A South Carolina homeowner is frustrated after poor construction left his new home covered in “pimples.”
The new house, which was one of the first built inside the Cypress Preserve subdivision in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, shows its flaws in direct light.
“When I first looked at the house in the summer, the sun is hitting the side of the house and the siding nails aren’t fully in, so the vinyl is expanding and contracting. And when the sun hits it, it looks like pimples everywhere,” Tom Eriksen told WCSC.
Eriksen’s daughter purchased the house in 2022 and when the ‘knobs were noticed, the family immediately contacted the Lennar Corporation, the company responsible for building the entire community.
But when he was shown the company’s super-engineer who examined the construction, he didn’t recognize the poor craftsmanship.
“‘Their super came here, looked at the house,’ he said, ‘Yeah, but it’s not a manufacturer problem.'”
“It’s not a manufacturer problem, you installed it incorrectly. You have to correct it. That looks terrible,” Eriksen replied.
“They say, ‘No, we’re not going to do anything with that.'”
After the first visit to the home, Lennar did not respond to any of the multiple follow-up calls the family sent, according to the outlet.
Eriksen, who has owned his own construction company for 40 years, says he helps his daughter repair her house because even though it’s not a “structural problem per se,” it’s Lennar’s problem because they built it.
“I see it every time I drive home,” Eriksen said. “It’s like the whole house: sides, back, front. Every time the sun hits it.
The angry father calls on the company to fix the problems in all the homes it has built, starting with the owners who have lived in the community the longest.
“Start serving at least the first people who moved here,” he said. “She was one of the first buyers before anyone came along and you don’t maintain them or take care of your problems.
“The outlook is not good for the other 800 families who will settle here,” Eriksen added.
Moncks Corner is located 33 miles north of Charleston.
A home inspector also criticized the company for failing to live up to its agreement to build homes, saying many builders don’t realize they have to make home repairs beyond a year.
“There is a common misconception among homeowners that the builder, after the first year, has no responsibility to repair anything else in the house,” Robert Knowles told Live 5 News. “Well, that’s not true.
“The law is not optional: you must comply with the requirements of the code. The builder is legally obligated to fix anything that is wrong with your home that is code related.
“If you report a code violation to a builder, they have to fix it,” Knowles added.
The state of South Carolina has adopted residential construction standards that homebuilders must follow, according to the news outlet.
New York Post
