Irvine Pacific Design Center

[christinaa]

We purchased new home from Irvine Pacific at Stonegate.  The floor was upgraded to laminate floor through Irvine Pacific Design Center.  It looks great.  However, it is squeaky/crackling while walking on it.  We noticed during walk-thru.  We thought the floor may be installed incorrect.  So, the installer and distributor came and they all thought everything correct.  The crackling/squeaky noise will go away when furnitures are moved.  Now, we moved in and the noise getting worse. 

Irvine Pacific Design Center thinks that we select wrong floor, keep delay and find all kind of excuses to fix our floor.  Just a reminder to every buyer out there: Do not use Irvine Pacific Design Center.  They will not help you when there is a problem.  They will find all kind of excuses to deny what they told you.  if you do any upgradde, please record what you discussed with them.  They will lie.  Now, We need everyone help to guide us how we should do to get the floor fixed.

 

[socal78]

Is this upstairs or what? Sorry to hear about the poor customer service. Also, I'm curious what you mean it was "upgraded to laminate". Upgraded from what? I could understand hardwood being considered an upgrade, but I wasn't aware laminate is considered one... is this instead of carpet or tile?

 

[Littlefish]

I totally understand how you feel. Upgrading through Irvine Pacific Design Center was a wrong decision.
We did our upgraded flooring with them because we thought we wouldn't need to worry about the quality of the work and for the one year warranty from the builder.
We are very disappointed with the work quality and the most aggravating part was the poor customer service of the Design Center. When we addressed our concerns about the flooring (things we had clearly and specifically expressed to her when we were picking out the flooring that she said could be done, but were not in the final product), the designer denied what she had told us before and without trying to help, simply pulled out the design disclaimer we signed to end the situation.
She didn't even care or try to solve the problem.
I definitely DO NOT recommend any of my friends or new home buyers to use the Irvine Pacific Design Center for any upgrading.

 

[Corvette_Nut]

Hello Littlefish,

May I ask what type of upgraded flooring did you have installed? (laminate, solid hardwood, tile, etc.)  Also, can you please tell me what type of quality issues were associated with the flooring?  Thank you for your helpful insight and suggestion.

Respectfully,
Corvette_Nut

 

[christinaa]

Is this upstairs or what? Sorry to hear about the poor customer service. Also, I'm curious what you mean it was "upgraded to laminate". Upgraded from what? I could understand hardwood being considered an upgrade, but I wasn't aware laminate is considered one... is this instead of carpet or tile?

Both upstairs and downstairs.  The squeaking/crakling noises are terrible.  We upgrade from carpet (standard) to Laminate floor. 

 

[christinaa]

I totally understand how you feel. Upgrading through Irvine Pacific Design Center was a wrong decision.
We did our upgraded flooring with them because we thought we wouldn't need to worry about the quality of the work and for the one year warranty from the builder.
We are very disappointed with the work quality and the most aggravating part was the poor customer service of the Design Center. When we addressed our concerns about the flooring (things we had clearly and specifically expressed to her when we were picking out the flooring that she said could be done, but were not in the final product), the designer denied what she had told us before and without trying to help, simply pulled out the design disclaimer we signed to end the situation.
She didn't even care or try to solve the problem.
I definitely DO NOT recommend any of my friends or new home buyers to use the Irvine Pacific Design Center for any upgrading.

We agree with you on Irvine Pacific Design Center, which has the worst customer service.  Do not waste your money and time on upgrades with Irvine Pacific Design Center.  You can upgrade late after closing, you will save money and get better quality.  We were not allowed to watch the installation when they installed the laminate floor.  After closing, you can watch your contractor to do the job.  Anything you are not happy , you can tell the contractor right away.

 

[NoSoup4U]

they ripped it up and re-did it

Is this the engineered hardwood that has the interlocking grooves on the edges?  If so, I would have made them redo the whole section rather than hacking it up.

 

[Littlefish]

Hello Littlefish,

May I ask what type of upgraded flooring did you have installed? (laminate, solid hardwood, tile, etc.)  Also, can you please tell me what type of quality issues were associated with the flooring?  Thank you for your helpful insight and suggestion.

Respectfully,
Corvette_Nut

We upgraded the downstairs flooring to hardwood and the bathroom flooring to tiles.
In my second bathroom in particular, the grout sizes were uneven - almost none of the grout lines were congruent with each other, which was painfully obvious when you looked at it and felt it. The designer argued that this was unlikely on the phone, and was even hesitant to admit it when we went into the home together, but there were few rows that were particularly thick that even she couldn't deny. The Customer Care Representative told the installers to redo the flooring in the second bathroom, and although it is much better, there are still some inconsistencies in the grout widths.

 

[usctrojancpa]

Hello Littlefish,

May I ask what type of upgraded flooring did you have installed? (laminate, solid hardwood, tile, etc.)  Also, can you please tell me what type of quality issues were associated with the flooring?  Thank you for your helpful insight and suggestion.

Respectfully,
Corvette_Nut

We upgraded the downstairs flooring to hardwood and the bathroom flooring to tiles.
In my second bathroom in particular, the grout sizes were uneven - almost none of the grout lines were congruent with each other, which was painfully obvious when you looked at it and felt it. The designer argued that this was unlikely on the phone, and was even hesitant to admit it when we went into the home together, but there were few rows that were particularly thick that even she couldn't deny. The Customer Care Representative told the installers to redo the flooring in the second bathroom, and although it is much better, there are still some inconsistencies in the grout widths.

