Hundreds of homeowners in South Carolina are reporting shoddy workmanship with new houses built by D.R. Horton, which boasts it is "America's largest homebuilder."
Several residents who moved into a new housing development in the town of Huger told WCSC that their houses needed expensive repairs just a few months after they moved in.
Dave Preston said that when he and his wife moved into a new home in April 2022, it was riddled with problems, including backed-up toilets and non-working outlets. In addition, parts of the home were unfinished.
Their home wasn't the only one with problems, as their neighbors reported similar issues.
"They played the blame game, saying people were taking too many showers; the septic system couldn't handle the load," Preston said. "I thought, 'Wait a minute, this is a beautiful development.' Well, it's supposed to be a beautiful development, with houses that are fairly expensive, and things won't work."
After dealing with issues for a year, Preston contacted a former building inspector, Robert Knowles, and asked him to inspect his home. His findings were shocking. They included missing pipes, multiple code violations, and a door installed incorrectly. The most concerning part was that the structural integrity of the roof was compromised.
The home passed inspection one month before Preston and his wife moved in.
"I was flabbergasted, a little bit, on the construction part of it, the quality of work," Preston said.
Another homeowner complained that in 2021, months after he moved into a home built by D.R. Horton, their roof caved in due to shoddy workmanship.
"When they were actually putting in the shingles, they weren't using the correct number of nails or materials," Scott Molway said.
Their roof would collapse several other times, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in damage.
"They don't build these homes in months or years anymore; they build them in weeks. It's crazy how quickly they pop up, and as soon as they pop up, the builders are gone," Molway said. "Everything's on the homeowner, and they don't know all the shoddy work that goes on behind the scenes."
D.R. Horton is facing multiple lawsuits throughout South Carolina, including a class-action suit with over one hundred residents, including Preston, over the failing septic systems.
D.R. Horton issued the following statement:
"D.R. Horton is committed to providing quality customer service in the greater Charleston area and across the country. We are not aware of any outstanding warranty items at the addresses you referenced, and we encourage any homeowner with a concern to contact our local division directly at charlestonwarranty@drhorton.com."