PLEASE BE PATIENT THIS PAGE TAKES A LONG
TIME TO
LOAD...DUE TO ALL THE PICTURES...I AM WORKING ON MAKING
IT LOAD FASTER
RIGHT NOW
On September 4,1999 we signed the papers to
start our Dream
Home!
It is now August 14,2000 and our dream house
has turned in to
the
HOUSE
OF
HORROR!
After being told we might be able to have the house done by Christmas 1999 we thought they would start right away and that the house would take 120 to 160 days to complete......NOT.....
They started on the foundation the middle of November even though we were told we had to get the spot where the house was going to be prepped ASAP! We had 12 trees removed and the site all level for them by the end of SEPT.
Well we finally had our foundation! So the next step was the framers, we were so excited.......they made it right after Christmas.... so much for our Christmas in our DREAM HOME. The first framing crew worked about 3 weeks and quit..... due to Jim Walter Homes non payment of the crew..... ( this crew would knock on my door at 8am asking for coffee)
This is framing crew #1 January 18, 2000
Ok, now we have our down stairs frame partly up.... our decking on the floor was left exposed to snow, rain and sleet for about a month ..
and here comes
the second crew
to finish up the job! This crew work 3 to 4 days a week
.. about
6 hours a day..... due to no payment from Jim Walter
Homes AGAIN the
crew stopped coming.
This is the point that framing crew #2 stopped
Now we get a notice in the mail saying a lien was getting ready to be put on OUR property cause JIM WALTERS did not pay the lumber company.....
Now we find out that the OKLAHOMA CITY office was having
some problems....No Duh..... JWH fired all the office staff including the construction manager (we never did meet the one that worked there when we signed the papers on the house)Then we have another
delay in the building of our home... The quality of work on the frame of the house at this point was very poor. Finally we get a GREAT frame crew.... they tried to correct all of the bad work that had been
This is the finished
frame job....
looks good now ... This hasn't been painted
yet! Please note the trash pile! We hauled this pile off
it took 2-18
foot trailers
to haul this off. But in other pictures the pile
reappears larger than
ever
Now it was time for the electrician to come out....... but before he came out...a dry wall crew showed up April 16,2000 at 11:30 PM DRUNK with their travel trailer with plans to stay on OUR
property without our permission.(we live 50 feet from the new house site)! You can NOT put the dry wall up before you have the wiring done. These guys said they did not care they wanted to do it and get their money. I locked the gate and would not allow them on the property. ( My husband had just had a heart attack from the stress that we have been going through with this house on April 14,2000)
The wiring finally got done, plumbing is now done, and so is the heating and air conditioning. This is about April 30,2000, So now you ask when did the dry wallers show up?....... not until......May 18. 2000 on a Saturday afternoon. Only after we called Jim Walter Homes office and told them we were on our way to there office to have a nice friendly TALK! We live 65 miles from there office. It took us about an hour to get there. Then low and behold.....Dobbie the Construction manager found some dry wallers! They were going to start Saturday afternoon and be finished with all the dry wall by Sunday night! YEAH RIGHTt....
