Landmark Homes (Edmonton) Inc

Update: August 27, 2014

I have now taken possession of the home (beginning of August 2014), while it has been a frustrating process to get to this point, I am generally happy with my home.

Few things to note:

-For a large home building company they are certainly disorganized. They didn't provide the Statement of Adjustments to my mortgage broker until the eleventh hour, this was due to the fact that they did not have the final property tax search...........I ended up obtaining it and providing it to their accounting department ..... not sure what everyone else thinks.... but I don't think the customer should be the one providing this to the builder, esp. since this search would be been available since January 2014.......

- I had an appliance package picked out and found out that a month before possession that the microwave, range and hood fan was discontinued. The sales rep then sent me a change order for me to sign, only for me to find out that the microwave was HALF the size of the original microwave that was to be provided. While this was ultimately just a microwave...... a half size replacement is really unacceptable. I am happy to confirm however, that this has been remedied.

- I found out after taking possession that both myself and the builder failed to notice that a trade forgot to install the back splash for the laundry sink. Warranty has been e-mailed and I am now waiting for this to be looked after (not a big deal)

- You have to babysit your home while its being built otherwise things get ignored ....(poor tile work)..... had to point out the issues to the builder when really the work should have been done correctly the first time (they ended up having to re-do some of the bathroom back splash work).

Would I recommend Landmark to my friends and family ? Probably - simply because of the specs on the home. However, I would certainly tell everyone that they are disorganized and you have to watch Landmark like a hawk or things don't get done correctly or on time for that matter.
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I started the home building process May 2013 (with Landmark Classic Homes division) and to date I have yet to receive my final plans. The exterior design of the home has been submitted for architectural approval many times, and this was after I told them (back in June) that as per the architectural requirements (which I read) certain building products (ex. vinyl shakes) are not allowed, yet Landmark has not read these requirements and has blindly submitted the design for approval over and over again! Most of the interior design process was completed in July 2013, so there is no reason why I should not have my plans - especially since Landmark does not allow any structural changes. I even forwarded my concerns to the manager and to date, I have yet to receive a response. I am beyond frustrated.

As the house has not yet been built I cannot comment on the build quality. - Will post an updated review once the home is built -

The salesperson I worked with was excellent - extremely polite and honest. It was a relief as the company I had dealt with before was not quite so honest about everything. Most of the people I dealt with from Landmark were wonderful and responded to emails/phone calls promptly.
No complaints about the house itself, everything was finished when I moved in and it has been great since. My neighbors, however, were not so lucky and are still waiting for quite a few things to be completed.
The main issue I have is the landscaping. I bought the house last year and was told landscaping would be completed in the summer - it has not (same with my neighbors). I guess I find it pretty pathetic that they could not get organized enough to complete our landscaping over the 5 warmish months we had. I'm also surprised they find it acceptable and professional to leave someone's house incomplete.
I would not recommend them to others. As I stated I am very satisfied with the house itself, however, I believe I am lucky in my neighborhood as many of the other homes are still unfinished. I really think this shows a lack of professionalism.

UPDATE: FEB 2014
I wanted to give an update on everything with my home, as I think it is fair to follow up with any good or bad.
The warranty department has been excellent to deal with. Cara will get back and follow up with any concerns I have within 24 hours business days. All the comestic stuff have been fixed and touched up. The outside facade painting will be done obviously in the spring and I still have the sod to go in at that time too. There was some issue with the HRV duct but it was looked at quickly and I have an appointment to have it fixed. I want to give kudos to Landmarks' warranty inspectors, they do a great job of explaining everything to me and I always have TONS of questions that they patiently explain and answer. I have one more inspection come summer.
I have bumped up the rating, the only complaints I had was with the length of time to build the garage, was completed in November, 3 months after I moved in. This was due to the contractor being very far behind, but these things should be already planned on schedule from when I signed the papers. The other being, their paint contractor, I found the job done poorly and sloppy (my neighbors had the same problem).
This is my perfect starter home and plan on living it for years to come. I know that no new home will be perfect and there will be some hiccups, but it is up to how the builder handles things and treats you that is the most important thing.
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Aug 2013

I am happy with my new home.
Was my first time building a home and I was very worried, but from Bernard on the sales team (who ans
wered all my e-mails promptly) to the site supervisors and my final walk through I was impressed.

