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| - In 2013 I built a house with Mattamy and it is now a year later and I thought I would provide an update. We signed in April 2013 to build a brand new house from the ground up in Mattamy's Marley Park Heritage series. We closed in November 2013 and this review is being written a year later in December 2014. In short: Did the process go perfectly? No, but it didn't go horribly wrong either. After hearing horror stories of builders back in the boom days, this actually went much better than I anticipated. This wasn't a custom build and the contractors/builders didn't work for me, so I knew resolving any issues that may arise would be limited. Would we build with them again if given the chance, probably.
The good:
The initial signing process was easy.
You were allowed to visit the work site after hours as much as you wanted.
You had contact info of the on site foreman for any concerns.
Options/accessories were actually decently priced at the time (now more expensive)
The OK:
Had to choose things like door hardware and lighting fixtures and the such at the initial signing. Selection was limited.
Had to choose a cabinet "package" at signing, but you could not see the cabinets until a later date which may cost more or less at that time.
Design center was OK, had a good choice of flooring, cabinets, carpet and the such. Pricey, but to be expected.
Walk-through with builder prior to drywall to check things out. Any concerns were addressed (or explained as to why that is).
And the silly:
Took about 2 months to break ground. I was told that they were waiting on the city to approve the permits. I happen to work for the city and knew that the permit had been sitting waiting to be picked up (and paid for). Once I pointed this out to them, construction started very quickly.
Prices for the cabinet packages went up after we signed. We were price locked in, but the next tier down was now more expensive. If we wanted to downgrade our cabinets at the design center, we would have had to pay more
We didn't want the master bathroom mirror installed. Fee: $100, to save them $$ and time.
Spec home being built next door took priority over ours.
We had asked about doing a split level island (sink built in, wanted half the island higher, pretty standard), and also wanted a cast-iron sink. Took over 2 months and no answer. Between the delay in starting and this, we were ready to pull out. They did remedy this in our favor.
You can choose any 5 colors of brown interior paint that you want. Just 5. Not sure why you can't go custom here.
Per their building features info sheet, we should get 3 "holiday" outlets. They only gave us 2. When I asked them about this I was told that 3 is not standard. I pointed out that every other version of our model has 3. They said it was a "bonus" to the other ones. Not worth fighting
Per their building features info sheet, all interior lights are to be CFLs. Upstairs were CFLs, downstairs were incandescent. When I asked about getting the CFL's I was told they are not standard (even though the sheet says differently). Said I should have all incandescent. After pointing out that half were already CFL, they replaced the remainder to CFL.
Warranty:
They only have 1 warranty coordinator for all developments in the west valley. After submitting a warranty service item it could take 3-4 weeks for a response. If it was something major, they did provide a list of the installers to contact directly if needed. There was a warranty service immediately after moving in if you found anything, 30 days and 1-year. They also will handle anything that comes up in the mean time. They do take care of the issues without too much trouble, but it may take a while to get back to you.
Overall build quality:
Framing/Foundation/Sturdiness: Seems solid, no creaks, and very little settling cracks.
Plumbing: Good.
Electrical: Much to be desired here. Safe and up to code, yes. Quality of workmanship left a lot to be desired. Some of the light fixture boxes were loose, switch plates not level, and strange switch locations. Pay the extra few $$ and specify more switches to be installed in strategic locations. You'll appreciate it.
HVAC: Sized correctly, insulation sufficient. Drain pan was cracked during installation. Could have been easily fixed there, but wasn't. Chas Roberts tech had to spend 3 hours in our attic in July to repair. 15 minute fix if taken care of prior to sealing everything up.
Drywall: texturing a bit uneven. They did fix some of the major locations.
Paint: Just OK. Not much attention to detail and required touch ups prior to move in. Some exterior wood accents had gaps and not painted top.
Cabinets: Good
Flooring: Having some issues with grout chipping and some popped tiles. Warranty repaired.
Overall: no major issues, just minor things to touch up or adjust (to be expected).
Out of room here, but if you have questions, feel free to send me a message on Yelp
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