quote:

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Your allowed to build homes in CS without graded lumber? Even load bearing? Is the code here just 10 yrs behind the curve compared to Austin/DFW/Houston ... ?

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I have always heard their plans were stamped by an engineer/architect and that blows it by the plan review and approval process at the cities. I have seen their plans before but it has been awhile so I don't recall seeing the stamp or not.

As far as subcontractors, they don't normally use the same as the other builders. Many of the subs in town got their start working with Stylecraft and now demand more money and being paid sooner than SC is set up or willing to do.

I honestly have no clue as to the profit margin of SC but I would be surprised if it weren't greater than most smaller builders. Look at the overhead and volume they build, has to be better.

Rockdoc-Thank you for providing details that Mr. Griswold conveniently does not. Even though people hide behind Internet screen names their comments can get them in trouble if a company can prove that their comments are totally off base.

We have lived in a Stylecraft home for almost 12 years and are very pleased with it. We had an amazing salesperson and awesome superintendent while building the house. They worked with us through the building process to help us get what we wanted in our new home and were more than willing to make changes to things when we had concerns or didn't like the way something was turning out. One great example is that we have a closet in our gameroom. When they started to put up the walls of the closet, we realized there would be a huge empty void behind it that was wasted space. So, we asked them to stop with building the walls, talked to the super and they were more than happy to make the closet go back farther so there was much less wasted space and we got a bigger closet. The closet has a lower ceiling at the back, but it's perfect for storing stuff. Also, Stylecraft is a tremendous asset to the community. They are certainly involved in many charitable causes around the community. I believe it was last year that they donated money so a girl at one of the middle schools could get a dog that would alert her to diabetic attacks (I think it was for diabetic purposes). Randy and Jeff French and the people at Stylecraft are great people!

All building plans should have the seal of an engineer/architect. If you've been in the business long enough, you know the process of what is required. That's what will get you through the process fairly quickly.

Not always necessary.

Still waiting for Griswold to back up his claim with some factual evidence. Hope Stylecraft management reads this forum.

We have been is a SC home now for about 14yrs. As I recall the building process we were able to set specifications and select appointments above an beyond the normal SC specs. We were charged above the normal SC construction estimate for these additions. Construction was followed by a qualified inspector working with the job supt. According to inspector's reports job met or exceeded specification/building code. The supt and inspector made several cosmetic change recommendations, in the long run we are happy they did.

What little warranty work required was done in a timely manner. After 13yrs we replaced the a/c system- not because of SC's selection but rather to upgrade system efficiency and move away from R22 replacement costs.

Have we done upgrades- sure. We purposely said we would change many items we initially used on the Selection Summary, this was done over time and was not a SC quality fault. My SiL, who is construction qualified, has commented several times on small defects- 'you can expect this as house ages'.

Bottom line job came finished according to budget + minor changes, met specs and code. If quality = 'conformance to requirements" then SC did a quality job.

onetheedge: I use to work in a developmental services department for a city. Not this city but I'll say it was a city in which Randy French built which is how I know one of the engineers as I commented earlier. The engineers were the ones to submit the plans to me which I approved and then passed on the building inspector. So to answer your question, nope, I'm not familiar with any of this.

I will agree that every municipality has their requirements for documents to be reviewed and approved. Maybe the CoCS doesn't require it as part of theirs. I don't know since I've never worked in that capacity for the CoCS.

As much as these engineers probably charge, if I were a client, I'd want a seal on mine.

I'd never even heard of no-grade lumber till a friend who used to work at McCoy's told me about it and said it's what Stylecraft uses. Don't know if that's true or not but he'd certainly be in a better position to know than me. Perhaps he was wrong but I doubt it's a huge secret, whichever is the case.

it's not a huge secret. it's just patently absurd.

I rented a SC home and was not impressed. Cabinets, flooring, fixtures were bottom line. Now have purchased Froehling home that is 15 years older, all original, and in much better shape.

Stylecraft homes are great disposable homes if that's what you're looking for. New builds are very overpriced but for someone that wants a brand new and cannot afford a home built by the better builders in town, they can be very affordable. I do find it humorous though and have heard from several that bought SC homes that they do not include a garage door opener and tell you they will install one for an extra $400.

