Winterfell Construction

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• By Ken G.

  January 30, 2021

  New home build

  $400,000

  My experience with Winterfell Construction on our custom home build was what I expected for the most part. Quality of subcontractor work was a recurring uphill challenge. I felt Winterfell was typically not actively engaged in quality assurance oversight of daily subcontractor work activities. Winterfell probably feels their contract performance is consistent with standard practice in the local area, and that’s probably right. In my opinion the bar for standard of quality in residential construction is set low in our local area. From my perspective, Winterfell Construction is no exception in that regard.

  Starting early in contract performance I emphasized my need for beneficial occupancy by October 2020, and to Winterfell’s credit they delivered in that regard with beneficial occupancy on October 30, 2020….sixteen months after the contract was signed.

  Despite the challenges I felt we were headed toward a reasonably happy ending, however after Winterfell began the punch list phase of performance following beneficial occupancy they became nonresponsive. It appeared as though Winterfell made a decision during that time that they would put little or no further resources toward completion of work. Winterfell began a pattern of providing workers who were in my opinion unskilled and incompetent. Punch list work created additional punch list items, and led to rework and re-rework.

  I presented my punch list to Winterfell on eleven occasions over a three-month period. Throughout that entire process I never received a punch list response from Winterfell addressing status, expectations, or intent regarding resolution. On two occasions I specifically requested Winterfell provide status and expected timeframe for resolution of each incomplete punch list item. Winterfell was nonresponsive to both requests.

  When I gave up any expectation that Winterfell would satisfactorily resolve remaining punch list items, most had been unresolved for over three months. Even low-cost simple fixes like replacing damaged door weatherstripping and repairing a damaged window screen had been unresolved for over three months. Other unresolved punch list work was more substantial. I made a decision to complete remaining work by other means at my expense - rather than contend with what would likely have been more unskilled and incompetent work, and/or more nonresponsiveness from Winterfell.

  Building a new home is a significant life event and often one of the most substantial financial investments many folks make during their lifetime. When choosing a home builder a demonstrated history of customer satisfaction should weigh heavily as a decision factor. Under normal circumstances it’s very unlikely I would have contracted with Winterfell Construction – their record of past performance would not have supported it. However, we were in extraordinary circumstances having suffered total loss of our home of 21 years to Hurricane Michael. We made a difficult decision at the time to accept the risk in order to move forward with recovery. In hindsight I would have likely made a different decision.

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