Homes By Dickerson

I would not recommend Homes By Dickerson. We built a home with them in Briar Chapel in 2023 and there were several high dollar issues found by a third party inspector. Instead of addressing the issues, they defect and give you the run around to avoid fixing the issues. HBD used to be a reputable builder with integrity. Unfortunately, this has not been the case for a few years. I wish we knew before we decided to build with Dickerson and hope that this review makes you the wiser.

Our experience building a home with Homes by Dickerson was an absolute nightmare. We’ve never posted about it or all of the issue we’ve had since moving in, but this latest issue is too much to ignore. This review is based on our firsthand experience and our opinion of HBD, their processes, and the ownership experience. They were wonderful until they got our deposit and that’s when things completely changed. They were arrogant and very difficult to work with – everything was a fight. It was exhausting and stressful. Not only was the build process terrible, but the quality of the home hasn’t been to the level we expected and HBD takes no responsibility for their negligence. The latest in a long list of problems we’ve had since moving into our home is that the shower liner wasn’t installed correctly in our owner’s suite. Over time, this has caused water damage to the celling in our breakfast nook. Two of our neighbors with the same floorplan have had the exact same problem. Since the issue didn’t present during the brief warranty period, HBD’s response to our request to fix it was, "we do not deem this matter to fall within our responsibility." So, they don't take any responsibility for their negligence in not making sure their plumbing contractor installed the shower liner correctly? No inspection would have uncovered this issue after the tile was laid. I’m not allowed enough characters to list all of our issues, but some of the highlights: during our build we had to threaten legal action just to get HBD to build the house according to the agreed upon plans and our contract. These were things that were in writing & signed off on by HBD. Within 5.5 years of being in our home, both HVAC systems failed and had to be replaced. We’ve had to remove multiple beautiful, mature trees due to issues with how our lot was graded, per an arborist. We’ve had to replace appliances, exhaust fans, windows, and the fireplace insert. These issues are not unique to our house either. Many of our neighbors have had the same or similar issues. Our small neighborhood is exclusively HBD homes. If you are thinking of building with HBD, I would strongly encourage you to build with someone else, or buy an HBD home that is at least 10 years old so that way the original owners have had time to identify and fix HBD’s negligent mistakes.

I would would never recommend anyone to build with Homes By Dickerson. I worked in the new home building industry for several years and everything about Dickerson from my experience is sub standard. There lots are extremely dirty, they don’t put up proper erosion control, they let their crews leave trash and rotting food in the house during construction. We even had sever bottles filled with urine in our home. And the construction manger took 6-7 weeks to remove them when made aware. The worst aspect of Dickerson is their complete lack of effective communication and the laziness of their workers. We were never told of important issues during our construction process until I discovered them and brought them up. And even then it was a week or so before there was a response and several more weeks before the issue was addressed. Even for something as simple as a hole filling with water against our foundation. This issue took 8 weeks and at least 4-5 emails before our construction manager could be bothered fix it. The day before closing they had to rip the walls of our stairs out and reframe the ceiling because it wouldn’t pass final inspection. But I had notice that the framing crew had written on that exact place a note for the construction manager saying it wouldn’t work. He had no idea about it (because he clearly didn’t check on his homes) when I brought it up. Then he said not to worry about it, and then clearly never addressed it until the last minute when it could have delayed closing and cost us money. Do not buy with Dickerson unless you are ok with someone building your home that literally couldn’t care less.

Unethical. Improperly installed sub floors. I have four different engineering reports stating that the floors need to be removed and replaced. Their legal team is shrewd. They used delay and technicalities to avoid doing the right thing.. Run the other way!