It has been just over a month since I moved in and I've only found a few issues.
1. Around baseboards the painters did not clean up any small drops, took me half an hour to clean them all up, this could have been avoided, if the painters had just wiped up right away when they did it. Didn't notice on walk through because it looked like dust. As well, there is some imperfection (bumps/not painted down properly on one of the walls), I'm no professional painter, but even I could have known to fix it at the time of painting.
2. Minor scratches and scuffs on one of my tubs and toilet. As well as some sealant not properly cleaned up around one of the sinks.
3. My front veranda has concrete and marks from the guys doing that, will see if they repaint or clean it up for me, especially if it has to be repainted.
4. Crack in basement floor

So far no major issues, all the above are more cosmetic, and seemed to be contractor issues (painter and bathroom installer), so will see on my 2 months inspection if they will fix these (the tub/toilet, I don't expect much to be done, but will bring it to their attention). I guess I'm lucky thus far especially with all the horror stories out there with new home builds.

Only other issue I'm a bit frustrated with is how long it is taking to build the detached garage. I was told once the concrete is poured that it would be a fast process. Yet after 2 weeks of the concrete poured, still nothing.

I will update again after the 2 months inspection.

Poor workmanship by several trades....drywall, siding, plumbing, sound system, insulators, painters and staircase installers (after being told by salesperson that Landmark only contract some of the very best). Frustrating to deal with warranty. Never again.

Happy with the work. Warranty follow up is not very good. Had to call a number of times to get status of when repairs would be completed. Once the repairs where done the work was good and overall I'm happy compared to some horror stories out there

Main stairs was not backfilled during construction, landmark is refusing to fix this & I now have to pay a landscaper to fix it. The warranty guy is a piece of work & they are not to be trusted, ensure all discussions are recorded on an email or paper. The whole warranty process with Landmark has been a nightmare, Landmark & their contractors have no respect for customers time.

At first landmark home seemed easy to work with, our first inital walk through went great we went through everything and marked any little imperfections to the eye. But now that we did our second walkthrough we had set up a 3 day appointment for them to come into the home and fix the problems that we have noticed since we have been moved in. They did not show up for the appointment and I wasted a whole day and alot of money. We had called them 3 times and left messages and no reply back.
I would not reccomend this home builder to anyone they are nice people but very unorganized and not a good quality of craftsmanship. Alot of problems with our home but supposedly alot of it is a "regular" problem that happends alot of the time with new homes. My son was having a bath and water got down the vent and it leaked to our kitchen light right below the bathroom, not very safe at all, could have started a fire... isnt the vent piping supposed to be sealed off ? I bought a new house because i didnt want to deal with alot of problems as woujld be in a old home. But it has come around and bit us. We have paid a large amount of money for our home, i would expect a brand new home with good quality. Not happy at all especially since alot of the major things they cant do anything about they say.

Possession date Sept 29th, 2010. Current date June 27th, 2011
Our home is still no where near complete. Continuous screw ups
And poor project management , we wish we never heard of landmark.

They were really helpful. They were able to answer our questions. And if they weren't able to, they would refer us to someone else. Any problems we had, they came and fixed them in a timely manner. They were really friendly and we felt comfortable. We would recommend them to other people looking to build new houses.

at the 6 month warranty mark we had asked for our garage floor to be looked at because of scaling due to water pooling and breaking up the concrete. garage floor was not poured correctly to allow the water to drain out. Builder said that based on alberta new home warranty standards the pooling water must be at least 1/4 inch deep and cover 4 sq feet. the water covers way more than 4 sq feet but it not quite 1/4 inch deep. we were told that there was nothing they could do and that we should put a sealant on our floor to stop further damage as it will continue to break up as the water sits there. they failed to mention that the cost for the sealant is $400 and that we would have to cover that cost.

also, was are having problems with our roof with the plywood under the shingles raising up. the plywood somehow has moisture in it and it buckling under the shingles. landmark said this is normal and is just based on the size of staples that the contractor used when doing the roof. i do not feel this is acceptable. would appreciate hearing other people's concerns and what they were able to accomplish.

not sure what this is all going to cost us in the long run.