Del Webb Reviews in Raleigh Durham Chapel Hill, NC

If you’re looking for a truly custom home, pick a different builder. If you’re OK choosing from available builder floor plans and available builder design and decor options, then you’ll enjoy your experience. Just don’t ask to move a wall or choose a custom paint color they don’t offer. The answer is,”no.” And if you have any sense of modern style, be prepared to change out every light fixture In the house after closing. The builder options are very bland, even the upgraded ones. The sales team and the construction team are quite friendly and very responsive. But their hands are tied by corporate, when it comes to any nonstandard requests. The neighborhood and neighbors are great, and will make for a fun and comfortable retirement. ... More

The builder team was very good.

This was the first house we built. The construction manager - Chris P. was FANTASTIC and frankly saved it for us. We wound up having to settle for some stuff we did not want and did not get some things we had wanted.

The master bathroom sinks faucets were installed too far back and it has been over a month to try to fix. When I first reported Brandon was on vacation and he did finally come out to see the problem. Then the last conversation was October 8. I finally got in touch with my sales person Michelle how help with the issue. Brandon finally can out Thursday October 30 and said he had to talk to his supervisor to possibly replace the faucets. He got back to me Friday October 31 stating he had contacted his supervisor but he was leaving on vacation the following Wednesday. I ask for a name and phone number of who I could follow up with while he was gone. Brandon never got back to me. So I still in limbo. Additionally, the master shower was a mess. Cracked tiles and something all over the floor. The tile person can yesterday and today to fix the tiles but the wrong grout was installed in the floor. So I will final be able to use the shower next week with the wrong grout installed. This process has been unacceptable and backwards as far as a solution. ... More

The buying experience was good. The only downside I experienced was Del Webb' unwillingness to share specific technical details regarding the wiring specifications in advance of the purchase. The closing experience was good. The home supervisor stayed on top of critical issues (HVAC for example) prior to closing. The warranty service thus far has exposed some electrical issues that Del Webb warranty challenges. First, the second floor electrical system is all 15amp. When I plug in a Dyson vacuum cleaner, some lights dim briefly (but the circuit breaker does not trip). I think this is a system weakness that needs to be addressed. Pulte Warranty/Raliegh disagrees. Second, given NC weather, I think the home electrical panel should include a whole-house surge protector that was not included. I must say Ideal's (Pulte's electrical contractor) quote for adding one is reasonable. Finally, I want to recognize the low-voltage contractor's service team for working out some subtleties caused by Google's interaction with Nest's firmware. They were patient, and stayed on-task and the system is now operating per our expectations. ... More

The interface with staff was excellent.

Base price of home was manageable for what we were looking for but was a very basic no frills house. We were moving from a high end custom home in a gated golf community so we were having a hard time making the transition from custom to production builder. The biggest issues for me was cost above basic home cost for upgrades ie kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, gas fireplace, paint, tray ceilings with 6" crown and 7" base boards, insulation of and finishing of the garage (we elected to get the garage extended by 4 feet). When it was all done and said we ended up at $60,000 over the base price. In all honesty the design center lady gave us a ball park figure that most people end up at $60K to $75K. ... More

For the most part everything has been good but we are still waiting for someone to get back to us regarding issues we are experiencing with our landscaping. It is very frustrating when no one returns your calls!

Love home plan but very disappointed in workmanship and lack of correcting what Pulte considers “cosmetic” issues after closing.

The house is new. So far it’s been a good day. It’s very small, but I think it will be worth it.

Some of Sod put down on lawn prior to close by Pulse contractor was DEAD. Other sod, especially in rear of home is WEED infested. This needs to be corrected. Watering and weed control has not rectified the problem

I think that the up charges for upgrades is extremely high. The prices obviously include but labor is already paid for in the basic packages. It takes no more labor for example to install black faucets over chrome yet the charge is twice as much as the cost of the faucet. Some items listed as upgrades that should really just be a choice. Some things should be standard. A lot of misinformation and waits for amenities.

The house is well built but has some issues with workmanship. For example, we went to install a ceiling fan on our patio and when we removed the light fixture we saw that the vinyl ceiling was cracked. The light fixture hid that. Also there was a number of caulk residue areas that I had to clean up. It takes a VERY long time to get hot water in the kitchen sink faucet.

