Lister Builders

We closed on a home that Lister Builders built for us in January of 2017. At that time the bank wanted the builders loan closed out because we were so far behind schedule. We closed on the home without our kitchen cabinets being completed; leaving money in escrow to pay Lister once the work was finished. That work took until August of 2017. In addition to the excessive amount of time it took to complete the home, we have had 4 roof leaks. One Lister fixed, two other he told us weren’t his fault but rather “an act of God.” For $1800 we had the 3rd leak repaired. The roof leaked, according to the roofing company who fixed it, because of errors that occurred during the build. The roofer told us that a home this age should not have a leaking roof, especially 3 times in less than 2 years. Most recently our roof is leaking around our upstairs balcony. Now our walls are starting to pull away from the ceiling, water running down the walls, and the paint bubbling up with water behind it. 3 days until Christmas and we have been outside, on the roof, in the rain, trying to keep our floors and walls from being completely ruined. Our kitchen sink collapsed because the cabinets weren’t cut to the appropriate size to accommodate the granite. Our kitchen drawers have collapsed for similar reasons. Our retaining wall has a large drainage system that has had numerous issues. Catch basins that were too small as well as drains along the pool deck that were 1/3 the size necessary, costing us $1000+ to fix. Because of the significant drainage issues our pool deck has now lifted off of our pool. Leaving us with only one option, that is to try and epoxy the space so that our pool water will not flow out of the top around the decking. Our slab was never leveled appropriately. This has left puddles standing around our pool deck. The repair, slated for next week, will cost us over $1000. Water runs under our garage doors and all over our belongings because the floors are terribly uneven, which will set us back $4000 to fix. Because the slab is so uneven our framing is uneven. We have a range of issues from unsightly trim mistakes to windows pulling away from the frame. We have geothermal units and we go through pumps so quickly that they never pass the end of the warranty period. When it happens we have both heating and air specialists and geothermal well technicians out to look it over. Recently we found out that the electrician used during the build wired our geothermal pumps directly to the breaker, bypassing the unit. This caused our geothermal pumps to run 24/7 and burn out. The pumps were so hot that the well company told us we are fortunate that our house hasn’t burned down. We had to pay $400 to repair the wiring issues but our pumps still burn regularly. They haven’t been able to locate the cause yet. Our slab was never termite treated which resulted in a termite infestation. That took weeks of work to repair. When they were ripping out the walls they found the window framing was not completed to code, which created an additional termite risk to our property. Currently we are having another $4,000 worth of concrete slab treatments completed. These are just a few of the issues we’ve had. All of these issues, aside from some minor repairs to the drainage system and the first leaking roof have been paid out of our pockets. Lister offered a 1-year homebuilders warranty and thus most of the subcontracted companies also only warranty their work for 1 year. We had an open book build and Lister Builders was supposed to have any cost above 10% of the estimate approved by us in writing. We never signed for a single increase in cost. We added features that were not part of the original estimate so we increased our bank loan by $70,000 to accommodate the upgrades. Now, however, Lister Builders claims we owe them $40,000. We have no idea for what. We have had numerous subcontractors come to us and ask for payment because they were either never paid or the payment took longer than they could wait. If he doesn’t pay the bill, you have to. My recommendation would be to use a different builder. Even if your initial estimate comes in lower, you will get what you pay for and end up making up the difference in the end. On our initial estimate didn’t even include faucets. When you’re handed a 10-page estimate it is incredibly hard to know if every single thing needed is accounted for, especially if you’re a first time builder, like we were. Mr. Lister is an extremely pleasant and friendly man but that alone does not equate to a quality build. If you need further validation of my claims go to any company who is involved in the home building industry of Pensacola. Flooring, landscaping, granite, appliances (or appliance repair), heating and cooling, pools, etc. and ask them for their opinion. I can provide you with pictures of most of the issues in our home, if you’d like.