Ray M — Feb 06, 2020
OUR REVIEW ON BUILDING WITH REDSTONE CUSTOM HOMES LLC, NICHOLAS COOPER
First off, praises to God for blessing us with this forever…
OUR REVIEW ON BUILDING WITH REDSTONE CUSTOM HOMES LLC, NICHOLAS COOPER
First off, praises to God for blessing us with this forever home. Also, this is our experience and solely our experience of building with Redstone Custom Homes LLC owned by Nicholas Cooper in Edmond, Oklahoma. This build is our dream home and we took a great amount of care and attention to detail in building this. Approximately, 14 (+ or – 2) different subcontractors and vendors combined helped to make this a reality which took 1.6 years to build (19 months) from meeting to closing, and exactly 14 months of actual build time. In this review we will discuss in totality each phase/subcontractor, pros/cons, and improvements/sustains of the build. The review will be objective as possible from a first-person point of view. Our intention is not to demeanor, inflate, lift up, nor embarrass anyone, but to give facts of the build performance and client satisfaction/dissatisfaction. It will be broken down in a sequential order starting from March 2018 to October 2019. Once again this is only for informational purposes for anyone wanting to build a home with Redstone Custom Homes LLC and what you will more than likely experience.
Meeting:
It started March 2018, broke ground August 2018, and finished October 2019. Our first meeting with Nicholas Cooper (Redstone Custom Home owner) was in March 2018 in the city of Edmond at a Café. Here we were also graced with the presence of our Realtor Jeanna Davis (Keller Williams Platinum Elite). Knowing Nick had explained to us he is a Christian and modeled his business after that (which aligned with our beliefs) we discussed the overall process and decided to do business with him. He had everything my wife and I were looking for, as in, land and location. There was a contract developed by Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association (COHBA) that was more tailored for the business, but Nicholas was willing to amend it for you, and have buyer’s satisfaction to get you into the contract. Once you were under contract, he didn’t want to abide by it. We had a closing date of January 5, 2019, but that was broken several times until October 2019. From here, we designed our home.
Design:
We drew out a rough sketch of the build and emailed it to his architecture. Nick had told us we had unlimited changes, but after six changes he wished he had not told us that. OPINION: We believe his architect was getting frustrated. It took about a month to finish the plans (March -April 2018). We wanted our own plans drawn by us because he (Nick) advertised CUSTOM builds and all his stuff looked the same to us.
The Building Process:
WE FOREWARNED NICHOLAS COOPER THAT WE WOULD BE CONSTANTLY INVOLVED IN THIS BUILD. Prior to breaking ground, we had to wait for Nicholas to secure the loan. There was a time lapse of about 3+ months until the loan was secure and all documents were in order for this project to begin. August 2018 groundbreaking commenced. We lived in an apartment, so we were able to keep tabs on the build especially knowing we were going to invest a lot into it. We originally had our garage facing North, but Nicholas asked if we could flip the home. He stated it was better so the tower would not be obscured by the oak tree in the front. We agreed however, we came to the realization that all houses on the street had their garages facing south, so obviously that was the reason, not the obscuration. One thing we asked Nicholas was to be transparent in the process. We asked to see where the money was going to ensure he was not short changing us because we felt as though there was a lot of pick and choose on his part in products and price making (he does use a lot of good products for the foundation, framing, and sheathing). He would never show us where the money was being spent, so we could allocate it to other areas in the house. He did state, “YOU USE IT OR LOSE IT.” Who in their right mind says that to buyers? How could we know if we were using it if we didn’t know where the money was going? There was never a set price on the items even though he said there was a standard. Also, on things that had overages he wouldn’t take out what his cost would be leaving us with the totality of the bill from parts and labor. Thank fully we caught this. At least four times a week we would travel 24 miles round trip to check on the process. We would notice many issues and would take pictures then send them to Nick asking it to get fixed. There wasn’t one week we didn’t find a problem. We had numerous questions which we asked constantly to ensure we understood the process and why things were either incorrect or not getting done. Nicholas had become irritated after I yelled at him because nothing was getting done. He STOPPED building during the month of September/October. (HE USED RESIDENTIAL IMMIGRANT CHEAP LABOR EVEN THOUGH THE CONTRACT STATED SKILLED WORKERS ALL WHILE VIOLATING OSHA STANDARDS (improper safety procedures, not on-site foreman, etc.). Unfortunately, the state of Oklahoma does not require their builders to be licensed. He had emailed us an addendum stating that me (husband of buyers) could not go on the site except for once a week and to meet Friday with him. I never signed this since the original contract gave me full authority to come on site. Once we sat down with him at our realtor’s office we came to an agreement (only allowed to ask questions once a week even though he said to come to him all the time) and he started to build again. He used the excuse a lot when nothing was being done on the house, that the weather was the factor. Unfortunately, he used that same excuse when the roof, driveway, and siding was up too. There was too many excuses and not enough accountability on his part. When we would contact him either text, email, or voice we would not receive a response until a week later or not at all. He likes to ignore or run from a problem with his buyers and this is not an acceptable response, nor professional. The build site was constantly littered with trash and there was beer cans and bottles everywhere from the workers.
