Parkwood Master Builder

My wife and I contracted Parkwood Master Builder a little over 2 years ago to build a house for us in the Fields of Summerside in Edmonton. Our experience as you can probably tell from the zero's I gave them for satisfaction and recommendations to family or friends was something we certainly didn't expect.

While looking for a home builder we went thru Parkwood's Venice showhome and we thought it was perfect for our family of 4. Great design and nice upgrades etc...

So we put down a deposit and away we went into the planning stage. My wife and I have very similar tastes so this went along fairly quickly we had made the house a few feet wider and picked out pretty much everything. This is where we ran into our first problem. Although we had been assure by the sales staff there is never any issue with making the house wider on the lot size we picked the final drawings that were sent to the developer was rejected. So after months of meetings and decisions we were set back to square one. They simply erased our sales order and we were back to nothing, except the standard drawings and the lot we had chosen.

At this point we were pretty deflated, but Parkwood did offer us our deposit back or they had another lot that was smaller in sq ft facing NW for $49,000 more that could have worked for the house we wanted to build. Thinking we loved the nice big pie shape lot facing southwest we decided to just start from square one again.

The building of the house went along as planned and besides a constant parade of new staff assigned to us both in sales and project supervision things seemed to go as planned.

Now this may shock everyone ever involved in home building, but I can honestly say... We received our house not only on time, but a month early. Well this was the second date they gave us after the developer rejected our plan, but still you have to think that is pretty amazing. We were shocked to get our 90 day notice I would even say unprepared. Almost everyone we had know or even heard from that had built a new house were significantly delayed.

This is pretty much where the ball stopped or I guess when we look at it now started rolling backward. There were 37 items on our pre move in inspection that needed to be addressed. It may have been more, but we stopped writing all the details down at some point. My wife and I were not even concerned, because well we just didn't know any better.

2 days before we were to get the keys we got a phone call regarding the final bill. My wife told the lady on the phone we already paid the final bill 10 days ago so you need to speak to the sales staff. The lady told my wife they have a new final bill and we owe $6800 and if it's not paid in 36 hours we will be fined. We asked for a new detailed bill explaining the new added charges and figured well if it is wrong we surely would get a refund. To this day we have no idea why that second final bill was issued. It took nearly 6 months and a complaint to the better business bureau to even get the final invoice. Which of course was not detailed enough to figure out where the new bill came from.

We paid up and took possession of the house. There was an inspection done at the time we moved in and unfortunately the list had only shrunk by three items and minor things like the appliances were not there or installed got added. We were still selling our home so we were not put out. Parkwood assured us the appliances would be there soon. We told them please hurry on the fix-it list we want to see some progress.

One big tip I can offer to people that build with Parkwood is that the "deal" you get from the appliance place they send you too is far from a deal. I don't think I should say the name here as they may be different no. The "deal" getting Parkwood's special pricing was full MSRP on the appliances. Yes full price and they happily told us the reason when we inquired. Via email which we still have they told us we cant expect a discount on appliances that wont be delivered for 8-9 months. We have to buy them that early so the kitchen cabinet maker can get the sizing for the cabinets. I was more then a little surprized and asked them to send us a price list. I know there were a few specials on the top of the line Matag appliances we order maybe we could just buy them now and hold them if I could save a few grand. The appliance store emailed me back and said "no". They don't ever give people building houses the pricing it is a package. Well that started a flurry of emails around. Parkwood offered to give us a $3800 credit for the appliances that were included in the home and we could buy our appliances some where else. The appliance store then contacted us and said they made a mistake the salesman was too aggressive and they gave us $1600 off the original price they offered. Well we had priced out basically what we had there elsewhere and we knew we could save $2000, but we thought we would go with Parkwood's appliance place just to make it easy even if it was $400 more.

