Creative Home Concepts

Terrible builder and does not stand behind their work. Our home at 15907 Swindon Court was built 11 years ago. We are the third owners mind you, but we have documented evidence from various contractors and repairs experts proving that sub-standard materials were used and that shortcuts were taken. If we had a legal means of holding this company accountable we most assuredly would. We have made > $20k repairs to the home for things that should not be breaking at 10 years. Builder sub-contrated windows as an example and have had three vendors say these were the worst windows they had ever seen used in a home of this price point in Hallsley. Window caps breaking, wife broke her hand cause one came loose and now we are paying $30K to replace them all with decent windows. We could go on an on. We have checked with our attorneys and unfortunately these guys are allowed to continue scott free because of time limitations passed. Tried to get in touch with them re the windows and they completely shut us down and said the company they used "legacy windows llc" was no longer in business and they would not answer any questions we had further. STAY AWAY from this builder and we will post to multiple areas giving these guys all the credit they deserve!!! Want to sue us......please!!! We invite the lawsuit to recoup our costs!! We have documented burden of proof to show substandard materials and workmanship.

I can't say enough about Bryan Smith and Shannon Horan of Creative Home Concepts. When I decided I wanted to build a home, I knew who I wanted to build it - Creative Home Concepts. Bryan had previously built one of my closest friend's home, and not only is it beautiful, she told me she would absolutely build with Bryan again. That sealed the deal!
I enjoyed the entire build process from making changes to the floor plans to selecting the custom finishes and seeing the vision come to life, and Bryan and Shannon were right there with me 100% of the way. Bryan was very open to and patient in discussing and making changes throughout the entire build process. He would carefully explain to me the advantages and disadvantages in all the choices of windows, doors, insulation, home automation and wiring, decking materials, hardscapes, etc...Shannon spent time with me selecting all of my finishes, and this was so much fun. Shannon was very conscientious about my budget and would let me know when I was going over, so I could make the decision on whether the additional cost was worth it to me. This was extremely helpful, because left to my own devices; I could have easily been out of control!
I love the quality and care that Creative Home Concepts and their subcontractors put into my new home, from the custom stone feature surrounding the range to the beautiful custom island and the trim work throughout. All of my kitchen and bathroom cabinets were built by Jerry Smith of Diamond Cabinet Works in Amelia, VA. Not only did Jerry build the island of my dreams to perfection, he also walked me through his shop as my cabinets were being built so I could see the process and also have the opportunity to make any changes. My next project in my home is to install a dresser/drawers in my walk-in closet and I would not hire anyone other than Jerry to do this work.
You sometimes hear horror stories about once you are in a house, you never hear from the builder again. This is not the case with Bryan Smith. Bryan calls me just to check in and see how things are going with the house, or I call him to ask his opinion on something like installing a fence. I definitely know that if I call, text or email Bryan, he will respond promptly.
I enjoyed building a house so much that if it financially made sense, I would build another one next week. I will build another home in the future and it will be built by Creative Home Concepts!!

After waiting 17 years to buy our first home, we found Creative Home Concepts through the Southern Living Custom Builder Program. We decided to choose him because of their endorsement. I have several issues with the way the house was presented to us, but my main issue lies with the kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

I explained the issues with the cabinets in a letter, along with photos of these issues. His response to my letter was polite, but after other encounters with him with other issues on the house, I view this as a disingenuous attempt, to make it appear as though he's trying to address the problems, without really having to solve them. He simply offers to and quot;discuss,and quot; the problems. His idea of discussing the problem, is to try to tell me, why he is not responsible and I am. Or I accepted the cabinets, therefore, they aren't an issue. He offered to have his cabinet maker come back and address the issues, but I refused. If he couldn't build them properly in the first place, it makes no sense to have him try to fix them. In my opinion, this isn't a responsible solution. When we addressed an issue with him, his response was generally to somehow place the blame on us. We didn't make things clear, or we didn't decide on something, or and quot;you're entitled to your opinion?and quot;

Finally, the kitchen is the heart of the home, and we can't enjoy it. The cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom, all need to be torn out, and built by a professional cabinet maker. I assumed his cabinet maker, Jerry Smith with Diamond Cabinet Works or Shannon Horan who handles cabinet issues had proper training in kitchen design. They obviously don't, even though their background states CHC has been building homes for over ten years. Jerry Smith with Diamond Cabinet Works claims to have 25 years experience. He was not trained properly, or just doesn't care about using sub standard techniques or material.
We were sold a horrible product in our cabinets. We would have gladly paid more for quality cabinets with a qualified cabinet maker. We are currently in the process of having our kitchen cabinets replaced by a custom cabinet maker in Richmond, VA.

This has left us with an overall bad experience. We feel that this was all due to improper planning, and not giving us a realistic estimate, by this contractor. The work of this builder was sloppy, and showed a lack of concern for our house. Since we were first time homebuyers and homebuilders, we didn't research him enough, but relied on Southern Living's endorsement of him. We will never do business with him again. I don't want his sub contractors near our house.

This is not what I would have expected from a Southern Living Builder. He defends his sub contractors to a fault at the expense of his customer. He fails to realize without customers, you will have no sub contractors. There is more to being professional than calling someone Mr. and Mrs., and writing nice words in emails. It's your actions that speak for you.

P.S. Since we've begun the kitchen renovation, we've found out that the kitchen window isn't centered with the house. I believe he knew the kitchen window was not centered, and he kept that hidden from us. We've also found an open vent with insulation underneath our dishwasher, that was not installed properly. This will have to be fixed also. I wrote a separate email to him asking why this vent was located there, and not installed properly, but I never received a response from him about it.

Buyer beware. My suggestion would be to ask questions of neighbors, to make sure the builder has a good reputation. Apparently the builders pay Southern Living a hefty fee to be placed in their custom builder program. Don't let nice websites or positive comments on facebook, etc., fool you. Do your own research. While most of the Southern Living Builders we've dealt with in the past were wonderful, there is always the chance, you could get a lemon. I view this man as arrogant, with a grandiose opinion of himself. He would rather blame the customer than take responsibility for bad work.

Our mistake was signing a contract with him. If we were not new homebuyers or homebuilders, we would have seen all of the red flags prior to signing a contract with him. When he initially sent us a contract, we made changes to the contract in writing, and we sent this back to him, expecting those changes to be made. We would then sign the contract when the changes were made. He proceeded to send us the same contract without the changes included, which we foolishly signed. He was in a hurry to get a sale, and I believe it was obviously a bait and switch. I view this as fraud and I view this company as unethical. I intend to file a complaint with the BBB about this company and Southern Living Custom Homebuilders program.

It was a dreadful experience.

I wanted to add two updates today, April 7, 2014.

Not even two years into this house, we have a severe leak under our kitchen sink. I plan to post an update when I know the cost of this repair. In addition to this leak in the kitchen, a pedestal sink in our powder room was not installed correctly. This had to be taken out recently and reinstalled due to a leak. This was a $400.00 fix.

I don't know how they continue to build houses. I blame the Southern Living Custom Builder program for this. They directed us to this company, and obviously didn't thoroughly look into them. Complete fraud.