Legendary Communities BK Residential Construction Inc. Poorly built new home with mold on wood refused to refund deposit when I advised them this was not Acceptable Greenville South Carolina

On May the 26^th, 2013 my wife and I went into contract to build a home with Legendary Communities (BK Residential Construction, Main Office 6140 Central Church Rd. Douglasville, Georgia 30135-3300) Airy Springs community in Easley SC, we were living in New York at the time and made several trips to SC prior to and after signing the contract in order to select the location and the options.  After moving to SC at the beginning of August 2013 construction began sometime in the latter part of the month. All appeared to be going well at first, I made it a point to be at the construction site on a daily basis. I noticed after the framing was completed that someone had gone through the house and marked a considerable amount of studs and columns with orange paint, I inquired about the paint and was told that the paint indicated all the corrections and additions that had to be made by the framing crew, the amount of corrections concerned me so I purchased a six foot level and began to check all the studs my self, I was astounded at how bad the framing was there were studs that were way off, more than half an inch and in certain areas entire wall sections were completely out of alignment, I found a window also out of alignment, studs that had bowed, crowned, twisted the framing was horrendous. I communicated my concerns to the on site building manager and he assured me that everything would be corrected.  I was present when the framing crew finally returned to correct the framing errors and I again was horrified to see their method of correction, I was expecting to see the bad studs removed and replaced with good ones but that’s not what happened. The studs were sawed into at an angle more than 60% into the stud in order to weaken it enough to push it in or out and then they attached a two foot piece of scrap, this was done on load bearing walls!! I spoke to the building manager and was told that this is their way of correcting studs, they do not replace them and that it will pass inspection. I did not agree with him and decided to hire a certified home inspector to come and check and document the state of the framing. The inspector besides been astounded at the methods the framers employed to correct studs found that the supposed corrections did not correct a thing; the studs were still significantly out of alignment.

I contacted the Anderson County Building department and requested a courtesy inspection; I spoke to Barry Holkum who arranged for an inspector from his office to meet with me at the construction site. The inspector upon reviewing the framing agreed that the corrections were insufficient and the load bearing studs should be corrected with a full-length stud. Subsequently I met with construction site manager Andrew Gray and his superior Vaughn West to discuss the state of the framing and other issues and although Mr. West still insisted that their method of correction was good, he finally agreed to replace the scrap pieces with full-length studs. I also requested that there be someone present to supervise and ensure the studs were being corrected to within code specifications, I was assured that Andrew Gray would be there with a level checking every stud, the situation had become more complicated by the time we reached this point due to the fact that the electrical and plumbing rough-in had been done and the electricians had to be scheduled to return to pull out wiring before any repairs could be made. Unfortunately, the day of the scheduled repair one framer was at the house and he began to attach studs to the bad ones without checking or even correcting the alignment of the studs, again there was no one there to make sure the job was being done correctly. This had become a common issue with this builder. I asked the worker if he was aware that he had to check that the studs were aligned, he complained that no one told him that and further went on complaining that he cant fix it due to the bad quality of wood the builder uses, he packed up his tools and left. Legendary Communities building manager, Andrew Smith requested to meet with me the next day and he actually had the nerve to berate me in front of his employees, telling me “this is not your house yet, its my house, I can give you your money back, I will continue to build this house and sell it to someone else, stop looking over my workers shoulders and give us breathing room to build this house”. He went on to say, “You will never be happy with this house if you are here watching it being built, we are dealing with man made materials and we may have to fix things several times before we get it done right”. I could not believe what I was hearing, I’m the one paying his company to build this house for me, and he was scolding me for expecting them to do it right.

Subsequent to this meeting I had the house inspected by a certified mold inspector because I noticed a considerable amount of mold growth on the roof and floor trusses, sure enough the inspector identified a serious mold condition, one which would require a considerable amount of labor and cost in the several thousands to correct. I presented the results of the inspection to Legendary Communities and met with the sales manager Jim Kyker, his view on the mold was that its normal and all new houses have it, I did not agree and I further advised Mr. Kyker that both my wife and step-daughter suffer from asthma and are sensitive to allergens such as mold spores and living in a house with such a condition is totally unacceptable. I also contacted my mortgage company (TD Bank) and advised them that the house would be substantially delayed or very possible that I will not be able continue with the house, they requested copies of any adverse inspection reports and I sent them both the reports on the framing and the mold condition, the bank denied my mortgage, they did not want to get involved in a property that’s value is now in question due to a mold condition. In my meeting with sales manager Jim Kyker I requested a refund of all monies on deposit, as I can no longer proceed with this house, I have not received any indication from Legendary Communities as to how they will resolve this. This has been by far the worst experience my wife and I have ever had with a company, we also learned that there was another family building a house in the very same development that also had to reject the house because their inspection report discovered mold on the lumber also. That house is now listed for sale. It is very concerning to me that this builder is allowed to do business in this state and present such a substandard and unhealthy product to unsuspecting consumers, as I have noticed during my ordeal that most people who purchase homes from this company have no clue what is hidden behind the walls of their new homes.

On November 26^th 2013 we were contacted by Legendary Communities sales manager Jim Kyker, he apologized for their poor quality construction, poor customer service in the manner that they treated us when we brought the construction issues to their attention, he even offered to build us a new house, unfortunately after such a terrible experience with this builder with all the aspects he mentions I have absolutely no faith that they would be able to satisfy their obligation to build a quality home as they advertise and what we agreed to in signing the contract. My wife and I requested a full refund of the money we gave Legendary Communities ($23,977) in good faith, for them to build a quality home, free of mold, and built to the quality standards that their sales department and advertising promised. Mr. Kyker refused to refund our money and stated that they have met their obligations by offering to build us a new house. I am not going through that again with them, we are looking for a new builder and will be commencing legal action against Legendary Communities.