Blalock Homes

As best I can recall, I have never written a review online or used social media to complain about an individual or company. After much deliberation, I have decided that my experience with Blalock Homes and Kris Blalock needs to be shared. As there is far too much to type and explain in a review, I would encourage you to contact me for further details.

My experience with Blalock Homes is similar to other reviews you will find online. Kris completed my home almost four years ago and, to date, we are still dealing with major issues on the home. When we first contacted Kris to build, he had very creative ideas and showed us several homes that were of a similar style to what we wanted. We talked to a few of these clients who were either just moving in or were close to doing so. The few we spoke to agreed that Kris was creative and, while they had some complaints about timeliness, they were happy with the house.

Where I made my first mistake was taking these as references. I failed to contact homes that had been built for some time and I failed to contact subs Kris worked with in the past. These same people that were happy with the house upon moving in would contact me later to voice their displeasure with Blalock. They experienced issues with quality in craftsmanship, warranty issues, subs not being paid and broken promises.

Currently, I am having to repair an entire screened-in porch that has pulled away from the house due to an improperly constructed footing. On several occasions, Kris would patch where the porch pulled away from the house only for it to have it happen again. I was assured on several occasions that I would not be left hanging and he would get it fixed. Upon an engineer inspecting, he determined the footing had to be underpinned by a foundation specialist. This is a very costly process and, upon getting a bid and giving it to Kris, I was told, “I am not sure what you want me to do. If the sub did not do something correctly, I can’t be responsible for that. He has to warranty his work.” When I responded by asking Kris, “Then why did I pay you a management fee as the GC,” I got a lot of rambling from him in return but no real answer. After much back and forth I believe Kris’ official position is that it’s unfortunate that it happened, however he did nothing wrong.

Since dealing with the issue of my screened porch coming off my house, my pool has started leaking. It is leaking because my entire pool deck has dropped, which has cracked the pipes underneath. It has been determined that this cannot be fixed. So my entire pool deck has to be ripped out and poured again. This happened because by pool deck was built on fill that was not properly compacted. For my troubles, Kris recently offered $10,000. This is a fraction of the cost to cover the repairs. Now not only must I fix the mess he made, but I also have to hire an attorney to recover the money. These are just the latest two issues. I would encourage you not to take my word for it. Do your research. Contact Williamson County Codes and ask for addresses of homes he has built. Contact the homeowners on your own. You will be amazed at the same story you hear over and over.

We’ve restrained from posting a review, but, as time elapsed, we feel compelled to share our experience. Aesthetically, Blalock Homes has a good product. They understand curb appeal and the latest trends that are being integrated into building; even quite patient through the design stages. Personally, Kris Blalock seems like a good guy. They do not, however, seem to understand they are involved in a very emotional purchase; these are homes not just houses.
The first two-thirds of the build was relatively smooth, though long gaps without work seemed to appear. This resulted in us moving 3 times due to missed deadlines that the builder set for himself. Just prior to our actual move-in, we found we were significantly over budget. Further, our contract (as do most) specifically stated that upon move-in, our punch list was to be documented, and within 30 days completed. It also stated that if the builder anticipated additional costs, we were to be presented an estimate (non-binding) of said costs upon/prior to closing. Despite this, the spending trend continued well at and after move-in despite the contract stating otherwise; even an attempt to charge us a substantial amount for items for which invoices could not be supplied.
Spending aside, the punch list took 7 months to “complete” and, unfortunately, the 1 year warranty work is still incomplete 2.5 years in. To date, our home stands with major leaks to the outside “waterproof” deck system and structural brick step cracks on the front and rear of the house. Most recently, a leak that they were to have addressed has now damaged two walls and a large portion of hardwood flooring. These are documented warranty and punch projects that we will unfortunately correct on our own after already spending approximately $10K on other mistakes, warranty and punch work. We are still working through propane gas leaks, improper fire-proofing, leaking doors and windows installed incorrectly. All said, most items are due to substandard subcontractors/workmanship which could have been simply curbed with some level of oversight.
At this price-point, aesthetically pleasing houses shouldn’t be the only targeted outcome. Ultimately, home buyers need someone onsite to manage their build and subcontractors; keeping all in scope, on time, in budget through physically overseeing the project.
To close, Blalock seems to have a good sense of aesthetics, though need process maturity in managing their client projects and their business altogether.
Do your homework. Heed reviews; ask around; pull records at the county to see for whom they’ve built; talk to those who have completed builds. This is a major purchase; don’t make it an emotional one.

There's really not much good I can say about the process we endured or the final product Blalock Homes delivered as compared to what we were promised. The sad part is that the builder continually puts the blame on others and refuses to accept responsibility. No matter how many things go wrong, it's always someone else's fault. A home built by Blalock Homes that doesn't involve attorneys, hard feelings and shattered dreams is not something I've come across since we began the home building process in the Fall of 2011.

The three biggest shortcomings I experienced during the building process were lack of communication (builder/client; builder/supplier; builder/subcontractor; builder/employee), organization and the inability to deliver on promises (quality/time/cost).

If you are considering building a home with Blalock Homes (or any builder for that matter), I highly recommend putting a call in to the county/city codes department to get a feel for the builder's reputation, be sure your financial institution takes a look into the builder's finances, have an attorney review your contract before signing (be sure it clearly states the level of quality agreed to and don't just rely on the sales pitch you receive), hire an independent home inspector to be sure shortcuts are not taken during the process and be sure to require lien waivers from the builder's suppliers and subcontractors throughout the process. Also, be sure to check with the owners of the homes the builder tells you they built. Although they might look nice from the outside, it's amazing what you may find.

Unfortunately we found out the answers to all these questions way too late in the process and hope others can avoid a similar outcome. We've spent the past 18 months (and ~$50,000) remodeling our Blalock home. Quotes came in as high as $200,000+ but we've had to pick our battles and repair only those items we simply could not live with (or without in instances where Blalock Homes simply did not finish the job).

As we've peeled back the onion, we've found additional issues at just about every step of the way. Simply too many issues to list. Do yourself a huge favor and find a builder with a true list of references, not just someone who can hire a fancy photographer or tell you to drive by a house they built.

If you do choose to do business with Blalock Homes, please do everyone else a favor and share stories of your experience. Unless drastic changes have been made recently, I'm confident your experience will not be pleasant.