Well unfortunately this wasn't our only issue with appliances. The contractor that was hired to install our appliances didn't tighten the hot water hose on the washing machine when it was installed. We were still in our old house because the new house wasn't ready and we still had yet to sell the house was flooded for 5 days before it was found. It ruined hardwood and tiles on the main floor. It leaked outside the house, into the garage and unfortunately into the finished basement. The ceiling was hanging down and the carpet was soaked. Not the way you want to come into your home the very first time you enter after getting the keys.

The flood was not really Parwood's fault in reality. The problem was with Parkwood talking the appliance installer into just allowing them to clean up the flood. They ripped out the flooring and the carpet the first day and by the next day they had the ceiling down and some drywall in the basement. A small house fan was brought in the basement to dry it out.

After 8 days of no further progress on the flood I took to looking at it a lot better. The drywall in the basement was still wet as was the drywall affected in the garage. So I called a flood restoration company to come down and check it out. We were already a little freaked out about possible mold in our new home so we thought well it was worth it to pay a little to get a pro. What they found was a lot of moisture in the insulation on the south and west side of the basement. Between the 2 layers of drywall that Parkwood used in the basement their was mold starting. They had to bring in three air movers for a week and they finished the demo of all the wet drywall and insulation Parkwood was going to leave.

Okay so they are not a flood restoration company on we go right?

No we mistakenly just had the flood guys demo and dry and then we agreed to left Parkwood redo all the drywall painting flooring etc... To this day more then 2 years after the flood we still have unpainted walls, loose tiles, damage to baseboards and unfinished baseboards, waffles in the ceiling in the basement and a large discoloured mark that looks a little like a big boot. They replaced the carpet in the basement eventually after a fair amount of discussion. They had pulled up all the wet carpet in the basement and left it in the garage wet for over a month. Even if we had to pay we wouldn't have let them reinstall that carpet that was left unchecked in the garage for over a month in our brand new house.

Back to the pre move in report. Well during the flood clean up the only thing that was done was some of the tile in the bathrooms was fixed. Well fixed is maybe the wrong word since they had to come back 5 times to "fix" the master shower. In the words of the tile contractors owner "I have to start looking at the skills of who I employ". They actually gutted the master shower back to stud and repeated the exact mistakes that they were trying to fix. If tile should be installed uneven, wavy, and with huge uneven grout lines our young daughter could probably enter this trade immediately. We are not the super picky type I have installed tile a number of times. The thing is if a pro cannot even come close to a job myself doing it as a DIY guy something is wrong. The last meeting with the tile contractor's owner was that they were going to book the 6th appointment to fix issues that afternoon. That was more then a year and a half ago. Silicone still not done and many many cracks in the grout around the tubs and showers. To add to our dismay the damage they did while repairing what they did on the ceilings and the walls is still there.

To keep this from becoming a novel I will just list a bunch of the things that have yet to be finished.

The rock on the frond of the house had lots of concrete splashed all over it. It's black and it's on both sides of the garage.

The garage pad was laid so the part outside the door slants inwards. When it rains with wind there is enough water in the garage that it turns the drywall spackle pink again. It has been enough to fill the sump in the garage floor.

The house was built 2 ft. too low according to our drawings. We accept that cant fix that and as Parkwood told us that really too bad. This meant they had to move the window wells up. So not only did we get to enjoy a much darker basement, but the parging to fix around the wells is white and not grey. Parkwood staff said that's too bad they try to match it. Pure white means they didn't try to match it I think.

The sidewalk cracked and then sloped down in the first few months after it was installed. They fixed it and then left the parging next to the walkway.

Foundation on the south end of the house above the basement windows was cracked. We were supposed to watch it and then they would do some type of epoxy mix to fix if it stabilized. They didn't do that they simply parged over the cracks which now show the cracks.

The screens in the basement are clotted with paint and drywall dust.

The lock sets to the doors are installed the wrong way and the back door is so warped you cannot use the lock.

Master bedroom floor to ceiling windows has 3 large 24" plus long scratches.

The main stair railing was stained before the hole and scratches were filled. Every brad nail is noticeable... They said they would try to do something to fix it, but the only idea they could come up with was sand it down and then they could re stain. They mentioned how much work it would be to do it then did nothing.

