Overall leaving the customer in the dark on estimated closing is frustrating and not industry standard. It adds unnecessary stress to the buyers and appears that Richfield doesn’t care about that.
Richfield is a small Colorado based company.
Richfield stood out to us too by offering larger lot sizes (at least at our community) which was highly valuable to us. We do think Richfield will take feedback better than larger companies.
Areas where Richfield did well:
Floor plan options
Lot sizes (Brighton Homestead 1/2+ acres)
Warranty claim acceptance (pending/in progress)
Material quality
Areas where Richfield needs improvement:
Build Quality / Workmanship
Organization
Communication
Attention to Detail
There unfortunately weren't any aspects of our home build that were really exceptional. Some things were just fine (as to be expected), but there were a lot of disappointing issues. We're still working through over a hundred warranty items, but so far that has actually been a promising process although we still don't know for sure yet. Quality, organization, and attention to detail was lacking throughout the entire build, from foundation to closing. Overall, workmanship leaves a lot to be desired. We understand that at this price point, the work won't be done by expert craftsmen, but some of the work was less than professional and even seemed closer to DIY quality. Rather than doing it right the first time, it seems Richfield aims to just get it done "good enough" and hope the homeowner won't notice. Although it is better and easier to do things right than to try to fix them later, Richfield unfortunately doesn't seem to value that very much. When issues are pointed out, Richfield is often quick to point fingers or make excuses rather than simply taking ownership.
We have had a lot of build quality issues. To summarize the areas that had issues: foundation, grading, framing, concrete, siding, exterior trim, exterior stonework, interior stonework, windows (a lot), gutters, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, drywall, LVP flooring (a lot), carpeting (a lot), tile flooring, cabinet doors, interior doors (a lot), exterior doors (a lot), the patio door, the garage overhead door, paint (so many paint issues), trim, stairway railings and balusters, bathroom fixtures, lighting fixtures, bathroom accessories, and the master shower.
Our continually growing list of items needing to be redone/fixed/addressed, is in the hundreds after only two months of living in the home. Here are just a few of the major issues we've encountered.
The exterior stonework installed looked nothing like the rendering of the home which was what we had to go off of when choosing our color scheme. On top of that, the install was terribly done with large blotches of light areas and dark areas. The whole thing needed ripped out and redone.
The wrong carpet was delivered and installed. Thankfully WE noticed the problem (not Richfield) and after we pointed it out, they later confirmed the error and replaced the carpet (although poorly).
Six windows were originally installed in the wrong location...SIX! Two additional windows were damaged during construction and needed to be replaced. One additional window was improperly installed and needed to be redone.
The wrong sized shower pan was installed in the master bathroom. The correct size was eventually installed after a 6 week delay to construction, only to later develop cracks all around the drain. This second pan will now need to be replaced by a third.
Every type of door (interior, exterior, patio sliding, closet sliding, and the overhead garage door) had improper installation...not plumb, tight reveals, binding hinges, misalignment, not sealing, movement, etc. The closet doors in one of the bedrooms had terrible gouges in them on the inside and will be replaced. The front door has a different moulding profile than the rest of the doors, but we were told that's just how it is even though the manufacturer offers a better matching door (poor design selection by Richfield).
After trying to fix the garage door, it was discovered that the concrete was also done wrong and was allowing water and light to enter the garage even after the garage door was adjusted properly.
Most of the flooring in the house was installed poorly. LVP joints throughout the main floor aren't connected properly. This caused separation, unevenness, humps, and crackling. Carpet was loose in several areas and in multiple rooms and there were several areas where the carpet was not fully stretched to get under the baseboards. Carpet seams were poorly done and were quite noticable.
Paint was done incredibly sloppy. There's paint mess on carpet, on tile, on cabinets, all over door hardware, on switch and outlet plates, etc. In some areas, there's a bit of wall paint on trim and other areas a bit of trim paint on the wall. Richfield chooses to offer only flat paint and in only one color for all interior wall and ceiling paint. If you want white ceilings, you are forced to have white walls. Flat paint on walls is simply a terrible shortcut and we will eventually paint the walls with a more desirable color and proper sheen (not something you should have to plan on when buying a brand new home). Additional shortcuts (really just laziness in this case) taken by the painters is not removing any door hardware prior to painting. Not only did this result in paint getting on the handles and hinges, it also left unpainted parts underneath the handle trims. I had to replace the front door handleset myself because Richfield didn't offer one in the style or matte black color that matches all the other hardware in the house (don't ask me why not). The new handleset doesn't line up with the old bronze one they installed, so there are large unpainted parts I'll have to paint myself soon. Another big paint issue we have had is in several rooms where there was too much paint applied causing it to crack from not curing properly.
