business practice problems:
1. During meetings and site-walks, the construction superintendents spoke on behalf of taylor homes, made assurances and spoke to plans and timelines, but then failed to deliver either because of the terrible sub-contractors they hire or because the taylor homes management did not back up the assurances made by their personnel in the field.
2. Another recent scamion complaint about taylor homes speaks to this problem) taylor homes has had 7 different superintendents overseeing our build with no project handoff during transitions from one to another: every time but once, the new construction superintendent had to start from scratch and was usually a brand new emplolyee to taylor homes. As a result of this high turnover, items discussed with previous superintendents were lost. When this specific concern was raised, one of the supervisors, james judd, advised us to request changes, no matter how minor, through change orders. Taylor homes claims they are "custom home builders" and build "tailored for life". Months later, however, when no progress was being made, mr. Judd complained about and blamed delays on the number of change orders.
Additionally, when discussions including on-site walk-throughs were done and resulting change orders drafted, when the work was not completed correctly, the superintendent argued that a specific detail wasn't included by him on the change order, so they could not be held responsible to correct the errors. One key example of this is the brick for the front porch of our home: mr. Judd and i discussed and walked how the brick would be laid and that it would include a row-lock. When the brick was laid, it did not include a row lock and when i addressed this with mr. Judd, it didn't matter to him that we specifically discussed and walked this expectation, it only mattered that he did not include anything pertaining to 'row lock' in the change order.
When i pressed the issue further, mr. Judd threatened to just place our project in 'delay' status and suspend work until payment was received; this was when construction was already 6 months behind schedule and after we had already been assessed $4,000 in penalties by taylor homes due to their delays. This business practice of not addressing a significant customer concern but rather strong-arming me for payment in order to continue the project felt a lot like extortion, at the worst, or felt like i was completely at their mercy, at the least.
3. Taylor homes does not appear to have their own construction crews but rather subcontracts crews to do their construction with very, very little supervision by the superintendents. As a result, we were consistently told that milestone work would be worked on and completed only to find out that the crews never showed up. This was especially applicable to the electrical and plumbing subcontractors who caused major delays because nothing else could be worked on inside until they were done. Quality and workmanship is nowhere on the priority list, but rather only completion.
The drywall and painting throughout the house is absolutely horrible looking - the walls and ceilings. When i asked our superintendent, allen tomlinson, Who had already informed us he was leaving taylor homes because of the way they conducted business) he admitted that he had been put under so much pressure to get the house beyond the drywall and painting stage that he had been made to schedule the painters to paint before the drywallers could complete their installation and finishing work. However, taylor homes still got paid for their drywall and painting and i am left with a house that has terrible drywall and paint work that prevents pride in ownership and is embarrassing.
The most significant problems are as follows:
- contract signed in september 2017 but in may 2020 the construction is still not complete even though taylor homes has been paid in full (2 years 9 months, going on 3 years!!!)
- a complete lack of ownership for any of their errors or the errors of their subcontractors. This is coupled with the least amount of concern for customer service, responsiveness and communication i have ever seen - not good for someone spending over $300,000 with them. They consistently deflected their responsibility and actually blamed my wife and me for their errors. This included things as minor as setting meetings that my wife and i showed up for but noone else did, to blaming usfor things not being completed that the taylor homes' superintendents specifically assured us they were going to complete.
- a penalty of $4,000 was assessed against us for our delay in getting construction underway; the delay was due to the lack of construction drive which our superintendent stated he would install. He never installed the drive, but we were assessed the penalty.
- after agreeing on a price for construction and signing the contract, taylor homes' problems resulted in many delays. Taylor homes then claimed that the price of building materials had increased during the delays and forced us to either pay for the increase in price or they would stop work. We had already wasted 6 months with them and were completely at their mercy at that point.
- the house plans call for the electrical panel to be installed in a bedroom but after price agreement, code requirements did not allow for the electrical panel to be installed in that location. I had to pay additional thousands of dollars for the electrical panel to be relocated to the garage, which also contributed to the delays that we were assessed penalties for.
- the house plans have a utility closet intended to house the water heater and air conditioning handler, but upon installation was determined to be too small to hold both and they would have to be installed elsewhere. This resulted in additional thousands of dollars that i had to pay and contributed to the delays that we were assessed penalties for.
- the garage was incorrectly built in the flood plain creating a multitude of problems that resulted in additional thousands of dollars that i had to pay and contributed to the delays that we were assessed penalties for.
- during hvac walk, the location of return air vent was agreed upon, but it was installed in a completely different and highly conspicuous location. The superintendent assured us he would have them move it, but it is still where we specifically did not want it
- based on the construction completion timeline specifically given to us by the superintendent when we explained that we needed to either extend our lease on temporary residence or notify them of our intent to vacate, i terminated my temporary residence lease in november of 2018 because the taylor homes superintendent stated that he could imagine the build going into november. However, completion wasn't done for over 3 more months. My family and i lived in a motel in november, december and january following the november we were told the house would be done in.