There is a lot of information here but we strongly encourage reviewers to read through the detailed facts in our particular case. From Chapter 15 of the 2006 North Carolina Building Code: "1507.2.9.3 Drip Edge. Provide Drip Edge at eaves and gables of shingle roofs. Overlap to be a minimum of 2" (51mm). Eaves drip shall extend 0.25 of an inch (6.4mm) below sheathing and extend back on the roof a minimum of 2 inches (51mm). Drip edge shall be mechanically fastened a maximum of 12 inches (305mm) o.c. A cricket or saddle shall be installed on the ridge side of any chimney greater than 30 inches (762mm) wide. Cricket or saddle coverings shall be sheet metal or the same material as the roofing cover." As anyone can see in the pictures attached, there is no drip edge installed on our $600,000 Homes By Dickerson home. This has caused the fiber cement trim at the eaves (and other areas) to crumble and literally fall off the house. The estimates to repair the trim have been $9,000+ before we can even determine if there are any additional hidden damages. Additionally, in the same photos, you can see that there is no roofing underlayment (felt/water and ice barrier) under the shingles. The shingles are attached directly to the wood sheathing. Underlayment was also a requirement by the 2006 North Carolina Building Code in Chapter 15 section 1507.2.8: "1507.2.8: Underlayment application: For roof slopes from two units vertical in 12 units horizontal (17 percent slope), underlayment shall be two layers applied in the following manner. Apply a minim 19-inch-wide (483mm) strip of underlayment felt parallel with and starting at the eaves, fastened sufficiently to hold in place. Starting at the eave, apply 36-inch-wide (914mm) sheets of underlayment overlapping successive sheets 19 inches (483mm) and fastened sufficiently to hold in place. For roof slopes of four units vertical in 12 units horizontal (33 percent slope) or greater, underlayment shall be one layer applied in the following manner. Underlayment shall be applied shingle fashion, parallel to and starting from the eave and lapped 2 inches 51mm), fastened only as necessary to hold in place." Our family reached out to the builder to ask for help navigating this situation to only be ignored for weeks on end and never have a builder representative meet with us or visit our home to discuss the situation. The only vague response that we received basically was to say that Homes By Dickerson offers a 1 year warranty and that we were outside of that window. While that is true for most builders, we believe that most home owners buying a home valued at over $600,000 would expect that a 20 year roof and a 30 year siding material not need to be completely replaced within the first 10 years of construction due to the builder not following the state's building code. The roof now needs to be replaced as well due to the builder not following the state building code. Estimates for the roof replacement are $12,000+, again not even knowing if there are any additional hidden damages. All in, our family is looking at $21,000+ to fix these issues that should not exist today. As of the date of drafting this review, Homes By Dickerson has had over a months worth of opportunity to stand by the promises made in their company's mission statement. We are sad to say that due to this issue on our home, seeing similar homes in our neighborhood lacking drip edge, and their lack of interest to help correct these issues for us, we would not recommend Homes By Dickerson.

I have had several houses built with all different builders and have never experienced the level of customer service that Homes by Dickerson provides. From the first tour, through the sales, building, and warranty processes, every Dickerson employee has gone above and beyond with care, thoughtfulness, and the highest level of customer service possible, well beyond any expectations that a buyer can have. Furthermore, beyond the customer service, the craftsmanship and quality of the home is amazing. If I could build another home immediately, I would choose HBD without a doubt and would not even consider other builders.

After the purchase of our beautiful Homes By Dickerson home, my husband and I took advantage of the their promise to take care of problems with the house that might occur within one year after closing. When I saw something I wasn't sure about or that might need attention, true to their word, we were well cared for. Ian and Thomas answered many of my questions and were a big help in the beginning and were available by phone. Within that year, Dale helped me address minor problems such as paint touch-ups and house settling issues such as small wall cracks, supervising the crew of professional painters. When a professional crew came into the house they were respectful of my home. We did have other items that needed attention (since this is our 7th home, I was a bit "picky") and Dale was very patient, kind and helpful to work with. We've had a good experience. "Thank you to all" at Homes By Dickerson!

We had a very good experience from start to finish, even with the inevitable setbacks that come with building a new house. The building quality is fantastic, our rep and main point of contact displayed incredible patience with us and has become a friend, and we felt well taken care of during the internal design process. Our only disappointing portion of the experience was with choosing our lighting fixtures, where the subcontracted retailer was lackluster and disengaged. His inability to fully explain a range of choices on fan blade color led to our biggest and most expensive disagreement with Homes by Dickerson, which was ultimately resolved but could have easily been avoided.

I can't overstate the quality of Homes By Dickerson's construction - it's top-notch. Also, all of the staff are excellent at their jobs and completely devoted to what they do. I was also amazed at the selection within the standard range of options in terms of materials (e.g, counter top materials) and decor (e.g., lighting fixtures). The only area for improvement that I can see is educating customers about implications of design decisions. For example, I didn't realize quite how easily marble etches, and it wasn't emphasized when we chose it. Also, we put subway tile in our shower, and that's a LOT of grout to clean! Overall, though, HBD is top notch!

The home building experience with Homes by Dickerson was the best we had in the five homes we have built. From the first meeting with the sales executive to the final walk through and orientation with our building manager, they made sure we were pleased with the entire process. Our home was completed on time, on budget, with very few items left to be resolved after closing. Our building manager was always quick to respond to our change requests or clarifications on the building process, and the talented design staff helped us make decisions that made our home special for us.

http://youtu.be/hj17dM5Oe7E We are one month into our home built by HBD, and we were impressed with this team's professionalism, integrity, ability to meet timeline, design advice, and willingness to customize. We have built before, so we know what a headache it can be. HBD made the process fun, and we are delighted with our new home!

We cant say enough wonderful things about Dickerson. We built a custom home with them in 2013 and rave about them to everyone. All the horror stories we heard about building were never part of our experience. They hire excellent people which makes all the difference and they work with you until its right.