Deseret News | Disabled woman fighting for accessible home

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Disabled woman fighting for accessible home

Richmond Homes | 6:09 a.m. July 28, 2008

I'll put them on my list of builders to NEVER use.

"Just buy the house first, THEN we'll fix the mistakes" (and meanwhile, they'll sneaky-sneak some tiny words into the written contract, negating that verbal promise and the buyers would be stuck with the mistake-ridden house).

In the midst of a housing downturn, it's mind-boggling why a builder wouldn't want to build the home that the customer ordered!

I've heard too many builder horror stories from buyers of Utah's largest home-builders' products.
In no way would I want to do business with any of them.

If this builder was smart, they'd realize that light switches can be on two levels, that an aging population will want more homes like this, and that ADA homes are increasingly in demand.

Richmond, step up. Give the buyer want they want, NOT what YOU want to build. THEN, they'll buy it.

The Ugolinis are obviously smarter than the average gullible Utah homebuyer.

Mother of Disabled Son | 6:22 a.m. July 28, 2008

Good for you! 13 years ago, I had a home built specifically for my handicapped son. The builder knew it, but still did not make accomodations that we requested. The "ramp" into the garage was 8 inches high and only 3 feet long. My son was once pushed out of the house on that ramp by my ex-husband, too fast, and because of the inadequate grade of the ramp, my son fell forward and smacked the bumper of a car with his face. The builder at least complied with the wider hallways and some wider doors. The builder treated the seriousness of our son's situation as no big deal, even tho we were stressing the importance of my son's ability to access and paying premium dollar to build the home.
8 years later I went through my divorce and part of the court proceedings was to decide who should live in the home. That same builder came to court to testify for my ex-husband that the home did not have any special accomodations for a handicapped person. I GUESS THE BUILDER GOT THAT PART RIGHT!

arc | 7:05 a.m. July 28, 2008

A builder can build it if they have drawings to show what you want. Obviously Richmond didn't hire a designer or architect that knew much about designing to meet ADAAG or ICC/Ansi A117.1-2003 (or 2006). If you don't have a basement and use slab-on grade, it is fairly easy to start. If you do have a basement, make it deep, and hang the joists from the wood sill plate.

Many commercial architects or builders would know how to do this, and there are companies like ASSIST that help a lot of people. Richmond obviously didn't hire anyone to help them, and they don't do this typically.

Ramps should be 1:12. That takes a lot of room. You are better designing the house so it doesn't need a ramp. Ramps steeper than 1:8 are usually worse than stairs for safety.

Comments continue below

JCL | 7:25 a.m. July 28, 2008

As a recent home builder I have to say that I'm not surprised. If you have special modifications that need to be made I certainly would not go with a big developer like Richmond. You'd be much better off to buy a plot of land where you can choose your own builder. That's what I did. But even at that, general contractors usually have several homes that they're working on at a time and details slip through the cracks if you're not on top of it all the time. You really need to visit the home at least once a week during the building process to make sure things are being done as you asked. Building a home is definitely a "live and learn" experience but one bit of advice I'd give to anyone building a new home is to visit the home at least once a week during construction.

dj | 8:03 a.m. July 28, 2008

No, they are not being "deliberately discriminatory" but can they not follow directions? This is not carpet color, it is ability to live safely. And comfortably.
Disabled persons don't really want more privileges, just want the same ones.

JCL | 8:21 a.m. July 28, 2008

It's really not a discrimination issue. It's just simply that if you want someone to build you a highly customized home you shouldn't hire a company that specializes in cookie-cutter home building. Surely there are general contractors out there that specialize in wheelchair accessible homes. You just need to find one.

A contract is a contract | 9:49 a.m. July 28, 2008

Richmond shouldn't have agreed to build the house as needed if they couldn't follow directions. And a custom home builder would probably have charged a lot more for less house. I hope the court makes them fix all the mistakes so that the original contract is fulfilled as ordered.

Jon W. | 10:49 a.m. July 28, 2008

Builders can't follow directions even when building from a standard blueprint. The only recourse is to inspect each day what has been done and get the mistakes corrected before allowing the builder to continue.

