The internet is littered with frightening tales. Most of us know someone who’s been a victim. Contractor horror stories abound, and it’s enough to scare some homeseekers off from building altogether. But if you choose the right builder, you don’t need to fear that your new home will turn into a cautionary tale. Discover what you can do to avoid these classic contractor horror story scenarios.

Delay after delay after delay

One of the most common complaints among those building a new home is unanticipated delays. Move-in dates frequently get pushed back weeks or even months as construction drags on. In the scariest contractor horror stories, construction takes years longer than anticipated. 

The best way to avoid the fright of having to find temporary housing for years longer than planned is to work with a homebuilder that guarantees your construction timeline. At BUILD by TJH, we guarantee that we’ll complete your new home within 12 months of the start of construction. We can do so because we’ve developed a predictable, repeatable process for keeping construction on schedule for each home plan in our curated library. 

“If you want us to finish, it’s going to cost more. Way more.”

Perhaps your contractor is trying to swindle you. Perhaps materials really did double in cost since you started construction. Either way, being told that your new home is going to cost tens of thousands of dollars more than you expected, after your old home has already been demolished, is a nightmare. 

The only way to prevent this situation is to choose a builder that protects you with a price guarantee. At BUILD by TJH, we guarantee the price of your new home at contract signing. Plus, our size and scale allow us to secure custom-quality materials for less. As a result, not only will you know how much your home will cost, you’ll also enjoy greater value.

Contractors ruining your high-end materials and finishes

An all too common scenario is investing in high-end materials and finishes, then having contractors fail to handle them with kid gloves. If contractors don’t seal your tiles with the correct products, it can cause staining or damage the tile. If workers don’t take care when installing your appliances, they can scratch your wood flooring in the process. Contractors who mark install locations with sharpie markers may ruin your marble countertops. These oversights resulting from a general lack of caution, knowledge, and common sense can cost a lot of money in material and labor to fix.

We only hire the best contractors, and we work with them time and time again. As a result, we are confident that they will handle your custom-quality materials and top-end appliances with the utmost care, ensuring that everything in your new home actually looks new when you move in.

“We shut the front door, and the door fell off its hinges.”

Another classic contractor horror story is a house that starts to fall apart the moment the family moves in. Even if your new home has a warranty, not all builders have employees available to handle your claim. As a result, you could be stuck wasting hours of your time trying to get a fix you were promised.

At TJH, we stand behind our people, product, and process with a warranty program to ensure your peace of mind. More importantly, we have a devoted customer experience team that will quickly address any issues if the unexpected happens. 

That desk chair rolling across the room probably means the floor isn’t level. But what can you do about it now? 

A similar—but even more problematic—nightmare situation is a home that’s not built well in the first place. Things that fall apart can be put back together, but things that were never built right are harder to address. 

There are a thousand points in the homebuilding process where things could go wrong. If your contractor performs shoddy work, particularly at the early phases of construction, you could be left with a problem that causes ripple effects—think plumbing that wasn’t correctly connected and causes mold behind your tile. These issues can be very expensive to fix. 

Homeowner testimonials are one of the best ways to find a homebuilder whose quality you can trust. At TJH, our many happy homeowners, from Phoenix to the Bay Area, are a testament to the quality of our construction.

Getting ghosted by your contractor

Whether it’s at the beginning of a home build, the middle, or after it’s complete, there is no good time to get ghosted by your contractor. In fact, this is pretty much the worst-case scenario, especially if you’ve paid for work that’s never performed.

The best way to prevent this situation is by choosing a reputable homebuilder with a strong, proven track record. As the nation’s largest, single-lot, new home replacement builder, we have more than 350 homes in annual production in Southern California, Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, and Arizona. That means we’ve worked with a lot of homeowners—and we’ve never ghosted one.

“The [TJH] team was incredible every step of the way and the construction is truly impressive. We could not have chosen a better builder to partner with.”

—Austin and Katie M., TJH homeowners, Los Angeles, CA