The document describes numerous issues experienced by homeowners during the design and construction process of a new home built by Ryland. In the design phase, there were inconsistent answers from Ryland staff, lack of product knowledge, and an adversarial relationship. During construction, the home had deviations from blueprints, incorrect or poor quality materials, and shoddy workmanship. After many unresolved problems, the homeowners lost all trust in Ryland's ability to deliver a quality home and decided not to purchase the house.

1. Death by 1000 Paper Cuts
Our Experiences in
Building a House with Ryland
Terry Flaherty
Gwen Kamper
2904 Ironwood Court
Twin Creeks
Cedar Park,Texas

2. 3 Types of Issues and Frustration
In May 2013, we started the process of buying and building a house inTwin Creeks in
Cedar Park,TX.
Over the course of our relationship with Ryland, we have experienced many issues and
frustrations . These frustrations can be categorized in 3 areas:
 Design Center Issues
 Build Issues
 Workmanship Concerns
Some of these issues are small. Some are huge. Some are resolved. Some are still open.
Some, it appears, will never be resolved.
Collectively, they have led to an abysmal customer experience and a HUGE degree of
customer frustration – leading to complete loss of trust and faith in Ryland’s ability and
intent to deliver a quality home.
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3. Design Center: “Us vrs. Them”
The Design Center experience was extremely frustrating and clearly revealed major process issues
between Ryland Sales, Ryland Corporate andWisenbaker.
Lack of product knowledge, poor communications between groups, inconsistent answers, finger
pointing and horrible attitude toward the customer (specifically with Ryland Corporate and
Wisenbaker) caused frustration and clearly created an adversarial “us versus them” tone to the
relationship.
At no point was the customer experience even close to the experience at this stage in our 3 other
home builds.
The following pages provide a sample of issues at the design stage that caused major frustration:
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4. Theme: You can’t use that in new location
 Constant theme – to move the location of an item..
Sometimes by as little as 5 feet – required us to discard the
item for no credit and to repurchase a replacement item at
full price:
 Can lights in kitchen ($150 each)
 Chandelier move from dining room to breakfast area ($500+)
 Pantry doors ($700)
 We wanted to reuse doors from office that we did not use
 Fence
After REPEATED discussions, Kevin resolved by ignoring the changes required by design center.
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5. Fencing Issue – A classic example
Move existing 52 feet from
previous configuration to
property line and purchase
additional 28 feet.
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6. Details on Fencing
 Our lot is not a rectangle
 Contract calls for fencing to back
corners of house
 Segment E is 52 feet
 We wanted to change direction of E
to be placed along property line –
and purchase 28 additional feet to get
to desired configuration.
 First we were told fencers are not
able to do this – beyond their skillset.
 Then we were told if we bought 80
feet, (52 “replacement”+ 28 “new”)
they could do this…but the 52 feet
included in contract in segment E is
forfeited.
E
E relocated
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7. The Front Porch Issue
 We want to brick the floor of front porch
 Ryland told us porch is 80SF… in reality, it’s 15
SF
 Led to one month of repeated email and verbal
dialog – we were told that 5 members of Ryland’s
exec team reviewed and all agree it’s 80 SF
 “Bill” (the head of construction) and “Rich”, (the
head of purchasing) both insisted it’s 80 SF
 Our take away from this – Ryland Corporate
either has so little concern for their
customer that they can’t take 2 minutes to
read the blue print… or they lack the
skills to be able to read a blue print…
both are concerning.
 Kevin brought sanity to the situation and over-
rode Ryland Corporate.Front porch blueprint:
5 X 3 = 15 …. Not 80
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8. Our “Electrical” Meeting with Guardian
 45 minute high pressure sales pitch
on security systems
 Told “So Mr. Flaherty, it appears I’m
more concerned about the safety of
your 95 year old mother-in-law than
you are” by Guardian rep
 “Sign the contract now – you can
always cancel later”
 “I’m really concerned about your
mother-in-law – what if I give you 6
months free now to sign the contract
today”
 15 minute electrical “consulting”
with very low product knowledge
 i.e. did not know answers on 220
volt upgrade and amp impact
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9. The Master Shower Challenge
 Changes made to shower – requested extended shower with
seat
 Major confusion on pricing of shower and seat between
Ryland sales and Design Center
 “I don’t think we’ve ever done this”
 Very similar changes in another Hamilton plan designed right
before ours inTwin Creeks
 We gave up on getting what we wanted and accepted an
alternative
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10. Despite all this – we move on…
Our frustration level was so high after design process we strongly
considered ending the deal at that point.. But decided to move forward to
the build stage.
The build stage has introduced a new set of problems, including significant
deviations from the blueprint, numerous errors with materials delivered
and installed, poor quality of product and workmanship and other
unwanted surprises.
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11. Major differences from blueprint
 Missing window in “office”/converted tandem garage bay
 After missing window issue identified, the installed window in
office was not size or location of window in blueprint
 This window also had installation errors (bows and apparent
lack of flashing)
 Missing window above front door
These were all resolved – but it was very concerning that we had to identify that
these issues existed ..These are all standard Ryland options clearly shown on
blueprints.
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12. Major theme – “Not what we ordered”
 Interior paint color wrong -
 After 1 month of dialog and hearing “it’s the color you signed off on” it was
determined to be the wrong color
 Is “Desert Fawn” even an option? – we only had 3 choices at design center and
none were Desert Fawn with yellow tint
 Exterior paint colors wrong (colors applied in wrong location)
 Backsplash wrong
 Master shower window obscure glass delivered different than design center
option
 We decided to upgrade to glass block to alleviate issue
 Shower door glass wrong
 Cabinets wrong
 Exterior mortarWRONG!
 AppliancesWRONG!!!
 Hardwood floors wrong????
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13. Mortar issue – not spectrum white
 Specifically ordered spectrum
white at upgrade of $790 to
provide architectural interest
 REPEATEDLY reminded Kevin
and Martha we wanted white
mortar
 White mortar is made with white
cement and white sand
 Sand used in our house was
brown – mortar is tan
 Kevin’s response… “Looks white
to me”
 Friend’s response… “Looks
institutional – like a school”
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14. Hardwood Floors
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15. Hardwood Floors
 The hardwood floors are a major investment ($27K)
and have been a huge source of concern.
 First, let’s start with the basics - Are these the floors
we ordered?
 Dominic told us the manufacturer is “Reeders”
 The floor we ordered is River Ridge Frio – part of the
SouthernTraditions line
 Installation DID NOT meet manufacturer’s or
NationalWood FlooringAssociation job site
REQUIREMENTS for ENGINEERED hardwood
floor installation
 Temperature
 Humidity
 The floors were delivered and installed on the same day,
when night time temperatures were 25-30 and daytime
was 35-45.
 House was not sealed. Major construction was not
complete.
 Also violated Glue Manufacturer’s Requirements15

