Albi Homes

Update—the same situation has not been happened in 2020 Spring even though the 2019/2020 winter was pretty cold. We have managed our house humidifier in the recommended range. I think it might be the reason.

I have a brand new Albi home built in year 2014. In the early spring of year 2016 post the colder winter of year 2015, we got multi stains in second floor ceiling in hall way, bonus room and master bedroom area, the stain area size varying from volleyball size to 2 meters long strip. Albi home told us it was caused by moisture (in air) condensation and had helped us open several more vents in the roof. But in this early spring post another cold winter, we got the second round of water condensate attack. It was worse than first one. I have to declare that we did maintain the humidifier setting lower than our neighbor who has the same size home and same number of person under the roof with us. Albi home has sprayed bleach to remove the stain. And they promised to open more vents. So far they didn’t show up to do the work. As winter approaching, we contacted Jack (customers care) for multi times, we were either told “will do later” or no response. I am worrying multi rounds of water condensate dripping after winter by winter which might give more impact/damage in addition to the ugly water stain. I have no choice to write a review here try to get answer from Albi home... I have to say that Albi home normally has good customer service. But I am dispoint on how they handled my complaint on this water issue . If you have similar experience with winter condensation, please advise the solution. Appreciate your feedback.

After 9 years of owning our house (it was a spec home) we decided to develop our basement. When the plumber opened the floor concrete, there was a big pool of water sitting under the concrete. To figure the reason for this pooling, my husband opened the concrete floor where the pipes from the weeping tiles connect to the city storm water. What he found was the drainage pipe that was supposed to carry the rain water to the city storm was not laid properly. Actually it was sitting about 2 inches above the 2 connecting pipes on the either end. There was no gradient and the water was not going through the pipe, rather it was getting collected under the concrete flooring. We had to replace the pipes, installed a sump pump to get rid of the water and finished the floor. Before doing this we contacted Brookfield homes regarding this and their response was dismissive. After all being done, we contacted Brookfield again with the pictures taken, their response was even more disappointing. Here is their response - “Our project manager here at Brookfield said the weeping tile installed is perforated and is not guaranteed or required to be perfectly sloped. It is designed to take moisture off the entire length of the slab, however is if there is slight slope or dip it can pool and moisture can result.
This is very typical and within the guidelines under any home. If you a have a storm connect you are not required to install a sump pump. I have looked into your file and there has not been any reports of floods or water leaking into your basement. This is not a warrantable item.”
I guess, we should have waited till had a flooding or a sink hole under our house.
It was blatantly bad workmanship and if they are telling us that it is okay for all the water collected from the weeping tile, to pool under the house as per the building codes is okay, it is very unprofessional. We showed it to quite a few experts on moisture mitigation and they all agreed that it was not natural and definitely not okay for so much of water to accumulate under the house.
Brookfield which owns Albi Homes is a reputed builder and we were happy with them, until now. They are refusing to admit their fault and take the ownership. Buyer beware.

Very duplicitous and untrustworthy experience with the Community Manager in the Riverstone community (by Brookfield).

Do not work with this Builder, or trust anything they say. They'll say whatever they need to make the sale. We would not recommend them to anyone, ever.