When January 5th 2019 came around, he was not nearly done with the project. He told us the first time he would be done at the end of January 2019 (false). Then he signed another end date of February (false). Next was April (False) again. He dragged on like this until October 2019 selling us false hope causing us to revert since January 2019 to pay extra in rent (We have numerous texts/emails to support). To compensate he agreed to pay our monthly storage as long as I (husband of buyer’s) would stay off the site however, if he had just kept us informed, not lied, hid things, or become emotional these problems would had never manifested. We contacted COHBA, VA builder’s complaint department, and BBB about Redstone Custom Homes LLC.
Like aforementioned, he used great products for the foundation and frame of the home, but all other parts were builder’s choice products which we had to upgrade out of pocket since the allowance was minimal. Numerous times we asked him why doesn’t he put the cost equal products in these homes since average cost was high 300k. He stated there is a standard however, we found out there wasn’t. He put things based off cost effectiveness and not custom. There was nothing custom about these homes he was building except a few things. He also stated he puts in cost free upgrades (not standards) if he likes you. Our home truly was our design with our choices. We wanted what was paid for, nothing more nothing less.
Subcontractors:
His actual installers and painters were about half and half for satisfactory. Let us give you the understanding by area.
ROOF: He would not higher certified Owens Corning roofers because he said it was too much, so he used who he deemed could do it. He did however redo our roof three times for unsatisfactory work which he wasn’t going to fix. He initially said he’s fix it, but backed off until I had documentation showing he had agreed to it. Even after inspection, the roof still isn’t installed right. There is a BOW over the garage on the East side.
FRAME: Overall it is sound except for a couple bows in the wall.
SHEATHING: He used ZIP BOARD. There were some holes in it, but because we were upgrading our insulation only a few were covered with the ZIP tape.
BRICK and STONE: The Brick was great and fair priced for what we know. The stone was excellent expect his installer did not complete the work which we had in the addendum. The mortar used was two different colors, and they left holes where mortar should be to protect from moisture and elements.
FLOORING: We were very pleased with it except for the fact we had to spend our own cash on hand to upgrade it to actually get cost equivalent styles/products in our home which should have been in the cost to build, and was prevalent in all areas for aesthetics.
DRYWALL (sheetrock): Standard drywall was used and concrete board in the wet areas. Unfortunately, he did not use the fire retardant around the fireplace or on the whole wall that encased the ventless fireplace. When we asked him to fix that he only placed a minimal piece directly above the fireplace (noticed after we closed).
PLUMBING: This is good expect for a terrible inlet/exhaust system pipe lay-in for the tankless water heater and a couple of faucets that were loose.
WINDOWS: Ply Gem windows were installed which aren’t bad except some were hung crooked and now need to be replumbed and squared (they aren’t closing).
COUNTERTOPS and INTERIOR STONE: NATURAL STONE DESIGN This was a disaster. Two different times they got the wrong stone for our kitchen and laundry room, cut the fireplace stone angled the first time, and too tall the second time. There were also defects that needed correcting.
WIRING: CHALLENGER ELECTRIC There were some issues with it that were corrected however, the electric company used unlicensed electricians without the proper 1:3 ratio of license to apprentice and journeyman. In essence, unlicensed workers were not supervised. Still have a problem with outdoor lighting.
Overall, the Bones of the home aren’t bad, but not great. Furthermore, there was no attention to detail in the fine parts of the home that the eyes see. My wife and I ensured all things were brought up to standard/or better. The exterior work IE Landscaping and SOD was satisfactory.
Conclusion:
Overall, this building process was a complete disaster. It took way to long to build and to many mistakes were made. Nicholas Cooper is a nice guy however, severely lacks business and professional etiquette and skills. He didn’t check behind his laborers, and would not attempt anything by himself for fear of messing up. He doesn’t answer our communications anymore (has done this to others on our street) and when he did answer our questions it would take a week to hear back from him with another excuse. Nick has not finished his obligations from an addendum he signed and is incognito. We had patience, but now we are fed up with the lazy and unwillingness to fix things or get them done. We hope no one civilian or veteran will ever have to go through what we experience. In our experience, he went back on his word which was unacceptable even with a signed contract. WE DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE TO DO BUSY WITH REDSTONE CUSTOM HOMES LLC.
