Davis Ranch by Pulte Homes — Local services in Castroville

Pulte's sales person was good, but the construction manager and crews did a poor job executing and communicating. We were given a close date about a month or so out, and we jumped through hoops to prep and sell our previous home to meet that date. Leading up to close, Pulte did not disclose the poor quality of finishes throughout the home, even when directly asked. We disclosed our timeline for closing on the previous home and expressed concern about the timeline for closing on the new construction, ad we were assured Pulte would deliver quality on time. After extending close by a week (only a few days before the scheduled close), Pulte failed to make much progress despite promises to the contrary, and on the day of close we were shown a home rife with poor quality, from flooring needing to be replaced to baseboards not sealed properly, to walls bowing inward, to paint not being finished on basically all walls, to drywall issues, to float and tape issues, to the front exterior elevation not being correct, to an unfinished space in one of the bedroom closets, to all closet shelving throughout the home not being done correctly, to most windowsills cut improperly, to most blinds throughout the home not being cut properly or the brackets installed correctly, to issues with cabinets not installed correctly, to the vent above the stove not connected, to holes in the wall behind three of four toilets, to fixtures beings incorrect, to a fireplace not being installed correctly, to missing garage window panels, and so on. This is the worst new construction I have ever heard of, much less had the misfortune to experience in person. The worst part is that Pulte fully knew we had no time to make alternate living arrangements by the time we walked the home on closing day, so they effectively forced us to accept the house as-is or be homeless, which is not a choice for a family with three small children. Pulte did not execute the contract correctly and willfully misled us on the progress and timeline of the build so as to force us into a bad house that, two months later, we are still trying to get Pulte to fix....

After moving into our Pulte home we had a laundry list of items that needed addressing. I believe we were up to around 50 by the end. The general reaction to these issues from the warranty team made it obvious that it happens all the time in the houses they build. I spent a year of my life chasing them down, following up and it was a fight to get them to care about our issues as they have so many others going on. Some were never resolved or we had to resolve ourselves.

It seems to be well known in the industry that Pulte cuts corners and always ops for the cheapest option. For example the staff at Sherwin Williams told us they water down the paint to make it go further - something I can believe as the smallest knock or scratch against the wall will remove the paint leaving bare wall. Our landscape manager told us the turf is very thin making it harder for plants and grass to establish.

After less than 2 years we have had more problems emerge, with leaking pipes, faulty outlets and our entire top floor creaks and squeaks just from somebody walking around.

In addition to the poor construction and non-responsive warranty team, Pulte also save costs in the community features. Our pool is probably appropriate for a community of 100 but there are now thousands living here. The kids play park looks like one you buy on Walmart for a backyard. On our section we have about three trees to cover a 300 yard stretch of grass and they put an ugly gravel/rock feature instead of turf on the corners.

If you are considering a Pulte home then I would be prepared to have contractors in and out of your house for at least a year resolving the sub standard workmanship and do not expect any community features...

Working with sales, Ana Gonzales, was a good experience. She wasn’t pushy and was accommodating even with our last minute request to add a realtor to our contract. Communication with the construction team could have been better. Delays were expected and we were told that upfront but unexpected issues were told to us once with choppy follow through. Since moving into the home, which is beautiful!, warranty has been a nightmare. 3 weeks in and we can finally use our master bath and we had to constantly drive that request to ensure follow up visits were being scheduled and executed or even just to get updates. I am still waiting on carpet replacement after the shower backed up and flooded the bedroom and waiting on cabinet repair that was promised to us at the final walkthrough before closing. I don’t mind waiting on repairs but I would like to know what is going on with them. Also, who installs trees and then doesn’t water them?! I have three dead trees in my backyard that were installed about a week before closing that were dead when I moved into the home. Pulte has offered no help or even empathy in that area, just, sorry we can’t help you. For a builder that prides itself on providing better quality and best in class construction, there seems to be a lot that...