Building a new home / Quick Possession

[johnnyrocket03]

Sorry to bump...

My Fiancee and I have done all of pre planning and stuff and gotten ourselves a townhome with Cardel.
I just wanted to bump this and see if there was anyone who wanted to offer up some newer reviews for Cardel before we officially sign anything.

Any info good or bad is appreciated.

[Northendzone]

We built with cardel in new Brighton. Tere were a couple of minor missteps along the way, but the reality is that it is the biggest purchase we will ever make and to cardel it is just another shack......

House is 7 yrs old and it is still standing.

At one time I thought that jayman had a pretty good inventory of homes looking for owners.

[Nage Waza]

See my points about Cardel, they have yet to get back to me or help at all. They are a bust.

[BlackArcher101]

They've been getting a bad rap on beyond.ca

http://forums.beyond.ca/search.php?s...by=&sortorder=

It looks like, based on purely what I read, they can build a good product. However, don't be expecting any customer service to correct any issues you may have that come up after possession.

[afc wimbledon]

I would never buy a new house, or even nearly new, I always buy older somewhat beat up places that are cheap but on their own lot, never ever let women pick houses either, as a general rule of thumb they are dreadfull at it.

[Mattington]

We built with Cardel, moved in about a year and a half ago now. Overall we were pleased with the build quality, only a few minor things needed to be taken care of after we moved in.

During the build there were several issues that needed to be taken care of, so visit often during the build. Our site supervisor was really good and he did ensure most of the problems we had ended up being fixed. More importantly all of the major problems were fixed very quickly. Our site supervisor even pointed out some problems that would have likely missed, such as some peices of a hanging light were bent, ended up replacing it a few times before we found a light we were happy with.

After move in we had a few issues that were all fixed. The window in our back door was leaking and our dishwasher was making a horrible noise, both were fixed within a week.

[Lights Out]

Has anyone had experience or are living in a home built by Brookfield?
My boyfriend and I liked a couple of the models that are located in Auburn Bay/Cranston.

[ricoFlame]

What about Broadview? anyone have any experience(s)?

[moncton golden flames]

one of cardel's upper executives came to our company to design his new house. i think it speaks volumes that he didn't get it done in house by his own people.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

one of cardel's upper executives came to our company to design his new house. i think it speaks volumes that he didn't get it done in house by his own people.

Hmm, that's an interesting tidbit.

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Hmm, that's an interesting tidbit.

it's not like it's an acreage mansion or anything, it's an inner city infill on a pretty standard size lot. if you don't trust or like your own design people, do you really have faith in your final product or your other trades? at this point, i'm not even sure if he will get his own people to build it.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

See my points about Cardel, they have yet to get back to me or help at all. They are a bust.

so i am guessing that you don't like them and would not build with them again?

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

it's not like it's an acreage mansion or anything, it's an inner city infill on a pretty standard size lot. if you don't trust or like your own design people, do you really have faith in your final product or your other trades? at this point, i'm not even sure if he will get his own people to build it.

I wouldn't read too much into that particular fact. My wife used to be an architectural technologist (draftsperson) who worked for two high end custom home designers and Cardel Homes. The thing about a place like Cardel, Shane, Morrison, or any non-custom Builder is they have a set of spec plans that their ATs just work from and modify, and most of the AT's don't have the experience to design a custom home from the ground up. Cardel would have an independent architect develop the base plans and just use the ATs to move a wall here, add a window there, not design a whole house. When she worked for a design firm, they did everything from the ground up and it's quite different from what her first job was like at Cardel.

BTW, I am not defending Cardel. We are looking at builds right now and Cardel has an absolutely awesome lot near the beach house in Auburn Shores. We even put a deposit down on the lot. Thus far, Cardel's handling of our inquiries and a review of their standard finishings has just about completely turned us off and we're leaning towards a build with Sabal in Mahogany with a lot much farther from the lake in a less developed community but with better finishings and salespeople and likely higher long-term value at a very similar price point.

[Nage Waza]

I know that I already mentioned how crappy my Cardel home is, what I really want to know about is how come no one from Cardel sees this thread and does something about it? Post something and offer to fix the problems?
A section of my house has the ceiling slowly pulling away from the drywall. Cardel said that they would find the drywaller and see if they will come back. Then Cardel said they are no longer around, so I am out of luck. They basically hired out the work and wiped their hands from it. The list goes on and on. This weekend I have to install shut off valves under all my sinks since none exist in the house, yet Cardel says they did exist. I think they must have disappeared or something. Pretty much every corner of my home has issues, I am slowly fixing them no thanks to Cardel.

[Caged Great]

All the builders in Calgary by in large suck. The quality of construction from 1980 onwards has dropped right off because they don't have any standards for the workers that build things.

[grizz29]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

They've been getting a bad rap on beyond.ca

http://forums.beyond.ca/search.php?s...by=&sortorder=

It looks like, based on purely what I read, they can build a good product. However, don't be expecting any customer service to correct any issues you may have that come up after possession.

That is an intersting read, thanks. Surprised it was posted on a forum with mostly young kids who still rely on their parents.

[jeffh]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

I know that I already mentioned how crappy my Cardel home is, what I really want to know about is how come no one from Cardel sees this thread and does something about it? Post something and offer to fix the problems?
A section of my house has the ceiling slowly pulling away from the drywall. Cardel said that they would find the drywaller and see if they will come back. Then Cardel said they are no longer around, so I am out of luck. They basically hired out the work and wiped their hands from it. The list goes on and on. This weekend I have to install shut off valves under all my sinks since none exist in the house, yet Cardel says they did exist. I think they must have disappeared or something. Pretty much every corner of my home has issues, I am slowly fixing them no thanks to Cardel.

That is terrible workmanship.

[bomber317]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

This weekend I have to install shut off valves under all my sinks since none exist in the house, yet Cardel says they did exist.

If it was in the specs/contract, you should be able to dispute that legally. Not sure if it will cost you anything.

My fiancée's dad went through Alberta Home Warranty for things that were on the contract but not complete. Things like the specs saying that floorboards are to be nail, screwed and glued but it wasn't screwed so the floors started to creak.

He was compensated a significant amount for all the things they messed up.

[jharp]

Has anyone built with Sabal recently? Thinking about using them, but like every other builder out there, there are so many horror stories from people who are furious. I am sure that there are 10 good stories for every bad one.

If anyone has good or bad experience it would be appreciated.

[jeffh]

Pm'd