Sabal Homes - Calgary

[williams]

I am wondering if anyone has had experience with Sabal Homes in Calgary recently. The girlfriend is looking to build a house and is quite ready to plop down a ton of money to build her dream home, but I'm being more cautious. Looking around online, it seems there has been a bunch of disappointed customers, however it also seems to depend on your tradespeople and building manager/supervisor. It looks like visits to the build 2-3 times a week and quickly communicating any deficiencies is a key.

Does anyone have advice or experience with a builder like this?

[jeprli]

I would shop elsewhere. Morrison and albi have higher standards than most I've worked with. I find their supervisors are better than say Jay man, shane or sabal. Mostly because cheap companies over book their supervisors with up to 120 projects at same time, kinda hard to control what's going on at all sites all the time.

[Winch101]

It seems to me I have known dissatisfied customers with Sabal


http://forums.beyond.ca/st/292972/any-experience-with-sabal-homes/

[Smokey]

References mean nothing when you go with production builders, each home has different trades. Some get lucky, some get screwed. Each company has different supers in different areas, so in the end their is often no standard. Those can disagree with me, but I am just stating an opinion.

Im tired of fixing things from my last two builders, keep asking why don't I build my own, gotta fix everything anyways.

[kevinhits]

I am wondering if anyone has had experience with Sabal Homes in Calgary recently. The girlfriend is looking to build a house and is quite ready to plop down a ton of money to build her dream home, but I'm being more cautious. Looking around online, it seems there has been a bunch of disappointed customers, however it also seems to depend on your tradespeople and building manager/supervisor. It looks like visits to the build 2-3 times a week and quickly communicating any deficiencies is a key.

Does anyone have advice or experience with a builder like this?

I built with Sabal and from what I see and chat with my neighbours, you get the same crap with any builder. My driveway started chipping away and I had to fight with the contractor along with a Sabal rep to get it repaired only after 2 years. Also, I actually had a leak in my eaves trough after the first year and Sabal told me to call the company directly to see what they can do...After one year, leaks in a seam..

words of advice....Do not back down, call them every week or whatever it takes, fight them:fighting0030:....They will take care of it....Hopefully...Worked for me:)

Oh yeah....Drywall screws start to expose

[harv3589]

I would shop elsewhere. Morrison and albi have higher standards than most I've worked with. I find their supervisors are better than say Jay man, shane or sabal. Mostly because cheap companies over book their supervisors with up to 120 projects at same time, kinda hard to control what's going on at all sites all the time.

I had a Morrison Home and i doubt their standards are higher....one crappy built house.

[beltburner]

albi

[jpkokanee]

Sabal did not put enough vents in my bathrooms and now I'm seeing condensation on my siding and bathroom ceiling. This very obviously happened when the house was built but because the signs didn't show until just after my warrenty expired they refuse to cover it. I would def shop elsewhere!

[pilotguy89]

All I can say is stay away from any Westview built home!! It has been a year in my new one and nothing but problems, from customer service to construction technique and finishing. Very bad.

[Acesneights]

Try Trico

[JB_AOL]

Try Trico

NO... DO NOT TRY TRICO..

I live in a new neighbourhood in calgary, and every neighbor that built with trico has had major issues (house sinking, single coats of interior paint, cracks in foundations, corners cut whereever they can). Both in contractors & supervisors. 2/3 of the people I know that built with Trico have 30+ contractor days under their belt. Yep, that's 30+ days that contractors were supposed to come back and fix issues after possesion. Contractor days are supposed to be a pre-arranged day (usually only 1 day) that all required contractors are supposed to show up and do their repair work. the majority of the time the contractors never showed up or called to say they wouldn't make it. That means a day off work for you, only for you to have to sit around waiting for someone who might show up. Worst part is, you have to be there, because if they show up and you are not there, they won't come back. So yes, my neighbors have 30+ contractor days. That's downright rediculous.

I built with cedarglen, and we are very happy with our house, Everyone has issues, but it's a matter of how the builder deals with them. Ours was great, up until the money exchanged hands, but since then, it's been a struggle to get stuff done (IE. rough grade took a year). We had some minor issues during the build, but the site super was really good, and made sure everything was fixed before we mentioned it to them.

My biggest piece of advice, visit the house as often as you can. I'm pretty sure we were they at least every 2 days. Take pictures. Allow the process to happen. IE, if you see an error, give them a day or two to fix it prior to mentioning it to the super. Remember the super probably has anywhere from 20-120 houses, so even though he should visit each house everyday, it sometimes doesn't happen. If the error doesn't get fixed within a visit or two, make sure to mention it.

Another thing to remember, is that these are built by humans. Everyone makes mistakes, and nothing is going to be 100% perfect. Yes, I understand it is a large investment, but there are soo many trades/people involved in building a house, that issues will arise.

[williams]

I definitely plan on checking in on the house very often and taking pictures. I do understand that mistakes happen, and I know I make a lot of them. It is how the mistakes are rectified that counts. Of course it is a huge investment on our part but I don't plan on asking for the sun and moon, but the walls better be square, the paint and floors should look brand new when we move in, etc. I guess just checking on it very frequently and hopefully having a good relationship with the sup to get things fixed.

