Smith Custom Homes • Home Builders In Tampa, Florida — Local services in Brandon

In our opinion, SCH is the most unprofessional building company we have ever encountered. They consistently blamed covid and the building industry for their failures, but the majority of our difficulties came from their poor management of the process. From the beginning of 2/2020, they submitted a plan based on incorrect flood zone data. Our plans had to be redrawn/resubmitted, leading to a several-month delay. After construction started, their permit had to be revised multiple times leading to more delays because they failed to include things like our extended deck, our propane gas tank, and our home generator. Some county inspections, like for electrical, failed multiple times because they did not have the right paperwork on-site or on file with the county. The Smiths plans included a culvert for our driveway when not one house on our street has one. When we pointed this out verbally and in writing before they installed it, they proceeded anyway. The county inspectors then advised the culvert had to be removed, and the Smiths charged us a change order fee to remove it. The subs hired by the Smiths were inconsistent. The quality was often questionable, and some things (like electrical wiring) had to be redone by newly acquired subs. The overall condition of the job site was horrible. We found beer cans, food trash, brand-new appliances sitting out unwrapped before our floors were even installed, etc. We found warranty papers/manuals lying out in the open, amongst construction debris. Their response was with all due respect your expectations that we would know every little detail about what each contractor is doing is not reasonable. Communications were poor. They use a web-based system to track construction progress and the costs of our job. The system was not maintained, and the progress dates were often wrong/missing. It would show the completion of tasks that had not even been started. The Smiths changed construction managers after our foundation was going in, and did not meet with us to introduce themselves. Emails and calls were often delayed days or longer without responses. When we voiced our concerns, we were made to feel like we were the bad guys with comments like do we have a problem? or I need to be frank with you that it concerns me that you are so easily angered by this process. Their contract does not guarantee any specific completion date, but we were given estimates along the way that we relied on to make life plans. They failed to meet their anticipated completion dates of 10/15/21, 12/18/21, and 12/29/21. With our previous home now sold, we ended up living out of 3 different Air BNBs and moved 4 times total because the Smiths could not get us an accurate completion date. At the end (4/14/22, over 2 years later), we authorized our bank to process the final construction draw. One of their supply contractors had filed a construction lien on our home for failure to be paid by the Smiths (resolved before closing). At closing, the Smiths gave us a signed and notarized lien affidavit stating all of their subs had been paid. After closing, we got a new construction lien filed on our home from their grading contractor for non-payment. Also at closing, we intentionally withheld our final payment due to a long list of unfinished work on the final punch list and an unauthorized grading charge. The Smiths then filed their lien on our home, on top of the grading contractor. We had to hire an attorney to resolve these matters. We successfully fought the grading charge, had the two liens cleared, negotiated a greatly reduced settlement, and dissolved our relationship with the Smiths. In summary, we simply do not recommend...

When we decided to build our home a few years ago, we met with Smith Custom Homes through the real estate agent selling the lot we were purchasing. As soon as we finished the meeting, we knew that we would be working with them. They are a family owned and operated company and they absolutely make you feel like their number one priority throughout the process. They are not a cookie cutter home building company, they cater to your needs and wants and truly allow you to customize your home in any way possible. If we had to build another home, there is no other builder we...

I met Marcus and his son last year. I was extremely impressed with their professionalism and knowledge. When Helene destroyed my home, I called Marcus. He was out the next day to discuss options. I appreciate the compassion he showed during a difficult time. I am looking forward to the final result. He has made the process very...