- hoa docs require material to grade, but taylor homes did not construct to permit material to grade
- i moved in in january 2019, but now in may 2020, our punch list is still not complete, to include significant safety issues. Over 180 issues with electrical, plumbing, windows, doors, flooring, ceilings and paint exist, and very little work has been done toward the most serious punch list items in 17 months
This company we contracted to build our home has been doing the same thing repeatedly to unsuspecting home owners!! Our nightmare took years 6 1/2 years to play out as they were sued in a class action suit around 1995 under the name Taylor Builders. After waiting 15 months and repeated promises we kicked them off our property and filed suit!
We had a home that had a foundation 4 feet above ground level,and many things done by their shoddy contractors that would make you sick . We thought they were reputable builders and yes we called BBB before we hired them. We were only saved and not bankrupt because they did not get there last draw from our building loan. Which was 24,000, we had to finish our home our own savings and then wait for 5 more years as our law suit played out on courts.
They filed bankruptcy under their "Taylor Builders”name and changed a few words around becoming "Taylor Building Corperation of America”. Remember this was back in 1993-1994 and they are still doing the same thing over and over ! They do not have good ethics, and will do it to anyone they can they do not have a conscience! Chris Taylor and his group are not to be trusted! Please contact any and all people who have used this company as they have been at this in Ky ,Ohio, and Indiana for years!
Taylor Homes Reviews
I signed a contract with taylor homes in september of 2017 to construct a home for my family; they were paid in full by my mortgager in january 2019, but now in may 2020 our home is still not finished. Taylor homes has been paid in full for 17 months now, and during that 17 months, taylor homes vp of production, gary luttrell, has assured us that the work will be scheduled but it still isn't. My correspondence to the company requesting updates frequently copied the ceo and president of taylor homes, chris taylor, but the highest levels of management at taylor homes refuse to complete the construction they have been paid-in-full for, let alone care to correct the horrible workmanship and all-around horrible experience.
Not only is the construction incomplete, our punchlist has over 180 significant items that need to be corrected, such as electrical outlets that don't work, nails protruding from door frames and nail pops protruding from walls, gaps in walls where the exterior construction material is visible, atrocious drywall finishing throughout, etc.
I signed a contract to build with taylor homes in september 2017; at the end of january 2019, the house was able to finally But barely) able to be issued a certificate of occupancy Co) only because we had to explain to the inspector that my family had been living in a motel room since november. My family ended up having to live in a motel room during november, december and most of january because our builder advised us that we could end the lease for our temporary residence in november. Even though taylor homes' builder advised us that there was no way the construction would proceed into november, taylor homes felt no sense of urgency to get the necessary work done so a co could be issued.
Even though there was clearly a lot of work left to be done on the house to include installation of doors and holes in drywall, day after day in november, december and january, the house sat empty and no work at all was being done on it while my family, including my infant daughter, lived in a motel room. Additionally, this is 15 months after signing the construction contract.
Taylor homes' construction of our home caused countless problems at literally every phase and turn that resulted in me having to pay large amounts of money to remedy. Most of the problems can be attributed to just a few major business practice problems:
1. During meetings and site-walks, the construction superintendents spoke on behalf of taylor homes, made assurances and spoke to plans and timelines, but then failed to deliver either because of the terrible sub-contractors they hire or because the taylor homes management did not back up the assurances made by their personnel in the field.
2. Another recent scamion complaint about taylor homes speaks to this problem) taylor homes has had 7 different superintendents overseeing our build with no project handoff during transitions from one to another: every time but once, the new construction superintendent had to start from scratch and was usually a brand new emplolyee to taylor homes. As a result of this high turnover, items discussed with previous superintendents were lost. When this specific concern was raised, one of the supervisors, james judd, advised us to request changes, no matter how minor, through change orders. Taylor homes claims they are "custom home builders" and build "tailored for life". Months later, however, when no progress was being made, mr. Judd complained about and blamed delays on the number of change orders.
Additionally, when discussions including on-site walk-throughs were done and resulting change orders drafted, when the work was not completed correctly, the superintendent argued that a specific detail wasn't included by him on the change order, so they could not be held responsible to correct the errors. One key example of this is the brick for the front porch of our home: mr. Judd and i discussed and walked how the brick would be laid and that it would include a row-lock. When the brick was laid, it did not include a row lock and when i addressed this with mr. Judd, it didn't matter to him that we specifically discussed and walked this expectation, it only mattered that he did not include anything pertaining to 'row lock' in the change order.
