Firstly, it is unfortunate that I have to write this review at all. Moving to Guelph was an exciting time for our growing family. We were happy to find an opportunity to work with a builder to build a custom home. We had been through this experience 3 times with Mattamy Homes. Repeating the process with the builder, Dan Clayton Homes seemed like the right option.
His disorganization was observed from the beginning but we remained patient as he was inexperienced and young. We did our best to work with him. It should be known that Dan Clayton Homes is simply a single guy who works alone and does not have a staff. He hires subcontractors to complete individual parts of the home. These subcontracts are the best part of the process as they are usually locally established tradesmen that do good work. The bones of your house will be good because of this. However, the home owner is left to deal with Dan Clayton Homes for all customer service and warranty related items.
Our frustration began when Dan Clayton Homes tacked on an additional fee on closing (thousands of dollars). Our lawyer had to step in and deal with the problem making closing day, a typically happy day, very stressful. Dan Clayton Homes was in the wrong, and we did not pay this fee. We later found out that the same thing happened to our neighbours, but they paid it, trusting Dan Clayton Homes. Our problems did not end there. The Tarion Warranty Program is a service provided to new homeowners to protect people from the builder. In our 3 previous new builds we had no problem with the Tarion process. We hoped for the same. This was not the case. All homes will have items that need to be fixed. This we all know and understand. For Dan Clayton Homes, fixing a builder deficiency is a problem as it means money out of their pocket, arranging trades to come back in, meeting Tarion deadlines, etc. Dan Clayton Homes does not have a warranty department and in the end did not do the repairs. Dan Clayton Homes missed the initial 120 day repair deadline with Tarion, an inspection was done by Tarion to warrant several items. The builder then missed another 30 day repair period. The builder asked us to cancel our appointments with Tarion, the builder tried to make side deals to avoid financial penalties/fines from Tarion. Knowing his reputation from our neighbours we have maintained our rights and are still dealing with warranty issues that he has not completed.
The bottom line remains that the customer service is absolutely atrocious. Dan Clayton Homes is dishonest, disorganized, cheap, and very disrespectful. It has been almost two years since we moved in and we are still in a battle with Dan Clayton Homes as are our neighbours. This is not the norm with other builders yet we live on a street where it is the norm. Dan Clayton Homes has completed less than 10 homes and 5 of his homes/clients live side by side on Ingram Dr. We have become great friends with our common connection being the terrible customer service we have all received from our builder. I invite you to talk to us. Knock on our door and talk to us before you choose to make the biggest investment of your life. We will all have the same story to tell you. It’s a different story than the fake reviews that Dan Clayton Homes has put on their website. There are too many examples of unprofessionalism to tell you about here. With too many good builders in the Guelph area, I would not choose a new home with Dan Clayton Homes, not because of the product, but because of the disgraceful customer service. Please protect your investment.