My good friends (and neighbors) are building with them and will be done in about a month and a half. So far it seems to have gone smooth and it's looking good! Their contractor had a few issues passing inspections in the beginning but it was pretty minor stuff that he fixed and was on his way.

WOW - thank you, great feed back!

We are planning on building the St Maries (1842sq ft) but have really made it our own by changing the layout. We kept all the builder grade finishes except we plan on upgrading to hardwood and possibly tile in the bathrooms and utility. We did notice their pricing for extras is all over the place. Some changes end up being pennies and others are closer to a grand. Its always a surprise to see where price lands.

We also plan to heat with a wood stove so are forced to put in cadets. Did you have the woodstove installed during the building process or after they had gone? Adair said we can go either direction as they don't personally do anything with wood heating.

We do live on the site so that will make it easy to keep tabs on Adair's contractors and the progress. We have heard good things and been to three of their open houses and been pleased so I'm happy to yet again hear more good things.

When you say you did your own upgrades do you mean like hardware, light fixtures, ect? We are planning on upgrading these things later on down the road as they are easy updates and can search for sales/deals. But wonder what most people do, as we also think most of the fixtures look cheap.

At what stage did you bring in your own finish carpenter, and what did you have him complete? We are planning on Adair just doing the aprons on the windows, wrap the doors and baseboard. We upgraded this as well to their craftsman package painted white.

When you say you sold things on Craigslist what are the things you got rid of? We opted for the $500 credit on the appliances. But maybe it would be better to just take them and sell them on line?

Any pointers no matter how small they may seem to you is appreciated. Your reply is extremely comforting and full of tips. We are lost in the whole house build process and just hope we are making smart choices.

Thanks again.

While we had the hearth put in right after drywall, thewoodstove and chimney were installed after Adair was finished. In retrospect, I would do as much as possible after the various subs are finished, as Adair will not hold them accountable for damage done.

Upgrades we made:

light fixtures

faucets

door and door handles (we purchased a beautiful multi-light wood door from Craigslist, saving about $600)

clawfoot bathtub, also from Craigslist

interior doors -- replaced faux colonial doors with vintage 5-panel doors from Habitat for Humanity Restore (incredibly luck find, as we found 4 that were the exact size we needed)

door and window casings -- I didn't like the proportions of Adair's craftsman trim, so we had them do just the aprons on the windows. The door trim is complete, but we still need to do the windows.

On the exterior, our carpenter replaced their sparse dentil molding with more appropriately spaced stained cedar dentil molding.

While I referred to John as a finish carpenter, which he most definitely is, he is multi-talented and handled many projects on our house, including:

building the front porch

installing bamboo flooring

installing clawfoot tub and plumbing

laying slate tile on hearth and backsplash

installing woodstove and chimney

install interior trim

On Craigslist, we sold:

front door

interior doors

faucets

light fixtures

carpet

we still need to sell our temporary power pole and a few odds and ends

As for the appliances, I would think you could sell the range and dishwasher for more than $500, but you should probably check on Craigslist to see what these appliances are going for, and also consider that it is a bit of a pain (ask me how I know…)

As for the appliances, I would think you could sell the range and dishwasher for more than $500, but you should probably check on Craigslist to see what these appliances are going for, and also consider that it is a bit of a pain (ask me how I know…)

Okay, I'll ask. How do you know? Please tell your experience. (Does it have something to do with replacing the standard appliances provided through Adair with appliances that didn't exactly fit in the spaces the former appliances fit? Or something far worse?)

I don't know absolutely, which is why I recommended that the OP check Craigslist first. My suggestion was based upon the many things I've bought and sold there and was not an irrefutable statement of fact. As I said, selling on Craigslist can be a bit of a pain, and is not for everyone.

As for fit, this is not an issue. Many Adair customers purchase their own appliances, as the OP has planned. The kitchens are fitted according to the appliances used rather than pre-planned spacing. While our installer copped an attitude, his work was precise and our range, dishwasher, cabinetry and countertops all fit perfectly. We went with their standard washer and dryer and purchased our own refrigerator, washing machine and dryer. The cupboard over the refrigerator is a stock size; since my husband and I are the only ones living here and we rarely entertain, we purchased a smaller refrigerator, so there is space between fridge and cupboard, but the space comes in handy for storing baking sheets and the like.

"Or something far worse..."

I'm not sure what you're looking for here...I've pretty much listed the good, the bad, and the ugly. Aside from what I mentioned, nothing horrible happened. This is not a high-end, custom home, but we took the basic house and made it what we wanted. I've seen much worse in "Street of Dreams" type display homes.

SBKH, Thanks for the answer. Wasn't looking for anything in particular, just wanted to know what your experience/knowledge base was, as I'm always learning new things here. I thought of the possibility of having trouble fitting a given appliance in a cabinet, since we ran into that when we upgraded out oven/microwave (two separate appliances) stack. We had a regular 27" oven cabinet, but had to make multiple modifications to get the 27" oven into the space. It was no easy task, believe me. So this time around we think we'll get a 33" cabinet for a 30" walll oven to give us a little more wiggle room. We won't be installing the oven initially, but if we have to replace it one day we'd like it to be a bit easier than it was when we last did that.

Step right up Homey, don’t wander away,

I have a house story that won’t take all day.

3 years and 3 months; Emails galore!

787, there was probably more.

Drafting’s delays brought a shocking surprise,

The Admin just smiled; dollar-signs in her eyes!

“Your NTP deadline: You missed it. How sad!”

“Forty-five K to your home price, is what I will add.”

Their superintendents? They sit in their swivelly chairs.

Tapping their pencils & twisting their hairs.

“Go build!” they will call, then hang up and grin,

Their subs do it all. They barely step in!

Once a week for a peek, a quick photo & flash,

Then back to their desks with a whirl and a dash!

They dragged out my build! Then, oh heavens wait.

The bank made me sign for a much higher rate!

1 more day late and the rate would have soared,

With mortgage that high, there’s no way I’d afford!

I’d have sold off my house, though I wanted to stay,

All thanks to their dragging the build out that way.

Workmanship issues? Their grand master plan is,

Send the same people out. They’ll fail again!

My doors went drip-drip, a soggy-old chore,

Four "fixes" later, still puddles on floor!

My laminate buckled, all wavy and bent,

At try number five, the leaks finally went.

Housewarming gift? A spectacular thrill—

An eight-hundred dollar unjust power bill.

The A/C confused, it could not decide,

To heat or to cool—so it did both inside!

I stayed silent on that, for I fear legal fuss,

Knew their lawyers would shout, “Not a penny from us!”

If you still hire Adair, I’ll give you a tip,

Your taxes pay folks who will check workmanship.

But Adair keeps that hidden. They’ll never confess,

The state can inspect while you’re stuck in the mess.

So heed the advice in this tale of despair,

Jenny says, “Run Forest! Run!” and “Buyer! Beware!”

And listen to others, their reviews are quite clear,

Adair, do us a favor and just disappear!