See, I don't get that...why would iPac has such bad customer service?  Don't they realize how high the margins are on these upgrades?  You'd think they'd bend over backwards to make sure their customers were happy as it would translate to make people willing to upgrade the home while in escrow through them instead of getting with outside contractors.  Someone over at the corp office at TIC needs to tighten things up over at the design center before it's too late.

 

[Corvette_Nut]

Greetings,

Littlefish, thank you for the reply.  USCTrojanCPA, I could not agree more!  For the price of these houses, build quality and attention to detail should be the highest.

Thanks,
Corvette_Nut

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Uneven grout widths? I'm not a flooring installation person but I've seen enough of them to know that it's very hard to mess that up. That's what the spacers are for, unless the installers got lazy with their cuts and were trying to fit pieces in and cheating with the grout spacing (you usually see this on the edges).

For any of you unhappy with iPac's upgrades, I would complain and keep complaining until they remedy it. USC is right... for the amount paid and considering its part or your sales price, there is no reason for them not to be perfect.

We used LA Carpet for travertine installation in our previous home and when any of the tiles became offset or uneven, they came out and replaced them, and this was 2 or 3 years after the install.

 

[usctrojancpa]

Greetings,

Littlefish, thank you for the reply.  USCTrojanCPA, I could not agree more!  For the price of these houses, build quality and attention to detail should be the highest.

Thanks,
Corvette_Nut

Hell yeah, maybe I'd let it slide a little more if it was a KB condo out in the Inland Empire (even then I'd raise hell).  It's completely unacceptable for the poor workman's quality of the upgrades.  Think about the potential risk that iPac...errrr TIC...runs if the perception of buyers begins to question not just the quality of the upgrade but on a bigger picture the quality of the basic construction quality of the home.  Last time I checked it's almost impossible for get financing for land/land development projects (commercial or residential) so iPac might be the only builder for the rest of Stonegate and worse yet Ochard Hills. 

 

[usctrojancpa]

Uneven grout widths? I'm not a flooring installation person but I've seen enough of them to know that it's very hard to mess that up. That's what the spacers are for, unless the installers got lazy with their cuts and were trying to fit pieces in and cheating with the grout spacing (you usually see this on the edges).

For any of you unhappy with iPac's upgrades, I would complain and keep complaining until they remedy it. USC is right... for the amount paid and considering its part or your sales price, there is no reason for them not to be perfect.

We used LA Carpet for travertine installation in our previous home and when any of the tiles became offset or uneven, they came out and replaced them, and this was 2 or 3 years after the install.

My dad faced the same issues of putting both tiles and engineering wood down in my Irvine condo.  The problem comes from the fact that the concrete slab is not perfectly level and some pits and bumps.  The way to get around is to grind down the bumps and apply more adhesive to the pits.  Sure it takes more time but then you have a quality job.  Also, you need to lay down those plastic tile spacers and not walk on the tiles or engineering wood AT LEAST 24 hours after you've put them down or you run the risk of them shifting.  My dad is a big stickler about quality so that has rubbed off on me....hell, he even used to yell at me when I was helping him put the tiles and wood down because I wasn't doing it perfectly enough.  haha

 

[shokunin]

In Cortona and Toscana models, iPac installed baseboards first, before tiling.  I tend not to prefer this as changing baseboards for whatever reason (flooding) will cause some damage to the grout lines.  Not only that but the grout lines and layout has to be perfect as the tiles but up against the baseboards.  It's also hard to repaint the baseboards without getting some paint into the grout line.

Ideally you'd want the baseboards on TOP of the tile to allow for expansion/contraction of the various substrates and to prevent tenting of tiles. It's also easier to hide slight imperfections in lining up tile as you don't have to have perfect edge cuts at the ends. 

 

[blitzjs]

Think about the potential risk that iPac...errrr TIC...runs if the perception of buyers begins to question not just the quality of the upgrade but on a bigger picture the quality of the basic construction quality of the home.  Last time I checked it's almost impossible for get financing for land/land development projects (commercial or residential) so iPac might be the only builder for the rest of Stonegate and worse yet Ochard Hills.

To give you an idea of build quality, I have heard some first hand accounts from the now one year old 2010 Collection in Woodbury (Montecito and Carmel).  While it was not iPac specifically (Brookfield and New Home Company I believe), I would not be a bit surprised if iPac is still using the same "skilled craftsman" to build the houses ---- remember TIC simply contracted builders last year, but it was really a TIC show.  By the way, I use the term craftsman loosely.  Anyway, I have heard of everything from notable drywall cracking (Montecito) to significant structural issues/cracking causing tilting walls and rendering doors incapable of closing properly (Carmel), even one year down the road.  Not good.

So be careful --- very careful --- to ensure a proper inspection of everything on these new homes.  You are paying top $ for these homes, and should be delivered not only a top quality product, but also top quality customer service.

I always wondered this.  It seemed these homes both in the 2010 collection and in the recent SG and LA offerings are built so quickly.  I know nothing about what it takes to build a home but it made me a bit worried when I noticed how fast these were completed.

Its very disappointing to hear that people are already have quality issues.  I've had first hand quality issues with new a house from KB Home and I do not want to go through that again, especially paying Irvine prices.