John Termeer

Fantastic builder who is very professional and has created a dream home for us! Every aspect of the building process has been perfect. We would highly recommend his group to anyone!

We have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with Termeer Custom Homes - they boast of customer service on their website "exciting and positive experience for our clients". Trust me, there has been NOTHING positive about our experience with them! They do not follow through AT ALL with anything they have promised to take care of AFTER the sale of the home. We are STUCK with thousands of dollars worth of repairs that should be covered under their builder's warranty. They have inspected personally and acknowledged that the items should be repaired. Even the warranty company is baffled by their lack of professionalism! They will not return emails, phone calls or texts - in fact, they wouldn't even show up for the warranty inspection! The warranty company has advised us to seek legal action - great :/ I would NEVER let them build for me!

In 7/12, I contracted with John Termeer to build my custom home in the Bella Vita on Lake Conroe development/subdivision in Conroe, Texas. When I hired Termeer to build my home in 2012, Termeer & Associates consisted of just 3 people: Mr. Termeer (who is in his late 70's), his daughter, and their admin. My husband and I moved into the home when it was considered substantially completed 6/2/2013. Months passed before, Termeer completed the punch list. The City of Conroe did not issue me a Certificate of Completion to occupy the home until 8/2013---When I called to speak to the permit department, I was told "you should NOT be living in a home that does not have a Certificate of Completion.". The building process with Termeer was a nightmare---the way Termeer handled allowances, change orders, invoices (or lack thereof), and final settlement. I received sub-contractor's threats of liens against my house for unpaid bills. A $40,000 check that Termeer wrote to the pool builder bounced. During construction of my home, the Bella Vita HOA was calling me, emailing me, and sending me certified "covenant violations" notices with fines of $100/day---when the violations were being broken by Termeer, not by me. The violation letters advised me that Termeer's subs worked on Sunday. Another violation was for an erosion fence that had fallen to the ground and had not been replaced. Termeer, as the builder, was in violation---yet my HOA was demanding money from me for Termeer's violations! I paid the HOA. Termeer was aware of the letters. He did not offer to reimburse me. The day-to-day supervision of the building of my home was handled by Termeer's daughter, who he did not introduce me to until AFTER he and I had signed the contract. Once the construction of the house began, and I started experiencing problems which I brought to Termeer's attention, Termeer repeatedly ignored my request that he take a more hands-on approach. I told him "John, the company is in your name. You will be the one getting sued. Why don't you take a more hands-on approach?" He told me he had complete confidence in his daughter who was habitually late for almost every meeting I had with her. I would often get a call from her asking that I "meet me at the house ASAP." I rarely had advance notice of a meeting. There were a lot of quality control issues. For example, without our permission, substituted tankless hot water systems for what our specifications stated (conventional hot water heaters). Once installed, we complained over and over again that we could not get consistent hot water at our faucets. My husband shaved in cold water, and we took cold showers, because we could not get the hot water to come on and stay on. Mr. Termeer sent many email replies advising that nothing was wrong with our hot water supply. At no time did he visit our house to test for himself. Two months after moving into the house, I contacted and paid for a private plumber who advised me the tankless hot water systems were installed incorrectly to one main pipe versus being cut/capped to act independently---they were confusing each other and shutting off altogether. I scanned and sent Termeer a copy of the plumber's $360 invoice for the correct diagnosis---Termeer never offered to reimburse me. The study mantle was not built to the fireplace manufacturer's code, and the company that installed my fireplace would not finish installation so that we could actually USE IT, even though we were receiving emails from Termeer telling us nothing was wrong and our fireplace could be actuated. Months passed before Termeer's carpenter modified the mantle and our fireplace was turned on. Our travertine tiles in our house/floor are now cracking inside and on our back patio. Our stucco that was damaged by Termeer's subs was repaired using the wrong color. We sent Termeer many requests via email before the correct color was applied. We lived in the house for over two months before Termeer hired a locksmith and I was given keys to my front door and my garage door! If I wanted to lock the doors and leave the house, I had to exit through the back patio doors and walk around the house, because my husband and I were only given two keys to the house when we moved in, and those were to the back doors, not the front or garage doors. I also learned upon closer review that the Greater Houston Builders Association (GHBA) contract that Termeer uses favors the builder, not the homeowner. Bottom line: Termeer's GHBA contract is not client-friendly. I completed a year-long process walking my house, watching the construction of my home, dealing with the financial aspects, and Termeer and Associates. I also spent 3-1/2 months since moving into my home waiting for subs to show up to complete the punch list---often, they did not, or they would show up with zero notice. Would I recommend John Termeer? No!