FEH DESIGN

We have had several issues with HAPPE Homes. Below are just a few of the main ones but not all the items, list is too long. 1) Communication b. Return of emails c. Most emails were not returned from HAPPE Homes until 2 weeks later and after 2 follow-up emails that were sent d. Jake not meeting because he did not want to hear the issues within his company e. One employee verbally telling you one thing and another employee several weeks later tells you something different f. Communication between Happe and their vendors i. Addendum to upgrade insulation, was not relayed to installer f. Was told that installation would start the next day, 1-week later installation install started 2) Poorly Planned a. Scheduling of work to be done i. 5 weeks after purchase agreement was signed electrician started work ii. 2 weeks after electrician plumber started iii. 1 week after electrician HVAC started iv. 2 weeks after HVAC first house inspection v. 9 days later second house inspection vi. Was told garage door was going to be installed the next day to keep us out, 7 weeks later it was installed b. Takes a normal house to be built from 145 to 160 days from ground up i. This house was already framed prior to purchase agreement ii. We were in day 110 after purchase agreement when cancelation was accepted 1. Insulation was just starting 2. During cancelation meeting Customer Service Rep agreed that it would be another 3+ months before completion 3. We have been told installation is 2 weeks, painting 1 week, and then we can close 45 days later a. If things line up correctly, which we do not think will considering the past, that means it will take the house going from purchase agreement (framing) to completion in 7 months 3) Poorly Executed a. Installation installer put in wrong R value in walls i. HAPPE Homes not willing to fix the issue even though it was in the addendum contract with agreed cost b. Basement tub installed without installation between it and the outside wall c. Plumber had to break a 2-foot by 2-foot concrete hole in floor to install tub i. Was told this would not be filled in. ii. House inspection made them fill it in due to radon d. Wall built on top of Sump Pump e. HVAC pipe blocking doorway so you cannot open a door f. No attic access to half the house, was told that there would not be one ii. House inspection forced them to put one in As I said this is just a few of the issues we ran into. We finally met with Jake Happe after we gave them our cancellation of purchase agreement. Jake was nice but stuck with his people and did not want to hear us comment about communication issues within his company. During our meeting we found out that they did not realize the garage door had not been installed until the Friday before our meeting, 5 weeks after they told me it was going to be installed the next day. I brought up why they did not know and that started an issue that boiled down to bad communication between the contractor and HAPPE and within HAPPE Homes. After our meeting and Jake hearing all of our concerns he decided to let us out of our contract, but it cost us several thousands of dollars. Even with the cost we are glad we are out because we saw further issues down the road, completion of the house and warranty. We suggest not to build with them. We have also talked to other Happe Homeowners, and they have run into similar issues and are having a heck of a time with their warranty work. New meaning for HAPPE: Homes Are Poorly Planned & Exectued

We looked at several builders and decided to go with Happe. This was the most costly mistake we have ever made. They sold us on how they pride themselves on building so many homes that they get better prices than their competitors, therefore can do it for less. The realtor stood behind them, so we jumped onboard. We should have known when other builders wouldn’t even bid on building our home because the knew Happe would low ball the bid. Once we signed we found out that everything was an upgrade and our price started going up 5, 10, 25, 35% over the original bid. Once we started the build we watched every step of the way. At one point they installed batting insulation before the roof was finished and the insulation got rained on. After 4-5 calls they finally pulled the insulation and redid it. The plumbing we had to completely rip out due to the poor quality. The subcontractor went out of business shortly after that. At one point the painter came and the house was locked. His answer to that was to break in by using a screwdriver on the side garage door which we notified Happe and they never repaired. Windows and doors are a joke in their homes. In the winter we have snow blow through the front door. Recently we had damage to the home during the storm. Several contractor came out to look at the repairs. You know it’s bad when they ask who installed it and then start laughing. To this day we still have electrical issues with the home. We replace light bulbs every couple months. The electricians initially thought it was just a bad set of bulbs but after4-5 times replacing bulbs they couldn't figure out why. You can see bulbs dim when other things turn on and fans struggle to run. They finally just stopped returning calls. Every step of the way we had to watch. They cut corners everywhere! The products they use are low quality! Their cost aren’t low because they have such great contracts for materials, it’s because they use low quality materials and labor. Read the other reviews!! Happe builds a home to get through the warranty period. We called in and tried to speak to Jake multiple times about our experience. He never returned our call. Finally someone else did call us back and he let us know a few years ago they recognized they were having issues with the quality of their subcontractors so the did a complete overhaul of their company and got new subs. Great for them! I asked if they would go back and fix our homes their subcontractors they let go that did such poor work. Of course then the response was they weren’t obligated to do that since the warranty was up. Please look elsewhere! This company needs to go out of business! Do not support them by giving them your business. If you are considering using them, please contact me. I haven’t even started to explain what we experienced! **Update: I added a photo of the windows installed by Happe after Jake's response. These are the "High Quality" windows they installed in our home in Iowa. Notice on the label it states the Energy Star rating is in the shaded area. Iowa is not shaded. I asked for new windows from the project manager before they were installed and was told it would cost between $15-$20k additional to change them since they were on-site. In addition Happe told me it would have also delayed us anywhere from 6-8 weeks. When you are dealing with a lender, those delays aren't affordable and sometimes not possible. As mentioned, they use poor products.

