Arista Homes

I was in the building industry for 10+years and have experience purchasing homes directly from a builder.
My Arista home is generally nice. The materials used fit the price that was paid however there are many small design items that are only noticeable after you move in. I would purchase a resale Arista home again however if I was purchasing a new I would look at other builders. The amount of money needed immediately to upgrade and fix-up the home was way larger the expected.
The service follow up has been terrible. After my home was closed, there was still work to be completed inside and out. I was bounced around from one department to the next with nobody taking full ownership of next steps. Finally I had a 30day walk through and had many items to discuss. The person from Arista Service argued on ever item and it was obvious that her/his entire objective was to reject as many items as possible and complete this walk through - not customer service. (I had a Mattamy home before and the difference between the 30day walk throughs was staggering). There were a few items that Arista needs to confirm and he/she indicated that they would call me back within a few days with the details. However, 7-10 days later the 30day form was hung on my doorknob and there was no direct communication was given.
Here is an example - There are 2 entrances into my house, through the garage and front door. When you enter through the garage/mud room you immediately walk to into my kitchen. Well, there was no switch for the lights in the kitchen when entering that way and we would then have to walk through a dinning area and kitchen to turn on a light into the house. At nighttime this is a serious safety hazard for my wife and kids. I asked about adding a light switch so that I can turn the lights on in the kitchen when entering through the garage. And this is still a battle when it should be more common sense.
These are the little things that you cannot plan for when purchasing a home and should be standard items….however they are not with Arista.

The home was great at first, and Arista was very intent on getting everything right....until the 30 day form. Part of our purchase agreement was that the water damaged sub flooring in the family room would be replaced. They did replace some of the sub flooring, but did not ensure it was level! We have an area in our house that slopes... Tripping hazard! Also, on the 2nd floor, the entire hallway was warped, and creeks, and in one of the bed rooms, the floor creeks like crazy. This happened right away after we moved in.

Arista at first said they would redo the sub flooring in the 1st and 2nd floor, but then Milan (a worker with Arista) said that it would be best to wait a year before doing this work. He said he confirmed with the site manager Sergio that this would be okay. We agreed, and they had us sign the Tarion form stating everything was okay, and we would wait untill the 1st year form for the work to be done. BIG MISTAKE. Also, for other home owners to know, once you sign in good faith, Tarion does not care if a builder acts in bad faith. Once you sign, that is it.

We filled out the 1st year form in December 2010, and called Arista, and emailed them to let them know we needed the work to be done. My wife was on mat leave and they could have come at any time to repair the flooring. Arista employee Glen came out with the hardwood flooring company twice to "review" the flooring (once in January, the second time in February), then didn't show up again. We contacted Glen again in April to see what was going on. When he came out a third time with the flooring contractor, he talked to my wife and refused to fix the subflooring saying there was no dip in the floor, and even tried to deny there was any issue on the 2nd floor. The representative from the flooring company is the one who told Glen that there was an issue with the floor, and that no amout of humidity would have caused the problems we had. Guess what? Glen didn't call us back for several more months... We emailed and called his supervisor Nat.

Within a couple hours Glen was at our door. When he came out, I was there and he told me exactly what he told my wife, that our floors were fine. I took 12 cups of water and poured on the floor and it all pooled in the area where there was a dip in the floor. Only at that time did he admit there was a dip in the floor and made an excuse that he always saw it. Pathetic! We have had four people almost fall walking over this area. I told him Milan (who still works at Arista) told us that Arista would fix the floors. Glen would later call back and state that Milan had no memory of this...

The only thing Arista did was replace the hardwood (which did nothing to solve the problem which is with the subflooring). In fact on the 2nd floor, after re-installing the hardwood we now we have a second tipping hazard at the top of our stairs!

We were very happy with the house (aside from the floors), now we are so angry we just want to move out and never have anything to do with Arista again. I told Glen flat out, it is too bad they are unwilling to fix the floors because otherwise it could have been a good house. Fixing the floors was even in our agreement to buying the house. 2 years later, were are going to have to pay out of pocket to fix these floors. Unbelievable.

If people think all builders are like this, an example of a builder that knows how to do it right is Cachet Reid homes in London, Ontario. Our friends had a similar issue. Cachet Reid ripped up most of the first floor, to solve the problem.

Regarding the people who give Arista 10 on home stars, look at these people's other reviews, they give everyone 10 and are very generic. Probably employees of Arista trying to boost up their rating.

The upgrades were absolutely ridiculously priced. Services and items which might cost X on the competitive market, are being offered at 3X. It's a shame because Arista force customers to choose between i) pay extortionate prices for upgrades with them or ii) rip the house up and get the upgrades at a sensible price after the customer takes posession

Stay FAR AWAY!!!! from this builder. They painted all the door handles,electrical plates the basement had 4 leaks 2 of them they repaired 2 I paid outta pocket. My window frame on the main floor was cracked. They did everything in their power not to replace. I nearly got in a fist fight with the site manager until head office caved and repaired it. 3 other houses in the neiborhood flooded with water from poor grading. Stay far away

Very satisfied with the home, great location, great design and pretty good staff. Overall I am impressed with the home and especially the quality of the products and materials used in building it.

We were lucky to buy our new home in 2009 when the housing market was low, so we got a great deal. We didn't know about the builder and bought on price and the great model that was available. We lucked out that the builder did a great job and we have now been in the house for 4 months. There are always some issues with new builds, but Arista has worked with us to resolve what they can. The only thing that seems to remain an issue is the painting on the door hinges, which they say is not warrantable, but the job that was done is horrible! Other than that we are very happy with our home and happy with our builder.

We were impressed with the standards Arista was offering. We compared other builders in the area, and Arista was the only one using 2"x6" exterior walls, and they were one of the few who put the floor joists closer together underneath areas with tiles.

Considering these are 2 areas that no one really asks questions about, but are integral in the longevity and quality build of the house, it stands to reason that they care about using good quality materials to build their houses.

They had a lot to pick from at their decor centre - much different than our last experience with a builder!

Customer service was pretty good too.

Overall we had a fantastic experience and would buy from Arista again if we ever need to move! Heads and tails above the other builders we've dealt with!

They were professional and are extremely happy with their workmanship. When we did our inspection they were fantastic and efficient in getting all the last minute touch ups and details completed. I felt they used quality products like the baseboards were high quality. I would definitely recommend this home builder!

They were good until there was a problem with the electrical work. They asked me to wait for 1 year after the house was finished in
order to give time for the house to settle. After one year they said that they would not fix the electrical work because I had finished my basement,

I do not have electricity in my dining room still.

Arista Homes recently released Jefferson Forest in Richmond Hill. Buyers were forced to make the Decision as they are handed over the Price List with out having prior Knowledge of half of the Floor Plans.

Buyers were told they will not be allowed to make any conditional offer even 5 day financing or Review by their Solicitor i.e they should sign right there after getting the price list and floor plan in there hand. Some of the people waited in long line and had to comply with Arista Homes Demand. Its Sad to see a Builder that is ranked number 4th in JD Associates reverting to such tactics. Wonder how they get customer satisfaction ratings.

Some of the Floor plans that were posted on the website were also either partial or incomplete.

Hope the Government steps in and give consumers their right to have a Lawyers review of the sales agreement and Conditional offer on Finance acceptance.

Shame to Arista on using such Tactics.