A recent thread on the Hawthorne Villager Blog was brought to my attention and it focuses on cracking tiles. Points were brought up about the floor joists being too far apart in Mattamy Homes (using structured I beams and placed at minimum code separations) and, being the cause of tiles in the kitchen cracking due to flexing. Further investigation by the homeowner showed that the tiles were only held down by the grout and not by the glue/concrete under them. It was pointed out that the installer was probably using the cheap glue/concrete and thus the tiles did not adhere properly to the sub-strate.
I won’t go into what I think of Mattamy quality here, as you’ve probably read it enough already in my other postings but would like to point out something that would be relevant no matter who the builder was.
In some of the forums I have read people state that they have liked other homes better but picked Mattamy as they were cheaper.
It’s the old adage – you get what you pay for.
I think we have pointed out enough things to show why Mattamy might be cheaper – cutting corners, etc. Paying a premium price does not guarantee quality but buying at the low end, well you’ve already set yourself up for shortcuts, etc that a builder will use to save money and thus be able to offer a cheaper house. A sub-contractor who is paid less (and thus the builder can charge you less) still has their costs and might save money by using cheaper material and sticking to code, even though the code may cause problems such as bouncy floors.
We’ve shown what Mattamy quality is like. Do other builder’s use the same tactics to save money? I don’t know as I have really not read anything about them.
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