Schell Brothers Reviews 82

03/2026 update: I am pleased that a new warranty manager was assigned to our homes and some items have been fixed. We have had good conversations about some of the other major/ structural issues. I'm hoping I report these were satisfactorily addressed and update my "Star" rating. To be continued...
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I would avoid using Schell. But if you do, make sure you get several home inspections along the way and don’t close your purchase until the major items are remedied. Their construction process is hurried, and not closely managed, resulting in a bunch of improper punchlist items, some they fix, many they won’t. I’ve had to spend a bunch of my own money to remedy things. There’s a bunch of things they don’t tell you during the process, then they are not supportive about fixing them afterwards. Don’t believe a word they say. It’s all lip service. We call it the Schell Game around here. I am about a year and a half post close, and they are still dancing around several issues. I have very little confidence that they will address them.

They going to destroy my childhood house I hate them so much for that my house is stuck in 2015 how I left there I don't get why they are messing with my house i still have things in there when I see them I'm going to kick them up side of the head

We moved into our home in April 2024. I would not recommend Schell to anyone. We have had endless problems, some structural. Schell’s staff is not easy to work with. Do your homework and read about homeowners’ complaints before buying. I don’t know how they get away with what they do.

We moved into our house at Welchs Pond in November 2024. The house appears to be well built and working with CM Mike was a very good experience. Post construction our customer care representative, Justin is just that, caring and responsive. We built a very large with many extras, and expected some post construction issues, not our first build. Our issue is with the contractors they utilize. Also, it would have been nice to be able to upgrade appliances to meet the high standard of the Schell house, great build deserves great appliances. After you move in you notice cabinet doors are installed with scratches/chips and require replacement, interior painting is sloppy, numerous windows have scratches or cloud up because of leakage, our HVAC systems was not set up properly etc. Overall, we are satisfied but all the post construction repairs still being scheduled after 3 months living here is a bit fatiguing.

Beautiful home, as described. Great building manager (Randy), quality home. Well appointed. Nice neighborhood. Excellent communication throughout the building process from start to finish. Thank you!

I’m very pleased with the actual construction of my home; the minor items needing attention inside have mostly been taken care of. However, I m VERY disappointed with the lack of follow-up there has been on landscaping issues of low-lying areas and ponding water near my back gate and the fact that it’s now been 18 months and my neighbor and I still do not have a final asphalt coating (and an enlargement of my side of the driveway) on our driveways. Additionally, the iDevice issues that I entered into Heartbeat before my warranty expired have not been repaired/replaced as I had been told they would back in June, 2024. Each entity seems to take great pleasure in telling me either it’s a different company’s responsibility or there’s an issue with the overall system and that’s why the switches are continuing to lose their connection to the internet in the house. I honestly do not know who to turn to for attention on these items.

The entire Schell experience has been great to me the key is they have great caring people.

Perfection

You can get rid of heartbeat or make it more simple because right now it’s complicated and too technical. I have a few things that need to be fixed but I get frustrated when I try to put it in on heartbeat. I still have a lot of issues with my house,this put a bad taste in my mouth for Schell Brothers.

Company and its employees are responsive and pleasant to deal with.

Had Donovan drywall repair wall cracks and nail pops.

Person was very courteous and conscientious.

Very good experience nice people to work with

The sales team were helpful in helping us determine what we wanted in the home based on our model. Josh was especially helpful in suggesting doing a mortgage to take the pressure off the timing of selling and buying on a time schedule. Mark was amazing keeping us informed about the progress with weekly calls and pictures. Our only complaints come after the settlement. The warranty process could definitively improve customer service. Communication skills are lacking there. Heartbeat is helpful but a conversation with the homeowner is needed to improve satisfaction. We get the feeling that the goal is to avoid us and we have barely had any interaction. The drainage issues were not forthcoming to us and we had to pay ourselves to fix the humidifier drainage that was pooling in our yard. They have addressed our neighbors drainage issues after much discussions.

Love the construction process. Not super satisfied with the team to fix issues. Many were delayed until our warranty wore out and now they are my problem

Thanks for the opportunity to provide feedback on my new home purchase. My feedback is provided based on what I liked, what I didn’t like, and recommendations to further improve the experience.

