My Review of Lemel Homes
"In My Opinion"
Don't be Misled
This site is about exposing the truths of building with Lemel Homes and how they fail to live up to your expectations.
I contracted with Lemel Homes to build a new house for my family. After dealing with Lemel Homes, it made me regret ever setting foot in their office. The 2 main reasons are 1) charged a markup on work that I completed or that of my own sub's, and 2) refused to properly fix their mistakes.
Dont's trust Lemel Homes
The Full Story
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I contracted with Lemel Homes to build a new house for my family in 2017. After an extensive online search, I found nothing that would make me think twice about choosing this builder. After several months of designing our house and getting bids, we get the final price to build. It was well above our stated budget, so I took over many of the smaller items to save money. After finalizing the budget, we signed a contract. The construction phase started shortly after the contract was signed. Around the time of the first budget draw, I started to have a feeling that we might have been misled on what we were being charged for. I inquired if I was paying a markup on work that was removed from the contract and I was told that all amounts were approved by myself. Little did I know that I was paying their markup on everything that was removed from the contract. I only found this out after receiving a cease and desist letter from their lawyer for voicing my opinion on various review sites and requesting an online arbitration. Their lawyer threatened me with some heavy handed legal power which would have cost me a lot if I didn't comply(a little). After several letters with their lawyer, I changed all online reviews to include, "in my opinion." Their lawyer also referred to their unethical business practices as "internal pricing information". Because of their unethical business(my opinion) practices, I paid them around $10k to manage nothing.
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After further research, I found out that they deleted my Facebook review and blocked me from making future reviews. They also removed their own website's comment section because I left a negative comment. After posting a review on Yelp, I was contacted by a former client that also had a horrible experience with this builder. I was told that all the deception that I went through was normal.
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My Conclusion
Forcing and/or suing clients to remove negative reviews is more important than earning a positive review.
Sloppy Workmanship and Industry Standard
Lemel Homes failed to complete many items to a new home standard. Their final response was that it was done to "industry standard"
Lemel Homes failed on so many levels:
1) Failed to paint part of the house before the stained trim was installed. That part of the house was painted after and they left paint on the trim. After voicing my dissatisfaction, their warranty work was to repaint and leave more paint on the trim. I again voiced my dissatisfaction and they responded with "it was done to industry standard."
More Sloppy Paint
This was all labeled "industry standard".
Industry Standard
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Industry Standard
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Industry Standard
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Industry Standard-New Definition
Stairwell rosette doesn't match the width of the rounded corners and was installed like this. It appears the subcontractors don't care about a job done well, either.
This foundation crack(one of many) started a few months after being poured. They refused to seal the crack and after a heavy rain, this is what I was left with. I ended up repairing it and it is now sealed.
More Flaws
Having rounded corners was my wife's requirement. Either this cracking only happens with rounded corners or the drywall sub contractor skimped on mud and tape. Either way, Lemel Homes didn't seem to care that so many corners cracked.