16. From NationalWood FlooringAssociation InstallationVideo for ENGINEERED hardwood floors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eds2pfKyfcw16

17. Window issues
From manufacturer’s installation guidelines
for River Ridge Frio Engineered Hardwood
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18. Cabinets
 Wrong cabinets delivered and
installed
 Initial install included damaged
cabinet
 Cabinets replaced
 Now have damaged cabinet again
Cracks in newly installed cabinets
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19. The Cabinet Fiasco Continued
 The design center focuses selection
on the cabinet doors. You do not
learn of the poor quality of the frame
until the install.
 “We changed cabinet providers….
The old vendor’s cabinets were poor
quality and had warranty issues”
Ryland Design Center Rep
 Unfortunately – we have the “old
vendor”.. Even though you could have
switched us when the wrong cabinets
appeared
This cabinet (from first install) had cracks on the side surface
and interior particle board material. It was installed anyhow,
then removed and discarded in the front yard.
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20. Appliances
 We spent $1790 to upgrade to
“Appliance Package 4” featuring
GE Profile line ofAppliances
 Cooktop and Microwave are
Profile
 Oven and Dishwasher are GE
Standard
 Not consulted/warned of this
changeGE Standard Dishwasher
I understand that GE discontinues product.The substitution of downgraded product
outside the GE Profile line without any discussion with us leads me to the assumption
that I’ve been ripped off. This may be a false assumption, but without communicating the
change to your customer, and based on the state of our relationship, it’s the only
conclusion I can reach.20

21. Appliances
Ordered Delivered GE Profile Series
Cooktop JGP94DSEK Did not get number –
has Profile brand logo
Yes
Double Oven PT956SR JT55000SF1 No
Dishwasher PDWT180 GDT580SSF No
Microwave PT956SR PVM9215SF1 Yes
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22. Window Installation Issues
Multiple indows with
condensation inside glass –
indicates broken seal.
Replacement windows appear not to be flashed in
similar way to original windows
Windows not square -
gaps and locking issues
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23. Roofing questions/concerns
 Large number of raised
shingles
 Roof irregularities / patches
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24. Poor Workmanship
The granite counters were not protected
during the demolition of the wrong
backsplash and installation of the new
backsplash (note plastic cover removed
for some reason. Demolished tiles and
grout fell all over exposed granite.
The cabinets and hardwood floor were apparently wiped with
a grout-filled cloth. Manufacturer strongly encourages that
hardwood be the last thing installed for this reason and
considers this construction traffic abuse.. Per manufacturer’s
instructions, 3-M BlueTape can be used to hold planks tightly
together and reduce minor shifting of floors during
installation. Remove adhesive from the surface of the installed
flooring as you work.All adhesive must be removed from
flooring surfaces prior to applying 3-M BlueTape. Tape
should never be allowed to remain on floor for an
extended period and never overnight. No claims
will be processed for tape damage.24

25. Poor Workmanship Patch/significantly different
color mortar
Shower door alignment
issues – is wall square?
Vertical brick on front
should wrap around corner
for several feet as done on
other side
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26. Tile Installation
Cut tile edge out
Tile in bathrooms has been installed with cut edge
exposed as opposed to finished edge.This has occurred
numerous times in both bathrooms.
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27. Poor Workmanship
Window alignment issues
– many will not lock and
several have significant
gaps
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28. Poor Workmanship
At this point – even
the little things
become a source of
frustration and point
to the bigger
issue...Does anyone
care? How hard is it
to align door opener
buttons? Numerous
small things like this
just reinforces the
perception that
quality is not a goal.
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29. Our Daily Questions and Concerns
What else did we miss?
Is Ryland so focused on reaching
their end of year number that they
are overextended and sacrificing
quality?
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30. Conclusion – We Can’t Take Anymore
Based on the ongoing challenges we have seen in the design, but especially the build process, we have lost all
faith in Ryland. And after many long discussions – we realize that we hate everything about this house.
In the beginning we were very excited about moving into this house. Now, this has become a source of much
stress and concern. We’ve seen a number of issues – some of which were fixed – and some that will not be.
In addition to the known problems, we fear the unknown. Based on the overall trends we have seen, we are
very concerned about items we may have missed.And in researching other’s experience with Ryland warranty,
we are concerned that any interactions with Ryland warranty will be as frustrating, if not more so, than our
current experiences.
It’s not just a house issue – it’s a Ryland issue.We have lost all trust and faith in Ryland’s ability and intent to
deliver a quality home.
We are not going to purchase this house.
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