best builder in vienna va

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the homes are built by migrant/illegal workers in DC area. Same subcontractors that goes from Artisan to Sekas to subpar Cherry Hill. What’s to differentiate among the builders? Nothing. When a neighbor was selling their tear down home, they vetted the potential buyers. They selected an American-owned builder because it was important to them. Guess what, 100% of the laborers were Hispanics and the site manager was Chinese. The American builder rarely came to the job site. I just don’t see going out of my way to find the “best builder”. Find one within your price range with experience and good BBB ratings.

So you checked the crew's passports, huh?
Also, LOL at the idea any builder in the area isn't "American owned" - do you think builders are managing projects from outside the US?

[Anonymous]

EV homes look gorgeous, but I see some concerning reviews regarding the people involved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Staats Homes, Cloud 9, Sommerville and a new favorite of mine EV Custom Homes.

This right here OP. This would be my list too. Absolutely love the classics of Staats, Cloud 9, Sommerville and totally agree with EV Custom Homes, LOVE them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$600 a square foot is ridiculously high..

yeah, but sometimes people like to overpay and feel proud of it.

[Anonymous]

So what are the differences between the “good” builders and the cheap ones?

[Anonymous]

We are very happy with our Sekas home, has kept up well in the last 5 years. Sekas a big builder in Vienna and surrounding, I bet they have delivered more units than anyone else. Quality matters. Bella homes and the others are trying to do new modern farm houses and quality is questionable.

[Anonymous]

Focal point

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are very happy with our Sekas home, has kept up well in the last 5 years. Sekas a big builder in Vienna and surrounding, I bet they have delivered more units than anyone else. Quality matters. Bella homes and the others are trying to do new modern farm houses and quality is questionable.

Sekas, is that you? "Delivered more units" isn't a phrase the average person uses...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the homes are built by migrant/illegal workers in DC area. Same subcontractors that goes from Artisan to Sekas to subpar Cherry Hill. What’s to differentiate among the builders? Nothing. When a neighbor was selling their tear down home, they vetted the potential buyers. They selected an American-owned builder because it was important to them. Guess what, 100% of the laborers were Hispanics and the site manager was Chinese. The American builder rarely came to the job site. I just don’t see going out of my way to find the “best builder”. Find one within your price range with experience and good BBB ratings.

When we built our house with Artisan, our site manager who was employed by them was there all of the time. Not that it matters, but he was American. He was super picky and often made the subs redo the things that were not up to his standards. And they have been super responsive with any issues in the years after. We had lived in another new-build prior to this house and had many more issues. All builders are not the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what are the differences between the “good” builders and the cheap ones?

Some things to look for:

Are they using the zip system or Tyvek?
Masonry fireplaces?
What is the roofing material?
We have stone on our house. It is real, not a composite. A mason spent a lot of time doing the stone.
What are the windows made out of? Do not cheap out on windows
No LVP. Real hard wood only.
You need a lot of landscaping. This is very expensive.
Cabinets need to be high quality. Do not allow your builder to buy the Home Depot cabs.
No cheapie bath tubs. Make sure they tile any tub fronts so it looks a lot more high end
The house should not overwhelm the property. The builder should not be squeezing every last sq ft and jamming it on the lot.
A good architect can be a very worthwhile way to spend $
Everything should be neat and clean. The subs should not be allowed to do sloppy work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what are the differences between the “good” builders and the cheap ones?

Some things to look for:

Are they using the zip system or Tyvek?
Masonry fireplaces?
What is the roofing material?
We have stone on our house. It is real, not a composite. A mason spent a lot of time doing the stone.
What are the windows made out of? Do not cheap out on windows
No LVP. Real hard wood only.
You need a lot of landscaping. This is very expensive.
Cabinets need to be high quality. Do not allow your builder to buy the Home Depot cabs.
No cheapie bath tubs. Make sure they tile any tub fronts so it looks a lot more high end
The house should not overwhelm the property. The builder should not be squeezing every last sq ft and jamming it on the lot.
A good architect can be a very worthwhile way to spend $
Everything should be neat and clean. The subs should not be allowed to do sloppy work

Also - things like plumbing fixtures should be purchased from a place like Ferguson, not Lowe’s.

Lighting is a big one - there should be plenty of overhead lights, switches with dimmers, recessed lights. The fixtures need to be scaled properly, not undersized.

[Anonymous]

Focal point is a good balance for price vs quality

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what are the differences between the “good” builders and the cheap ones?

Some things to look for:

Are they using the zip system or Tyvek?
Masonry fireplaces?
What is the roofing material?
We have stone on our house. It is real, not a composite. A mason spent a lot of time doing the stone.
What are the windows made out of? Do not cheap out on windows
No LVP. Real hard wood only.
You need a lot of landscaping. This is very expensive.
Cabinets need to be high quality. Do not allow your builder to buy the Home Depot cabs.
No cheapie bath tubs. Make sure they tile any tub fronts so it looks a lot more high end
The house should not overwhelm the property. The builder should not be squeezing every last sq ft and jamming it on the lot.
A good architect can be a very worthwhile way to spend $
Everything should be neat and clean. The subs should not be allowed to do sloppy work

Also - things like plumbing fixtures should be purchased from a place like Ferguson, not Lowe’s.

Lighting is a big one - there should be plenty of overhead lights, switches with dimmers, recessed lights. The fixtures need to be scaled properly, not undersized.

This is very informative, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Any thoughts on Bungalow Homes?

[Anonymous]

Are Focal Point and Artisan doing work in Vienna? I though they were more Mclean.

[Anonymous]

How do you find out about the problems previous customers had with the builders besides BBB? Can I look up court records?