Another couple questions. Has anyone/would you use a realtor when building new? Would there be an opportunity for them to better negotiate for price/upgrades? or is this just going to introduce another person trying to wet their beak. It seems like there isn't a lot of room to move right now with the high demand.

Also, has anyone hired an "independent supervisor" or something along those lines? Someone that will check on the house for you or with you. I have a decent eye for detail and have helped build some smaller cabins/etc but I wonder if it would be worth having a trained eye there.

[JB_AOL]

Another couple questions. Has anyone/would you use a realtor when building new? Would there be an opportunity for them to better negotiate for price/upgrades? or is this just going to introduce another person trying to wet their beak. It seems like there isn't a lot of room to move right now with the high demand.

You won't be able to negotiate a price. market is too good right now.

The only advantage to bringing a realtor, is they (as long as their good) can let you know if the upgrades/options/floorplans/lot are desirable regarding resale. & and they may be able to help with opinions on builders.

But with a bit of research, you can do that also. My realtor is a family friend, so he did it on his own time, and had valuable input.

Also, has anyone hired an "independent supervisor" or something along those lines? Someone that will check on the house for you or with you. I have a decent eye for detail and have helped build some smaller cabins/etc but I wonder if it would be worth having a trained eye there.

I'm not sure most builders will allow a 3rd party inspector on site. I seem to remember asking the question, and it wasn't allowed.

Now if this person (inspector), just goes to the house when you do, I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem, but then, you have to worry about the qualifications of the inspector. I've heard more horror stories about people's experiences with house inspectors than any other thing out there.

[midgetwaiter]

I have a Sabal home that was built in 2012.

I could fill pages and pages with stories of what happened but it all comes down to the same problem, they fail to adequately supervise their trades. If something isn't done right it's up to you to find it, even the most blatant code violations are ignored. If I din't have my father in law's construction expertise to watch them I'm not sure what I would have been the result.

Even if you spot something done wrong that is clearly an issue they will do whatever they can to ignore you. I had to complain to the city inspection office to get anything done about the stucco they applied to my house when it was too cold, in the end we were very lucky as the stucco started curing again when it warmed up in the spring. The city's inspectors forced Sabal and their sub to get a specialist engineer involved and she is ultimately on the hook if it fails. Here's a thread I started on the subject:

http://outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=155608

So the stucco sat all winter and come mid June it stayed warm enough over a couple days for the engineer to come and inspect it. Soon after I got a call from Sabal's warranty guy telling me that it was "all good" and when should he schedule the guys to come and finish up. That didn't sound right to me so I made them send me a copy of the letter they got from the engineering firm and got the person who actually did the inspection on the phone. That was a very enlightening conversation, things were most certainly not "all good". She had some very specific recommendations for what to do about this and how to apply the finish coat.

I got this list of recommendations from her and asked Sabal's warranty guy if they were going to follow them. He had no idea what I was talking about. So he got the supervisor from the stucco contractor involved and we together asked if him if they were going to follow the engineer's recommendations, he also had no idea what I was talking about! In the end I had to get a meeting setup with the Sabal warranty guy, Sabal's construction manager and the supervisor from the stucco company to go over the engineer's comments and make sure the follow on work was done to her recommendations.

You'd think that would be the end of it but it wasn't. When the crew showed up and did each step in the process, nobody from either Sabal or the stucco company showed up to check the work. It was on me to follow up after each step and point out stuff the missed bits or things that were not done properly, I have dozens of emails on the subject. It was a ridiculous lack of care and attention.

I am lucky that I work from home and have a fairly flexible schedule so I was able to do this and follow up on the many little interior problems as well. The stress and wear and tear on myself and my marriage wasn't worth it though, I should have let them do whatever and just sold the place.

If you're in Calgary feel free to PM me and you can come by and I'll show you some other things to watch for. I can probably introduce you to some other members here that live on my street and you can hear their stories first hand too.

EDIT:
One other thing I should add. My wife and I took a little drive around the neighbourhood looking and landscaping ideas this spring. It was still far to cold to apply stucco based on the standards set in the Alberta Building code. Any guesses as to what we saw going on?

[williams]

PM'd midgetwaiter!

Thanks for all the responses. I find it crazy that although they seem to have a shotty reputation, it seems to be tough to dig up a lot of information or reviews on them. And things that I do find are from at least 2012 and previous.

[bigd]

I have a Sabal home that was built in 2012.

I could fill pages and pages with stories of what happened but it all comes down to the same problem, they fail to adequately supervise their trades. If something isn't done right it's up to you to find it, even the most blatant code violations are ignored. If I din't have my father in law's construction expertise to watch them I'm not sure what I would have been the result.

