Homeowners in second neighborhood say siding cracking on fairly new houses

LOCUST, N.C. — Almost 20 residents in the Locust Town Center neighborhood told Action 9 they expected their siding to last decades but say it’s cracking and that their houses are only a few years old.

Shaun Mize says his house is about three years old. “It was our first house with me coming out of the military, so it was something that we were expecting not to have issues with,” he said. “We just figured the newer houses would have less issues.”

Jim Stack says his house is about five years old. “This is your forever home. This is … this is going to be our forever home, this is going to be where we retire and spend the rest of our days,” he said.

Plus, Stack and Mize say the builder just turned over the community to the homeowners association so they’re worried the board will start citing people because of how it looks. “It’s something I’m expecting to see,” Mize said.

Homeowners want to know why this keeps happening and whether it’s a builder issue, manufacturer issue, or something else.

“We just want it to be done right. We just want it to be made right. If you make a mistake, we want you guys to fix it,” Stack said.

It’s the same builder and siding manufacturer as the other neighborhood Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke told you about recently, Dogwood Forest in Monroe.

The builder, Smith Douglas Homes, told Stoogenke the manufacturer Allura is looking into the Locust issue. Smith Douglas says that once it has all the facts, it will work with its vendors to address the problem. It says it honors its warranties and expects vendors to do the same.

Here’s its full response:

Many builders in the area use Allura siding and the same subcontractor for installation.

Allura has indicated they are assessing the cracked siding claims and will report back to us when they have a root cause determination and corrective action plan. Until they have ample time to complete their assessment and report back to us, we have no further comment.

Smith Douglas Homes honors its warranty commitments and holds it vendor partners accountable to do the same under their respective warranties. Once we understand all the facts, we will work with both our product and installation vendors, as appropriate, to ensure corrective action is taken for our homeowners.

Action 9 emailed Allura as well. It didn’t respond in time for this report but did for the last one, emailing that it stands by its products, takes issues seriously, and continuously strives to improve its products.

Here’s its full response:

Allura is committed to providing high-quality building materials and takes any reports of product issues seriously. We continuously strive to improve our products and processes to ensure the highest standards of performance and durability.

Homeowners with Allura siding can file a claim at allurausa.com/warranties. There they can find all the information related to our limited warranties for all the Allura product line. After the Homeowner files a claim, Allura will handle the claim, and based on the review of the facts, Allura will, in its sole discretion, either: (a) refund or provide replacement pieces of the defective portion of the Product, or (b) reimburse the Covered Person for up to twice the original retail cost of the defective portion of the Product. We will be happy and encourage these homeowners to provide us with specific details about their claim. Each situation needs to be evaluated individually to determine the cause and the appropriate resolution. Please encourage the homeowners to file a claim so we can initiate a thorough review.

At Allura, we stand by the quality of our products and are dedicated to ensuring customer satisfaction. We take all feedback seriously and continually invest in research and development to enhance the durability and performance of our siding. We encourage any homeowner experiencing issues to reach out to us so we can address their concerns directly and provide the necessary support.

Stoogenke found a class action lawsuit involving Allura siding. The case settled three years ago for $12.5 million. It’s too late to apply for money in that case.

Advice for homeowners in the meantime:

- Go ahead and file a warranty claim online with Allura if you haven’t already.

- If that doesn’t work, feel free to talk to a lawyer.

VIDEO: Some homeowners upset about siding cracking on fairly new houses

Some homeowners upset about siding cracking on fairly new houses

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