Read more
OUR REVIEW ON BUILDING WITH REDSTONE CUSTOM HOMES LLC, NICHOLAS COOPER
First off, praises to God for blessing us with this forever home. Also, this is our experience and solely our experience of building with Redstone Custom Homes LLC owned by Nicholas Cooper in Edmond, Oklahoma. This build is our d…
OUR REVIEW ON BUILDING WITH REDSTONE CUSTOM HOMES LLC, NICHOLAS COOPER
First off, praises to God for blessing us with this forever home. Also, this is our experience and solely our experience of building with Redstone Custom Homes LLC owned by Nicholas Cooper in Edmond, Oklahoma. This build is our dream home and we took a great amount of care and attention to detail in building this. Approximately, 14 (+ or – 2) different subcontractors and vendors combined helped to make this a reality which took 1.6 years to build (19 months) from meeting to closing, and exactly 14 months of actual build time. In this review we will discuss in totality each phase/subcontractor, pros/cons, and improvements/sustains of the build. The review will be objective as possible from a first-person point of view. Our intention is not to demeanor, inflate, lift up, nor embarrass anyone, but to give facts of the build performance and client satisfaction/dissatisfaction. It will be broken down in a sequential order starting from March 2018 to October 2019. Once again this is only for informational purposes for anyone wanting to build a home with Redstone Custom Homes LLC and what you will more than likely experience.
Meeting:
It started March 2018, broke ground August 2018, and finished October 2019. Our first meeting with Nicholas Cooper (Redstone Custom Home owner) was in March 2018 in the city of Edmond at a Café. Here we were also graced with the presence of our Realtor Jeanna Davis (Keller Williams Platinum Elite). Knowing Nick had explained to us he is a Christian and modeled his business after that (which aligned with our beliefs) we discussed the overall process and decided to do business with him. He had everything my wife and I were looking for, as in, land and location. There was a contract developed by Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association (COHBA) that was more tailored for the business, but Nicholas was willing to amend it for you, and have buyer’s satisfaction to get you into the contract. Once you were under contract, he didn’t want to abide by it. We had a closing date of January 5, 2019, but that was broken several times until October 2019. From here, we designed our home.
Design:
We drew out a rough sketch of the build and emailed it to his architecture. Nick had told us we had unlimited changes, but after six changes he wished he had not told us that. OPINION: We believe his architect was getting frustrated. It took about a month to finish the plans (March -April 2018). We wanted our own plans drawn by us because he (Nick) advertised CUSTOM builds and all his stuff looked the same to us.
The Building Process:
WE FOREWARNED NICHOLAS COOPER THAT WE WOULD BE CONSTANTLY INVOLVED IN THIS BUILD. Prior to breaking ground, we had to wait for Nicholas to secure the loan. There was a time lapse of about 3+ months until the loan was secure and all documents were in order for this project to begin. August 2018 groundbreaking commenced. We lived in an apartment, so we were able to keep tabs on the build especially knowing we were going to invest a lot into it. We originally had our garage facing North, but Nicholas asked if we could flip the home. He stated it was better so the tower would not be obscured by the oak tree in the front. We agreed however, we came to the realization that all houses on the street had their garages facing south, so obviously that was the reason, not the obscuration. One thing we asked Nicholas was to be transparent in the process. We asked to see where the money was going to ensure he was not short changing us because we felt as though there was a lot of pick and choose on his part in products and price making (he does use a lot of good products for the foundation, framing, and sheathing). He would never show us where the money was being spent, so we could allocate it to other areas in the house. He did state, “YOU USE IT OR LOSE IT.” Who in their right mind says that to buyers? How could we know if we were using it if we didn’t know where the money was going? There was never a set price on the items even though he said there was a standard. Also, on things that had overages he wouldn’t take out what his cost would be leaving us with the totality of the bill from parts and labor. Thank fully we caught this. At least four times a week we would travel 24 miles round trip to check on the process. We would notice many issues and would take pictures then send them to Nick asking it to get fixed. There wasn’t one week we didn’t find a problem. We had numerous questions which we asked constantly to ensure we understood the process and why things were either incorrect or not getting done. Nicholas had become irritated after I yelled at him because nothing was getting done. He STOPPED building during the month of September/October. (HE USED RESIDENTIAL IMMIGRANT CHEAP LABOR EVEN THOUGH THE CONTRACT STATED SKILLED WORKERS ALL WHILE VIOLATING OSHA STANDARDS (improper safety procedures, not on-site foreman, etc.). Unfortunately, the state of Oklahoma does not require their builders to be licensed. He had emailed us an addendum stating that me (husband of buyers) could not go on the site except for once a week and to meet Friday with him. I never signed this since the original contract gave me full authority to come on site. Once we sat down with him at our realtor’s office we came to an agreement (only allowed to ask questions once a week even though he said to come to him all the time) and he started to build again. He used the excuse a lot when nothing was being done on the house, that the weather was the factor. Unfortunately, he used that same excuse when the roof, driveway, and siding was up too. There was too many excuses and not enough accountability on his part. When we would contact him either text, email, or voice we would not receive a response until a week later or not at all. He likes to ignore or run from a problem with his buyers and this is not an acceptable response, nor professional. The build site was constantly littered with trash and there was beer cans and bottles everywhere from the workers.