Even if you spot something done wrong that is clearly an issue they will do whatever they can to ignore you. I had to complain to the city inspection office to get anything done about the stucco they applied to my house when it was too cold, in the end we were very lucky as the stucco started curing again when it warmed up in the spring. The city's inspectors forced Sabal and their sub to get a specialist engineer involved and she is ultimately on the hook if it fails. Here's a thread I started on the subject:

http://outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=155608

So the stucco sat all winter and come mid June it stayed warm enough over a couple days for the engineer to come and inspect it. Soon after I got a call from Sabal's warranty guy telling me that it was "all good" and when should he schedule the guys to come and finish up. That didn't sound right to me so I made them send me a copy of the letter they got from the engineering firm and got the person who actually did the inspection on the phone. That was a very enlightening conversation, things were most certainly not "all good". She had some very specific recommendations for what to do about this and how to apply the finish coat.

I got this list of recommendations from her and asked Sabal's warranty guy if they were going to follow them. He had no idea what I was talking about. So he got the supervisor from the stucco contractor involved and we together asked if him if they were going to follow the engineer's recommendations, he also had no idea what I was talking about! In the end I had to get a meeting setup with the Sabal warranty guy, Sabal's construction manager and the supervisor from the stucco company to go over the engineer's comments and make sure the follow on work was done to her recommendations.

You'd think that would be the end of it but it wasn't. When the crew showed up and did each step in the process, nobody from either Sabal or the stucco company showed up to check the work. It was on me to follow up after each step and point out stuff the missed bits or things that were not done properly, I have dozens of emails on the subject. It was a ridiculous lack of care and attention.

I am lucky that I work from home and have a fairly flexible schedule so I was able to do this and follow up on the many little interior problems as well. The stress and wear and tear on myself and my marriage wasn't worth it though, I should have let them do whatever and just sold the place.

If you're in Calgary feel free to PM me and you can come by and I'll show you some other things to watch for. I can probably introduce you to some other members here that live on my street and you can hear their stories first hand too.

EDIT:
One other thing I should add. My wife and I took a little drive around the neighbourhood looking and landscaping ideas this spring. It was still far to cold to apply stucco based on the standards set in the Alberta Building code. Any guesses as to what we saw going on?

^ this is how my Vesta Homes experience is going up in Airdrie. Shoddy shoddy work, no apparent oversight and very poorly 'skilled' trades. A year and a half later and I still have over 40 items that need to be addressed, including major concrete removal/repair. Some of the concrete has already been redone twice :mad0100:

Neighbour and I are about to get a lawyer involved, his house has most of the same issues.

:angry3:

[coreya3212]

I don't understand what you guys are worried about. Your government has implemented additional legislation ensuring that all homes in Alberta are covered by the new home warranty program. You are covered and everything is wonderful. Relax and have a beer.:thinking-006:

[dollfin]

We built with Cedarglen in June 2005 in Evergreen just before the boom. We were at the house everyday until we moved in, in Sept. Not one thing wrong. We were very satisfied with everything. We would bring treats, pizza and gift cards to restaurants to the trades people just to show our appreciation and it showed in their work. :)

[Acesneights]

NO... DO NOT TRY TRICO..

I live in a new neighbourhood in calgary, and every neighbor that built with trico has had major issues (house sinking, single coats of interior paint, cracks in foundations, corners cut whereever they can). Both in contractors & supervisors. 2/3 of the people I know that built with Trico have 30+ contractor days under their belt. Yep, that's 30+ days that contractors were supposed to come back and fix issues after possesion. Contractor days are supposed to be a pre-arranged day (usually only 1 day) that all required contractors are supposed to show up and do their repair work. the majority of the time the contractors never showed up or called to say they wouldn't make it. That means a day off work for you, only for you to have to sit around waiting for someone who might show up. Worst part is, you have to be there, because if they show up and you are not there, they won't come back. So yes, my neighbors have 30+ contractor days. That's downright rediculous.

I built with cedarglen, and we are very happy with our house, Everyone has issues, but it's a matter of how the builder deals with them. Ours was great, up until the money exchanged hands, but since then, it's been a struggle to get stuff done (IE. rough grade took a year). We had some minor issues during the build, but the site super was really good, and made sure everything was fixed before we mentioned it to them.

My biggest piece of advice, visit the house as often as you can. I'm pretty sure we were they at least every 2 days. Take pictures. Allow the process to happen. IE, if you see an error, give them a day or two to fix it prior to mentioning it to the super. Remember the super probably has anywhere from 20-120 houses, so even though he should visit each house everyday, it sometimes doesn't happen. If the error doesn't get fixed within a visit or two, make sure to mention it.

Another thing to remember, is that these are built by humans. Everyone makes mistakes, and nothing is going to be 100% perfect. Yes, I understand it is a large investment, but there are soo many trades/people involved in building a house, that issues will arise.


Wow, sorry to hear that. Do you mind me asking what area you built in and when. Your right 30 plus trades days is ridiculous. I haven't heard much of that from south communities that is why I'm curious. I do know trico has gone through quite the growing pains and is always thriving to be better. I've worked for a lot of builders and I've never seen any builder go farther for a customer to make them happy and satisfied.