What do you like about the Charleston A?

FWIW - we are in North Central Ohio and are using a great local custom builder (Amish). He told us at the beginning that he can build a Schumacher house for less than they would charge, with the only exception being if you did their (Schumacher's) base model with no upgrades. I have heard that they really get you with upgrades and when you want to make any changes from their original plans.

I like the flow of the house, just feels inviting and cozy. Im also not a fan of the size of kids' bedrooms, they are small. Schumacher told us that the base model starts at $260,000 and that's not including the land; and their model home has 160,000 in upgrades.

Cpartist: can you explain a little more about the floor plan? I'm interested in what you mean by 'dead ends'. Thank you all for your replies:)

Walk away from a track builder......they build as 'cheap' and bare min. as possible for the most profit. Do a search for a local builder. Go to the local HD, Lowes, builders supplies stores or other businesses and get recommendations. Stay AWAY from track builders!!

Recommendations for custom home builders from Home Depot and Lowes? I can't imagine what kind of home you would end up with.

While I agree that Schumacher is not a true “custom” builder, I believe you are able to take their floor plans and change them to meet your individual needs. If you already own property and have some wiggle room in your budget, hiring a company like Schumacher may be a good idea. Just thought I’d throw that in. Best of luck!

I think it's a total crapshoot. On one hand, they do get volume discounts on everything on the "base" house. They likely have full time foundation, framing, concrete, siding and brick crews (maybe others) so they can keep a schedule. On many items, inspections and code will provide a basic level of safety and "quality"

On the other hand, those crews are paid to "turn and burn" and likely don't have to deal with the callbacks (as there are separate full time crews for that). You may be the entry point for inexperienced superintendents. You will pay quite a bit more for "upgrades". Likely just slightly less than ripping it out and redoing "after" - so it looks like a "deal".

One thing that is a given is that you will have much less flexibility on your choices (of both plan and finishings) which, depending on your situation, could be both good or bad.

Just like any business or profession you're going to get the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I think knocking production builders as a whole is ridiculous as they account for the largest percentage of homes being built in the U.S. every year. You will get some that are producing garbage, you'll get some putting out nice properties, and you'll get some producing gems.

Central Ohio has three or four major builders below the level of Schumacher homes putting out some pretty nice homes - I've lived in homes built by most of them and have been quite pleased with the quality.

Well Columbus, if I lived in your neck of the woods where for just about the same price I could get a house built by Mennonite/Amish versus a Schumacher, I'll take the Mennonite/Amish any day. Yes of course there are lousy Mennonite/Amish builders too, but they as a whole work with the same crews day in/day out and year after year. Like janni said, it's not a crapshoot as to whether you get a good supervisor and/or good workmen.

Cpartist: can you explain a little more about the floor plan? I'm interested in what you mean by 'dead ends'.

Will try to get to it today with a visual if I can download the plan. It's not only dead ends but overall flow.

Mamabear - how far north in central Ohio are you ?

I am in northeast Ohio. When we first started thinking of building I looked at Schumacher homes and thought that might be a realistic option. I have looked at their homes in Akron and I know a few people who have built with them. The houses I have seen are nice but the one thing I really didn’t like is the lack of options and the cost in upgrades. If I am spending 100’s of thousands of dollars I want sole control over my products. Ultimately that was our reason to go truly custom. With our custom builder I was able to have a say and shop for most of the products. Our builder was so great about giving us free reign. There were some things we went through the builder for because of his discount and knowledge.

In this region I do think Schumacher builds a nice home but I would shop around and compare upgrades/prices and most importantly quality. Cpartist is right, yes the Amish are always an option. Best of luck.

I have looked for custom builders and found many but it's hard to separated the good from the bad. They all they positive and negative reviews. I've been looking for a builder that has built before in the city that i want to build, also someone that has been in business for at least five years, good reviews, part of home builder association... what else should i focus on when going through the long list of builders? I live in northeast Ohio.

Can’t add to the conversation on Schumacher other than I drive by those model homes every July when I’m in Akron for the Soap Box Derby. Always wanted to stop by and look. Maybe next year.

We live in a tract home that was marketed as custom by the builder. I probably have the most custom home in our neighborhood of 62 homes. I dug my heals in on several items, particularly my kitchen, and was able to use my KD rather than the builders cabinetmaker. So glad I did.

There were standard things that I chose not to include as it wasn’t my style. More than once they installed the standard and had to rip it out. I certainly did not pay for that.

It's a cute house, but the layout seems a bit 1950s in that it's not real flow-y. To start with, coming in from the garage, you walk right through the kitchen. Since the garage entry is small, the kitchen counter will get cluttered with mail, shopping, and outgoing items.

The view from the kitchen is...the hall bathroom! The view from the front door is the far living room wall, or the kitchen island stools.

The master is through a "pocket office", which, if you are like most people, would have bills and statements on it. Not what you want greeting you first thing in the morning or last thing at night.

The master bath isn't quite big enough for two sinks, and they take away from counterspace and storage space beneath. And the closets are not only through the bathroom, they are IN tThe bathroom, and right next to the toilet at that. You'd want to reconfigure that, swapping the laundry with the closets. That gives the laundry a window to the outside (and maybe even a convenient door to the outside), and the closet door can open to the bedroom.

Beyond that, there really isn't any flow, no circulation. Everything radiates off the living room, so there is only one way to get anywhere. Try arranging furniture in the living room to see how you might lay it out, without it being in the way of getting to a bedroom. Or put a table in the dining area, where you have to dodge it getting to and from the master bedroom. (And, do you want someone at the table or on the sofa to be able to look through into your bedroom?)

Don't get me started on the "cuteness" of marriage-saver vanity and "mom-den" lol.

exited to add, after looking at the walk through video (I clicked on Charleston A Akron), that is NOT the same master bathroom. There are basement stairs not shown on the plan. Boy, that one bedroom is tiny.

Since we moved into our new Brevard million-dollar home 18 months ago, which was built by Schumacher Homes of Asheville, we have had nothing but problems with our floors. Schumacher has done a very good job of closing all kinds of warranty issues, but our floors are an embarrassment, and we have not had any guests or neighbors over to show off our beautiful home as it is very embarrassing. Every day our shower floor squeaks, and the kitchen, living room, laundry, and 70% of our home squeak. Schumacher has spent many hours trying to resolve this, but now they claim it is not part of their warranty program and refuse to fix this horrible construction/structural issue.