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I've read some old threads from 2007 in regards to the quality and craftsmenship of KB homes. The reason I am posting this thread is because we are looking in that area and since it has been several years since the last KB threads (I THINK). I thought I'd ask how you like them now that you have been in them a few years.
I keep hearing very bad thing about KB homes in Berewick and I'm currently deciding between buying a Shea Home and a KB Home with relatively the same specifications but at a 35K listing price difference (KB being cheaper). That's amazing to me and I think there must be be something to why that is.
I sold one of the KB models to a client of mine about 1 1/2 years ago in Berewick. The inspector they used was a master inspector, one of only a handful in NC. He said it was one of the best new construction inspections he had ever done. Of course it had a few small things here and there but as far as the structure and mechanicals he said it was great.
Honestly, it really depends on the quality of the contractors that were working on each particular house. You could have two side by side and one could be perfect and the other loaded with problems.
I had a similar situation when we were building. Two different builders, same price range, one house 700 sq ft smaller. Once we looked into what corners they cut (no house wrap, popcorn ceilings, lower quality hvac, fixtures, and appliances, crappier lot choices), we went with the smaller home. And we are glad we did.
Today I viewed a KB home. Just as another poster said, the quality of those homes is definitely different than the quality of the Shea homes I have seen. They are not subtle differences either. The floors aren't as solid (they shift a little if you jump up and down which did not happen in the Shea Homes), the walls are thinner, and some of the floors seem to be sloped or are uneven. Strangely, the layout was a lot better than the Shea home (particularly the master bedroom and bath). But, sacrificing "structurally sound" for a few more sq. ft. is not a good decision.
My wife and I walked through 2 of the first 3 houses they built in Berewick a few years ago - I think it was 2006 and they had just broken ground and started.
I have never seen such **** poor construction. There was mud everywhere in the house... halfway up support beams, and they'd already started drywalling and left it in there. Many of the wood beams were sloppily cut too short and they had just nailed on another scrap to make the proper length (it was really random and pervasive through all rooms). There were holes in the slab and outer walls letting in air (yummy mold problems!). The floors and walls were paper thin, and the coup de grace was in the master bedroom, where one of the workers had pissed all over the floor and left it. The plywood was soft, rotting, and smelled strongly.
There was trash everywhere - including inside walls. Sloppy wiring, Angles were not straight.
I'm not any kind of construction expert, but we knew within the first 10 seconds that it was awful. Did not take a trained eye to catch it. It was that bad.
Returned to look at I think a Shea house with a south charlotte custom home builder that is family by marriage (I know - but he builds in the $1mil range, a little over my budget). He thought the Shea house was okay, though he made a list of some things he would have them fix or redo if we bought the house. We told him about the KB house and he wanted to see it. He spent 5 minutes in it shaking his head in disgust. He started mentioning things specifically, but then just gave up as it started piling up. I think he wrote down the contractor or the crews name from a posted sheet and said he'd follow up. I forgot to ask him what ever happened, but you could tell he was professionally offended by how bad it was.
I'd be very wary of any positive reviews you see on here. May be company employees, etc.
I'm not in any way connected to homebuilding. Just a long time Charlotte resident that happened to have shopped in there. BTW, we didn't buy in Berewick at all.
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