Catherine | 10:57 a.m. July 28, 2008

The point of the matter is these people did not get what they paid for. How hard can it be for a builder to follow building instructions? There is no excuse. It's sickening to hear about story after story of people getting taken by building companies/developers, let alone people with disabilities who absolutely need their homes to be a certain way in order for them to be able to function in their everyday lives.

I'm glad these people are not giving up. Give them what they paid for- a house with specific accommodations. Consumers shouldn't keep settling for less. Hold these companies accountable for what was agreed upon and don't settle!

Anonymous | 11:00 a.m. July 28, 2008

It would be good if some of the govt agencies that build new homes would at least make some effort at universal design. They don't,they won't and they are using HUD money Wow, how helpful can you get. I hear it said that no one will buy them. I don't believe it. They build some rather high end stuff, brick siding, garages, AC, tile floors, but nothing in the way of 36" doorway, slightly larger bathrooms, or no-step entryways. Making a house convertable to accessible isn't all that hard, or expensive. Maybe the housing agencies should step up and actually help folks. Isn't that why the taxpayers fund these agencies?

Joe Schmoe | 11:05 a.m. July 28, 2008

It;s not an discrimination issue, it's an incompitance issue!

Never give up... | 11:19 a.m. July 28, 2008

Unless they meet your demands, don't give up. You should get what you paid for. Very weak excuse of the "builder don't get it right 100% of the time", even with instructions of what is needed for this lady's special requirements? And don't buy the house with the excuse they will fix it to meet your requirement later. Once you buy the house, most of the outside fixtures are not under warrenty or contract for the builder to fix it.

Contract? | 11:28 a.m. July 28, 2008

Was there a contract? Were changes made and initialed/signed and incorporated into the contract? If so, the Builder has no excuse whatsoever, and by not fulfilling the contract the Builder cannot force the Buyer to buy! If the Builder did not have the plans and specifications changed and delivered to the actual construction team, then that was another failure on their part.

Also, is there no Building Supervisor on these sites that makes sure the buildings are going up according to the contract, plans and specs?

No Way, Richmond | 11:53 a.m. July 28, 2008

We're planning to relocate to Utah when my husband finishes his current employment commitment. There's no way in heaven that we'll use Richmond.

VU | 12:15 p.m. July 28, 2008

It is a breach of contract and also and foremost a DISCRIMINATORY action because Richmond deliberately ignored that they were building that house for a DISABLE person.

Carolyn B. Ugolini | 12:23 p.m. July 28, 2008

This article understandably doesnï¿½t tell the whole story. We consulted an architect who came to the preconstruction meeting to help with Universal Design. Richmondï¿½s architect drew the plans accordingly. The whole process took nearly four months. We visited the building site almost daily, taking 1000s of pictures. We pointed out the mistakes, but Richmond misrepresented their mistakes by blaming the sewer line. We were never allowed the Four-Way.
A Professional Engineer has determined that the house could have been built almost 5 feet lower to allow a reasonable 5% slope as per contract. It pains us that the Antidiscrimination Divisionï¿½s report was based on outrageous fallacies. It even sought to change the contract to our detriment. We have requested that Gov. Huntsman audit the case, We do not want our case to be a negative precedent and harm other disabled persons who need accessible housing.

Custom Homes | 1:07 p.m. July 28, 2008

If you want a home with a lot of customizations... Don't go with a group that specialises in cranking out a certain number of cookie-cutter floor plans.

If you want a custom home with everything built to your individual needs and specifications... You need to design it that way from the begining, instead of making a grundle of verbal modifications to a standard model.

I have family who live in Richmond Homes (Lehi). From everything I've heard or seen they are excelent and fit their needs (but they learned you must keep a close eye on them to make sure any customiations requested are done right). These crews are used to banging out a standard floorplan in a few days. Sometimes customizations don't get communicated correctly or are not executed correctly (these crews don't specialize in custom home construction).

People just need to know what they're getting into. Richmond, Ivory, etc, don't specialize in building custom homes. There ARE builders out there who do design homes from the ground up to fit your individual needs (instead of starting with a standard model and making small customizations), but it costs much more.

Richmond should know their limitations and turn-this-type-of-job-down-or-commit-to-do-it-right.

