We are absolutely thrilled about the quality of our home. The process had it's ups and downs, especially with Chad's departure happening in the middle of our engagement and many notes getting lost in the process and leading to surprise costs at the end. The biggest highlight of our experience was working with Ed Stayer. His attention to detail, responsiveness, and customer advocacy in getting us to our beautiful home was instrumental. Ed was the reason we had an overall positive experience with Markel Homes. The project management, organization, and process clarity was lacking - we had to keep our own detailed notes and logs and often follow up on things that were forgotten. COR pricing was repeatedly extremely frustrating, and we hope to never have to do that again.
Markel Homes Construction Company provides high-quality construction and high-quality materials.
I have lived in a Markel home in the past.
We would not recommend Markel Homes. Our home had many severe problems, and we are very dissatisfied with the warranty experience after closing.
The day we moved in (after running a load of laundry) we discovered our washer drain line had not been installed into the drain as it should have been, so when we ran the washer gallons of water poured down the 3 levels of our home. We bought our washer and drier from Markel Homes, so it was their responsibility to properly install the unit. It took about a month of living in construction, water/mold remediation, drywall reconstruction, carpet removal and replacement to rebuild all the sections of my home affected by the water damage.. Following a complete rebuild, Ferguson (Markel’s appliance sub contractor) sent back the same subcontractor to our home to install the washer properly. During this second installation the washer flooded our whole home again. It took about another month for water/mold remediation, dry wall repair, stairway replacement, etc. to be redone and then all reconstructed. I work from home and lost over a month of work with no pay as a result of all the construction happening in the home. I became extremely ill from living in a construction zone and being exposed to toxins. Rather than any accept any financial responsibility, Markel passed it on to their subcontractor’s insurance. My husband and I then were in a 7 month insurance battle with Markel’s subcontractor’s insurance so we could get reimbursed for all the money we had to spent to mitigate mold, water damage and hotel expenses when our home was unlivable due to the 2 floods. We’ve been appalled by the extreme lack of human compassion and care from Markel Homes during these events.
Our home also had constant problems with electrical tripping (which I’ve heard neighbors say their electrical is problematic as well). After many attempts to resolve the issues with Markel, we hired an outside electrical company (not associated with Markel) to fix the issues we’ve been experiencing with constant tripping, and we now have no problems with tripping.
We also had major problems with the HVAC system. The entire summer we lived with 80 plus temperatures in our upstairs and our coils from the furnace to compressor were freezing weekly. For several months I was reaching out to warranty (Vicki) for help, that resulted in Markel’s HVAC subcontractor East Side Heating and Cooling coming to our home. East Side was unable to figure out what was wrong with the system so they told us everything is “normal” with the HVAC system, which was extremely frustrating. After our coils froze again and we had no AC in the middle of summer on a weekend - we hired a 3rd party company to do an evaluation on the home and wrote a report that we then sent to Markel, which outlined the problems with the HVAC system. My husband and I also called the city of Longmont to try to see if our HVAC was even within city code guidelines. The city inspector we spoke to was very concerned and called the superintendent of the development (Scott Lask) right away. Only after their call did Markel admit that the HVAC system needed corrections.
After months of me advocating for the HVAC to be fixed, Markel ended up replacing the compressor to be a larger size to cool our home (2.5 tons instead of 2 tons) as well as moved a return air vent in the primary bedroom that was installed in an improper place (it was installed on the floor next to the supply vent).
The problems in our home and the subsequent experience with Markel’s warranty representative, Vicki, have been extremely stressful and disappointing, to put it lightly. When we had minor warranty problems like chipped paint or small fixes needed, it was no problem at all. When it came to the big ticket items that were problematic – i.e. drain line not being installed that flooded our home, electrical and HVAC, it was very difficult to get the items even acknowledged and then resolved at some level.
We hope Markel takes their experience with our home and learns from it.
Any building project is going to face delays or unexpected changes. The thing with Markel is that they always handled these issues professionally, they listened to our concerns, and found great compromises.
No comment.
West Grange built by Markel Hones is beautiful and I love the mountain views. I have a house that is well built with upgraded features that come with the house. The sales people and superintendent are outstanding.
My entire experience with Markel homes has been great! From my sales manager Roz to Scott and his crew, and everyone else who was involved with completing my new home. I would highly recommend Markel homes to anyone is is looking to build a new home.
Markel is not a leader in environmental or ecologic management - what a lost opportunity
Great service. Very thorough
They have been great to work with.
Overall we have been pretty happy with Markel. They communicated well during build process.
Bought existing model. Didn't work with Markel during the construction process.
We have recommended Markel multiple times in this process. We have found that each step of this process was seamless and the build quality is exceptional. Having been through a couple of builds in the past we were amazed at how well this went in spite of the many things that could have gone wrong considering the state of world during COVID. Our transition was easy and we do not, in the least, miss our former home.
Superintendent Scott Lask was good to work with
The quality of construction and the customization features of the homes is fantastic. Other builders in this price range do not offer the same quality and willingness to work with you on customizations. The team that we worked with to build the home (Tracy and Ed) were fantastic and always worked with us when we wanted to make customizations, even if it wasn’t an option they offered in their package. The quality of the home has held up and shone over the year that we have lived here.
My experience with Markel home builder was overall positive and the responsiveness when I had a question or issue was timely and professional. Special recognition goes to Jason and Vicki. They were patient and friendly every time I communicated with them.
I don't this my description of the quality and warranty response would be considered a recommendation.
Everything is good, but there is additional evidence that shows that work completed is incredibly noisy when the wind blows. The system is very noisy when the wind is high.
I became less likely to recommend after seeing the cost cutting from my first purchase with Markel. Changes were made to cut costs without informing the client. I found out after seeing my friend's 2nd Markel property. Solid doors to hollow doors, solid wood drawers with dovetail to composite nailed, sliding solid wood pull outs in cabinets to shelves, windows and sliding doors to patios are lower quality and do not work as smoothly. Kitchen counter is a full inch lower. Cost cutting is fine but a 2nd time buyer is expecting same features/quality as first purchase so should have been informed of all changes and given opportunity to upgrade. In my case I was able to upgrade the doors and drawers but only because I found out from my friend's place after she closed.
Nice design. Thoughtful features. well constructed.
The home buying process was very smooth. I'm used to buying existing homes and getting into bidding wars with other buyers, and dealing with unknowns in the house itself. With Markel, I knew exactly what I was buying and for what price. Marlita the sales manager and Jason the superintendent were very responsive to all my questions, offered lots of information I didn't even know to ask about and even made upgrades such as a tankless water heater, powder room sink cabinet and patio fencing based on opportunities that arose during the build process. I feel like I was treated like a queen! They clearly take great pride in their work and are very professional in ensuring all parts of the house met their own very high standards when I moved in.
I had to cancel my contract for a new build. The entirety of my $12,000 deposit was kept under the guise that I cancelled the contract during COVID and that the unit would not sell for a higher price than I had originally contracted. I understand keeping a good chunk of the money for services rendered, but to keep the entire deposit when nothing had been started that couldn't be undone, and the home would most likely sell for more, is institutionally sanctioned stealing as far as I'm concerned.
Sales and warranty service is excellent. I feel the quality of construction should be better.
Great quality home - I am very happy with my place.