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My
KB Home has so many major construction issues that it's
been deemed a tear down, and I was no longer able to
live there. The house was not built to code. I'm told
that the building inspectors did drive-by instead of
hands-on inspections, which is the only way that this
home could have passed building codes. I'm not the only
one with issues. My association dues went up because of all
the faulty homes that KB Home built in my complex. The
association had to hire both an engineer and an attorney
to deal with all of the faulty construction issues, both
of whom must be paid for by the homeowners. Some people
were savvy enough to hire their own inspectors to check
their home as it was being built. They were able to
catch issues, but it cost them thousands of dollars to
protect themselves from a defective home. They may have
gotten a home that was properly built, but they are
still paying higher association dues for the other homes
with structural issues.
Please
read and see the pictures of major issues with my home
here. Also check out the links on the left for more
reports I highly recommend looking at this even if you
already own a KB Home. It would be well worth your time
to take out a section of drywall and see if Simpson Ties
were actually used and installed properly, to check for
other structural defects, improper installation of
building materials, and for mold occurring from the
improper handling of lumbar during the construction
phase.
It
would be well worth your time to take out a section of
drywall and see if Simpson Ties were actually used and
installed properly, to check for other structural
defects, improper installation of building materials,
and for mold occurring from the improper handling of
lumber during the construction phase.
I
was assaulted by a KB Home saleswoman, and had a
salesman drive by and shout vulgarities to me out of the
car window because I tried to warn potential buyers against
the problems they might encounter if they purchased a KB
Home.
Do
you want to risk having your entire life put on hold,
living in a hotel room for months or more while your
house is being rebuilt? Do your research and buy from a
good builder - don't get stuck with a disaster from KB
Home.
HOME ISSUES:
My
home is so poorly constructed that I can't live in it.
There are many missing Simpson Ties, water intrusion due
to faulty construction and severe mold growth, among
other things. KB Home used untreated wood (Virgin wood)
that by building code needs to be covered if it rains.
This was not done, which left the wood in a weakened
state, and moldy and is in am unusable condition by
code/industry standards. The lack and improper
installation of Simpson Ties failed to give the home the
support it needs. I was informed that in a few years
time my home will begin to fall down from their faulty construction
methods. One of the many major issues is that the
soffits were installed at an angle towards the home,
which causes water to seep under the stucco into the
walls.
KB Home uses press board
instead of plywood, which crumbles and produces soft
spots when it gets wet. The floor has spot spots all
over. One worker who weighs about 140 lbs had his foot
go right through the sub floor while I was living there.
These are my inspection reports from Inspect
Solutions
and Whetstone.
It turns out that after I paid thousands of dollars to
have these inspections that the rafters are bad, most likely
from being water damaged. 
I'm
 glad KB Home screwed up and didn't cover
the lip of the stair with carpet - it clearly shows how
poor the work is. Just imagine what is covered up
that you would be totally unaware of. Their final fix
was to cut the lip off and not remove the damaged wood
underneath the flooring. Please click on my links to the
construction issues. I spent thousands of dollars to
have the house ripped apart, only to find it was not
built to code. The links to these reports are on the
left side of the page. I don't know if anyone else has
gone through the expense of tearing off the stucco and
walls, but I have spoken with a number of other owners
that have major water leakage and very poor workmanship
issues.
I had water leaking down from my
top deck. 
Holes cut to repair wiring
issues: 
They couldn't even paint
the wall properly after they made repairs: 
While trying to get the
repairs made I was unable to work. I had to spend a
great deal of time waiting for workers to come (who more
often than not never showed up), cleaning up after them,
moving things around, and completely unable to have a
life. There is so much more wrong with this house from
touch-up paint being a different color to major structural
issues. My KB Home has turned my life into a nightmare.
LEGAL
& INSPECTION FEES:
WARNING: If you do buy a home the most important thing I can
stress is DO NOT SIGN AN ARBITRATION CLAUSE!
KB Home has an arbitration clause written into their
contract stating that you must go to arbitration first,
but you will not be able to recoup any of your
legal fees. Here is a link to am article published by
Consumer Affairs which documents a ruling from the FTC,
upheld by a Texas District Court, to force KB Home to
stop forcing consumers to sign an arbitration agreement:
consumeraffairs1. The cost of arbitration is
extremely expensive for the homeowner, and you will not
be reimbursed for the expense of legal fees. My legal
fees are being billed at $350.00 an hour and the cost of
all the inspections I've had to pay for and it comes to
over $100,000 that I've had to put out to try to get my
home fixed properly. Many of these inspections involved
tearing down walls and pulling up floors to expose the
extent of the problems. Arbitration and the inspections
also cancel some or all of your future warranty
coverage. This is why people are walking away from their
KB "dream" homes. A number of owners have
given up and let the bank foreclose on their new faulty
KB Home, not wanting or able to spend tens of thousands
of dollars or more on fees that they can't afford and
won't be able to recoup. They figured bad credit is
better than losing more money on the piece of junk they
were sold. I found out that many people were offered
free upgrades in exchange for a good report rating to JD
Powers; even with that the company still has a poor
rating. JD Powers rates KB Home low in home
quality. Click
here to see the report.