Our house is the 2 story 1700 square feet Victorian house There is no way any one can dry wall in 1 1/2 days...... When we arrived back to our house from JWH office our dry wallers were here...... One adult and 4 kids... and I mean kids... the oldest
was 18 and the youngest was 14. The adult told us that he had worked for his grandfather doing dry wall when he was 14 or 15 and he has been a used car salesman for the last 15 years........ This man hasn't done
any dry wall at all. What I got was a bunch of crap. My walls were so bad. First they show up with no ladders.... no tape measure..... so they borrowed our tape measure and used my lawn chairs and ladders to stand
on...well they broke 2 of my lawn chairs and just threw them in the yard .. along with all of there food wrappers ....coke bottles and any other of there garbage. They would show up between 7pm to 9 pm. They would work till 2 or 3am knocking on my door every 30 minute to either use or rest room or to inquire time it was. This went on for 3 weeks at least.... They had at least 1/2 inch of mud on the walls, ceilings and the tape wasn't stuck to the sheet rock... there were cracks in all the walls and none of the window seals were straight, door ways are crocked ... the ceilings and walls have BLOBs of mud just hanging there. My custom door had gashes in it. What a mess....It took them 3 almost 4 weeks to get it to look this bad.... We called and called the construction manager, Dobbie AT LEAST 5 times to tell him what a bad job these people were doing....and that he needs to come out and see for himself... he would tell us that he would be out on such and such day.... no show.....he did this several times. I would take off work to wait and no show....time after time. Well when they finished and wanted to be paid he showed up....... and said Quote ...."IT LOOKS LIKE SHIT" so here we go again..... Now they send one of their other dry wallers.... well he and his wife ( we were told by Dobbie) were to sand all the walls re-tape and bed then texture the walls. They were also suppose to have some helpers....the helpers never showed... I was told that they were in jail..... They wouldn't pay this man and his wife, so they quit...... so now we still don't have a dry wallers .
The District manager Jonnie out of Tulsa ask my husband if he knew any dry wallers..... My husband made a phone call to the local lumber yard and with in 10 minutes had a man's name and number.... within 3 hours he was here, and called them with a bid...... Well this man asked for a decent amount of money to come in and redo this mess. According to the district manager, Jonnie they just couldn't pay that amount ..but they found a crew in Texas that would come up and sand all the walls ... re-nail the wall (the sheet rock had only 2 to 4 nails per sheet of rock. We had nail pops on all the walls.) re-tape all the walls and then texture....... Well what we got was not what we were told was going to be done.... now we have 3/4 an inch of mud on the walls..... bigger cracks... more nail pops and you could see all the old swirl pattern texture that was on from the first dry wallers!
At this point we have wrote a letter to corp., the district office and our local JWH office telling them we were not happy with the work that had been done. We sent it return receipt. As our lawyer had instructed us to do. I have called customer service in Tampa so many times, they know my voice..... We have also called the district office, Jonnie... and the district managers boss, Ben in Houston, Tx..... Still, all we are getting is lies, lies,lies..... We have sent E-mails to JWH public relations with no response...
Ok now back to the HORROR story.
None of the dry wallers have been paid ..... So they find another crew that is going to do the work...they guarantee it ... We have asked NOW that all the sheet rock be pulled out and new put in..... After being told they were going to do it.... this new crew said that they were told to just fix it..... We told him no way. Now we got new sheet rock put in the 3 bedrooms upstairs. The ceilings WERE NOT RIPPED OUT. This crew did a pretty good job with what they had to work with.
At this point Our construction manger, Dobbie was out yesterday August 14, 2000 and he was only 2 hours late..... We still have nail pops on the East wall near the door in the living room.... tape bubbles on the south wall in living room..... all ceilings look like crap especially where the walls meet the walls ( oh they put that acoustic texture
on the ceiling so 1960's ...about 1 inch thick in some places) Upstairs bathroom walls and ceiling are sloppy.... upstairs bay window in master bedroom are sloppy looks bad at ends of beam..... archway
from living room to kitchen is out of square (crooked)....Most of the ceilings sway in the middle.... Archway from Kitchen to the Family room (where the heater is) varies 1/2 inch from one side to the other. HOW CAN A DOOR
BE HUNG THERE??????
At this point, It's anyone's guess when we will be in our house. We have called3 contractors out to see what needs to be done. They have ALL said the ceilings and all of the downstairs sheet rock need to be
tore out and new put in.
I called the construction manager, Dobbie this morning( August 15,2000) like he told me to ....and he is with a customer and will call me back...that was 2 1/2 hours ago...no call....he probably lost my phone
number AGAIN..... well just called him again...now he is on the other line and can I leave a message...duh..... he told me to call him...these people must have there head up their.........
