WOODLAND HOMES

My husband and I relocated to Huntsville from another state due to a job transfer. We decided to build our dream home as we anticipated that this would be the final stop in his career before retirement. While still living in Kentucky, we visited Huntsville on several occasions to scout out locations and builders for our new home. We decided to go with Woodland Homes after visiting a few of their neighborhoods and touring model homes. We were impressed with the apparent quality of their homes as well as the numerous awards that they have been given. I believe that Mike Friday, owner of Woodland Homes, really wants to build a good home. And I want them to succeed and be successful and make a profit. But part of the problem may be that they build a home very quickly. Large homes are built in 4months time. After signing a contract the homeowner meets with the WH interior designer at the dream home design center. Here, over a few short hours, the homeowner picks out every single detail for the home from roofing shingles to light fixtures, paint and windows. It is exhausting and overwhelming. If you go over your allotted time, you are charged extra money for the designer's services. If I had been able to take my time and do some research, I would have refused to accept the items that they were offering. For example, since our home was built on a concrete slab, we were told they could only install engineered hardwood flooring. I had lived in a home with solid hardwood flooring for many years but knew nothing about engineered wood. I asked repeatedly what type of wood was used and how sturdy it was and got this vague answer of "it is a composite of wood, not a particular type of wood" and that as far as durability was concerned that "all wood can get scratches". Well, duh. After much thought, I finally chose a handscraped, wide plank flooring that was frankly the only thing they had that appealed to me. Of course, it was an "upgrade" product that cost more money. What a nightmare that floor has been!! It dents, chips and scratches with minimal contact. The floor under my kitchen table has dents from the chair legs. We of course have protective padding to protect from scratches but that does not stop the soft wood from denting. And we are not heavy people. I am constantly on my hands and knees trying to cover scratches with a stain marker. I ended up after only two years of living in my home having to replace part of the wood floor. As I was shopping for new flooring, I discovered that not all engineered wood is the same as I was led to believe by Woodland Homes. It turns out that the flooring that Woodland Homes charged me a premium price for was made of eucalyptus wood which as it turns out is one of the softest woods available. It literally shredded into small pieces as they were pulling it up. The installers said they had never seen anything like it. I chose hickory for my new flooring and it doesn't match but is wearing extremely well. I will eventually replace it all. I would caution anyone who is thinking of hiring Woodland Homes as their builder to research all the products before choosing because many of the items offered may be pretty but that does mean they are quality product. I have Price Pfister plumbing fixtures in my home. I honestly can't remember if Delta was a choice at the time, but I trusted Woodland Homes to have quality products. My Price Pfister items are garbage and I have been told by two separate plumbers that none of their other builders will use anything but Delta. My bathroom sinks do not have overflow drain holes. I had no idea that this was undesirable until I complained to the plumber about water draining so slowly. He said that part of the problem was the lack of venting from the overflow holes. He said that the sinks that Woodland uses are cheaper. Woodland Homes hires a lot of immigrant labor. They work very quickly but I question how closely they are supervised. We had trouble with shoddy workmanship in several areas: 1) The molding over my kitchen cabinet fell off one morning when I opened a cabinet and hit me on the head; 2)The quarter round molding in my kitchen has come loose in several places and is falling off; 3)Our privacy fence was installed with fence posts at all kinds of angles and had to be redone; 4)Our garage was filled with construction debris at our final inspection. We were assured that it would removed before closing, but it was still there when we moved in. It took 2 more phone calls to get someone to remove it; 5) A heating vent in the ceiling was installed with a large gap of exposed attic showing. Apparently they had cut the hole incorrectly and just installed it anyway. These are just a few examples of things that we dealt with. The most serious issue we have dealt with has been the quality of work of the electrical contractor. We had a short in the light switch in our dining room which tripped the circuit after a loud pop, a spark and smoke. The electrician that I called to repair it found that the wiring was barely connected. He said that could have caused a house fire if our circuit had not tripped. He then performed a safety inspection and found that 50% of all light switches were not properly tightened. He also had to tighten all the connections in our panel box. It took him over 2 hours to go over my home and tighten screws. My husband called Woodland Homes to let them know that their electrical contractor had done a poor job and their may be safety concerns with the quality of their work. We were not asking for reimbursement for the electrical work we had done, we just wanted them to be aware as this kind of thing could be a safety issue with other homeowners. We discovered that Woodland Homes is very loyal to their contractors and did not take us seriously. My husband was put on a conference call with one of the Woodland Homes executives and the owner of the electrical company and was essentially dismissed and told that "loose wires are a normal occurrence with settling" and that "every homeowner needs to tighten electrical wiring screws" every few years. Really? Didn't seem to be a problem with any other home that we have owned for the past 29 years. I would like to compliment Brian Roth and the Home Warranty department. They were quick to respond and fix my issues during the first year while the home was under warranty. They are definitely a bright spot in the Woodland Homes family. In summary, Woodland Homes build a beautiful home but takes shortcuts that may save them money in the long run but costs them in customer satisfaction and quality of service.