Liv Communities

This is our kitchen 6 months after moving in.

AND they keep ignoring my emails/calls. Enough said.

First they allowed students to work on our house (without even mentioning this to us before signing the contract) and now when we have issues they just keep ignoring us....

Aside from two full delays because of site issues we have had an endless number of problems and concerns with our new home. I am not one to usually take the time from an immensely busy life schedule and write reviews, but I wanted to share my experiences so other may be informed.

As would be expected from any builder, issues always arise for whatever reason and buying a new home from Landmart we were prepared for a few hurdles. This most recent new home purchase, and I have had a few, has experienced considerably more issues than any other new home I have purchased. I will give credit to amazing home designs, and improved level of customer service, but perhaps an increased focus on quality, completion, and detail could have avoided many of our issues.

Initially at time of PDI, and while walking through the home, we felt like things were being swiftly rushed to completion as many of the trades were still there trying to finish last minute items. Kitchens would take months to complete after possession. Hardwood stairs were left dusty from a sanding, corners and edges missing stain, and floor coverings missing. Chipped tiles, unfinished drywall, paint on tiles, missing windows handles and the central vacuum upgrade not completed and left sealed behind a finished wall. A laundry room faucet not properly installed resulting in a nearly damaging flood, missing exterior window caulking, bathroom mirrors missing, and glass shower missing are a few more to add to the list. Rather than continue with many more of the small issues, our most recent was the discovery, and since rectified issue of insulation. Ice forming on the inside of the home and cold artic air seeping into a new home by any means is a clear indication something is not correct. Whatever the reason something is not to CODE, and I will not argue that with the people that attempt to repair this deficiency.

Attentions to detail and perhaps holding people a little more accountable could have made our new home purchase a little more pleasurable,

I bought a new home from Landmart in Sept. 2011. Like others, we are experiencing problems with cold spots around all the windows which are causing mold. Upon inspection, you could actually see right through some of the window caulking which was woefully inadequate. A more acute and recurring problem is arising in a corner of the master bath where it turned out there was NO INSULATION. I don't know where Hamilton government inspectors come into this, but someone is not doing their job. Landmart made a "bandage" fix but this repair needed to be carried out in warmer weather (their claim), and thus the 2-year guarantee covering this element was conveniently bled dry. Tarion are bureaucrats and of little help.....and Landmart knows this. The mold returns each year with the cold weather.

Although the house designs are competitive, a problem may reside with the sub-contractors and Landmart's inadequate quality control during construction. It's go, go, go to get the building finished by the deadline, and then cash in.

Upgrades are ridiculously over-priced ($200 for a variable light switch in the living room). I think the electrical outlets were supplied by the Dollar store.

There is a high ceiling in the front entrance where, inexplicably, Landmart installed a kitchen-type ceiling light. You need to erect scaffolding just to change a light bulb. When I complained of this, they said they could install my replacement fixture for about 200 bucks. Geez!

We recently purchased a home in the Meadowlands of Ancaster. The experience started off positive but quickly turned to negative. Victoria was great at the decor centre and was patient and helpful. Unfortunately, one of the diagrams was labelled incorrectly and we were stuck with something that we absolutely weren't expecting. I don't think it was specifically her fault but nonetheless, the start of downhill. Fast forwarding a bit, we were supposed to have what they call a per-construction walk through which takes place before dry walling. We had ours AFTER all the drywall went in so somewhat useless. What we did discover though is that they had put the rough-in for the 3 piece washroom in the basement (that we paid extra as an upgrade) too close to the electrical panel which is against code. We persisted to have it moved to abide by code. As well, in driving by the house while in construction, our living room window pane sat outside in the dirt for over a month. The part with no window was taped up with a garbage bag and the drywall was already in. Next, we had already been delayed a month and Alan the VP of construction called us TWO days before our closing date to ask us to extend and move in at a later date because their kitchen company is backed up. We could not do this and so we were told we would have to have temporary countertops until they could get our granite installed. The temporary top was particle board. In doing our PDI with Manny, we could not believe how dirty the house was. It was as though it had not been cleaned and how could it be when they installed the kitchen the night before. Missing cupboard door, uneven stain, glue on tiles, wrong light switches, broken electrical socket in light fixture, just to name a few. We had a leak in the basement, the carpet installation is crooked and part of subfloor is uneven which shows a bump in the carpet. There were paints pills in the carpet and when the serviceman tried to scrub them out, it made the area rough and completely different texture than the "new" carpet. This builder and sales staff is absolutely dishonest and their customer service, or lack thereof, is disgraceful. People not showing up for scheduled appointments, things missed because Pina forgot to notify the service person, waiting weeks for calls or emails to be acknowledged. All of their websites preach about their excellent customer service and their experience, and to quote "we set ourselves apart from other builders by the quality and design of our homes." Yet, when I requested a meeting with the owner, I was completely ignored. It has been almost 3 weeks since this request. Even when I spoke to Michelle, the VP of Sales and Marketing, she was less than polite. I have had experience with 2 other new home builders and never have I had such an awful and upsetting experience as with Landmart Homes.

