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What happened to our Ryan Homes home
(and why we can never just forget it)


Not yet edited for release

There were three critical mistakes in the HVAC system, one a criminal code violation. The HVAC system produced low level CO (Carbon Monoxide) and gradually destroyed the contents of the home with soot. At first it was believed to be a heating system malfunction, not a builder error. An errant piece of fiberglass insulation was found in contact with the electric heating coils, which acts as auxiliary support for the heat pump. This errant piece of insulation was initially blamed for all the soot damage apparent in the home, and for the illness symptoms equated with low level CO exposure, as the once yellow fiberglass was blackened and had mostly burned away from it's foil backing. This was only partially part of the problem though.
 
The home was completely restored over the summer, only to once again produce soot and low level CO as soon as heat was used again the following winter season. A more precise digital CO detector was available the next season for added monitoring protection against prolonged low level CO exposure that typically wouldn't be detectible by the existing built in smoke alarms. Using the heat pump for heat did set off the home's built in smoke alarms, but only on the initial startup for each fall/winter season. (The current repaired HVAC system no longer does this, nor does it ever cause any detectable CO from using heat)
The typical reoccurring CO levels didn't trigger an "evacuation" alarm, but CO was detected in low levels, coming directly from the heat pump ducts. Everything was again gradually destroyed by the same soot damage just as before. The main soot and Carbon Monoxide producing problem was still present at that time, and had not been repaired, as we were told by Chase Heating and Air the previous summer. Thus ten of thousands in home restoration was destroyed again.
 
When the same type damages gradually reappeared, I did a more in depth study of the HVAC system than was done by previously called in experts. I discovered that that the duct work had not been sealed inside the attic return duct by removing the intake grille. (*The actual building code violation. Had this been done correctly up to code, it would have prevented ALL the significant losses and damages) I then went into the attic, where holes were visible in the cellulose insulation above the air return ductwork, as a result of it being sucked into the ductwork through large opening in the attic floor, and holes left in the duct work itself.

Had the attic been sealed before adding blown cellulose insulation, this too would have prevented such destructive damages. Cellulose insulation was freely entering the home through two large openings in the attic that were partially covered by a loose piece of cardboard. (I used high tech material called plastic, tacks and glue to create an actual attic seal.) The HVAC clearly was sucking in insulation through it's openings at the attic opening and burning it inside the air handler, whenever the heating coils kicked on to support the heat pump.
(note: the replacement heat pump has the same heating coils, but unlike the earlier version, the new heating coils have a supplemental thermostat relay that prevents the electric coils from getting "burning" hot. The previous system would get hot enough to burn your hand on contact with the outside ductwork, possibly due to the cellulose's boric acid additive damaging internal relays. The main fan relay was known to be stuck in the <on> position due to such corrosive internal damage.)

Again assuming there was a missed problem with the heat pump, it was turned off and H&H heating and air was called. But their technician could not find the viable source of the soot and CO, though he could see it was clearly coming from in the HVAC system. At that point several "experts" in the field failed to find a somewhat complex HVAC problem, that came about as the result of Ryan Homes' rushed, haphazard work and cost saving shortcuts. The problems were hidden and required disassembly of covers and access panels to fully see and understand.
People often say they get a better experience with Ryan Homes by checking up on the job site, and staying involved with the process. The only way a home buyer could have seen these problems in advance was to have been always on-site, or hired someone full time to supervise the job site. Yes, it was mistakenly assumed Ryan Homes competently manages their own job sites, and that's part of what you pay them for when you buy their homes.
Once repaired, the system was very carefully checked and tested to be certain it was actually fixed, before a second restoration was attempted, however the lack of timely support, loss recovery, and strained resources from the previous restoration caused the damages to shift into a much bigger issue of mold, or toxic mold.
 
The cellulose and soot build up in the HVAC system damaged the normal operation of the system. Still it was used only for home cooling after CO was detected from heating, and believed to be safe for cooling. The homeowners association doesn't allow window A/C units because it interferes with the uniform appearance of the homes. There was undetectable residual oily soot mixed cellulose dust that had restricted and finally clogged the A/C condenser drain pipe. As the condenser pan overflowed, the surrounding black coated insulation in the air handler acted like a sponge, holding and hiding a huge amount of excess water run off up for months, before it spread to the carpeting and became externally visible.
The constantly wet fiberglass and cellulose insulation created a home to huge mold colonies, hidden behind the service panel. The unit had been cleaned professionally several (3) times just before this failure occurred. It is my contention that the oily soot would not respond to common HVAC drain cleaners that had recently been used. A drain cleaner that would break through grease clogged drains was required to clear the pipe. 
 
During the hidden mold exposure period I developed a tumor, and my significant other developed Hashimotos syndrome during the most toxic period. Suffice to say we became severely ill, and knew nothing of toxic molds. Other permanent health damages followed, due to what we believe was primarily Aspergillus mold. The home was evacuated for three and one half years due to negative health symptoms it clearly caused when occupied, even for short periods of time. Since resources were strapped, I was doing repairs alone, and repeatedly went through illness cycles from exposure to the contaminated home. 
 