These posts kind of read like this to me.

"I'm not happy with my ford focus. It only has am/fm radio and no power windows. The last Cadillac I saw had xm radio with leather seats and a moon roof"

Of course a 150k home will feature less amenities than a 300k home. Stylecraft serves a different market than custom builders. They may not be a fancy on the inside but why should you expect that for the price you pay? I know for a fact that if you want to pay more for better finish etc. that Stylecraft will gladly let you upgrade and charge you accordingly.

This is Doug French Vice President of Stylecraft Builders. I want to thank everyone for their responses and opinions. I understand and respect that not everyone is going to be a fan of our family business, and I appreciate the owners of our homes that spoke up and defended our product. I am not here
to debate anything I just want to respectively state my views.

I realized quickly, that in business, real estate development, and home building you are not going to make everyone happy. This thread certainly is an example of that. Just in this one thread: there are posters who heard from a friend of a friend, current homeowners, previous homeowners, previous city employees, etc each expressing their opinion that is at times drastically different from the other. With that said, we do have an obligation to do all we can to make our customers happy...and that is what we will continue to focus on.

I will be the first to admit that we are not a perfect company.We have room to grown in many respects.

I am going to ask our head of construction to post sometime soon explaining our inspection process, the subcontractors we use, and addressing the questions surrounding the grade of our lumber. I am not doing this to start a debate or prove anyone wrong. I just want to provide accurate information, so we are not judged on rumors.

We are a production home building company that focuses on the affordable side of the market. As other posters have stated, I would ask that you judge us against our peers. We are not trying to be Keith Ellis or Larry Mariott (Both great guys and great builders). There are plenty of great custom builders in this town... you have your choice.

I personally believe, for the price point we hit, and the developments we build in, we deliver an exceptional value. This is evidenced by our success against the public builders in the other markets we build in.

In summary, there is a need for a first time home buyer product in our community. Someone is going to meet this need.

This community has always been very good to my family. I love Bryan/College Station and we hope to continue to build houses and developments here for years to come.

Respectfully,

Doug French
Vice President
Stylecraft Builders

Doug,

Thank you for your response and I look forward to whatever additional information is posted.

quote:

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This is Doug French Vice President of Stylecraft Builders. I want to thank everyone for their responses and opinions. I understand and respect that not everyone is going to be a fan of our family business, and I appreciate the owners of our homes that spoke up and defended our product. I am not here
to debate anything I just want to respectively state my views.


Sounds rational and thoughtful to me.


I realized quickly, that in business, real estate development, and home building you are not going to make everyone happy. This thread certainly is an example of that. Just in this one thread: there are posters who heard from a friend of a friend, current homeowners, previous homeowners, previous city employees, etc each expressing their opinion that is at times drastically different from the other. With that said, we do have an obligation to do all we can to make our customers happy...and that is what we will continue to focus on.

I will be the first to admit that we are not a perfect company.We have room to grown in many respects.

I am going to ask our head of construction to post sometime soon explaining our inspection process, the subcontractors we use, and addressing the questions surrounding the grade of our lumber. I am not doing this to start a debate or prove anyone wrong. I just want to provide accurate information, so we are not judged on rumors.

We are a production home building company that focuses on the affordable side of the market. As other posters have stated, I would ask that you judge us against our peers. We are not trying to be Keith Ellis or Larry Mariott (Both great guys and great builders). There are plenty of great custom builders in this town... you have your choice.

I personally believe, for the price point we hit, and the developments we build in, we deliver an exceptional value. This is evidenced by our success against the public builders in the other markets we build in.

In summary, there is a need for a first time home buyer product in our community. Someone is going to meet this need.

This community has always been very good to my family. I love Bryan/College Station and we hope to continue to build houses and developments here for years to come.

Respectively,

Doug French
Vice President
Stylecraft Builders

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Sounds rational and thoughtful to me.

Doug French nailed it. You may not like their houses, but they are addressing a basic, simple, non-controversial need: affordable housing. Perhaps other developers will step up to the plate and address this as well.

Thank you for a great response Mr. French. Hopefully it stops some of these idiots spreading false rumors and innuendo. Talking about no grade lumber and then saying not sure if it's true sounds to me like a person with a personal ax to grind .
I think you stopped him in his tracks Again, great response.

