Stanley Martin Custom Homes

Update: Stanley Martin reached out to us since my original review and took care of the warped siding. I have to say we were shocked Stanley Martin Warranty actually took care of the issue after ignoring us for so long. The process was relatively quick once they contacted us.

We settled on our Stanley Martin home in Selma estates approximately one year ago. Although the design of the home is great the quality of the home and the warranty experience have been less than positive. We started our 9 month process in October and by the end of December still dealing with issues — grass, foundation paint, drywall seams throughout the home and broken toilets to name a few. We have adjusted our family’s schedule on numerous occasions to align with the trades coming in to fix the problems. We are now to the point we are being told «the drywall seams were due to poor workmanship so there is nothing more we can do»; «all houses have drywall seams», «the toilets malfunction because they only have a one gallon tank», «flush them several times»…frustrating! I sent a message today asking to get some feedback and a plan of how we can get the repairs made and be provided the house we were sold… so far not a peep from anyone.
It’s a shame they sell you the Stanley Martin promise but don’t stand behind it!

I recently settled on my second Stanley Martin home in the past 5 years, in the Huntleigh at Creighton Farms. I had another great experience with Stanley Martin.
The team, across the board, was extremely dedicated and met our requests throughout the building process. SM representatives at corporate and in the field were professional and knowledgeable. I was particularly impressed with the breadth of in-​house services provided by Stanley Martin, including a design studio, which was very impactful in making my home beautiful.
It is important to note that both of my homes were «production» homes, but in both cases, you would have mistaken them for custom homes. The finishes and workmanship are truly unparalleled when it comes to production building.
As a repeat customer, I highly recommend Stanley Martin.

My neighbors used Stanley Martin Custom Homes to build their house. It was the third time a house adjacent to me was built or renovated, and it was easily the worst experience for me as a neighbor.
The Stanley Martin representatives met with us before construction and made several promises about the impact to our property. Soon, it was apparent those promises were meaningless. We found our property damaged, constant debris in our yard (including concrete poured on our lawn and in our garden), and runoff all over the place.
When we would complain to the project manager or the company representatives we had met with previously, they would either ignore us or make excuses.
The kicker is when our car was damaged and they did everything they could to avoid responsibility. Our car was parked in front of our house, near their project site (but safely out of the way). We came out one morning to see a huge gash across the back of the car. Right at the height of the bucket of a loader that was working in the area. When we pointed out the damage, their response was «you can’t prove we did that.»
We fought with them (fruitlessly) for a few months before paying for the repairs ourselves.
I will never work with the company and I would certainly caution friends, family, and random strangers on Unilocal against giving them any business. From our experience, they are dishonorable and untrustworthy.

Worst experience in my life. I actually started smoking again because of them. The whole buying and building process was full of lies and misleading information. The quality of the home… nice at first. I have been in over a year now. All the 9 month repairs they promised were done half-​assed. I had to have 3 appointments to get them out to fix a wall. Now that my one year warranty is over, many things are coming out. The worst, is the painting. The painters are clueless. A five year old could have painted the walls better. I will spend most of my summer repairing walls and repainting. I am not the only one. The new community we live in meet often. I have been in other homes. All have the same issues and same experiences with this builder. Save yourself some stress and heartache, and pass on this builder.

Updating my earlier review based on experiences since starting the process. Since starting the work, I have found some challenges with SMCH. I am about one month away from finishing the house, so will write a complete review at that point.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: the company is working with me to design and build a new home in Fairfax County, Virginia. I am tearing down an old house and they will build a new home on the site. I picked from one of their many floor plans, and I have been working with their design team to modify the plan to fit my interests.
After looking at several builders in the area, I chose Stanley Martin Custom Homes (SMCH). As the name implies, SMCH is a Stanley Martin company but operates as a separate division. For me, this has been an advantage because the parent company is a large local builder with purchasing power and a stable team of experienced employees/​subcontractors. SMCH is smaller unit, which has also been an advantage because the service is very personalized. Currently, I’m in the middle of the process of finalizing the floor plans and submitting the requests for permits to the county. I have found that everything I was told during my earlier meetings and the other sales information has been completely accurate. The SMCH has been extremely accommodating with everything — include my schedule, my choices, and my family situation. At this point, I am working directly with the president of SMCH, who is Michael Schnitzer. He is extremely professional and yet the service is provided as if we have known each other for years. He always shows a genuine interest in my questions and is as enthusiastic about the house as if he was the first house he’s built (like me!). I found the SMCH website to be helpful with answering many of the initial questions I had. This website was initially a bit hard to find because it is different than the Stanley Martin parent website, but it’s at
, John Jorgenson of Long and Foster is a business associate of SMCH and handles some of the initial sales issues. I also found him to be extremely knowledgeable and hard working. It’s been a pleasure working with Michael, John, and their colleagues so far.