So-called Ryan Homes Starter Lawn...

Hey Folks!  It’s been a while!  We are settling nicely into our new home.  Things are coming along well.  Of course there is a long to-do list of things we want to do to our home, but those things will come in time.

Let’s get down to business…..this will be long.

I am EXTREMELY unhappy with our Ryan Homes “starter lawn”.  I will use that term lightly considering our “starter lawn” is more like a rock garden.  When we closed back in February, our entire yard was covered in snow.  It stayed that way for a few weeks because the snow kept coming!  Finally the snow cleared and we could see our yard.  I’ll start with the front….we got sod in the front and it looked nice from what we could see.  Taking a closer look, our sod is patchy, some of the sod is very thin, and then there are uneven places.  Told PM, he told us to wait until our 10 month.  Fine.

Now let’s talk about the back and side yard.  In our community, we only get sod and irrigation in the front yard.  On the sides, we get what is called a “starter lawn”.  This consists of dirt, grass seed, and hay.   Now we have a really big back yard.  Bigger than what Ryan Homes includes in their grading and starter lawn.  Our lot is unique because before there was a house on our lot, there was a huge mound of dirt.  This dirt was the holding place for a retaining pond on the two lots beside us.  Our lot also has a utility easement which they are currently doing a project.  There are several huge pipes in this area.  Now back in September/October, the pond was filled in with the dirt on our lot and the land was smoothed out.  During the course of our build, I noticed several places where water was collecting on the lot.  Our PM told us that we would have to get those places fixed since it was outside of the 25 feet.  We kept bringing it up, and he kept telling us the same thing.  The problem is, our lot past the 25 feet was disturbed by construction.  Why won’t Ryan Homes fix this issue? 

Now remember, we couldn’t see our starter lawn when we had our walk-thru and when we closed.  When the snow melted, I added our yard to the list of things that needed work.  At that point I noted that there were tons of rocks and construction debris.  I noted several places in our back that were holding water past the 48 hour mark and other things that were not right.  Our PM told us that he would send the landscaping company back out and they would power rake the yard and put down new seed, but we didn’t need hay.  He also told us about how great our back yard would look since we got two rounds of seed.  Sounds good, right?!  I know we were excited!   He also told us that he would talk to the developer about the holes/ponds in the back yard and that they would be fixed.  Well when the landscaping company came back out, something wasn’t right.  One of the guys was riding around on his machine smoothing out the dirt.  Ummmmm…..weren’t we supposed to get a power rake?  So my husband went outside to talk to the guy who said no one told him he was supposed to power rake, but his guys could rake the sides and back by hand.  When they were all done everything looked great and it was raining so that was even better! 

Now, here we are a month later and my yard looks absolutely HORRIBLE!  While I know it takes time to grow and establish a yard from scratch, Ryan Homes should be ashamed of what they consider acceptable.  The amount of rocks in the dirt they put down is unreal!  How is anything supposed to grow with a layer of rocks?!?

 I put in a service request about the yard and waited the 24-48 hours.  No one contacted me.  So I put in another service request with some additional issues with our front and back doors.  My service manager (SM) called back in less than 24 hours and had someone out that day to resolve my issue.  I asked my SM if he was responsible for the yard concerns and he said that my PM was….. My PM called about the yard and left a message.  I called him back and left a message and didn’t hear back before the end of business that day.    Another day went by….no phone call.  The weekend went by, no phone call.  Monday morning, I call him and we talk.  He says he will go by and look and give me a call that afternoon.  He calls back that afternoon and says that everything was done properly and that there is nothing else Ryan Homes can do.   I ask about the places that hold water and he said nothing can be done until the county is done with a project they are doing in our back yards.  He did offer to give me names of some landscaping companies who could come and fix my yard!!  SERIOUSLY?!?!?  So Ryan Homes won’t fix it and I’m supposed to pay someone else to come give me a starter lawn!

There are rocks everywhere and barely any grass.  There is still plastic and trash from construction in our yard.  In addition, since no hay was put down the second time they came out there is some erosion going on.  This is absolutely unacceptable.  This is what Ryan Homes considers a “starter lawn”.   We have a beautiful house, a decent front yard, and the crappiest back yard I’ve ever seen.  It’s really sad and disappointing.  And what’s even more disappointing is that Ryan Homes will not correct the situation.   Stuff like this is exactly why Ryan Homes has a bad name. 

 

Here are pictures......

Back Yard

Side Yard

 

Water

More water and pipes

 

This picture is from the day the landscaper came out....we had plenty of rain for those seeds to grow.

 

Rocks and trash

Anyone need some rocks?!

patches in our sod

Big hole exposing more rocks in our sod