Construction manager was very responsive and worked with us closely on most issues. A few quality issues with appliances, plumbing and light fixtures occurred. I think Pulte is an excellent builder for framing and flooring, and have confidence they will address the issues appropriately.

The project manager Tim was great to work with and wants to provide the home you deserve. However the quality of the work performed by the subcontractors was much less than expected and I don't believe his bosses or Pulte really care about delivering a quality product. In my opinion Pulte doesn't provide the project managers the tools to achieve a quality home, nor do they have much oversight or control over their subcontractors. Every homeowner here had/has the same systemic issues with the build quality: 1) Trusses not parallel, that are sagging or missing several gusset plates and even cracked. 2) Concrete with cracks right after the pour and with dips and valleys noticeable after the flooring is installed. 3) HVAC drain pipes are still routed through non-insulated areas and are still freezing. 4) Hot water lines are not insulated and water will not get hot at certain faucets. 5) Pulte can't tell you where electric outlets will be because there is not electric schematic the electrician works off of. But they'll provide one anywhere you want for $75 on the day you decide to buy and sign a contract. After the pre-drywall inspection my review was similar to this review about systemic issues in the build quality and Chad from Pulte called. At certain times during our conversation he was and certain times he wasn't Tim's manager. When I said there appears to be systemic issues discovered in my home and with all the builds based on my conversations with other home buyers he wasn't the manager. When I said Tim is great to work with he was. His talking point was that he was calling to help us set, aka: lower, our expectations. My biggest recommendations are these. Hire an inspector! Hire an inspector! Hire an inspector! It's worth the additional cost. If you don't you'll get a home with a lot of unseen issues. ... More

Overall a good experience. Being a brand new community, I feel like the “support services” are slowly catching up to the standard that Del Webb promotes in their website and materials (punch list items before and after closing, maintenance of community for existing homeowners as new homes are being built, etc.) Great experience with Sales team and our Construction Manager.

Documentation on appliances were missing and no help from builder to get information.

choose a better sales person than what we did

We entered this experience with eyes wide open. 18 years ago we built a house with a similar type builder. These are not custom builders. They offer a few options in a pkg. house. There are many in this community the same as ours. Since moving in we have improved on the quality of several items. The one area I'm most disappointed in is the paint quality is very poor. I'm hoping to tolerate it for a few years then improve on it. The house looks very nice from a visual perspective and seems to be pretty well built. Our construction supervisor was wonderful and kept us informed on progress. We wanted a smaller house in a 55+ active community and that is what we have. The house is comfortable and we are making it our home but it isn't a custom home. ... More

When you move into a 55+ community, you are not only buying a lovely updated home, but you are also buying the lifestyle of activities, maintenance-free lawncare, and a built-in group of friends. That being said, you will encounter issues with your home, as you would with any new construction. This is not a custom home that you can tweak and modify. These are homes that are built quickly and to standard specifications. I have found through experience with Pulte/Del Webb that they are reasonably responsive and will take care of the majority of issues within a good timeframe.

Overall the moving in process was very good. There have been certain areas which have needed to be fixed. This involved contacting the right people to resolve these issues.

I was fine with the experience until we closed on the home. We got to the house and it was very obvious that the house was not cleaned. I had to vacuum/sweep the entire house and the screened porch. My husband has continued to find various things like nails, cigarette butts, old cups, plastic spoons and various trash around the outside of the property. We did not have that sign stating it is a private residence placed in our yard like the other homes on our block. There were drips of paint on the bathroom high window, the garage windows. There was a long strip of leftover wood on the floor behind our stove. My husband had to break off a nail that was in the bathroom cabinet that was sticking out. Our gas was turned on but the valve outside had to be turned on. We put the heat on and the stove and nothing came through. My husband had to do what should have been done before we closed. Very disappointed that at the end, there were so many issues. It leaves a bad taste in our mouths. You pay a good deal of money for this home and to have it end like this was very disappointing. ... More

House was very dusty with spackle dust when I moved in . HVAC was not working properly but since has been repaired. Sod was not watered well before I moved in and is dried out in patches. Otherwise I am happy with the house and love the neighborhood.

Happy with our home, but always room for improvement.

For someone that has worked selling materials to custom builders for over 40 years my house was built as I expected