Fixit

  • Home was still being worked on after 2 years.  Builder:  So?

  • How did the builders view our incomplete, failing home?

  • We found problems behind stone, wood, drywall rather than fixed

  • Beau Rutherford kept warped cabinet door for months, returned it — warped

  • To Do lists didn’t help get things done

  • Builder held order 7 months without placing it, losing our granite

  • Tyvek Home Wrap opening was left unsealed, hidden behind stone

  • It took Rutherford Custom Homes more than 300 days to install sink escutcheons

  • Builders created a safety hazard by placing faucet outside the front door

  • Rutherford Custom Home was left to us as ‘a suitable, completed residence’

 

Home was still being worked on after 2 years.  Builder:  So?

When we terminated Rutherford Custom Homes in late July, 2009, there were more than 100 items left on their running To Do list.  Plus, there was major ongoing paint rework of wood surfaces throughout the house.

More importantly, major issues intensified when the drought broke and light rains in April, May and June brought:

  • rainwater through more than 15 windows
  • water from the roof into at least 3 interior walls
  • water from the roof into 3 ceilings
  • in-ceiling lights rapidly going out
  • cupped hickory/pecan flooring
  • 4 exterior doors shedding paint.

The builder took no actions that halted these mounting problems. We had trouble getting them to answer their cell phones, office phone, home phone, and email. We terminated Rutherford Custom Homes.

9 months after move-in, we found in some cases repairs would not work. We had to have our Rutherford Custom Home deconstructed, then reconstructed by competetent professionals.

That was our chaotic situation in July, 2009, facing widespread repairs 1 year and 2 months after the contract date to have completed our home, a home suitable for living.

How did the builders view our incomplete, failing home?

James W. Rutherford, Sr.’s, testimony September 15, 2011:

Q: Then if you got a permit on June the 15th of 2007, didn’t you just tell me and testify that in July of 2009, you still hadn’t finished the house?
A: We were doing some small punch-out work though, a hell of a lot different.
Q: Okay. But, in fact, what we’re talking about is 2 years and 1 month after you started the house?
A: So?

James W. Rutherford, Jr.’s, testimony Sept. 15, 2011:

Q: Did – does the contract, as you read it and understand it, have the number of calendar days in which the project is to be completed?
A: Yes.
Q: Okay. “Completion of Improvements.” And does it state there 270 calendar days?
A: It does. Based on my understanding of this contract, it is a – is a projected date, not a deadline.

We found problems hidden behind stone, wood, drywall rather than fixed

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Beau Rutherford kept warped cabinet door for months, returned it — warped

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To Do lists didn’t help get things done

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Builder held order 7 months without placing it, losing our granite

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Tyvek Home Wrap opening was left unsealed, hidden behind stone

James W. Rutherford, Jr.’s, testimony:

Q: Did you inspect the Tyvek application to this project?
A: I saw it, yes.
Q: Did you inspect it for its quality application?
A: Yes.

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It took more than 300 days on To Do lists to get sink escutcheons

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Builders created a safety hazard by placing faucet outside the front door

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Rutherford Custom Home was left to us as ‘a suitable, completed residence’

James W. Rutherford, Jr.’s, testimony:

Q: And is it also true, then, from its beginning through its end that it met your approval from the standpoint of it being suitable as a completed residence for the Roses?
A: Yes, sir.