We purchased a Relux home just over three years ago. We were thrilled to be able to afford a new construction home, but if I knew how bad their customer service was I probably would not have purchased it. The house came with a limit warrantee but trying to get any response from Relux to address issues was a real problem. When Relux did finally get around to addressing the issues the workers even warned me that I should expect more issues to come. For example, the kitchen faucet was constantly leaking so after the third attempt at fixing it they ended up replacing it. When the worker left he told me the new faucet should work for a while but I should expect it start leaking in a year or two. He was right – it started leaking again last month. My limited warrantee expired about a year ago so of course more issues have started to occur. The first big issue was the tub in the master bathroom leaking. The leak caused a hole in the kitchen ceiling so I had to hire a plumber to fix the leak in the tub we never used, and then I paid for a handyman to replace the ceiling. The second big issue was my basement partially flooding. This was caused by the poor grading Relux did around the house. When we purchased the house the grading was flagged during the home inspection so Relux told us they would fix it. I brought the home inspector back a year after purchasing the home and again he flagged the grading. Since the house was still under warrantee Relux agreed to fix it. Apparently they did not do a good job fixing it because this past spring our basement flooded and caused $1000s of dollars in damages. When this occurred I contacted Relux to see if this was under warrantee and they informed me the flooding was most likely caused due to the grading so it was not covered. I am also on the hook to pay $1000s more for a professional to come out and fix the grading issue. The third big issue occurred this past weekend when pieces of the siding fell off the house. I have no idea what caused the siding to come off as it was not windy outside that day. I reached out to Relux and asked them to put the siding back up but they said they would not as our warrantee expired. I let them know that I did not think the siding should be falling off after three years and they should take some pride in their work and do what is right and put the siding back up. They did not agree. So in short if you are thinking of buying a Relux property I would recommend against it. Just by going a simple online reach on the company it is doubtful you will find very many positive reviews.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They appear to be a semi custom builder, are building the new house on River and Brandywine (I think that is the cross street) in AU Park, but the website seem nova focused.

We have one of the mayflower homes.

We particularly like that our plan, interiors and exterior are unique (but not off the wall strange) so that it gives you a custom home look and feel rather then your typical cookie cutter tract builder layouts and finishings.

So far the house has held up well without issues. The builder has been very responsive in honoring their warranty by sending people out to caulk, touchup and fix landscaping issues and haven't encountered any major problems.

To summarize we are happy with the builder.

- Owner and President, Operations, Relux Homes

I'm evaluating builders in the Mclean area for a rebuild.
Any comments from customers who've built with Relux homes, both from someone who has gone through the process recently and also some who've had it for a few years to check how their Chinese sourced materials (frequently used items like kitchen cabinets, floors, toilets, door locks, lights etc) holds up.

I visited a couple of friends who bought a finished home within last couple of years and another who built with them and they are in general happy with the product that they got, except for some complaints with hardwood floors (had to replace the whole house), toilets, etc. I liked the product and they look quite glossy and the price seemed to be a tiny bit cheaper than other builders.

Heard that construction experience was difficult with management not being very responsive, lack of adequate supervision or follow up during construction and terrible owners who don't care or understand the concept of customer service. Heard that post sale customer service for warranty issues seemed to be extremely difficult process. Also heard that they recently had their entire warehouse burnt in a fire and are dealing with some law suits/investigations.

Any recent experience would be helpful.
How do they compare with other Mclean builders like Focal Point, Kul homes, Artifact, Classic, etc?

At it's price point we feel we got a lot for our money.

I agree with you on this.

We have a relux home. The building process was stressful, but at the end of the day we're happy with our house. It feels solid, and they've been responsive to the little things that needed fixing after closing (so far). Get everything in writing, but that is true with any business deal. The hard part is the buyer is likely only going through the process a few times in their life, so we had to learn a ton on the fly. The end result, I would never buy new construction that I wasn't actively involved in from the beginning. At it's price point we feel we got a lot for our money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is what they did for me

All pipes make noise in the house (hot water for every bathroom)
I don't understand this one I don't have this issue

Doors are not closing, door hardware doesn't lock correctly
Every new home will have settling after the wood shrinks. This is an easy adjustment you can make or have them come out to fix. They adjusted some frames and fixed this for us, DH went around to adjust the strike plates.

they install heat pumps (that can't weather lower temperatures than 32 degrees) in areas where you need furnaces
We have a heat pump on the second level and a gas furnace on the first. The heat pump upstairs will activate the electric heat strips if the temperature drops more than 2 degrees below the thermostat setting. DH wanted more control and installed a special thermostat which senses the outdoor temperature and if it is below 32 shuts off the condenser and only runs the heat strips.
This is a common thing with heat pumps not specific to this builder.




WHY should DH have to adjust strike plates or install special thermostats? My DH makes the money to afford this price range house, but he is a lawyer. He doesn't do home repair. That's why we want to buy a NEW house!

This is normal, sounds like you dh is a cuck

What an extreme reply

I am building a house with Relux , so far the experince has not been bad.. Lots of hiccups at the contract stage. The contruction phase has been much better, maybe because we were assigned a good project manager.

