MILLER & SMITH

It has been our experience that Miller & Smith chooses to use whenever possible low quality materials and take short cuts in workmanship. Examples of this include: using low quality wood for all outside trim which consequently has rotted within the first 3 to 4 years from being built; watered down cement causing frequent cracking, for example on the garage pad; did not prime any wood on outside surfaces contributing further to outside wood rot; inadequate joists underneath an over-sized 75 gallon water heater which caused the entire floor to sag significantly (more than an inch and a half in some places); leaking roof over our bay window causing a mold problem in the walls and ceiling. In the case of the water heater, we had to replace the water heater with a tankless because we were seriously concerned that the water heater would fall through the floor. (And no....we are not exaggerating.) I would specifically like to highlight the poor workmanship in our bathroom, and this deserves specific attention because the problems we are experiencing have been experienced by several of our nearby neighbors as well....specifically at least 3 homes in our block of 6 have had the same shower leakage problems (so this shows a SYSTEMIC problem with Miller & Smith and not just a one-time overlooked detail). Our master bathroom shower has been leaking for years, and may have been leaking from the day we moved in. Things that contributed to this include: they placed bathroom tile for the shower directly on regular drywall, rather than Durock board or another water proof backing board; there was a 1/2 inch gap in the rubber gasket around the glass shower wall which resulted in water leaking under the tile in the shower floor; the shower liner was installed incorrectly and possibly had a tear. All of these leaks ultimately resulted in water running down and after years of accumulating inside the walls, floors, carpets of surrounding areas....streaming down into our first floor rooms. We called in a contractor to fix the shower, and we ultimately had to have the shower ripped down to the studs as it was completely rotted through (even some of the studs underneath) from water leakage. This is when the full extent of the poor workmanship and low quality materials became apparent. We are still dealing with after effects from this shower leakage, as are our neighbors. I am aware that it is not only our immediate neighbors experiencing these problems, but I serve on the community HOA, and it has come to the attention of the committee that community-wide, homeowners are having problems with Miller & Smith homes, relative to other builders. This is so much the case that it is almost a running joke in the committee. I would like to add that we are meticulous about routine home maintenance and keeping up with repairs (lest it seem like these problems were due to neglect). We try to keep up with painting, caulking, any needed replacement/repairs as they occur, etc etc.