REILLY HOMES INC MODEL HOME

, On the surface, the home looked very good and some things are done very well in the home, but over the course of time, I've found that Reilly used cheap materials and in some cases, very poor worksmanship that has become apparent over time. Over the first few months, during a home warranty period, I had several issues that Reilly dealt with. I will say that they were very responsive to my issues, but resolution was not always quality work. The tile work in the house is horrid. In the first week I had a broken tile in my bathroom. The tile worker replaced the tile, but didn't bother to match the grout color when he did. That is very apparent. Then I realized the same tile worker had grouted, instead of caulked, the top of the backsplash under the kitchen cabinets. Every time a cabinet door closed, the grout crumbled onto the counter. He had to come back and strip the group and caulk. Then the tile floor in the shower started leaking and went into the ceiling in the garage. Again he had to come back and replace tiles. Again he did not bother to match the grout color. Over the times he was back for repairs i learned that he does not seal any of his grout. When I asked him why, it was because that would cause him to send somebody back after laying tile to seal the grout. In other words, it was inconvenient for him to actually perform quality work. Fast forward three years. The stains in my shower grout simply could not be removed, which ended up being fortunate because it forced me to tear out his crappy work. What I found when I took the tile out was appalling. The waterproof pan on the shower floor was pinched to floor level in two places, causing leaks. The height of the pan above the floor in most places was a mere 2 inches, probably acceptable, but barely. Apparently they had run out of Duraroc concrete backer when installing in the shower, because the bottom 18 inches all the way around the shower was fiberrock. Since it comes in 1/4" sheets instead of 1/2", they simply used two sheets. This is certainly NOT a suitable material in showers, particularly on the bottom. The tile literally fell off that surface as I was tearing it out. They used absolutely NO water barrier treatment on the backer before installing the tile. Amateur work at best. I had to re-grade the floor because it sloped away from the drain in 2 places, which is what caused a lot of the problems in the first place. I also took out the tile around the tub at the same time. During this project, I also found out that they had not used moisture resistant sheetrock anywhere in the batthroom. Totally unacceptable. I had to remediate the black mold issues that I had after only 3 years in the house because of the substandard tile work. It was horrible. I'm certain the other houses he's installed tile in have the very same issues. In addition to this major issue, I've had several other issues, mainly due to the substandard materials the builder used. The kitchen appliances where the cheapest they could get away with. Within 2 weeks, the oven did not work and I had to get the manufacturer to fix the control unit. The dishwasher return line was not installed properly and had to be adjusted to keep from backing up in the kitchen sink. The dishwasher itself is a POS, the cheapest they could get. The over the stove microwave, which is supposed to serve as the vent, is not vented to the outside of the home........at all. The cheap kitchen undermount sink they used cracked and looked like crap in 18 months. To replace it, I'll have to take out all the countertops. But I spent that money on the tile, so it will have to wait for a while. The painter painted all of the doors with the doorknobs installed, so if the doorknob shifts a little, you can see the white that wasn't painted under it. Lazy, unprofessional work. I identified that during our walk-through, but it was never fixed by the builder. They installed an 80% efficiency furnace in a new house of this size......total crap and will have to be replaced. One joint on the drain pipe from the kitchen sink was not glued and leaked into the downstairs ceiling and on the floor (carpet). The builder pushed back when I forced them to remove the wall and remediate the mold that was there. They eventually did it though. They never repainted the ceiling in the basement. I had to do that, although I pointed that out to them several times. The cabinets in the kitchen are of good quality, but assembled with the absolute cheapest hardware available. I will replace that crap work. The finish nails in all the trim were never properly filled and it looks like a teenager in wood shop installed them. I'll have to fix that too. The humidifier system lasted about 18 months before it broke. I had to replace it. It was a POS. I've found several places in sheetrock that have had "nail pop", indicating to me that the framers did not take the time to properly crown all the studs. Amateur work. I started to frame a room downstairs last week but had to stop because the plumber had routed the water line under the floor joist instead of through it. Ironically, he spent 4 times as much money and time to do it wrong than it would have taken to do it right. I'll fix it and it'll only take me 30 minutes. It would have taken him 5 minutes to do it right. All of the lighting, wall, and water fixtures were the cheapest ones they could get away with. They all pretty much suck and I've been replacing them slowly over time. Two of the concrete slaps in my driveway have broken and the concrete porch step has sunk about 3/4". Many, many of the neighbors driveways have also broken. This is a clear indicator that they are not doing proper preparation, compaction, sub-base for their concrete work. It sucks. I had to replace the garbage disposer in the sink after about 12 months because they used the cheapest one available. I now have a good one. To be fair, there are some things that are well done. My hardwood floors are beautiful and of very good quality. I'm very happy with them. The carpet, although it's cheap (builder's selection) was professionally installed and has been very good. I'lve dealt with the electricity in several places for several reasons and I've consistently found the electrician did a very professional job. I do wish he'd have left just a little more slack to work with on renovations, but he did quality work. My cedar deck is very good and I actually called the same sub-contractor back when I did an expansion. He did an excellent job on that too. My fence and sprinkler system have been everything I've expected of them and I'm very happy with them. The windows in the house are high quality and I'm very pleased with them. Although I would have preferred granite, the solid surface countertops have also been very good. Ok, I think that's a pretty comprehensive review. i could cover more details such as HVAC, insulation, etc., but the areas I haven't addressed were because I found them to be about average, not great, not poor, but what a homeowner should expect. I have done a number of projects in my house, many more than most homeowners. That's how I found some of these issues. I also have experience, although not a contractor. My father and my brother were both contractors and I've spent time working with them, so I know better than the average homeowner what I'm looking at. But, again, I'm certainly not a professional. Bottom line is the only way I would even consider buying another Reilly home is if I could supervise every step of construction to prevent some of the completely unacceptable work they've done in many areas. I would definitley recommend NOT buying a finished home and wondering where they've cut corners. I guarantee they have cut many, many corners with substandard materials and worksmanship. I'll give them an overall D, but that may be giving some credit. Don't do it.