Overall, compared to existing homes on the market, it was still a good value for us. It's just frustrating to be so close to having a truly beautiful home if it weren't for several shortcomings. I think so many of the issues we have experienced are avoidable simply by making attention to detail a higher priority, doing it right the first time, and taking pride in your work. It's a bit disappointing to be expecting a nice new professionally built home, but end up with something short of that, perhaps more closely resembling a DIY build. On the plus side, the home is new and with that has the benefits of modern building materials, techniques, and efficiency gains. Would I recommend Richfield to a friend? Perhaps with several asterisks based on my experience with Richfield. I'd definitely recommend others to carefully review the build quality of several builders, and enter the process with modest expectations regardless of the builder they choose.
We have looked into building with Richmond and KB in the past but so far our experience with Richfield has FAR surpassed them. Their included features and options are more modern, and they don’t up charge you for silly things like the toilet bowl shape (looking at you KB…). Richfield is excellent!
As I’ve stayed, the price that we paid for this house does not show. The quality of the home is poor, the customer service is poor and the communication is poor. Richfield seemed to have cut corners every chance they could.
The builder and build process was excellent. I've been less impressed with the warranty process and snow removal within the community.
I’m sure every builder has their issues dealing with different crews. I think we received better communication and responses to our needs working with smaller builder.
Overall experience has been terrible. Would not recommend at all.
Richfield has great floor plans to chose from and most of their communities are set up for growing families. Quality builds with fair prices in mind. The market in Colorado is crazy, but I do feel that Richfield cares. They are building homes, not just houses, and it shows.
Great experience working with Toran and the rest of the Richfield staff.
Set better(more realistic) expectations for the building process.
It's the people that Richfield has that has! The staff and workers are excellent. Katie, Tim, Rick, Aundre ....I could go on and on. All the contractors and the quality of workmanship. The design team and the mortgage staff all work together.
Lack of response on warranty repairs, matching paint and floor plan to neighboring houses, undersized driveway, and poor quality paint on the inside is a deterrent
I’ve done this survey with no follow up before. Our home was not like moving into a new home. Our floors I’m sure will need to be replaced but am waiting to hear back from the manufacture. The paint was awful, the baseboards are cheap particle board that disintegrate and the again paint was absolutely horrible. Furthermore was told if the drop off on our back porch was too high they will build an additional concrete step around. That never happened. Empty promises, poor craftsmanship. But again, what does the survey do, nothing for me.
As stated above this process is going over a year since started. Love the house, property, and everyone that we've been involved with at Richfield. Hard to wait this long and still not have a finish date.....will wait til the end to determine if I should recommend.
Very happy with the entire process
I have not had a good experience from Richfield home. From extreme delays on the completion of the home. I feel like they could have had an opportunity to make things better after the sale but they have not followed through on their agreements.
Stressful experience, so glad to get it over with. Wish craftsmanship was better as it is noticeably low by others for a new home.
They are very easy to work with and very accommodating
People should check them out before hiring them. I couldn't get a truthful answer out of anyone.
Jessica was an outstanding host, promptly understood our needs, and worked diligently to help us achieve our dream home.
I tell people that these homes are ok. They are the cheapest out there and the quality is very low. Even though "cheapest" is still pretty expensive. The road design is absolutely terrible and unsafe - so few exits from such a large neighborhood.
I really love my home. it's beautiful. I love it, and it's worth it, even with a long waiting time.
Overall, I think customer service is great in terms of friendliness, but from a consumer standpoint, they should do a better job with transparency and communication with the homeowner.
Have had a good experience with Richfield. It seems like they have changed Construction Managers like every 3 months. They have not taken care of any major warranty issues.
At the beginning it was difficult communicating with the sales rep. I often had to leave messages and she would not follow up for days later. It got better the further we got into the project.