We had an attorney who filed a suit to recover damages, but he intentionally omitted Ryan Homes in the suit, and he secretly refused to have the suit he did file served. He then blocked us from filing or serving any suit until statutes on filing a suit expired. He further lied to the Virginia State Bar to avoid a scheduled prosecution hearing. He later tried to join with Ryan Homes in a threat to sue us for slander and/or defamation. The allegations from both parties were clearly false, and no real action beyond threats was taken by either party.   
A Ryan Homes representative reviewed documentation and photos of the defects and damages prior to the home become mold infested. He stated that regardless of fault, Ryan Homes would take no action or responsibility whatsoever to remedy the situation, and then demanded they be allowed to do an inspection of our home so that they could "formally state" their pre-decided position. No inspection occurred due to the pre-set terms.  Ryan Homes official public position about our issue is, they didn't get to inspect the home, and thus use that as a blanket waiver for any wrong doing.

Three opinions about the Ryan Homes situation:

Ryan Homes made three serious mistakes, though the (mistakes) have proven profitable and harmless to Ryan Homes. First, several shoddy hidden construction methods became evident throughout the home over time, but the code violation was clearly the most devastating financial and health damaging error. A number of careless errors combined to cause critical damage to the home and occupants.

Second, there appeared to be overt and covert manipulation of the justice system to dodge liability on the part of Ryan Homes. Ryan Homes effort to remove themselves in general from facing any homebuilder liabilities, over-insulated them from a valid fundamental form of legal recovery from their negligence. To this day, mandatory binding arbitration is required to buy a Ryan Homes, solely for the purpose of keeping Ryan Homes out of court for criminal negligence and shielded their operations from real consequential legal liabilities. IMO, they also use several other more subverted methods to dodge liabilities and criminal negligence as standard operating procedure, wherever they operate. 

Third, Ryan Homes threatened their victim overtly and indirectly to resolve, or rather, eliminate evidence of their mistakes. Ryan Homes only tried to make us go away to resolve the problems they created. At no point did any one from Ryan Homes or NVR offer any genuine support or remedy whatsoever toward recovery from damages they were responsible for. I believe it is a primary goal for Ryan Homes to make most victims invisible or discredit them otherwise, so that satisfied customers stand nearly alone on the spotlight of their published customer experience. Ryan Homes attempted to make us cower into the "invisible victims" column; A tactic that almost certainly insured we would never do so.     

Disclaimer  contact

Certainly it's the intent that others see there is a common problem. I don't believe I can give an expert opinion on all the subjects I'm concerned about right now, just a personal perspective that is hopefully convincing. I've been divided on how do address that. Others do write books with expert opinions, and don't really seem to know what they're talking about, but still get by. Don't want to do that. It's the old standard, write what you know.

I think other builders deserve the worst builder in America title ahead of Ryan Homes. I just never personally dealt with them. Put them up against KBR /Haliburton, Walmart's Chinese distribution scheme, big oil tactics, and legalized banking fraud, and Ryan Homes looks okay by current American standards. I think current standards are going to cause America to crash and burn though.

A truly devastating and disgusting case, and yes, you're right that the builder's mistakes are profitable and of no harm to them. 

Yes, also, to seeing similarities in virtually every bad builder case.

The rational, law abiding person thinks, "Why/how could any company keep making mistakes and still be in business?"  In reality, if a mistake becomes the home buyer's expense, it can very well be profitable for the builder to keep making mistakes.  Very few mistakes are of a nature that improves the house, are they?  Nope, they're always a matter of leaving something out, using a cheaper material, skipping steps, or just not spending the time/money to correct it but build over it instead.

Even the word "mistake" is misleading w/regard to corporate thinking, because it implies it was unintentional.  Some of today's building mistakes are more accurately called SHORTCUTS.  They are deliberate, and no true builder would think they don't shorten the life of the house and/or affect the occupants either physically, emotionally, or financially, (or all three).  Common shortcuts are omission of flashing on the roof or windows, omission of rebar in the foundation, omission or incorrect placement of anchor bolts, poor grading/drainage, too few studs or other supports, etc.  When house after house has these same "mistakes," buddy it's not inadvertant, it's a deliberate shortcut and some have become "industry standard."  NO ONE's holding the builders to the codes w/any regularity, much less any standards above the code.

The reason they are profitable is that they can get away with it.  Home buyers' legal rights are stripped by arbitration clauses and tort reform.  The building industry lobbies for laws that favor them and hamstring consumers.  They lobby to lower code requirements and oppose code changes that would require improved quality or oversight.  Judging from the amount of money the industry spends on lobbying and public relations spin, it's clear they are a wealthy industry that could well afford real construction education and could actually require members of their trade organizations to comply with high standards.  But, they don't do the right thing, they spend their money on the morally wrong thing.  This is an industry that can't properly regulate itself, and that seems to corrupt any attempt at govt regulation.  I believe the reputation of the building industry has now sunk lower than that of used car salesmen in cheap plaid suits.  If the current housing slump sees a few builders go under, so be it.  That's their free market at work.  When you basically kill all your customers, you go out of business.  Dumbasses.