3 year or Older Ryan Homes... (Wall: hardwood floors, renting, how much)

[feline6]

Can anyone tell me about the condition of Ryan homes after their said warranty periods...how do they stand the test of time?? what changes or maintenance did you have to make...I am getting very neagtive reviews from everywhere..was considering getting a home from them...did anyone do an independent house inspection after their home was constructed?? Please leave your comments....

[Copanut]

Ryan Homes are crap, take a drive through a 10 yr old plan and see for yourself. Whatever the minimum building codes are, that's what they use.

[hempfield mania]

I live in a 1972 Ryan home that is essentially a "custom" home after all the mods, updates and changes that were made by the previous owner. If it were left as the original "Ryan" home, it would be crap, as Copanut stated.

Original only had 3/8" rooth sheathing. Owner had 5/8" installed over original when roof was replaced. There was also no ridge vent on the original and that had to be added. Wiring was redone by original Owner. Original floors were laminate and replaced with tile. Floor joists were not braced originally so that was added so the floor tile and grout would not crack.

There was minimal insulation in the attic that even the original owner didn't add to. First improvement I made after moving in was adding 8" batt insulation overtop of the existing in the attic.

There were water infultration issues that the original owner fixed by adding a sump pump and 7 different french drain runs around the perimeter of the house.

The only "good" thing that is original on the house are the 3/4" oak hardwood floors currently covered up by carpeting. They are in really good shape and when the kids get a little older, we will be tearing up the carpet and exposing the floors. I'll probably have to add a couple coats of poly to them but I'll do that myself.

One problem that I still need to fix is a ceiling crack on an unsupported section of ceiling/roof truss that spans the full width of the house where the dining room meets the living room. The span is too long and the truss deflects too much, creating this crack. Bad design either in the roof truss for this span or just not adding a beam to separate the two rooms and carry the load or even just a cosmetic beam to hide the crack.

[greg42]

Mine is from Ryan too, 1983. It's what I would expect for that era. It's fairly cheap stuff, evident especially in the kitchen. Some people have changed a few things along the way. The roof, surprisingly, is not a problem, nor is the insulation. And both seem to be original. (Yeah, I need a roof. But it's still sound right now.) The place is insanely cheap to heat in the winter compared to everyone else I know, including one with a newer house (though that one is much larger, granted). Most of the things I consider "problems" are simply age, or poor choices by previous owners. (The original owner used non-treated lumber for the deck joists, for example. I've just finished tearing it down.) It doesn't help that there have been 4 or 5 owners in just 27 years so each one did various little stupid things, you know? At 7 years I may have owned it the longest. Someone replaced the windows in 1999 (found a date on the window). That suggests cheap windows, I guess, changing them after only 15 years. This house has aluminum siding, and several of the others on that street have changed the siding after 25 years or so. And it's built on a hill. In 2000 they hired Matthews Wall Anchor to stabilize the foundation. This speaks to bad site selection, but you'll know this, to a degree, even if you buy a brand new one. If it's on a hill, which is a lot of houses in this area, it's potentially a concern, someday.

I don't know how much we can really judge a few year old Ryan by the 30+ year old ones though. I mean, a 30-year-old house is going to have some potential issues regardless of who built it. Building codes have changed since then. Now the people I know with a 10-year-old Ryan, eh, it sounds like it's made pretty poorly. They're still in it and doing okay. (They're changing some flooring I know, but then carpet wears out anyway; they're switching to hardwood.) I think the quality probably got worse after that, as they were putting up so many. A 10-year-old house is probably better than a 5-year-old one.

[bradjl2009]

Or there's also my 100 year old house which was built as solid as a rock. I would never buy a new home in a subdivision; not because I'm anti-suburb but because most of the homes are TOTAL GARBAGE that they over charge for.

[Heit]

Research for a quality, smaller custom builder. In most cases you can get a great home built for the same or less than a "Ryan-type" home. As the builder for names of prior clients as well.

[Copanut]

Prior to the early 70's, Ryan built a decent homes with hardwood floors. They went in a different direction after that.

[feline6]

Thank you all for your input...i have heard a lot of complaints about roofing and sidings.don't know if these is generally the case for older buildings... hence was tryign to guage how many years do these home stay put untill i have to start fixing them ..not like they are charging any less to build them...then again trying to find an an honest bulder is another big chore...sigh!!! makes me want to keep renting!!!

[Velvet Jones]

Originally Posted by hempfield mania

I live in a 1972 Ryan home that is essentially a "custom" home after all the mods, updates and changes that were made by the previous owner. If it were left as the original "Ryan" home, it would be crap, as Copanut stated.

Original only had 3/8" rooth sheathing. Owner had 5/8" installed over original when roof was replaced. There was also no ridge vent on the original and that had to be added. Wiring was redone by original Owner. Original floors were laminate and replaced with tile. Floor joists were not braced originally so that was added so the floor tile and grout would not crack.

There was minimal insulation in the attic that even the original owner didn't add to. First improvement I made after moving in was adding 8" batt insulation overtop of the existing in the attic.

There were water infultration issues that the original owner fixed by adding a sump pump and 7 different french drain runs around the perimeter of the house.

The only "good" thing that is original on the house are the 3/4" oak hardwood floors currently covered up by carpeting. They are in really good shape and when the kids get a little older, we will be tearing up the carpet and exposing the floors. I'll probably have to add a couple coats of poly to them but I'll do that myself.

One problem that I still need to fix is a ceiling crack on an unsupported section of ceiling/roof truss that spans the full width of the house where the dining room meets the living room. The span is too long and the truss deflects too much, creating this crack. Bad design either in the roof truss for this span or just not adding a beam to separate the two rooms and carry the load or even just a cosmetic beam to hide the crack.

Not a really fair comparison. The company isn't even the same entity that it was in 1972. I had a 1979 Ryan and now live in a 2006 model. Like comparing a 1979 Datson to a 2006 BMW. Now I wouldn't call the current Ryan homes works of art, they actually are fairly well built. All of the problems I had were right after I moved in, which they quickly fixed. Four years later I've had no problems. Ryan homes can be pricey though, so shop around. I probably could have gotten a better deal with one of the local builders(would have been a high grade house for the same price), but the lots were terrible. I have a nice flat back yard on 1/2 acre, a rarity in new plan in SW PA these days.

[feline6]

Originally Posted by Velvet Jones

Not a really fair comparison. The company isn't even the same entity that it was in 1972. I had a 1979 Ryan and now live in a 2006 model. Like comparing a 1979 Datson to a 2006 BMW. Now I wouldn't call the current Ryan homes works of art, they actually are fairly well built. All of the problems I had were right after I moved in, which they quickly fixed. Four years later I've had no problems. Ryan homes can be pricey though, so shop around. I probably could have gotten a better deal with one of the local builders(would have been a high grade house for the same price), but the lots were terrible. I have a nice flat back yard on 1/2 acre, a rarity in new plan in SW PA these days.

thats is our problem too...we are first time home buyers and have no sense as to what is gonna stay for how long..what needs fixing and when...all we can do is put reasonable trust in the builder that he does it right...and negotiate for better upgrades...
we would'nt know how to go about getting a new home built and then again don't knwo how the contractor would turn out to be..what if he delayed the work..just an eg. but you know what i mean....maybe once we get some more experince we can get a better place...right now i am giving up my dreams of a nice big yard..and a beautifully structured home for a cookie cutter place...in the hopes that we will get wiser once we have an experience...at a high cost I might add