Anonymous wrote:Here is what they did for me

All pipes make noise in the house (hot water for every bathroom)
I don't understand this one I don't have this issue

Doors are not closing, door hardware doesn't lock correctly
Every new home will have settling after the wood shrinks. This is an easy adjustment you can make or have them come out to fix. They adjusted some frames and fixed this for us, DH went around to adjust the strike plates.

they install heat pumps (that can't weather lower temperatures than 32 degrees) in areas where you need furnaces
We have a heat pump on the second level and a gas furnace on the first. The heat pump upstairs will activate the electric heat strips if the temperature drops more than 2 degrees below the thermostat setting. DH wanted more control and installed a special thermostat which senses the outdoor temperature and if it is below 32 shuts off the condenser and only runs the heat strips.
This is a common thing with heat pumps not specific to this builder.




WHY should DH have to adjust strike plates or install special thermostats? My DH makes the money to afford this price range house, but he is a lawyer. He doesn't do home repair. That's why we want to buy a NEW house!

This is normal, sounds like you dh is a cuck

Here is what they did for me

All pipes make noise in the house (hot water for every bathroom)
I don't understand this one I don't have this issue

Doors are not closing, door hardware doesn't lock correctly
Every new home will have settling after the wood shrinks. This is an easy adjustment you can make or have them come out to fix. They adjusted some frames and fixed this for us, DH went around to adjust the strike plates.

they install heat pumps (that can't weather lower temperatures than 32 degrees) in areas where you need furnaces
We have a heat pump on the second level and a gas furnace on the first. The heat pump upstairs will activate the electric heat strips if the temperature drops more than 2 degrees below the thermostat setting. DH wanted more control and installed a special thermostat which senses the outdoor temperature and if it is below 32 shuts off the condenser and only runs the heat strips.
This is a common thing with heat pumps not specific to this builder.




WHY should DH have to adjust strike plates or install special thermostats? My DH makes the money to afford this price range house, but he is a lawyer. He doesn't do home repair. That's why we want to buy a NEW house!

Anonymous wrote:You want examples, here there are:

All pipes make noise in the house (hot water for every bathroom)
Floors are making noise and sinking after only a few months
Doors are not closing, door hardware doesn't lock correctly
they install heat pumps (that can't weather lower temperatures than 32 degrees) in areas where you need furnaces
caulking all over the house is breaking, same with wood trims
shower doors break up all the time

these are only a few......

THANK YOU, I am looking to buy in this area and I am glad you took the time to post.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Watched many homes get built in our area where they are snatching up lots as fast as possible. Their managers are nice people, but don't seem to know enough about construction to keep their subs honest and ensure quality in the things you don't see. They look nice, but the weaknesses underneath will cause long term damage before anyone knows because water will get in behind siding and tyvak (which is put on very poorly). Heat Pump comments are valid. Very loud and struggling in the winter. Can't imagine what the utility bill cost this winter. If you are buying a new home, make sure you learn a bit about construction so you can ask a few questions about how they install windows, siding and roofing. This conversation will tell you a lot about how long it will take before the water comes in under the siding and ruins the plywood (or in this case the particle board).

Do you have first hand knowledge about the water issue? Please explain what to look for. Most builders use heatpumps on the second level so why is it the case with this company?

Just came back to this board because I watched two new houses go us where the driveway awkwardly lines up with the road. Whoever buys these houses is going to hate their driveway.

House next door to us has huge heat pump in the attic. Unfortunately the pull down stairs to the attic were installed crooked so it's nearly impossible to get up there to change the filters. The stairs get stuck on the frame. No personal experience with the water behind the siding. Just a high risk.

The look of their houses are very nice and they look super luxurious. BUT that being said, the staff are not very responsive. They dont believe in Customer Service I think. They are not terrible but they dont treat you anything special that you would expect when you are buying a million dollar plus home. The building manager thinks he is doing you favor when he is doing something that is "required" by the law. We bought a home from them because we fell in love with the finishes but absolutely were not impressed by the non-responsiveness and untimely/unpreofessional way of them dealing with the buyers. I dont think they are absolutely worse in the market but I dont have anything to compare against.
My advice to whoever is going with Relux- make sure you cover your bases by having everything in the paper and do not go buy word of mouth promises and what not. Still love their models though .

Anonymous wrote:Watched many homes get built in our area where they are snatching up lots as fast as possible. Their managers are nice people, but don't seem to know enough about construction to keep their subs honest and ensure quality in the things you don't see. They look nice, but the weaknesses underneath will cause long term damage before anyone knows because water will get in behind siding and tyvak (which is put on very poorly). Heat Pump comments are valid. Very loud and struggling in the winter. Can't imagine what the utility bill cost this winter. If you are buying a new home, make sure you learn a bit about construction so you can ask a few questions about how they install windows, siding and roofing. This conversation will tell you a lot about how long it will take before the water comes in under the siding and ruins the plywood (or in this case the particle board).

Do you have first hand knowledge about the water issue? Please explain what to look for. Most builders use heatpumps on the second level so why is it the case with this company?