Pacesetter Homes

My wife and I incurred $8000 of damage to our home in the Saddle Creek, Georgetown community within 48 hours after closing due to a misplaced, unprotected pex line (high pressure plumbing pipe) installed by Pacesetter. We were given two non-functioning numbers for the warranty company to call in the event of an emergency. After seven days of attempting to contact Pacesetter to resolve the issue, we were laughed at and told “you got unlucky”. If you are looking for a builder that will communicate effectively, perform a satisfactory job of construction and act with integrity when faced with their wrongdoing, build with anyone besides Pacesetter. Our realtor is already turning potential clients away from Pacesetter because of how my wife and I have been treated by their sales representatives and project managers. During building, we made it abundantly clear that we would like a 3rd party inspector for the pre-drywall components of our home, a precaution that could have prevented the damage all-together. We were assured by our sales representative, Amber Rees, and pre-drywall project manager, Dan Schoenfeldt, that we would be told when that opportunity would arise and when we could send an inspector out. Unfortunately, that communication never occurred from Pacesetter and we were denied a 3rd party pre-drywall inspector The damage occurred when anchoring a 1” screw into a wall stud, something every homeowner should be able to do without fear of hitting plumbing. Unfortunately, Pacesetter’s shoddy craftsmanship allowed the pex line to be “pinned” between the drywall and wall stud and the line immediately shot pressurized hot water into our home. We were lucky that nobody was seriously burned/injured. Multiple people within the profession of homebuilding have seen photos of the pipe placement and provided written testimony of the negligent placement of the pex line. Upon removal of the drywall in the water damaged areas, we found several more places where pex line is not properly secured away from the drywall. I have absolutely no faith in the craftsmanship and reliability of the plumbing and installation of the pre-drywall components conducted by Pacesetter and Dan Schoenfeldt and Jason Cearley (project managers) Over a week after the damage occurred, Pacesetter’s construction manager of North Austin, Patrick Durbin came by my home to see the damage. I showed him the damaged pipe and areas of the home where pex line was improperly installed. He adamantly denied any wrongdoing on behalf of Pacesetter and insisted I was just “unlucky”. His visit was entirely unhelpful, slightly insulting, and only wasted time in perusing a resolution. Do not build with Pacesetter homes under any circumstances. Pacesetter will rush their construction to close on your home, perform shoddy work, refuse to allow proper inspections to take place, then laugh in your face when your home is damaged as a result of their negligent craftsmanship.

BUYER BEWARE, the warranty of your new home is WORTHLESS! I purchased my home 4-years ago. Pacesetter new homes come with a 1-year warranty, they will make cosmetic repairs (IF you can get them to come do the work). When that warranty expires, you then have a Bonded Builders warranty to cover the major portions of your home such as the FOUNDATION. Right away, I noticed some cracks in my sheetrock, some cracking around my pantry, some doors that stuck, my driveway was CRACKED IN HALF, and some tight windows when opening them. Under the 1-year warranty, they repaired the sheetrock cracks and realigned the doors. I had to put up a fuss for them to repair the driveway, they eventually replaced the two driveway panels that were cracked. Little did I know that all of these little signs were pointing to a BIGGER issue! My foundation is literally cracked in half, the ENTIRE width of my home has at least an ⅛” crack! I contacted the Bonded Builders warranty company, thinking that they’d clearly see that this is/was an issue with the load-bearing portion of my house FAILING and repair it. Nope! The reply that I received from the company is/was: In response to your concerns, the home was recently inspected at the request of Centricity. A copy of the engineer report is attached for your review. Per the express terms of the Express Limited Major Structural Defect Warranty, four conditions must be present to qualify for coverage: 1. Actual physical damage; 2. to the designated load-bearing portions of a Home; 3. caused by failure of such load-bearing portions that affects their load-bearing functions; and 4. to the extent that the Home becomes unsafe, unsanitary, or otherwise unlivable. The warranty also reads that “all four portions of the definition must be met to qualify the home for Major Structural Defect Warranty Coverage”. The engineer concluded that your home does not meet the criteria to qualify for warranty coverage. Since the home does not meet these criteria, your claim must respectfully be denied.

Michelle Morris (New home specialist in the Sorento Community in Pflugerville) is awesome. She is friendly, knowledgeable and very detail oriented. She knows the community and each property very, very well. She spent just the right amount of time with us and told us everything we needed to know. I highly recommend Michelle!.

I moved into this house at the end of November. They were in such a rush to close on the house that many things inside and out of the house were incomplete. 4 months later and the issues have still not been addressed...!