Cracks and issues with the drywall all left no attempt to fix it.

Cracked the mirror in the main bath upstairs. This was after they replaced it once already before we moved in. The tile people cracked it when they removed it for repairs.

I had to install the under cabinet lights in the kitchen. They were left with wires just sticking out.

I finished the installation on the lights over the island in the kitchen they were kind enough to leave the parts.

Fridge door - top end Maytag - is crooked.

Fire place does not work properly.

Trim above the deck nailer was not installed as per drawing.

2 of the 3 taps outside leaked from day one.

Downspout into the rainwater drain ($3800) that we had to purchase because our lot was too flat is plugged. Not sure what is wrong, but it is plugged below grade. Water just spews up.

Stairs into the front entry were installed with a gap you can stick your hands into. Exposing wood framing to the elements.

No kick plate under front door frame leaving the piece there loose and bowed.

Outlets on the exterior of the house blow the breaker when more then one thing is plugged into them. Same thing in the garage.

Microwave outlet failed. I replaced it myself as obviously we couldn't wait.

Top of the washer was scratched by tools when the tile guys were doing repair work.

The main floor 1/2 bath drain scratched up by the tile guys doing repairs as well.

Baseboard in the main floor hallways nails not filled or painted over. This is the same in the rumpus room in the basement and the laundry room.

Harwood floor is bowed on the main floor. Exactly where they pulled it back to from the flood there is a very noticeable peak in the floor.

Audio system that was installed in the house didn't work. They couldn't test when it was installed left it to us. After requesting a tech a number of times my neighbor helped me sort it out. Wiring issue in the utility room might have been caused by another installer.

Mirror in the main floor bath was supposed to have a dark wood frame built around it. Not done...

Well before this gets too long and you fall asleep I will just stop and make my final comments. There is more if you can believe it.

The reason you don't see many reviews or comments is Parkwood lawyers up first and you as a customer are always at fault. I received 2 letters from their lawyers in the first year. The first was to cease and desist defaming them for writing a review about them. Threatening to discontinue our warranty if we didn't remove the review. I think I write it like it is and anyone reading this should realize I of course have my own interest at heart. Main one being I would love to get my house finished, but also I would warn others so they don't have the same experience we did. A new home is supposed to be fun and great getting something you really wanted in the design and color you want. Clean and new... We saw so much drywall dust in the first two months we were in the house while they repaired the flood damage I think we can still shake out a few lbs per square meter in the carpet.

The second letter after they sent out someone to do the one year inspection after ignoring us for 8 months. We had to call them and remind them it was way overdue. The employee that came out was very short and basically told me it's too late they we not responsible anymore. You can see from the list above we have a lot of issues on the exterior. We made it about half way around the house on the inspection and he told me everyone of the issues was now mine before I told him to leave in a not so happy way. I admit it wasn't my finest hour and I said some things I regret, but the response from Parkwood wasn't to phone and ask hey what happened. The response from them was to send a letter from the lawyer saying that I verbally abused an employee and they were not going to have anything to do with us any longer unless formal apologies were written and I sing some legal documents.

Now I am not going to say I wasn't rude, but I didn't direct any comments directly at the Parkwood employee who treated me so rudely. After 8 months of being ignored by a company that seemed to turn over staff monthly and leaving the basement unfurnished waiting on them to return to finish etc... I was at the tipping point. Over a half million dollars to get treated worse then I do by a cashier at 7-11 when buying a slurpee.

This is what you can expect by purchasing with Parkwood Master builder. There are other polls and ratings you will find on the net that will also confirm. JD Power gave Parkwood the lowest rating available in just about every category in 2011. I wish we would have known about that before we got the survey after we built.

We have built the fence, deck, and put in the sod and trees. I think we had the right plan and we enjoy the yard now that it is finished. Our neighbors are the best we have ever had which helped us through our build. I will continue to talk openly about our experience with Parkwood and their business model.