CB | 2:46 p.m. July 28, 2008

There's always more to a story. This article should raise more questions, and definitely we all would benefit from supporting disability rights for them to live as others do. "Trusted" government and builders must be held accountable for the general public good.

rick | 3:33 p.m. July 28, 2008

why don't you people ever post anything i write what goes

I don't understand how this happ | 4:26 p.m. July 28, 2008

Perhaps I'm being overly judgemental, I have a hard time seeing how a builder knowing that a cripled person needs a certain type of house, is given the particulars, goes ahead and leaves these very essential parts of the house out.

I just don't get it, other than the fact that the builder is a very careless / disorganized person or just blew her off.

Amy | 4:27 p.m. July 28, 2008

We built a home with Pete Lodder for my mother who is disabled. He did a great job!!! He made sure that everything we wanted was done. He made sure that our foundation was at the correct level for the ramp grade in our garage. He was always asking us if there was anything else that we could see that would be difficult to maneuver with a wheelchair. He was very detailed and we would recommend him to anyone who is wanting to build a home for someone with or without a disability. There are some GREAT builders but there are more bad ones, you have to do some research. I would never buy a Richmond home.

CSCHN | 5:03 p.m. July 28, 2008

Builders think they have you over a barrel and can force you to close on a defective, incomplete, or improperly built house. Good for this couple for standing up to Richmond. I wish more people would. Richmond's excuses are pathetic. Yeah, sure, just close and we'll fix "some" of it. And if they were to agree to that the builder would probably be the first to call them stupid. What is WRONG with these builders that they can't figure out to just BUILD IT RIGHT?? It's like they go out of their way to be wrong, then act like they are the victim. This builder would never get my business either.

Argued with a builder | 6:51 p.m. July 28, 2008

A friend of mine is in a wheelchair, and her husband asked me to help with a builder who just didn't get it. After he had their deposit, he started arguing with them about the ADA features, saying that they would "make it hard to find the next buyer." We told him he was going to lose THIS buyer if he didn't figure it out.

I rented a wheelchair, and told the builder that the only way he was going to get paid was after he sat in it for a couple of hours in the demo home.

An hour into the ordeal, he was tired of slamming into doorjambs, straining to reach light switches, counters, outlets, etc, and to get from the chair to the toilet.

My friends got the house they wanted -- and the personal attention from the developer that made it work.

When you threaten their paycheck, these people start to listen. Once they listen, they often have that "V-8 moment" and realize how stupid they have been looking until then!

Re: Argued with a builder | 7:58 p.m. July 28, 2008

Wonderful of you to share that. It is good of you to make that builder "wheel a couple of miles" (adaption of "walk in their shoes") to get an idea of what it is and he served your friends better afterwards. Kudos.

Classic | 10:45 p.m. July 28, 2008

This is a classic case where the buyers didn't use an independant Realtor. The builder really steers people away from using a separate Realtor because that way the builder gets away with more crap. A good Realtor would have made a huge issue of it and go the ADA involved while it was being built. Then the Realtor would have send emails to all other Realtors letting them know how the builder is with people.

KW | 11:15 p.m. July 28, 2008

I have had enough bad experiences with builders through work and through stories I've heard from friends that I can totally believe the worst of them. Once, when construction was being done next to our building, we found the construction crew using our parking lot to dump the dirt they were digging!

If they couldn't deliver, then they shouldn't have agreed to do it. It's their job to make right what they did wrong. If they think it's too expensive to fix, then they can cough up a new house from scratch.

Why an ADA issue? | 9:13 a.m. July 29, 2008

I don't get why this is an ADA issue. If it was in the contract Richmond has to provide it, it's not optional or at the builder's discression, and you don't have to get the ADA involved, just enforce the contract.

If the special considerations weren't specified and compensated for in the contract, you're going to have a hard time holding the builder responsible for something the salesman promised but never put in the contract.

The ADA's job is to make sure PUBLIC buildings are accessible. They don't force builders of private homes to make modifications that were not specified in the contract and paid for in the purchase of the home. You don't call ADA after the fact and say, "Make them make this house accessible to the handicapped". There is no law that private residences be wheelchare accessible. It is the job of the home buyer to specify what modifications they want and are willing to pay for, Not the ADA or any other regulatory agency.

Bottom line... If it's in the contract you will get it, or generous compensation (that's what contracts and courts are for). If it WASN'T in the contract, the ADA can't help.

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