Smith Douglas Homes
reviews and complaints

We went under contract in Jan 2021. We purchased a premium lot from SDH with .34 acres of mostly flat land that was changed once building started. We kept being told during the construction process, there would still be grading done in the back. However, that never happened, we closed in Nov 2021. We are having issues making our backyard functional. We have 3 levels to our backyard, the patio area 10x20 concrete, the drainage area and the wooded area. They built the drainage area in the middle of our backyard taking away functional space and our level 3 area is eroding badly. We've had landscapers come out to quote us and it would require $20k-$40 for a retaining wall, slope and stairs to be able to use the space. Most of them, turn away because they know it'll be a big job. All of them do not understand why our developer would build a drain in the middle of our yard to take away our functional space. Our neighbors have already consulted with the warranty person multiple times regarding the erosion in the back with no response. We finally reached out to the city and someone from the engineer department of grading came out to look at our backyard. He also told us that he doesnt understand why our developer left our lots in that shape. He spoke to one of the construction managers who told him they would come fix it. They are to smooth out the grading from the entrance to the third house down (we are in the second house), however we do not know to the extent of what will be done, timeframe it will be done, and no one has come to talk to us about what exactly is going to happened. We would like for Smith Douglas to send someone out to look at our lot, fix the area that is eroding and find a different solution for the location of the drainage area. It is unfair to sell someone a lot and then cannot even allow them to use it by putting a drainage in the middle of their yard and didn't tell them they couldn't do anything to the space until after you sold the home.

I purchased my townhome from Smith Douglas in July. During one of the walk throughs, we noticed standing water behind our house. ***, the construction manager, said they would correct this by installing a french drain, which they did. However, the townhomes behind us and all of the ones upstream drain into our 1 little 6 inch drain, which then flows into a drainage are. The drainage area had standing water issues which they would not fix, so I reported them to the city. It was then corrected. The real issue though, is that the 5 townhomes in the row behind us sit about 5 feet higher than ours and have a retaining will separating us. Additionally, all of their downspouts point to our row of townhomes. They do not have a drain. When there is a stead rain, all of their water flows into our backyards and eventually into the 1 little drain that sits behind my house. Often, it looks like Niagara Falls with water pouring from their downspouts and over the retaining wall. When I contacted *** via the sales agent, he said that this was "normal" and that they would not do anything about it unless there was standing water for more than 48 hours. He had the sales agent call me rather than put it in writing. Now, because of river that forms behind our house anytime there is a heavy rain, all of our grass has been washed away and the dirt is starting to erode, exposing the drain. I have complained to our HOA rep who as tried to get a resolution from Smith Douglas, but their response was that they already put a drain in so no further remedies would be taken, other than to put down pinestraw. I have repeatedly try to get a real response out of them, but our HOA rep says he has not received anything from them. At this point, it is obvious that they are refusing to accept responsibility for their poor drainage design. What needs to be done is a drain needs to be installed in the row behind us. I have emails, images, and videos of everything. Videos upon request.

Smith Douglas Homes (SDH), and their warranty team, (***, and others) have continuously denied warranty coverage on outstanding issues with our home since end of 2019. The immediate claim entails his, (SDH) denial to take care of maufacturing, structural installation and/or satisfactory completion of install and painting. Siding and windows are the builders, SDH responsability. Nine *** blank siding boards had cracked on the east wall. Each and evey time we notified SDH it was *** whom continually denied claims. Once I had reached out to general management the president of their siding company arrived and had a single man put in 9 new boards, one which has already carcked (see below). Also, I requested a painting crew to paint entire wall. After many failed attempts *** and a general worker showed up painted 9 boards with new paint and left leaving the wall incomplete (a mess). I notified SDH of said irregular painting and again *** denied any claims. Additionally I have tried contacting ***, *** warranry team yet SDH has ignored me. I had to hire my own contractor for completion of said job and paid a total of *** to *** Painting 4/9/2022. I'm requesting a full refund of said work. In addition Ply Windows (SDH) window contractor has a "life time warranty" on said windows which would include window failure. I had to request through Ply Windows new replacement of said window upper/lower sash. Again, SDH is refusing to have it installed. The rate per their contractor, 84 Lumber is ***. SDH may call in the installation to *** (***) and/or include the full price of *** in my check, making the total amount ***. SDH and all their employees have been contacted and have stopped responding to us. I have followed through on my end completing many warranty claims through subcontractors on my own due to the denials of SDH. Compensation in the amount of *** is requested. Regards

SD has not fulfilled the warranty terms agreed upon. Over 6 maintenance req for the bottom heating & ac,8 tech visits & the heat is still not working Words cannot express the anger I am feeling today for my experience with Smith Douglas and my home construction and its vendors. Finally, everything appeared to be going good with the repairs, after continuous maintenance tickets, which took over 4 months to complete. I've submitted 10 maintenance requests on the bottom heating and air conditioning unit. I've submitted maintenance tickets for several issues and finally, just this month everything was completed after hours and hours of my time and effort to get my new home in order. At 2am this morning my lights started flickering in my living room, kitchen and floodlight on the back porch. I checked the circuit box and there were several circuits that had tripped as a result of whatever occurred - I lost 80% of the power downstairs, including my refrigerator. I am using well below the maximum threshold for the circuits and home. I have not added anything new, in terms of appliances.I played around with the circuit breaker and I attempted to reset the main switch as I've been told to do. Nothing worked, then finally at 3am everything came back on. This morning the same thing happened again downstairs, the lights started flickering and same issue. After about an hour everything came back on. In the interim, I called Dover electric and they came out and inspected the circuit box. The technician advised that everything was working ok from the circuit box. However, as soon as he left the same thing happened again. No power to over 80% of downstairs, including my refrigerator and stove. The electrician from Dover advised me to contact the City of Covington so that they can come and inspect their portion of the service on the outside. The power is working intermittently downstairs and now my thermostat and heater is not working once again. I've had more issues with this new house than I've ever had in all the houses I've lived in over a 30-year time span. I've sent emails to both of you several times and I have yet to receive a response from either of you. Our world is in a crisis right now and my refrigerator and stove are working intermittently in the brand-new house that I've purchased less than a year ago from Smith Douglas. In addition, this is the 11th or 12th time that the thermostat and heater has stopped working. My patience in dealing with Smith Douglas is gone I am LIVID. Now not only is my heat not working, I have intermittent use of the stove and refrigerator.