Quality post by Doug French.

Respectively?

As promised here is the response from our head of construction:

I am Bob Anderson and oversee the outside operationsof Stylecraft Builders. I hope to address some of the negative comments posted
about our product and its components that are not correct.

• Grade of Lumber used in framing: State andmunicipal codes govern the types of lumber used in the construction of a home. We
  buy the same studs (stud grade), joists (#2 grade) and rafters (#3 grade) as
  every other production builder in this town or others. My question would be,
  "why would you want to spend your money on upgrading the lumber in your home if
  it meets the requirements set forth by the state and/or city? Wouldn't you
  rather spend that money on an upgrade that you can see or feel?".
• Design approval/inspections: Our jobs in BCS aresubmitted for permit and compliance like every other builder in our city. Our
  foundations and structural wind bracing are designed and stamped by a prof
  engineer. Our foundations are inspected prior to placement by a rep of the
  engineer as well as our internal inspections. Framing is inspected by the city,
  and we have an independent inspection done by one of the most well respected
  Licensed Real Estate inspectors in our area, Dan Tucker. We also perform internal
  inspections of our own prior to sheetrocking. Lastly, there is a final
  inspection done by the Ind Real Estate inspector before closing.
• Subcontractors: In our relatively smallmunicipality, the trade base is limited and it is inevitable that General contractors
  use the same trades. That is not the case for every trade, but many. We use
  very professional and reputable subs like BASS Plumbing, GW Electric, Tony
  Arrendondo flooring and granite, Aggieland Lighting,and the list could go on. We have many of the
  same trades that are building houses 3 and 4 times more elaborate and
  expensive.

Do we have flaws in our homes? Absolutely! Does every one ofour trades have a perfect day every day?.nope. However we are constantly
looking to improve, and we react with the customer's interest in mind when
problems arise. In short there are very few times I go through one of our
finished homes and not feel proud of it. When I do, it gets addressed. I would
put our product and its components up against our competition all day long.Bob Anderson

So, what kind of Ags forum member deal can you offer if we purchase a Stylecraft home?

Hey, can't hurt to ask.

No one else has mentioned it so I wanted to touch on one other thing that makes Stylecraft successful. Floorplans. They have very good floor plans that set many of their homes apart. Even in the smaller homes, the floorplans make very good use of space and have actual character. Often times their homes feel like they are bigger than they really are.

I've been in some really expensive high end homes in this town with terrible layouts that come nowhere close to comparing.

Many of their floor plans make no sense.

So.... "Nobody" says their floor plans make no sense? Haha I made a funny.

A floorplan where the Master Bedroom door is in the kitchen is beyond idiotic.

#WestfieldVillage

Maybe some people want to wake up and be 10 steps from coffee ? But doesn't give the Master much privacy when the kitchen and people in it are right there.

You don't have doors in those door frames?? Hinges fixed where the don't swing??

I would just shut the door, well that is the first thought off the top of my head.

My bedroom is right off the kitchen and I love it. Y'all need to think a little before you make these "idiotic" post, to use your word. I'm retired and live by myself and I think being right by the kitchen is great. If I was young, married with a lot of kids, or company all the time, then no, not a good floor plan. But for me it works. Different strokes for different folks. It's why I bought this house.

"A floorplan where the Master Bedroom door is in the kitchen is beyond idiotic."

Totally agree with Rockdoc. That is why builders have numerous floor plans. Some are not for me, some are. But to call it "beyond idiotic" is, well, idiotic because different people have different preferences.
One of my friends entertains mainly in the family room. The master is two feet away and does not pose any problems for him.

"The homes they build actually cost 60-80k. They sell them for 150-220k. "

This brilliant piece of information was also brought to you by Saratoga. As many have noted these numbers are total BS unless Saratoga has some facts to back it up. Which, of course, he doesn't.

Yeah SARATOGA definitely has some zingers. I think at one point he was a real estate agent so he thinks he knows about construction? He knows alot about everything I think: homebuilders, restaurants, contractors, etc.

I think the willingness of Mr. French and Mr. Anderson to respond in this forum, and the class with which they did it, speaks volumns about the kind of business they run. I know them well and would never hesitate to do business with them.

^ This.