Shea Homes-Trilogy Reviews in Tacoma, WA

Pretty nice home and customer service overall is so far okay. Beware of what is standard and included in the price vs. what is considered an upgrade extra. They can add up to a premium price very quickly. Attention to detail in the fit and finish during construction could use a bit of improvement with closer quality control.

Be sure to be comfortable with the limited flexibility offered in the design stage of the process, and the complexity of the "smart" option.

Struggled somewhat with the sales team but am overall satisfied now that I've moved in

The builder has a an attitude of it is our way or go somewhere else. The communication is spotty and not always consistent among their employees. The house itself is okay but nothing special. I have worked with other builders and would rate Shea as mediocre at best.

Be sure you know what you are getting

This Trilogy division was built for 55 age and over owners who desire a simple down sized home with minimal problems. There seemed to be a disconnect between the on-site contractor (Construction Supv) promises and the follow up person handling identified owner tasks still needing to be fixed. It seems that, neighbors and I, feel the need to get down and nasty for anything positive to happen. IE; The top surface of covered porch was 12" (step) above the ground surface which caused me to fall during construction walk-thru. The contractor (Supervisor) measured the step and told us that a concrete step all across the front would be provided before we took posession. During the final walk-thru there was no promised step as dirt had been pushed up against the front of the raised porch reducing the drop in elevation from 1 foot to 7.5 to 8" step down and we're told that was within code. Does it seem reasonable that two 77 year old owners living in a 55 and over development would have to negotiate an 8" step daily to get to their back yard not to mention the builders commitment for a step to be added? Also, it should be noted that owners were not allowed on-site after hours or not and on weekends. We could not follow up on what was happening verses was not. Here is another example of problems being ignored. Putty work around outside vents, front door bell, and other sealing applications needed reworking. Instead of running caulk smoothly across a seam, it was applied in small bulges all along areas needing to be sealed. It looked like it was applied by someone very inexperianced or who did not care enough to do the job correctly. The answer we were given was "That is the way it was done on all the houses"(?). Is that an acceptable answer? I could go on and on but I think We have made our point. Last, when we were at our site before anything was finalized, the sales person told us that he could not decide whether our lot was a view lot or not. There were no houses as yet built around our lot and we did have a beautiful view of Mt Rainier in all its' majesty. A few days later we were notified that it was indeed a view lot so the price of the lot went from $5000 to $10,000. When all the houses around us were later added and competed we could not see Rainier even from the street. When I inquired I was given the message from sales, "He is crazy if he thinks we will give any money back." So the issue of whether the home was in fact a view lot, or not, was mute because by law I had already signed and was stuck with the misleading criteria for the cost of the lot included in the agreement. A poor example of what Shea considers fair and above board dealings with their customers. The only other issue was that the top soil was removed from the lots during construction and not put back. The remaining soil is gravel and rock. You cannot penatrate the remaining soil with a shovel. You need a pickax and luck to find an area between the rocks for your pickax or shovel to penatrate more than an inch. ... More

While the overall quality of the home seems good, we have had numerous issues that to me demonstrates a lack of attention to detail before turning the house over to us as the new owners. For instance, dishwasher and refrigerator were not working properly (installation issues), front porch lights not working (even after first repair not working again), dryer vent duct on roof obstructed, toilet paper holder fell off, electrical conduit for TV (smurf tube) obstructed can't run cable through it, door from garage to house would not lock. While all these things are fixable, seems that if someone would have taken to check these "little things" before turning over the house to us would have been an overall better experience for us. ... More

Quick review - The selection of options experience was terrible (didn't know the products, not helpful with selections). Follow through on making sure options on the home get installed was not good - forgot to put in insulation in key areas as an example - really need to keep an eye on the build process. Good news - after purchase support / follow through very good so it all eventually gets done. Still, home and options are very overpriced for the money...