I love the design of the house. The value of the house goes up so quickly. I will easily sell this house at a higher value because of the quality and community.

I lived in the GTA and my boyfriend and I decided to move closer to his family in Ancaster. We were excited to build a home since we have bought 2 houses prior. The thought of customizing and picking out was exciting. The buying process was alright. There wasn't much options left so it took us a few days to decide which lot. One thing that I wasn't impressed was that the salesperson didn't tell us that there was going to be a drain basin in our backyard. Our lawyer found it in the agreement. The salesperson went on to say that it would be inbetween lots but it was clearly on the lot. We choose another lot. The decor centre was great and helpful. We closed our house in 6 months of the purchase date. We had our PDI and it was ok, Donna (closing service rep) went through it pretty quickly and kept on answering her phone when her children kept on calling. That was a bit disrupting. There were a few minor things that had to be fixed and it was fixed quickly the next day. But the major items took more than 5 months and until this date (6 months after closing) are still oustanding. We are on our 2nd granite countertop because the first one had a crack where the faucet was, they replaced it after 4 months but the 2nd countertop has a crack elsewhere! Prior to that, the faucet we picked at the decor centre was not functional when we moved into our house. The faucet knob would hit the back wall when we turned on the hot water. It took 4 months for them to pay for a faucet I picked, when they wanted me to for partial of it. I had to argue with the VP that they should pay for the entire price because it was their mistake. The california knock down ceiling was painted on, and you can see 3 white patches. They have not decided still what they wanted to do. The drain in the main washroom on the 2nd floor was not sealed properly, and now it is leaking into our office. The shower on the ensuite was not properly lined because the framing was not straight. THE FRAMING IN THE ENTIRE HOUSE IS NOT STRAIGHT! My staircase is also not straight. The centre window in the main bedroom is 1/2 inch higher than the two smaller windows beside it. There is a big buldge in our hardwood in the office because the house is settling on the beam. The list goes on. Those are a few.

The finish of the house is ok overall, but when you need to deal with the service manager (Jeff) it takes him a long time to make a decision on how to make repairs on major items. Smaller ones they are quick at. The TLC serviceman are great! They are helpful and they will take time to explain things to you and how to take care of a new home. They are probably the best part of the company.

When I call to get a service person to fix items, I end up talking to the answering machine 90% of the time and sometimes they don't return my phone calls.

Overall, I wouldn't buy another house from Landmart, and this is my third home in 6 years. If I could do it again, I wouldn't have bought from Landmart and wish I went with my gut feeling and took the negative reviews written here a bit more seriously. I also wouldn't recommend them as well. The only reason why I bougt a Landmart home was that my friend who is in the trades did mention that Landmart had horrible service about 5 years ago, but now is trying to fix that with the TLC service. Wish I didn't purchase a landmart home.

You can take this experience with a grain of salt, or you can take it has a caution. I just want to share my experience with future home buyers.

Building this retirement home and trusting Landmart with the construction was a leap of faith for us given the distance of 800 KM and negative reviews on the internet.
Landmart did indeed exceed our expectation(after resolving a few issues prior to closing) of a well crafted quality home at the end of this process. This is a home we can enjoy for many years.
The Landmart team we dealt with from Ron and Mark in sales,Carla and Gail at the Decor Boutique, Leo and his construction team,Alan Harkness and finally Donna McIntosh was truly amazing and committed to delivering a quality home to us. The team was instrumental in guiding us thru the selection process from afar and in person.The team was reassuring by answering many emails and phone calls to address our cocerns and sending us pictures of the progress of the construction phases.The team was professional and respectful of us and committed to resolving issues prior to closing date. In the end the Landmart team delivered a quality home to us and continues to provide excellent after care as minor issues come to surface.These isssues are dealth wih quickly and resolved thanks to the prompt attention from Pina and Shelley in Customer Services. Would we recommend Landmart as a builder...based on our experience,definetely!
Tina and Denis
Cherrywood Estates
Grimsby

I have had great dealings with Landmart homes in Ancaster. We just recently purchased our new home in the Meadowlands and couldn't be happier. The people we have dealt with from sales to service were great and efficient. We have heard horror stories about new home builders and were a little skeptical to buy new, however this experience has been great and we have a beautiful new house.

Landmart puts on a good show but when it comes down to it they are a horrible home builder. We moved in without and kitchen or bathroom and now have mold growing on every window in our 2month old home. Stay away!