Davis Builders

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Our home was to be built in an old-fashion way, meaning lumber was used in most areas rather than plywood. Our subflooring, sheathing and decking consisted of lumber. The company that was supplying the lumber stated that any pieces that were unsatisfactory could be put to the side, and they would replace them. The men used some pieces of lumber that had mold and mildew on it. There were roughed edged pieces and pieces that were split or half the board might have bark on it. They used it anyway. We have pictures of it. However, we were pleased with the framing except for their choice of lumber and the realization that some interior walls are not true. We discovered this when granite was being put down in our master bath. There were gaps between the backsplash and the wall. We will say this: Most houses built today, in our opinion, do not have walls that our true. Our biggest complaint is a brick mason hired that did not follow code. He didn't have workers comp on his workers. Though we gave him brick ties, he would not use them as he should. Our retaining walls have no brick ties. He finally started using them when we stood over the workers, and we reported it to the building inspector. He did not use flashing around doors and windows, and did not put weep holes as the code required. We finally had to tell him to pack up and leave. Our builder's head carpenter claimed he did not know about the building code. We had to hire and pay someone else to come in and tear out brick and put in flashing and weep rope.according to code. Also, the brick mason left the job without telling us and went to another state for about three weeks to do a brick job while our house just sat there requiring us to make payment on a construction loan when no work was being done. Our mortgage person decided that they were laying one brick per day as it was taking so long to complete the work. The mortgage company told us they would not give us any more money until the sheetrock was done. The job was moving too slowly and they wanted it to get moving. The electrician, plumber, painter, heating and air people did a wonderful job and followed code. The house was never completed because our contractor just up and quit. He did not notify us. We found out through the building inspector. This is why we rated him a "D" in professionalism. He stated in his letter to the inspector "lack of trust in any tradesmen and now Davis Builders, Inc. lack of trust in homeowner." We had to hire people to finish the house. His leaving the job without timely notice left us distraught. We went through alot of anguish. We owed Davis Builders approximately 3,000 - 5,000. when he quit. We told him over and over again that we would pay him in full when he removed some concrete left on our property, and had a leak in our poured foundation fixed. We felt this might never get done if he was paid in full. He had completed a seawall for another homeowner and had the concrete truck empty its contents on our property. Again, we have pictures of it. We had our house waterproofed after the foundation was poured. It is supposed to be guaranteed for 30 years. After a down pour, we saw water leaking into the basement. We sent Mr. Davis a picture with our iphone and he replied, "It is covered." Well, it still has not been fixed. A crack has developed right next to it. Water is going behind the waterproofing. We would be happy if they would dig that area up and fix it. We have a video and pictures of water leaking there. Actually, there is a cold spot or joint there where the concrete wasn't vibrated continually before the next load of concrete was delivered. We have pictures of the cold spot. Again, we notified Mr. Davis over and over that we would pay in full when that concrete was removed and the leak was fixed. The concrete is still there and leak has not been fixed. Right before we closed on the house, our mortgage company notified us that he placed a lien on our property. We had to pay it because we wanted to close. We read on the Intenet to go ahead and pay the lien, and then take the matter to court. It was going to cost more than he estimated because code stated a fire resistant ceiling had to be put up in the basement garage. A disagreement ensued regarding the cost of sheetrocking due this code. The electrician was the one that told our contractor and us about this code. Also, code required a wall be between the garage and the living space in the basement. Fireproof doors had to be placed between garages and living areas. We had garages in he basement and the upstairs groundlevel. This was going to cause alot of extra expense. That is when we found out from the inspector that Davis Builders quit. We would recommend getting a signed, itemized contract. Make sure any builder you hire knows and complies with building codes in your area, as some cities or towns have different building codes. Make sure you and the contractor are on the same page. In addition, you will want the workers to be covered by workmen's comp if the law requires it. It is our understanding, that the homeowner could be sued if a worker without workman's comp gets hurt. Mr. Davis' regular staff was covered by workmen's comp and we felt that their work was of good quality except for using some pieces of poor quality lumber. Of course, this is our opinion. Some people might not have a problem with it. Make sure the contractor gives you a timetable for completion of your home, or they can take as long as they want. Make sure they are going to see the project through and not quit before completion.

I have never used their services but I hear they are great.