A Texas family has been left distraught after learning their stunning $400,000 new-build home is so poorly constructed that it could be knocked over by a gust of wind.
Laci Booker said she moved into her Seguin home in April 2023, but within just a few weeks it became obvious that the corrective work was extensive – even though the home appears fine from the outside.
‘I feel very disappointed, I’m angry,’ she told News 4 San Antonio.
She said she hired her own home inspector, who noticed nearly 80 issues. Among them are inadequate interior and exterior wall braces.
‘What that does is make the house more vulnerable to racking to the wind loads,’ Mark Eberwine said. ‘And not even tornado-level wind loads, just high winds.’
The Bookers’ home in Seguin, Texas, offers a few visual clues to the chaos inside
But the first issues Booker said she noticed with the two-story house were that the walls were not straight – which she said made it difficult to open and close doors.
‘And so we started asking the warranty team to come in and take a look at things,’ she recounted.
They then found even more issues – and their newly-built home by Pulte Homes of Texas has become a dangerous construction zone.
Drywall was removed, exposing beams throughout.
‘You walk in and you’re greeted by studs and drywall cut out,’ Booker told the local news station.
‘The more work that they’ve done the more issues that they’ve found,’ she added.
Laci Booker said she moved into her Seguin home in April 2023, but within just a few weeks it became obvious that the corrective work was extensive
Drywall has been removed from the interior of the home, exposing beams throughout
This is what the Bookers’ home should look like, but it has been torn apart over construction flaws
As the issues became more and more extensive, Booker said the Pulte Group asked them to move into temporary housing at the company’s expense to allow for more thorough repairs without the risk to injury to her or her family.
‘We give them three weeks they’d take care of those issues, and then we could come back into our home,’ she said.
Both sides then agreed to start work after the winter holidays in 2023 – but the home is still undergoing repairs.
‘I never would have expected to be dealing with something like this,’ Booker said. ‘It’s just been a tremendous emotional and mental strain on us.’
The kitchen is still ripped apart and covered in dust, and Booker said her living room ‘where my family used to hangout and relax together is a regular construction zone.’
Home inspector Mark Eberwine said he expects there to be even more issues hiding underneath the surface
Pulte confirmed that the repair work started in January, and noted that the city of Seguin conducted its own inspection and they have resolved all the issues that were identified in that report.
They are also working to address issues outlined in his Eberwine’s report and the homebuilder said that framing repairs were needed, which subsequently resulted in repairs to the drywall and interior finishes.
But Eberwine said he believes there are even more issues hiding underneath the surface.
‘I’m absolutely certain at this point, if you were to pull this drywall, you’re going to find more structural integrity issues,’ Eberwine told the local news station.
He said he believes that is why the repairs have dragged out.
Pulte, however, claims that even though the family moved out, they did not always let the repair crews in – a claim that the Booker family denies.
‘We are aware of and are addressing the concerns raised by Mr. and Mrs. Booker, with repairs already underway, according to schedule,’ a spokesperson for the company said.
But because Booker has involved lawyers, repairs have been halted and the two sides are at an impasse.
PulteGroup Inc was previously sued by eight other Texas homeowners. CEO Ryan Marshall is pictured
Booker, though, says she just wants the company to take the house back ‘and let me get far, far away from them.’
Eberwine agreed, saying, ‘They need to buy the house back plain and simple.’
Booker’s complaints come just a few years after the owners of eight homes in Converse, Texas sued the PulteGroup Inc, claiming their properties have numerous design and construction defects that have caused ‘unacceptable levels of cracking and buckling’ to the home’s foundation.
That led to extensive interior damage, including broken tiles, split trim and cracked wall boards that rendered the homes ‘unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise unfit for living,’ the lawsuits state, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
The homeowners sued Pulte Homes of Texas for fraud, negligent construction and breach of implied warranties.
Company spokesman Jim Zeumer said at the time that it ‘works hard to deliver outstanding build quality and overall customer experience.
‘We are reviewing the filings, but we stand behind our warranty and look forward to meeting with these homeowners to assess their issues.’
The group also added in a legal filing that it is ‘not liable for normal wear, tear or deterioration,’ nor is it liable ‘for any percentage of damages caused by the plaintiff’s failure to take reasonable action to mitigate damages or to maintain the residence.’
