Hillan Homes

The process was poor. The quality was hit or miss, mostly miss. The lack of professionalism exceeds what one can imagine. I tried for nearly three years to have my leaking egress window repaired with minimal response from Hillan Homes. The construction plan called for drain tile with nylon sock and pea gravel above and below the drain tile. What I received was some type of permeable footing without pea gravel. After the threat of legal action, Hillan Homes offered to reimburse me about ⅔ of the cost to repair the problem, but only if I signed a confidentiality agreement, a non disparaging agreement and agreed not to hold Hillan Homes responsible for any future problems in my home as a result of the poor quality workmanship they delivered. I rejected the offer. The president is Patrick Raye. He calls all the shots. Hillan homes is a very small company (Patrick Raye, his wife, a draftsman, a foreman and a laborer is the group I dealt with) and took 22 months to build my home (the building contract stated 8 months). Attached pictures depict the poured basement with all of four wooden support brackets holding up over 1200 sq ft of concrete wall (notice the basement has been backfilled, the wooden supports have collapsed and the decking wasn't placed for nearly 4 months.) This scenario, along with continued egregious lapses in judgment on the part of Hillan Homes, led to the cracked basement wall and leaks. The excavated egress was left as pictured for over 3 months before I was even contacted by Hillan Homes to "make sure everything is draining well" . No drain tile, no pea gravel and the hybrid footing/drainage system that no one I contacted has heard of previously. I had to hire another contractor to correctly fix the mess made by Hillan Homes and its subcontractors. Other pictures are examples of first floor decking joists separating and cracking. Other pictures show the placement of warped kitchen backsplash tiles and one picture of perhaps the worst brick and mortar jobs ever. Please let my mistake be an easy lesson for you. Steer clear of Hillan Homes!

Great experience

We built our first house with Patrick and his team back in late 2011 – 2012 and were start to finish in 9 short months (from property acquisition – move in). We love the house we are in today and get compliments everyday. As to be expected with any project of this magnitude there is always going to be some obstacles along the way. Hillan Homes did a great job reacting to anything we, the weather, or contractors through their way and dealt with these obstacles and in timely and professional manner. Anytime I had a question or a concern, I would get a call back within 24 hours (even if the owner was on a family vacation, they always made time for me). Fast forward 5 years and we have decided to build again to accommodate an in-ground swimming pool in the back yard. When my wife and I made this decision to build again, it was clear from the start that we would go back through Hillan Homes, as they delivered a great product the last time. The process has been smooth thus far as we have acquired property (through their in house top notch Real Estate partnership) designed plans (they really let you design the house of your dreams, we started with a napkin sketch and their architects made it come true). The only real changes we have seen from 5 years ago to today is that they have optimized a lot of their process’s. For example, during the first build we found ourselves driving all over town to make our selections (cabinets, granite, tile, flooring, etc…) and now they have a dedicated space where it is one stop shopping for all your fit and finish needs. On top of that, they have really rounded out their selection of (standards). It is easy to get carried away with overages when picking interior finishing’s, and they have done a great job accommodating various styles, trends and materials into their standard offerings. We sure hope this is the last house we will ever build (or purchase for that matter), however if we do find ourselves taking on another project in the future, I know my first call will be to Hillan Homes and their team!

This is the update to our post on the original build. The home build was completed in August 2016. The walk through of the home revealed uneven flooring,uneven stairs, paint and splattered on the cabinets and a significant amount work below standard and incomplete. The door trim on the garage entry door was left unpainted. This took nine months to have the builder paint and complete. The hardi plank siding was damaged on installation , this took eight months of numerous requests to get the work complete The house is brown and the painter that was contracted was careless and splattered white trim paint on the siding to point where the white paint error can be see from the street The builder has extended out email replies as long as two weeks which has made the warranty process painful. We have threatened to sue the builder twice to keep the process moving. As we live in the house we are more disappointed as the walls crack,sod dies and promises left broken. We have filed a complaint also with the Michigan Home Builders Association. If you are looking to build a new home in the Berkley - Royal Oak area please use Robertson or Frame and All.