My Albi experience; Builder is evasive and do not support their work. First roofer assessed the attic trying to locate evidence of the source or water and look for further issues. This did not yield anything definitive; investigated the exterior elements of the roof and the rounded cantilever's roof on the south side of the house. A number of installation issues overall. These include: 2 missing shingles, a number of exposed nail heads, all vents on the roof required sealing, unsealed holes throughout the perimeter of the roof from where the stucco scaffolding was secured for safety. There are a few potential sources of the water staining. The drill holes from the scaffolding safety attachments are a possible place where water can get through. The other potential source is a piece of de-laminated under-sheathing (the plywood that covers the roof trusses and that they secure the shingles onto) above the cantilever on the main roof. The plywood has lifted and the nails are rusted showing evidence of longer term water intrusion.
Many installation errors and a number of defects that need to be addressed before they cause bigger issues with water intrusion. Roofer (3 roofers in total including Albi roofer) recommended an overall roof service to eliminate the potential sources of water.
Regarding (detached) garage (listed on initial builder home warranty provision as well as final house certification, will provide both); the vapour barrier was not sealed properly. Damage to the insulation and the trusses appeared to be from moisture entering the attic at various points. This occurred where the barrier interacts with features that break the continuity of the plastic material which include the light fixtures, attachments for the garage door opener and the corners. The roof insulation when installed did not leave an air gap between the trusses and the exterior wall. This causes a moisture trap in the attic. There were condensation marks on all the trusses including some mold. The roof sheathing has been affected to the point where it has lost its integrity and when pressure is applied it cracks and de-laminates. Recommendation - insulation should be removed from the roof and replaced with new material and a correctly installed vapour barrier and due to the damage to the sheathing it would need to be replaced now.
The roofer that Albi sent out indicated that the garage issue should be an Albi issue and he would make a recommendation that they repair it. He had similar comments about the rest of the roof, part would be a maintenance issue (missing shingles etc.) and the other work that likely caused the leak would be caused due to poor workmanship. He is making the recommendation that Albi repair it; "it is 100% their fault".
This process was months in duration, I had to prove the garage was part of the home, Albi was the builder etc. This was all piecemeal; weekly request of documentation. I was asked to contact home warranty with a specific person indicated by Albi; this process began again. Now, several months down the road, 4 roofers, 1 architect, 2 home inspectors and I had to pay for the repairs with no compensation from Albi.
I suggest you read this before considering Albi.

We built our current home with Albi. We love it. The process was smooth and virtually painless. Fast forward 6 years and we notice a water stain on the ceiling in our kitchen. I called Albi and they came out right away to take a look and fix the problem. That's excellent customer service! I encourage anyone looking to buy or build to look into Albi. We will be Albi customers for life.

Albi is driven by superior service. I must say, they didn't cut corners and they were a little more expensive but the quality of materials and what they included made them a way better deal in the end. My husband and I would recommend them any day and if we could do this again, Albi would be our first choice. Chris was awesome to help us navigate through the process and the foreman Marcia was super to deal with, caught many mistakes we didn't and was prompt to deal with any issues we had. Again the service was top notch.

WE have been blown away with our Albi home and their service. THey have come back to fix every difficiency and have never batted an eyelash to do so. Our house is 2 yrs old, and they're still providing assistance if we need it.

I STARTED RESEARCHING THE HOME BUILDERS IN CALGARY AS I WAS INTERESTED IN BUILDING A NEW HOUSE. I HAD ALWAYS HEARD ABOUT ALBI HOMES AND STARTED VISITING COMMUNITIES WITH ALBI SHOWHOMES. ALTHOUGH I WAS SUPER IMPRESSED WITH THEIR HOMES AS THEY ARE ALL GORGEOUS I WAS LESS THAN IMPRESSED WITH THEIR PRICES. I FOUND ALBI HOMES TO BE ONE OF THE MORE EXPENSIVE HOMES TO BUILD WITH AND I FOUND OTHER BUILDERS THAT OFFERED BETTER SPECIFICATION OPTIONS. I DECIDED TO GO WITH A DIFFERENT BUILDER AS I FELT THEY CATERED TO MY NEEDS A LOT BETTER, AS WELL AS THEIR OPTIONS WERE PHENOMINAL AT AFFORDABLE PRICES.

we have been building with Albi Homes and i must say, it has been a great experience. We didnt know too much about house building when we started and heard lots if horror stories and things not included but Albi has been going the opposite of the norm. They told us 1 year to build and we are taking possession in 8 months! We accidentally picked a horrible colour for our stucco which got approved but they helped us out by slitting the cost to change it. The deck is included!! And the finishings on the house are top notch. They seem to be a bit more expensive than other builders upfront, but my husband and i found that with everything inlcuded we actually got the better value. I would recommend Albi Homes to anyone, and will build with them again.

They have really good sales people. Design and selections went really well. Construction/Quality of home wasn't up to what they promise/say. Get everything done before possession. Once money is paid, it will take months and you will have to do lot of hardwork figuring out all the issues and explaining to them. Sales people promise zero deficiency at possession, we had much more.