Your Experience With Plett or Linda Vista Home Builders

13POSTS

5 years ago

Hello expats,
My wife tells me that we'll be buying a 20x40 Mennonite home so I've been doing a lot of research and narrowed it down to these two builders.
I would appreciate anyone's input from having dealt with either of these companies.
There's some good info on old threads here that's lead me to my biggest fear. Over the years there's a history of people who have found that green lumber was used in building their homes. The results of the wood twisting and warping turned their dream homes into nightmares. And since none of the builders offer warranties there was no recourse. The (very expensive) problems were theirs to deal with.
You can't tell by looking whether or not lumber is green, so what can you do?
I'd really appreciate hearing about the different experiences anyone has had in dealing with either of these companies and any advise on problems I should watch for.
I am crippled and this makes inspections impossible for me.
This job is going to fall into the lap of an 18 year old son. (Yikes!)
But even if I could be on site during the building process I'm not sure what I'd be looking for.
Thanks so much for any advise.

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helenhmja Active member

53POSTS

5 years ago

hi what little i know about wood (this has been learned from having a wood burning stove)
is.....green lumber is loaded with moisture so it is heavy.......lumber that has been left to dry before use is lighter in weight (ie) same would be for wood used in building dry lumber will be lighter wet wood /lumber will be heaver hope this helps ........ hopefully some one else will know more about building lumber as far as the home builders have not heard anything about them ask questions like how long have they been building will they give references from clients they have built for........if the answer to either question is no ....then RUN and look for a good builder

Brigitte B Serial expat

331POSTS

5 years ago

If you haven’t already, also check out Premier Homes Construction and R.G. Builders in Spanish Lookout.
Our first home was Plett. To be fair, it was over 20 years ago. Much better resources and lots of competition these days.
Good luck!

jchrisc wrote:
Hello expats,
My wife tells me that we'll be buying a 20x40 Mennonite home so I've been doing a lot of research and narrowed it down to these two builders.
I would appreciate anyone's input from having dealt with either of these companies.
There's some good info on old threads here that's lead me to my biggest fear. Over the years there's a history of people who have found that green lumber was used in building their homes. The results of the wood twisting and warping turned their dream homes into nightmares. And since none of the builders offer warranties there was no recourse. The (very expensive) problems were theirs to deal with.
You can't tell by looking whether or not lumber is green, so what can you do?
I'd really appreciate hearing about the different experiences anyone has had in dealing with either of these companies and any advise on problems I should watch for.
I am crippled and this makes inspections impossible for me.
This job is going to fall into the lap of an 18 year old son. (Yikes!)
But even if I could be on site during the building process I'm not sure what I'd be looking for.
Thanks so much for any advise.

Kenney G New member

4POSTS

5 years ago

I have no experience with those builders. I do have decades of experience building with wood.
You can buy a lumber moisture meter for well under $50 US. The better ones are combination "pin" and "pinless"types. Moisture levels will vary with humidity after the wood has been air or kiln dried but will always be lower than when "green". Check and see what the moisture levels are in the wood in a finished, unwarped, dry building. That should be roughly the level in the lumber they use to build yours. Your teen age son should have no issues using this tech.

I have seen Mennonite homes that were well built and some not so much. The more on site inspections the better. There are less surprises in the end.

Best of luck, I hope you love your new home.

1 member reacted to this post

jchrisc Member

13POSTS

5 years ago

I don't take it for granted when people take time out of their lives to help someone they've never met.
Thank you all very much for your thoughts and input.

2 members reacted to this post

neomiso New member

4POSTS

5 years ago

Thank you for that important piece of information regarding the moisture meter. I will be coming to Belize from the UK in the next couple of weeks, and I managed to get one and will bring it with me. It looks like it will be an important piece of kit in our new home. Thanks again.

1 member reacted to this post

DennisF New member

4POSTS

4 years ago

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jchrisc Member

13POSTS

4 years ago

We've already started building but I wanted to thank you for taking the time to contact us. It sounds like a great deal, best of luck to you.

wscarey47 New member

5POSTS

4 years ago

Our friends just had a Premier house delivered on Thursday June 10th to their 10 acre home site at Maya Spring Estates in Cayo.

mrfathersir Member

11POSTS

last year

#10

So, who did you go with? How do you like it?

Ron Lewis New member

4POSTS

last year

#11

I had a house built by Pletts and in a nutshell I wouldnt recommend them to anyone... The craftsmanship is not good, not complete, and they take shortcuts... I've had to go behind them and do certain things myself... Overall they have a nice smile upfront but after that the quality is just below par... NOT A GOOD EXPERIENCE... BETTER YET I SUGGEST Building A CONCRETE HOME... It may cost a few more pennies but it's a better choice in Belize... My next build in Belize will be concrete

3 members reacted to this post