When January 5th 2019 came around, he was not nearly done with the project. He told us the first time he would be done at the end of January 2019 (false). Then he signed another end date of February (false). Next was April (False) again. He dragged on like this until October 2019 selling us false hope causing us to revert since January 2019 to pay extra in rent (We have numerous texts/emails to support). To compensate he agreed to pay our monthly storage as long as I (husband of buyer’s) would stay off the site however, if he had just kept us informed, not lied, hid things, or become emotional these problems would had never manifested. We contacted COHBA, VA builder’s complaint department, and BBB about Redstone Custom Homes LLC.
Like aforementioned, he used great products for the foundation and frame of the home, but all other parts were builder’s choice products which we had to upgrade out of pocket since the allowance was minimal. Numerous times we asked him why doesn’t he put the cost equal products in these homes since average cost was high 300k. He stated there is a standard however, we found out there wasn’t. He put things based off cost effectiveness and not custom. There was nothing custom about these homes he was building except a few things. He also stated he puts in cost free upgrades (not standards) if he likes you. Our home truly was our design with our choices. We wanted what was paid for, nothing more nothing less.
Subcontractors:
His actual installers and painters were about half and half for satisfactory. Let us give you the understanding by area.
ROOF: He would not higher certified Owens Corning roofers because he said it was too much, so he used who he deemed could do it. He did however redo our roof three times for unsatisfactory work which he wasn’t going to fix. He initially said he’s fix it, but backed off until I had documentation showing he had agreed to it. Even after inspection, the roof still isn’t installed right. There is a BOW over the garage on the East side.
FRAME: Overall it is sound except for a couple bows in the wall.
SHEATHING: He used ZIP BOARD. There were some holes in it, but because we were upgrading our insulation only a few were covered with the ZIP tape.
BRICK and STONE: The Brick was great and fair priced for what we know. The stone was excellent expect his installer did not complete the work which we had in the addendum. The mortar used was two different colors, and they left holes where mortar should be to protect from moisture and elements.
FLOORING: We were very pleased with it except for the fact we had to spend our own cash on hand to upgrade it to actually get cost equivalent styles/products in our home which should have been in the cost to build, and was prevalent in all areas for aesthetics.
DRYWALL (sheetrock): Standard drywall was used and concrete board in the wet areas. Unfortunately, he did not use the fire retardant around the fireplace or on the whole wall that encased the ventless fireplace. When we asked him to fix that he only placed a minimal piece directly above the fireplace (noticed after we closed).
PLUMBING: This is good expect for a terrible inlet/exhaust system pipe lay-in for the tankless water heater and a couple of faucets that were loose.
WINDOWS: Ply Gem windows were installed which aren’t bad except some were hung crooked and now need to be replumbed and squared (they aren’t closing).
COUNTERTOPS and INTERIOR STONE: NATURAL STONE DESIGN This was a disaster. Two different times they got the wrong stone for our kitchen and laundry room, cut the fireplace stone angled the first time, and too tall the second time. There were also defects that needed correcting.
WIRING: CHALLENGER ELECTRIC There were some issues with it that were corrected however, the electric company used unlicensed electricians without the proper 1:3 ratio of license to apprentice and journeyman. In essence, unlicensed workers were not supervised. Still have a problem with outdoor lighting.
Overall, the Bones of the home aren’t bad, but not great. Furthermore, there was no attention to detail in the fine parts of the home that the eyes see. My wife and I ensured all things were brought up to standard/or better. The exterior work IE Landscaping and SOD was satisfactory.
Conclusion:
Overall, this building process was a complete disaster. It took way to long to build and to many mistakes were made. Nicholas Cooper is a nice guy however, severely lacks business and professional etiquette and skills. He didn’t check behind his laborers, and would not attempt anything by himself for fear of messing up. He doesn’t answer our communications anymore (has done this to others on our street) and when he did answer our questions it would take a week to hear back from him with another excuse. Nick has not finished his obligations from an addendum he signed and is incognito. We had patience, but now we are fed up with the lazy and unwillingness to fix things or get them done. We hope no one civilian or veteran will ever have to go through what we experience. In our experience, he went back on his word which was unacceptable even with a signed contract. WE DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE TO DO BUSY WITH REDSTONE CUSTOM HOMES LLC.
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