Save yourself the headache and search for a builder with higher quality and integrity. We rent a brand new build from them. In the two months we've been there, I've seen enough to know we didn't even want to see any of their homes for purchase. The bottom floor of the tri-level is absolutely freezing. It's definitely not well constructed. The second level is still noticeably colder than it should be (keeping in mind I keep the heat at 74 but it never gets about 68 on that floor) and requires a space heater to be at a manageable temperature. As a result, the third floor, where bedrooms and the thermostat are housed, stays a tad too warm. We have had several visits from electricians as circuits blow if you look at them too intensely and the furnace room has had alarms going off a few times. It's possible that it's because our building is rentals and not for sale, but the appliances are the cheapest available and don't work well. Finally, the shower and water pressure. They have the casing a tad too tall in the master shower, as a result, a standard shower curtain doesn't actually keep water in the shower, considering how long you'll have to leave the water on before it gets warm and how sad the water pressure is, you'll be in there for awhile so I'd suggest lots of towels right under the curtain. Oh! & don't forget all the walls are paper thin so you will definitely hear all of the conversation of workers two floors below! Then to the integrity of the company. They are still building in Norwalk, as a result there is ALWAYS workers of some kind. However, they like to honk back and forth at one another and yell in the wee hours of the morning. Including on the weekends and holidays. Calling the office doesn't help. A woman named Carley says she'll have the supervisors talk to them. A month later, still loud, still blocking entire roads, they left screws in the road. You guessed it! POP! goes my brand new tire. I heard the pop, the mechanic found the screw. Call back to Happe Homes, Carley and Randall both say it's not their fault, I can't prove it, their guys don't show up that early and if I see his contractors before 7, he wants me to call the police to report them trespassing. This company took 0 accountability in this entire adventure. Just another cookie cutter build more worried about making money than actually taking care of their properties.

We've been in our Happe Home 5 years. We purchased a "spec" home so there was no customization we could do but it was brand new. We've had a mostly a positive experience with our home over these past 5 years. Our master bedroom floor makes a quite loud/annoying "creak" when you walk on it and you can hear it down in the living room. It's not a pleasant sound from a new house for sure. We brought this floor creaking issue up during our warranty period and the Happe warranty specialist basically told us we'd have to live with it (not ideal but we've learned to live with it). We tried those screws that go into the subfloor that are supposed to help floor squeaks and those did not work. This has probably been the biggest pet peeve of ours over the last 5 years! Our deck was not flashed correctly and leaked water in through the basement window but they were able to address that issue fairly quick. Apparently, it wasn't flashed correctly when the deck was built and connected to the house. The carpet and padding used throughout the house must be cheap as it crackles sometimes when you walk over it after vacuuming. I assume it's the carpet padding that is the issue but it's just a minor nuisance at this point. The bathroom faucets Happe (or plumbing company they contracted) used are really cheap and lasted only about a year. The handles on each of them started to get so stiff when you turn them it was not good. We ended up just replacing them. We haven't really experienced many issues with drywall cracks except for a little drywall cracking in the master bathroom that we were able to touch up so it wasn't a big deal.

Happe Homes built our three bedroom, two bathroom ranch with an unfinished basement. From the beginning to the end, my husband and I could not have been more impressed. Our initial consultation gave us all the confidence we needed to take the next steps in building our home. The team at Happe Homes is competent and friendly. We were most impressed with their level of craftsmanship in every stage of the built. (See pictures.) Working with Happe Homes was an overall great and fun experience. After hearing horror stories from friends and family about other builders, we found much relief in our decision to work with Happe Homes. 10/10 would recommend. Pros: - Free consultation with knowledgeable builder specialists, great visuals and full transparency - Flexibility in all regards, plans, sizes, layout etc. - 4-hour free consultation with their in-house interior designer - Clear breakdown of the main stages of construction - Regular walkthroughs, electrical and trim - Built was finished ON TIME despite bad weather and some material delays. Cons: - Our point of contact wasn’t always responsive. We had to follow up on the same email twice multiple times. Although I will note that Happe Homes send out an email explaining that they were in the process of rearranging staff roles to resolve the issue. So we didn’t even need to bring it to their attention. I’m sure by now they have more manpower.