Well here we go again....more LIES! On August 17, 2000 I got a page while I was in the Doctor's office for stress related headaches( I wonder where the stress is coming from) It was a new man...a big wig from JWH His name was Bobert. Well we set up an appointment for 1:00pm that day..... the good dry waller showed up at 12:45pm to be in on this (because he hadn't gotten paid yet) well 1:00 pm comes and goes still they haven't arrived..... 1:30pm they arrive. We have Dobbie the OKC construction manager, Duddy, the OKC office manager and Bobert. Well there was some sucking up going on "BIG TIME" by Dobbie...lol he was kissing ass.... Any way Bobert said the house looked real bad. Mainly the ceilings. I told him I wanted to know what they were going to do "IN WRITING". He said NO PROBLEM. He called me on August 18, 2000 saying they were making a game plan, our HOUSE WAS FIRST PRIORITY and I would receive in writing the plan they are going to take on August 21, or August 22, 2000...... Well here it is August 22, 2000 11:53am central time and No word. We still don't know if the dry waller got paid. He did what touch up work they asked him to do. He did it that afternoon August17, 2000....... I did receive a call from Bobert on August 23, 2000, and he said he was just waiting on bids for the work he wants done on the house and he would keep in touch with us .... and Corp. would be sending us the written plans of what is going to be done.
Here it is Sept. 6,2000 and still no written plans of what JWH is suppose to do..... I finally called the OKC office on August 31, 2000 to see what was going on ... and was told by Dobbie that the dry wall crew would be out that day.... He should Have told the workers... We did get the dry wall crew out here today and he did get paid for the last time he was out...after a big hassle and 2 days lost pay for having to sit in their office waiting for his check. Dobbie, in the OKC office was so kind.... he had a dumpster sent out so WE could put there trash in it ..... That was so kind of him ..... Yeah right. The dry wall man said he was told by Bobert that the inside and outside was suppose to be totally cleaned up before he came out to re-do the ceilings. Well it isn't done! I have tried 2 times to get a hold of Bobert today .... with no luck ... I left message for him to call me today.
Well I called the Tulsa office again to talk to Bobert.... and I asked him when our written plans of completion were going to get to me.... He told me JWM lawyers had just finished the plan and it was in OKc last night Sept. 6,2000 at 7pm.... and a NEW completion date will be Sept 22, 2000.... we will see
We have been told completion dates of: by Christmas 1999, May 18, 2000, June 1, 2000 , Sept 22, 2000, Sept 29,2000, Oct. 4,2000 now it is Oct 6,2000 This is a bunch of BULL SHIT!???????
I have just received my written list that JWH is suppose to do..... but it came as a LEGAL DOCUMENT! and they want it signed by my husband and I.... not going to happen! On Sept 9, 2000 at about 11:00am I received a page from JWH TELLING me I have to at the house so I can sign some papers so the Dry Wallers can get paid. Well my husband is out of town and I am not signing any thing till he and my Lawyer sees it. Well I just didn't make it back home in time to meet with Duddy.... He brought with him and left with our daughter a legal document..... and it part says:
On or about the 4th day of September 1999, Builder and purchasers entered into a contract pursuant to which builder was to build for and sell to Purchasers were to pay builder therefor a single-family resident and land owned by purchasers in Seminole County, Oklahoma: and
such single-family residence was to build in conformity with Builder's limited warranty, applicable building codes and local workmanship standards and
Although the builder disagrees with the position taken by the purchasers. both parties to this settlement and release recognize that an agreed accord of this dispute in the interest of both parties and by execution hereof, each party signifies his/her/its assent to such accord
Now, therefore, in consideration of these presents and the premises made by each of the parties hereto, Builder and purchaser hereby agree as follows:
(1). Builder will install wood casing and
trim around all
windows in the
dwelling and from the dinning room to the kitchen
door:
(2). Builder will apply a knockdown finish to the ceiling
of the
dwelling in lieu of acoustic finish:
(3). Upon
Builder's completion
of those task described in (1) and (2), Purchasers will
ac the condition
of the gypsum wallboard as it is currently installed and
finished and
will release Builder from any additional obligation with
respect
thereto:
This is how We taking this document: JWH never told us
the walls looked
Like shit.... and we have to accept what ever the re-work
on the walls
and ceilings look like, and the local workmanship in our
area is
crap..... what do you think?????? We are not signing this
ever....I
faxed a copy of it to our Lawyer on the evening of Sept
9,2000 can't
wait to hear what he tells
us......
