Amwood Homes and Building Systems

Terrible. Not at all like their web site indicated. Major problems with billing, scheduling, builder, responsiveness, misrepresentation and design flaws. We wanted a quality, energy efficient, low maintenance home that would be constructed quickly. That did not happen. We were looking for a company that did panalized construction, which led us to Amwood. We had several meetings with them before we found out that we would not be contracting with them but with one of their builders, whom we had not met. Forcing you to contract with their builder limits their liability which might be a wise decision from a legal perspective but it makes you wonder why they felt the need to do business that way. When problems arose with their builder (more on that later) they did nothing, to our knowledge to correct the many problems. When we visited their factory in Madison we asked if they would install a specific brand and style of windows and they assured us they could. Later they went back on that promise and we had to pay more for windows that Consumer reports did not rate as high as the one we wanted. They offered very little help in picking out the kitchen cabinets and the vanities. We had to go to Menards and Lowes for the design work and for advice. Serious problems with their billing and scheduling. The shell of the home was built and delivered using another parties down payment and delivered to our site before the basement floor was pored. When my wife said that we had not paid a down payment, which we had been told was required prior to their building the shell, although we had asked several times when we should pay and had brought our check book to a meeting at Janesville and asked if we should pay then - and were told not yet - they claimed we had paid and insulted and made fun of my wife. To put it mildly this did not go over well with her. The result was that they placed the house on the foundation walls but the basement floor had not yet been pored. We had specified that we wanted a smooth finish to the basement floor and were promised by the sub-contractor to Amwood's builder that they would finish it with a super smooth finish - that did not happen. It is not even close to smooth and it has sever cracks. Because the supports for out deck twisted, split and bowed out, we had to replace, at our expense every one of the 4X4 supports to our deck with 6X6 supports. Amwood designed the covered part of the deck at 10'2" but put in a 10 foot 4X4 and then spliced in a piece of wood for the additional two inches versus one solid 4X4. Poor design and poor construction. Also, we, at our expense had to put in some of the hangers for the floor joists and a steel plate to connect parts together. Comments On Amwoods Builder: In one word, terrible. It took him 10 months to put up the siding after it was delivered!. And, it was only after we started the process to go to arbitration that he started putting up the siding. At first he refused to apply the siding in accordance with the manufacturers directions. We had to sign a statement that we wanted him to install the siding in accordance with the manufacturers instructions! Sounds crazy but it is true. He gave us the keys to the locks - saying they all worked but when we tried them - not a single key worked. Same with the garage doors - the automatic door openers did not work because the drywallers/tapers cut the wires. Note: Marc, the builder to our knowledge never inspected his sub-contractors work nor did he check his own work. He told us that he was not qualified to inspect their work and did not need to do so since they were "professonials". In that case who needed Marc? Is that not a responsibility that he had as the general contractor? Result was many problems with work performed by his sub-contractors, including the basement floor previously mentioned. Marc put in the basement stairs once the floor was poured but refused to put in the risers. When we hung a door on one wall - the wall moved! He had not cemented it in place and when we told him he suggested that we apply tube cement along the edge of the 2X4 (versus him fixing the problem). From the beginning Amwood's builder was slow on scheduling the different sub-contractors which resulted in substantial delays in construction. Amwood's builder's contract was the worst contract I have ever seen. It put all the risk on the customer. We had to rewrite, at our expense the complete contract. A couple of examples of the problem with his contract was that he referenced MN statues and building codes but we were building in Wisconsin and he did not include the section on arbitration which is required by Wisconsin law. Amwood could have provided their builders with a standard contract but they did not. They should have at a minimum reviewed their builders contract. Amwood's builder was very non-responsive. Often he did not even reply to our e-mails. There is more but I believe you get the idea. The builder was Amwood's builder. He was not someone we selected. We trusted Amwood and they betrayed our trust.