I looked at various home builders in the DE area and decided on Schell because of what I perceived as a better build quality, attention to detail, and most importantly energy efficiency through the way the homes are constructed, 6 inch outer walls, triple glazed windows, and two stage HVAC. I also liked the numerous models and options to select from.

I found the website helpful in selecting the model and options because you could see what was selected and presented in them. With that said, it would have been helpful (to me at least) to have gone over all the major options and the charge for them at the initial sales meeting where the contract was signed. For my home that would have included not only adding a basement, but knowing the additional cost of a second floor, bump out in the dining and great room, larger bathroom and bedroom, larger garage, extra windows, and sky basement. Depending on the cost I may have selected more options.

It would have been great if there was a computer program to show the selections made at the design center on a computer screen before finalizing the selection for both inside and outside the house.

I liked getting the weekly phone calls and pictures of the home build. However, I expected the construction manager to also look over the quality of the build. For example, I had a broken and a cracked truss that was not detected, and bolts on the steel beams that were not tightened. I have large cracks in the basement concrete floor. I brought these to the construction managers attention. He said it did not need to be repaired unless if they were at least 1/4”. Silly me for not making sure he took out his ruler to measure the crack. After moving in I measured the cracks in the utility room and some measured 1/4”. They were filled, but the same cracks still exist under the recreation room carpet. This should have been corrected at the time I pointed it out. The oven was missing a trim piece. The microwave was missing parts. I realize there’s a lot of details to building a home, but if your job is to monitor the home build, these types of issues should have been caught and corrected. The construction managers need to get out of their trucks, off their phones, and inspect what’s being done.

A month after taking possession of the house the regulator in the furnace failed and gas was spewing in the house. Fortunately I went in the utility room and detected it. I suggest a natural gas detector be installed in all homes, this could be catastrophic in homes with only a crawl space. I’ve gotten one for mine in the event this happens again.

Heartbeat: it would be helpful to have a higher limit on the number of characters that can be entered in the message. It’s hard to determine which category some items should be selected and some seem to automatically give a response that the issue is not covered but you can enter it elsewhere and it is covered by warranty. It also would be helpful to submit multiple pictures ( perhaps 3 instead of 1). It would be helpful to respond to messages sent to you in Heartbeat. Also when items are to be repaired, I’ve had numerous times when the contractors just show up at your door without previous notice.

With all that I reported above, I am happy with the home I purchased. I hope what I’ve reported and suggested will further improve the home buying experience of future home purchasers.

Shell employees always do a great job helping the customer.

Loved working with the Schell Brothers team. They made us feel like they were building their own home. With that said we are very disappointed with JLam and the lack of getting the club house and pool completed. We continue to receive excuses as to why its not done. Also, feel like a bait and switch with the amenities that were promised at buying process and now not getting them. Dog park is not wanted by the residents but its being built anyway. Promised sports courts but now it will be just one multi-use court. Unfortunately although Schell Brothers has been great the issues with JLam puts a poor reflection on you.

We've been in our new home built by Schell only a few months but they have been some of the best months of our lives. We are happier as a family to have dedicated spaces for work and play and were so glad to be able to choose a plan that perfectly fits our needs. I have an office, the kids have a playroom, and we have a terrace level basement with a bedroom and full bath where our guests can stay and have their own separate space. Every detail was meticulously designed and carried out and is stunning. While the house itself is incredible, the community they have created in the neighborhood is wonderful. Everyone is friendly and welcoming. Kids can play safely, there are tons of walking/running trails, playgrounds, pools, a dog park, little free libraries and so many fun events.
Every single person we came into contact with at Schell (including the trade partners) has been kind, hardworking, and helpful. I cannot recommend this experience and company enough.

I settled on my beautiful home in July 2023 and all the service techs and warranty Schell folks that have responded to the service tickets I entered in Heartbeat have been responsive and helpful in taking care of the issues. My only complaint is the HOA that has been focused on adding more and more restrictions on our community and I wish the HOA was representive of other beautiful Schell
Communities!

"I'm extremely disappointed with my experience. They promised a $10,000 discount on my loan, but now they're reneging on that offer. Instead, they're increasing the sale price and interest rate, effectively taking back the discount. Additionally, they misrepresented the lot I purchased, claiming it was premium when in fact it's on a difficult-to-access hill. It seems they've been dishonest every step of the way."