On Sept 12,2000 a miracle has happened...... We have a kitchen cupboards installed, sinks, toilets, and vanities in all the bathrooms! The plumbing has all been hooked up to a central line...just needs to be hooked to our septic line..... but so far today(Sept 13,2000 10:45am) no workers have shown up......They did deliver the wrong interior doors......
Well it is now Sept. 16, 2000 and i haven't sen a worker since the 12th of Sept. We have cleaned the BIG TRASH pile up in the front of the house and also the ones that were all around the house. We have filled the dumpster totally full. I called Dobbie on Friday the 15th to have it emptied and he was suppose to call and have it done.... It hasn't been done yet (like I really thought it would.) Well they have 6 days to COMPLETE the house.... according to there last completion date they have given us. While we were working on the trash piles we have looked closer to the construction of the outside of the house.... Our stairs up to the front porch are going to have to be replaced due to splitting boards.... several boards on the front porch are warped and some have twisted.....
It is now Sept 20,2000 and the person to put in all the plugins and light fixtures came on Sept 18,2000, and we now have some fixtures..wait till you see these pictures.
PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES
.... Would you pay almost $92,000 for work like this????? I have now found out that that if any work YOU do inside the home before you sign the final papers THEY(JWH) can make you start payments.... they have tried to get me to paint my kitchen before the cupboards were put in....good thing I didn't. The trim carpenters came on Sept. 19,2000 and they cleaned the insides of the house and are starting to put my trim up.... Dobby is suppose to be here today at 9:00am to help The trimmers..... It is now 10:00 am and where is he???????They now have 2 days to finish OUR house?????? Do You think it will be done????? We don't.... In fact we all have bets on it at my work....
Here is the outside of the house as of Sept 20,2000.... Looks good.....NOT.... if you could see close up you can see LOTS of problems.... but there is NO trash in front of it NOW
It is now Sept
26,2000 and the
house is not finished...... New date is set for Sept
29,2000. It is
getting there but not done....Dry wall man is out today
fixing all the
dry wall, nail pops corners that don't join, around all
light fixtures,
and elelctric receptials. The trim has all been done and
looks good.....
they still need to put the attic access in and work one
the porch.....
Just maybe it will be done soon.....Oh I doubt
it.......!Here is what
that has been done....
FRONT PORCH LIGHTS...They look good
MASTER BATHROOM WINDOW
KITCHEN LIGHT FIXTURE
Today is SEPT 28,2000 no workers showed up yesterday...nothing new...my husband went in the house and hooked a tv using an extension cord and hooked the tv up to the antena cable we ran before the first dry wallers came in..they worked then...but not now.... in our daughters room upstairs front bedroom...the telephone and cable receptical is not cut out in the sheet rock..Called Jim Walter Homes and talked to a person that answers the phone and asked for a copy of the final contract to be faxed to our Lawyer.... Well she wouldn't do it. So called our lawyer and told him...he call JWH and talked to the person I talked to and she got real testy with him.... well as of now we are no longer talking with JWH ...if they want to contact us...they gotta call the lawyer. The lawyer did get a copy of the final contract and I will let you know what he has to say about it .... Just got off the phone with the Lawyer... they are wanting us to sign a punch list contract. This is a list of everything worng with the house. They will fix what is on the list only. So if we find any MAJOR problem not cosmetic problem we are not to sign the contract..... but how can we know if any framing problems are there ...WE CAN"T GET INTO THE ATTIC....NO WAY TO GET UP THERE BECAUSE THEY SHEET ROCKED OVER IT....! We now need to hire an indpentant electical inspector to come look at the wiring....at least one liceneded in Oklahoma
