West Wind Construction

So all in all here are the things to take from my experience with West Wind Construction: Good: fast build, decent price Bad: rushed build, sacrificed quality for quantity, no customer service after closing, unwilling to work with Military schedule, promises things before build and then tries to do something different (while hoping you will forget what they promised), likes to mention that they have built much larger homes in a condescending tone when you try to mention quality of work and that these $150k homes are somehow not as important and therefore work is not as up to par as they would be if you were buying a more expensive home Overall, if there were a star rating system on this site I would have to give West Wind Construction a 2-star rating. I would not recommend anyone use this contractor unless you are building a $500k home or higher. West Wind Construction is NOT Military friendly and finally if quality and customer service are something that you would like to have, then DO NOT hire West Wind Construction. (See below for start to finish experience) Westwind was a referral from my real estate agent (Jenny Aldridge of Coldwell Banker). Met with contractor and looked at empty lots and chose a floor plan. Proceeded with pre-approval and then met with contractor again to go over details such as the list of standards for the house. He also stated that a tiled Master shower was standard as most homes come with it now. My real estate agent was writing all this down. (Luckily) The contractor proceeded to purchase the lot and began building the home. All of this was exciting and everything seemed to be going really well. I proceeded to take pictures on a weekly basis to document the build and to ensure i was getting everything i supposed to. Fast forward a few weeks, home was framed and tubs/showers were rough installed. I couldn't help but notice that the Master Shower was a one piece fiberglass shower unit. NOT the tiled shower that was promised. So i informed my agent who contacted the contractor. A few minutes later she contacted me and said that the contractor did not remember saying that and asked if i had anything to prove that. I reminded the agent that she had written it down (she remembered and confirmed) at which time she contacted the contractor and informed him. Instantly he said okay we'll do the tiled shower. (Almost as if they were hoping i would forget) After that we met with the contractor at Lowes to pick tile, ceiling fans, appliances and a couple of the light fixtures (not all lights were my choice as the remainder were purchased in a "contractors bundle", which come 6 to a box at a whopping price of $30). The appliances were easy as i had already picked them out online. I only kept the proposed dishwasher from the contractors list. The disposal, stove and microwave were upgraded, which the contractor wrote down and provided to the lowes assistant. The ceiling fans were tricky as the contractor would not tell me what my budget was. When i asked he simply pointed at one and said, "Well, one like this is in your price range". So i asked again as the price of fans vary greatly, and finally was able to get a rough estimate of my ceiling price. (probably an underestimate) I picked fans and proceeded to the lights. Picked out the lights and proceeded to the tiles. Again, i wasn't able to get a price range on the tiles simply a "oh yeah, thats definitely in your price range". I was then walked over (by the contractor) to the backsplash tiles for the kitchen. I couldn't decide what i wanted and he said just pick one out and let them know when i do decide what i want. After that i picked out my carpet and paint colors/brick/shingles with no problems. The house continued to be built and was on track for the original completion date. After the house started getting near the finish line, i began to ask questions about the build such as, "why is there only one cable drop in the living room when i asked for two". The contractor was pretty slow on the responses and even slower on getting things fixed. We neared the end and i had to schedule the final walkthrough more than once as the contractor decided that he and his partner had to go out of town for a party. (Really?) The appliances were installed and were nice. Except for the fact that the microwave was not the one that i asked for but i finally accepted it as i did not want to argue anymore. I pointed out a gouge in the oven door handle which the contractor fixed very quickly. (HE FLIPPED IT OVER!) I said fine, i can't see it and i didn't feel like waiting forever for a new handle. We finally had a pre-final walkthrough at which time the contractor said he had pretty much everything written down but gave me some sticker dots to put on the damaged areas that he had not written down. I used all 400 dots! Couldn't believe the things that he was going to ignore because he thought it was good to go. Wow...Also couldn't help but notice that there was no backsplash. When i asked the contractor about it he said, "Oh, thats my bad. I shouldn't have shown you the backsplash tiles as they are not standard. If you want the backsplash it will cost you quite a bit since everything is done already but we can have them installed i fyou want." I was astounded that i had been lied to in the beginning but i guess thats just how they do business. (Remember the shower?)Anyways, the contractor had everything fixed and we closed on the house. At signing, he proceeded to tell me that all of the tile would need to have the grout sealed! Are you serious? Who installs tile but doesn't seal the grout, especially in the shower? There was also the fact that the contractor didn't caulk anything up (i.e. the tile in the floor, exterior of the doors, windows, etc.) I guess the caulking doesn't need to be accomplished? Also, there was a list of things to do after closing which the agent had both my self and the contractor sign, including the landscaping/hydromulching of the yard. After closing, i began to try to schedule a time for the contractor to have his sub contractors come out and fix the things that were wrong with the house and left on the things to do list. The contractor was unwilling to have anyone come over after 5 pm, which i had requested as i am in the military and i cannot get home earlier. He stated that they just couldn't make it since it was so late. So i began to fix things on my own as i didn't want anything to sit any longer. Slowly but surely i knocked out all the things on the list until only the yard was left. The contractor had the yard "landscaped". I guess hills and valleys are the hip thing to do now days? And that was in the front. The back WASN'T EVEN TOUCHED! After the front was landscaped i began to notice little pieces of construction materials in the dirt. I began to dredge the yard and discovered that the contractor had buried all of the debris from the construction in the yard. He had also used the dirt that had originally been there (weeds and all) as the fill/topsoil. So i spent 4 days clearing the yard of debris just to make it decent for a yard to be hydromulched. The contractor had the front yard hydromulced but did not do the back because the sub contractor said it looked so bad and there were so many weeds that he didn't want to do it. So after a month of living in the house the contractor finally had the backyard landscaped which looked decent but had the same issues as the front (practically a landfill). I did not work the back yard as i did the front and the contractor had the back hydromulched (over the weeds) but only a day before a week long rain. All of the hydromulch was washed away and the weeds flourished. I guess i'm going for the grass-free yard this year. Fast forward to 2 months later and i am still waiting on the contractor for one thing. During the final it was noticed that two of the windows had been damaged and would need to be replaced. The contractor was suppose to have ordered them and had them installed. Two months of calling has resulted in no phone calls being answered and/or returned. I finally caught the contractor since he is building a house across the street. I waited for him to come out of the house. He said the windows have come in and the installer would be calling in the next couple of days. All of this is strange since the house being built is the same floor plan as mine and had the same windows installed by the same installer! Anyways, two weeks later i am still waiting for a phone call. I even tried to call my agent to get a hold of the contractor since they no longer answer my phone calls. She said she would call them and would let me know when she heard from them. No suprise, she hasn't called back. Same problem with agent, but that's a different review.