Enough is Enough
It is estimated that at least 30% of the homes in our community are experiencing serious structural issues.  Over the course of the past few years, Pulte has developed a reputation of dealing with the issues in Fairhaven in one of two ways: denying there is problem and calling it “normal”, or making a cosmetic repair and calling it “fixed”.    Pulte refuses to take responsibility.  We believe home sites may not have been prepared properly and/or the design and construction of the homes do not meet the demands of the soil upon which they are built.  Our homes continue to move and shift.  As a result, many of the repairs Pulte makes are nothing more than temporary patches.  If Pulte had focused more on building a quality, lasting product and less on cutting costs to improve profit, the value and safety of our home would not be in jeopardy today. The following pictures were taken of Melinda Ruiz’s home.  Ms. Ruiz purchased her home in October 2009.  During the course of the next two years, Pulte made multiple repairs.  At one point the ceilings had lifted so much she could place her hand between the wall and ceiling.  In addition to “fixing” this issue, Pulte sealed cracks and adjusted doors numerous times.  Presently, it takes great force to open her back door and there is at least one interior door that does not shut at all.  In addition to these safety hazards, cracks in walls have reappeared and the wall/ceiling joints are beginning to show signs of distress. Clearly Pulte failed to stabilize her home, despite previous repairs.  As a result, additional work is needed. Ms. Ruiz also has cracks in her foundation.  There is at least one crack that runs across the entire length of her home and is visible from the exterior and interior of her home.  As you can see in the picture, this exterior foundation crack has been previously patched.  Clearly, the repair was ineffective.  The founda tion cracks continue to widen.
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Within two years of building the home, Pulte had replaced the tiles in the living room due to foundation movement three times.  By October 2011, Pulte had to return for a FOURTH TIME!  This time they replaced the tile throughout the entire house.  The line in the picture (below, left) is a repaired foundation crack located in the middle of Melinda’s living room.

Within two months of having been completely replaced and repaired, the foundation and tile started to crack again.  The crack now extends across the entire length of her house.  The width of the crack continues to grow to this day.
                 
Ms. Ruiz’s situation is not unique.  Pulte has repeatedly failed to address the real source of structural instability that threatens the homes in our community.  Sometimes, they come into homes, as they did with Ms. Ruiz’s, and rep air the same problems again and again.  Other times, they do nothing and claim it is normal.  We do not trust Pulte.  Nor do we believe they can and will permanently fix our homes.   Do you?