It is now OCT 2, 2000 and as you can tell the Sept 29th date has came and gone and guess what?????? The house is .........NOT done....no surprize to me! We were to have a walk thur meeting on Sept 29th 2000....because I was to be off work that evening....and they showed up at 6:00pm on the 28th of Sept....and I was at work...my husband was home. Anyway they did a walk thur and found a number of things wrong. Dobby said it would be finished by .....Oct 6, 2000 and Bobert said no it WOULD be finished by Oct 4, 2000....yeah right... No one has showed up since then. I faxed them a list of repairs that were not on there list here it is:
JIM WALTER HOME
REPAIR LIST
OCT. 1, 2000,
MASTER BEDROOM
Vent cover is not covering the dry wall hole
Fire Alarm is faulty
MASTER BATHROOM
Above and all around the tub needs some work
Dry wall around Shower nozzle does not cover the nozzle
cover
UPSTAIRS BATHROOM
All around and above the tub
The dry wall around shower nozzle needs repaired
FRONT UPSTAIRS BEDROOM
Base trim by the door is to short
Missing air vent
Tv and telephone jack needs to be found
UPSTAIRS BACK BEDROOM
Inside the closet in corners dry wall needs repairing
Behind door up toward the top dry wall needs work
STAIRWAY
Both sides of the stair case needs some major work
One stair needs some attention
LIVING ROOM
Vents need to be fixed so the dry wall cut out doesn’t
show
The tv antenna cable has been pushed up inside the
wall
DINNING ROOM
Vent needs same work as all others need
FAMILY ROOM
Window is broken
KITCHEN
Kitchen window is crooked
Light has a crack
Missing drawer
Vent same as all others
Fix hole in back of the cabinet above the stove and under
sink
Inside the pantry door frame by hinge is split
DOWNSTAIRS BATHROOM
Door trim above the door split
OTHER ITEMS
All plug ins and light switches need to be checked to
make sure they are
straight
All windows cleaned
Front door dents
Front porch where splits are in rails
Post on the front porch stairs need replacing
Medicine cabinets need to be returned NOT INSTALLED (we
might use them
at a
later date)
Front door threshold is not supported
Outside window frames need touch up and some dents taken
out of them
Back porch light
attic access
This morning at 7:50am I called JWH Oklahoma City office
to see what
MIRACLE WORKERS they were going to send to finish this
house by
tomorrow...I was told that Dobbie and 4 others were
making a supply list
and
were going by a local lumber yard to get the needed
supplies and would
be right here..... we are an hours drive from them and I
thought well
may be by 10:00am they would be here.....9:47am no sight
of
them.
Here are some pictures taken on Oct.
1,2000
DINNING
ROOM
FAMILY ROOM
PANTRY
STAIRS
HOUSE AT
NIGHT
I am show right now how
nice the house
is looking......just so you can see WE ARE NOT JUST SLAMMING JWH
I just went out and took some more pictures that are not
so
nice....
NOW IAM REALLY PISSED..... no workers are here today..nothing new....
I just sent this e-mail
to the customer
service office for JWH
To whom it may concern:
I have been very patent dealing with you people and I
have had it! I
have been told my home would be finish today by Robert
the district
construction manager last week.... well I had workers one
day out here
and IT IS NOWHERE finished.... It is 10:46am here now and
guess what no
workers...... like that is anything new....
I am notifying you as of now....if this house is not
completed to my
satisfaction by Friday Oct 6,2000, I will again, contact
my lawyer and
something will be done. The stress dealings with JIM
WALTER HOME has
become unbearable! I don't know how this company stays
in business! My
home has been under construction as of today 13 months.
I have
documentation, pictures and video of ALL work done on
this house and
there is no way I will start making payments on this home
till it is
done to my satisfaction! My Lawyers name is Robert
xxxxxxxx xxx-xxx-xxxx
So you better inform who ever I will turn this over as of
Friday Oct
6,2000 to the above lawyer if this house is not completed
to MY
SATISFACTION!
G and K
home phoneXXX-XXX-XXXX
pager XXX-XXX-XXXX
This has also been told to Bobert the district
construction manager per
phone conversation
PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR MORE TO OUR HORROR STORY