When i pressed the issue further, mr. Judd threatened to just place our project in 'delay' status and suspend work until payment was received; this was when construction was already 6 months behind schedule and after we had already been assessed $4,000 in penalties by taylor homes due to their delays. This business practice of not addressing a significant customer concern but rather strong-arming me for payment in order to continue the project felt a lot like extortion, at the worst, or felt like i was completely at their mercy, at the least.
3. Taylor homes does not appear to have their own construction crews but rather subcontracts crews to do their construction with very, very little supervision by the superintendents. As a result, we were consistently told that milestone work would be worked on and completed only to find out that the crews never showed up. This was especially applicable to the electrical and plumbing subcontractors who caused major delays because nothing else could be worked on inside until they were done. Quality and workmanship is nowhere on the priority list, but rather only completion.
The drywall and painting throughout the house is absolutely horrible looking - the walls and ceilings. When i asked our superintendent, allen tomlinson, Who had already informed us he was leaving taylor homes because of the way they conducted business) he admitted that he had been put under so much pressure to get the house beyond the drywall and painting stage that he had been made to schedule the painters to paint before the drywallers could complete their installation and finishing work. However, taylor homes still got paid for their drywall and painting and i am left with a house that has terrible drywall and paint work that prevents pride in ownership and is embarrassing.
The most significant problems are as follows:
- contract signed in september 2017 but in may 2020 the construction is still not complete even though taylor homes has been paid in full (2 years 9 months, going on 3 years!!!)
- a complete lack of ownership for any of their errors or the errors of their subcontractors. This is coupled with the least amount of concern for customer service, responsiveness and communication i have ever seen - not good for someone spending over $300,000 with them. They consistently deflected their responsibility and actually blamed my wife and me for their errors. This included things as minor as setting meetings that my wife and i showed up for but noone else did, to blaming usfor things not being completed that the taylor homes' superintendents specifically assured us they were going to complete.
- a penalty of $4,000 was assessed against us for our delay in getting construction underway; the delay was due to the lack of construction drive which our superintendent stated he would install. He never installed the drive, but we were assessed the penalty.
- after agreeing on a price for construction and signing the contract, taylor homes' problems resulted in many delays. Taylor homes then claimed that the price of building materials had increased during the delays and forced us to either pay for the increase in price or they would stop work. We had already wasted 6 months with them and were completely at their mercy at that point.
- the house plans call for the electrical panel to be installed in a bedroom but after price agreement, code requirements did not allow for the electrical panel to be installed in that location. I had to pay additional thousands of dollars for the electrical panel to be relocated to the garage, which also contributed to the delays that we were assessed penalties for.
- the house plans have a utility closet intended to house the water heater and air conditioning handler, but upon installation was determined to be too small to hold both and they would have to be installed elsewhere. This resulted in additional thousands of dollars that i had to pay and contributed to the delays that we were assessed penalties for.
- the garage was incorrectly built in the flood plain creating a multitude of problems that resulted in additional thousands of dollars that i had to pay and contributed to the delays that we were assessed penalties for.
- during hvac walk, the location of return air vent was agreed upon, but it was installed in a completely different and highly conspicuous location. The superintendent assured us he would have them move it, but it is still where we specifically did not want it
- based on the construction completion timeline specifically given to us by the superintendent when we explained that we needed to either extend our lease on temporary residence or notify them of our intent to vacate, i terminated my temporary residence lease in november of 2018 because the taylor homes superintendent stated that he could imagine the build going into november. However, completion wasn't done for over 3 more months. My family and i lived in a motel in november, december and january following the november we were told the house would be done in.
- hoa docs require material to grade, but taylor homes did not construct to permit material to grade
- i moved in in january 2019, but now in may 2020, our punch list is still not complete, to include significant safety issues. Over 180 issues with electrical, plumbing, windows, doors, flooring, ceilings and paint exist, and very little work has been done toward the most serious punch list items in 17 months
This company we contracted to build our home has been doing the same thing repeatedly to unsuspecting home owners!! Our nightmare took years 6 1/2 years to play out as they were sued in a class action suit around 1995 under the name Taylor Builders. After waiting 15 months and repeated promises we kicked them off our property and filed suit!
We had a home that had a foundation 4 feet above ground level,and many things done by their shoddy contractors that would make you sick . We thought they were reputable builders and yes we called BBB before we hired them. We were only saved and not bankrupt because they did not get there last draw from our building loan. Which was 24,000, we had to finish our home our own savings and then wait for 5 more years as our law suit played out on courts.
They filed bankruptcy under their "Taylor Builders”name and changed a few words around becoming "Taylor Building Corperation of America”. Remember this was back in 1993-1994 and they are still doing the same thing over and over ! They do not have good ethics, and will do it to anyone they can they do not have a conscience! Chris Taylor and his group are not to be trusted! Please contact any and all people who have used this company as they have been at this in Ky ,Ohio, and Indiana for years!