Drees Homes Reviews in Cincinnati, OH

What you would come to expect in "builder basic." Basic materials and construction. However, the after sale support is top class. Especially in contrast to other big builders in our area.

Drees builds beautiful homes. Some things are options that should be standard (i.e. overhead lights in all bedrooms). Lots are too small, can't fit a full size truck in the garage. Some items are still not fixed months after moving in.

Drees was very considerate to make the closing date as per my need. The building process was very transparent and received timely updates.

Disappointed that no changes could be made even tho the carpet was not in. Buyer pulled carpet and replaced it before moving in. Selections were all done “on the cheap” ...Low grade carpet, no hardware on the cabinets, no stationary tub, or rough-in for one, no window sills. Who builds a &250K+ home without these basics? LOTS of issues with high humidity. Had to purchase a dehumidifier to bring humidity levels down Because of high potential for mold. 36” Door to pantry was too deep to walk through walk-in pantry. Buyer installed a louver door after closing...which should have been done before closing. That was a BIG design flaw. The door cost less than $100, to replace and now it works as it should with full access to the pantry. That should have been done by Drees before closing. Basic construction seems okay. It was just all the other stuff that was both costly and annoying to complete after closing. That is why the less than stellar ratings were given. ... More

Sales manager, Debra, was very good, helpful in many ways.

The people you work with at the beginning and middle of the process are great. They keep you informed and help tremendously. The hardest part (but I'm sure this is true with all builders) is once you sign the papers and close, anything you think isn't good enough doesn't matter. I only say this because I'm working with the warranty team now. And they will only fix something that's broken or not working, but shotty workmanship is your problem now. But that makes sense, it's their job to make sure they don't spend all of Drees' money and they aren't obligated to fix shotty work once you close. I would say once you close, try to have the mindset that you bought a market home and not a brand new home and that it should all be perfect. ... More

Getting issues that were done poorly, incorrectly or not at all (some I realize were material b/orders) so we could move in, then takes weeks-months for resolution. Being told "We'll take care of it" needs to then be followed with a definitive "By whom and by when". There is a 60 day follow up that should be done within 2 weeks, not 2 months, for a $560K house. Time, thus closing on the house, is way more important to Drees than quality at time of possession.

This is our third home we have built and we found a lot corners cut along the way . Some we caught and some we didn’t till moved in. Love our house but annoying fixes happening way to often

1)Lawn seeding and sod was not good that just put seeding and without losses soil 2)garage concrete was good that had a long line crack 3)screen door qua wasn’t good 4) patio concrete was not good 5) Steel was exposed out of concrete 6) close door doesn’t align with block area 7)front door lock spent two months to fixed due to ins wrong spec

I love my new home but the schedule was months after promised with no sense of urgency. I have also been in 4 months and still daily trying to get items finished.

The process can alternatively be described as either a straightjacket or as well organized. There were supply disruptions...which is understandable. But, instead of pausing and waiting, the schedule was maintained, with the result that necessary preconditions for installation of later phases were shortchanged or not met at all. This resulted in mistakes that were difficult to rectify or required compromises.

We received an absolutely filthy house that took me hours to clean when I should’ve been able to unload and unpack boxes. We’ve had issues come up since closing Which have not been handled in a timely manner at all. It was such a great Experience up until the closing and now I feel like Drees has completely dropped the ball.

For several months after we moved in the adjacent house was under construction by Drees. Scaffolding and materials were placed on our property and in our driveway without asking our permission. On at least a half dozen occasions I picked up a number of nails from our driveway as well as stones and other debris. Drees literature states that lots are properly graded to deal with runoff… NOT true! Our neighboring lot slopes into ours and there is a flat area where water collects and does not drain as the underlying soil is clay. I spoke with several Drees managers with zero success in having this corrected. Finally, a work order to have some “clean-up” done on our side yard remains open… I have contacted the construction manager several times with no response. ... More

Be careful what your salesperson tells you. Ours was greatly misinformed.

My house has too many water leak issues in the basement within the first month of the move. These things should have been taken care properly before handing over the house. Its almost 2 months now and my basement is a mess with broken drywalls and the tarps are torn for fixing. Most of the windows were not properly caulked due to last month thunderstorm may windows had too much water leak due to poor caulking. These caulking and water proofing are the basic things that needs to be done for water prevention into the house. I have called drees more than 5 times in last 2 months for multiple water issues. ... More

If you get a good project supervisor/manager everything should go smooth. We did!

My experience is mostly positive: sales representative is very knowledgeable and accommodating, design center experience was good also. My disappointment is in the quality of workmanship and materials on a few items. Interior doors are especially poor quality and almost all in need of touch up/ repair from rough defects from manufacturing. Poor workmanship of caulking around windows and exterior lights.

my biggest disappointment is the trashy lot i have to look at every day. I think it is the Drees dumping zone.

With it currently being a sellers market it was clear that the Drees staff didn’t care about quality or timeliness, just closing the house and moving on to the next one.

Overpriced. Made with the cheapest materials available.

We are so disappointed with the quality of our Drees “custom home.” The interior finishes are awful and we will be spending time and money trying to fix them. Trim throughout was so sloppily installed, it looks like a bad DIY…nearly every floor trim joint is a lumpy, caulked mess. The “professional” painters left paint splatters on the floor along the molding as well as many missed areas of paint, paint splatters on granite, paint on switch plates and outlet covers, paint on ceilings, and interior doors as well as paint embedded in the joints of several floor planks. Overall, just a big mess. Our outdoor light switch was covered over by insulation. Floor boards were undercut in several places, filled with caulk and called good. Cabinets have numerous chips, crack in door and most of the soft close features don’t work. Every toilet paper holder was misdrilled and the extra hole just left - not filled and painted. Many of the exterior trim boards are defective and the paint job is awful. Lots os missed caulking. Our outside post lamp has had issues since our early August move in and still no repair. In general, the floor plan and lot is beautiful, but we definitely did not get good value for our money and we would definitely seek out another builder. We have built two homes with other builders over the years and this by far is the worst quality, yet we paid for a high end house where are other houses were more entry level. ... More

Too much to share in writing. We’re still struggling to receive full compliance of materials and service work and installations.

The warranty page is mostly exclusions and legalese , and it basically left to their discretion as to how to interpret the validity of your complaint. They have standard reasons why a defect/quality/workmanship is not covered , even if you know that was not the reason. They will quickly cover the small stuff..faucets , trim,lights, paint etc. But Structural cracks, leaks ,foundation etc..are bit more of a heartburn.They will cover leaks for a year, by getting the crack filled from inside ( 1/2 hr job ) and the repair contractor supposedly covers those specific repair locations for 10 years. But after 4 or 5 basement leaks in 2 months , your confidence in the value of investing in a new home is not exactly soaring. If you thought a new home is relatively trouble free , think again. ... More

Worst experience we have ever had, and we have built 8 homes. Corolyn was great and so is Matt.

Very bad experience with the Drees mortgage. Sales person Susan was great and knowledgable and builder Keith was very helpful through out the whole process.