The feeling is like buying an unfinished home. A linen closet, but no shelves or doors, a kitchen sink is only included if you select from the chepest counter top, pay additional for light wiring in the ceiling but no light bulb is included, etc. The backyard is not your choice but the HOA approved choice. Like it or not.

Many minor defects in finish. Feels like builder moving so fast the quality is suffering.

Felt some information when I purchased house was a little misleading and confusing on changes they made with price of home.

Well insulated and good windows. Still continue to wait for inside paint samples for touch ups. Do we have to wait a year for this?? After a month of working with your architectural firm in trying to put a small fence around our garbage cans, we finally gave up and told them to shred our drawings as we are done with the run-around!

Unfortunately, Shea has outsourced so much of the building process that problems occur. Dishwashers that are not properly hooked up, crawl spaces with mold, paid for insulation is not added and basic amenities are smaller and smaller. Wander over to an older unit and showers are 6x4. Come to a new model and they are 6x3. This is not you get what you pay for. Not giving name as I am dealing with structural and mold problems in a four month old home.

They are great until they get your money!! Follow up on repairs and service are unfortunately less then satisfying.

Multiple issues from cabinets will not close due to not being adjusted. Frontdoor hardware will not work properly ,thank goodness for the garage or we be locked out or unable to lock when leaving. Two screws fell out of it first day. Still waiting. Counter top for island has 3 major circle flaws in it still waiting. Light fixture falls out of ceiling they came pushed it in ,that night fell out again n just hangs there we have 10ft ceiling so can't just hop up there. Think you get the point,oh in December when choosing our package and it HAD to be done that week I asked for a different color garbage switch which they offered. It is 1st week of August and finally they call its here. Counter dude came took the Third set of pictures of Counter still not resolved. He thinks they will pull Counter n try to buff. It won't work,in the mean.time where is my advocate from Shea , no where. First week run microwave n blows a fuse, panel had to be replaced (one switch) but new house had to wait a week. Would I ever by a Shea home or refer someone NO ... More

Buyer beware. These homes are being thrown up and the quality they advertise is not what you receive. A lot of promises no follow through. Very dissatisfied with the whole experience. It is however a beautiful area. We are not the only buyers with issues almost everyone we speak with has had issues.

We had never purchased new construction and wish we knew then what we know now. Be sure to ask very specific questions about all appliances and connections for all appliances.

Electrical errors still not fixed. Poor quality of kitchen cabinets. Not telling me the requirements to obtaining permission to have fence and yard installed

We had numerous problems during the build out and had to threaten to terminate the contract on 3 different occasions to get things done that should have never been in question. The standard response to any request is "no". Shea does a very poor job of supervising the subcontractors. Most of the subcontractors are good, but some are not so good and Shea's supervision isn't diligent enough to maintain good quality with the poorer subs. The best advice is to keep close tabs during the building process because mistakes will be made. I strongly advise to get issues cleaned up before signing, because their responsiveness after closing is not very good. ... More

Poor customer service and extremely poor responsiveness to home issues.

I was so disappointed in the quality of the materials and the workmanship. Everything seems so cheap, and the laborers did not take any pride in their work.

We are there 3 months now and still have NOT completed the "white-glove" instilation. Should not have that name. The options are limited......particullarly being forced to select items in a particular limited section, so we ended up with choices we don't like. Paid extra for wiring in the great room, but unable to use it since it's off center.... and now they won't fix it. Really? Several things needed to be addressed and several are being addressed, but the counter island is chipped, the front step has a nick out of it and the trim board around the garage has a nick out of it when we moved in. We were rushed thru that first day and didn not notice it until after we recived the keys. The warrentee specialists couldn't get out of there fast enough that day. We were under the understanding that all these items would be addressed at the 30 day inspection. We were just told this week that these thing would NOT be addressed. I'm really upset about this and it's really soured the whole experiene. I this was NOT explained adequately to us at the time. ... More

If I was going to grade the Shea group from sales to construction to customer service, it would be a D- They have "It is what it is" attitude, quality control went out the door. For the price we pay for the house I would expect better than what we received.