WARRANTY
- PROTECTS THEM, NOT YOU
Some
paragraphs from the warranty:
"Home Owner also understands that KB shall not be obligated to incur any costs
for the repair or replacement of defects in the Home which, in the aggregate,
exceed the base purchase price for the Home paid by the original Home
Owner. Further, this Warranty does not entitle Home Owner to recover for any of the
following even in the event of an otherwise valid claim under the Warranty
Performance Standards: (1) consequential or incidental damages, (2) stigma
damages, (3) lost profits or (4) claims of bodily injury. All other warranties,
express or implied, including, but not limited to, all implied warranties of fitness,
merchantability or habitability, are disclaimed and excluded to the extent allowed
by law."
This
means that if you put $35,000 into upgrades and your home
is a tear down, you lose the entire cost of the upgrades.
"The decision to replace or repair an item or to reimburse Home Owner will be made
solely by KB and/or its subcontractors, suppliers or design professionals in its or their
sole discretion. These parties will also determine the materials and methods which
should be used in making any repair, and whether repair or replacement is most
appropriate, in their sole discretion. As described in the
warranty Performance Standards, substitutions of brands, colors or patterns may be necessary and perfect
matches are not guaranteed. "
"REPAIR MATERIALS/SUBCONTRACTORS
If KB elects to perform repairs, all repairs will be made with materials or components identical to, or of an equal
or better grade or quality than, the materials or components used in the original
construction of the Home. KB has the right to independently select the
contractors, subcontractors or trades people used for repair or replacement work in
its sole discretion. "
THIRD
PARTY CONTRACTORS:
My home is so poorly
constructed, mold, water intrusion, missing Simpson
Ties, theft and breakage that I moved out. There are serious
construction problems. KB Home uses third party
contractors, one that was sent to my home was a convicted drug felon died while
working on my house.
Cause of death, cocaine abuse exacerbating
underlying heart disease, he was up all night before
coming over doing drugs and drinking. Do you want these
type people in your home? I have had so much stolen,
broken and just plain shoddy repairs.
Time and again, KB
Home has refused to fix my issues properly. Instead they
put in cheap fixes which
don’t work and/or are aesthetically very unattractive.
DESIGN
CENTER:
They impress you with a beautiful design center. I
had to fly out twice since they closed the center where
I went and some of my choices were no longer available.
This of course was at my own expense even though it was
due to something they fell short on. But what good is
pretty tile if your house is full of mold and major
construction faults, making it unsafe to inhabit? KB
Home directs their sales toward first time buyers. My
thought on it is first time buyers are naive and overly anxious
which makes for great sales. The washer and dishwasher
supplied by KB Home broke right away and I know many
people in my complex have had to buy new replacement
appliances after a very short period of time. If you do
buy through them, check to see the ratings on the
appliance you're getting.
WHAT
YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU MAY NOT GET:
KB
Sales staff were sweet as can could be - until the close of the
sale. Numerous lies were told to by the salesman
during the sale. What you see isn't necessarily what you
get I have one example here. Click
here to see the differences in the homes built
RENTAL
ISSUES:
I
was promised that they turn away investors and the
contract even states you can't rent the units out. More
lies and fraudulent statements from these people.
Think
about the resale value. How many homes did KB sell to
investors? If there are too many rentals in the complex
you can have trouble getting a mortgage, and when you
sell the new owners can have trouble getting one. Banks
don't like to lend when there is a high percentage of
rentals.
I
was able to get hold of an email from a KB Associate
that stated: "The 1
year hold was for a no compete against sales. This has
not been enforced. (So they can sell more homes).
Another from KB Home Corporate: "We do advertise the "no
rental" clause but cannot enforce. It has been
challenged in court and we lost. We ask the customer to
sign this but have no authority to enforce." I'd
like to see the court case on this and why did they
promise me they don't sell to investors. A letter from one
realtor states: "We have 5 investors with units totaling 12
in my complex." I was promised by the "honest"
sales staff that they turn away anyone who is looking to
purchase as rental. After I moved in I found a high
percent of people that bought as rentals with the sales
staff totally aware of it.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
KBHomeDisaster.com, KBHomesDisasters.com, provides this site for information
and entertainment purposes regarding KB Homes customers
and their KB Homes Nightmares, and for the researching
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