Janssen Homes Rivercrest Showhome - Cochrane, Alberta

Matthew B.

My wife and I are coming up to the one year anniversary of moving into our new Janssen home in Fireside. I was thinking today about how much we love our beautiful home. Two small repair things have come up over this past year and we were serviced literally within hours of our contacting Janssen Homes for help. Quick and helpful responses from Lawrence and everything was taken care of almost immediately. This is our second home with Janssen and both my wife and I feel like we have had such quality homes that have also been fairly priced. I would recommend Janssen to anyone who wants to build a home and to have a positive experience in doing so.

TONI J.

We have lived in our new Janssen home for about a month now and I can't say enough good things about this builder. I have built several homes over the years and this experience has been very different--in a really good way! From our first interactions with Michael in The Willows to our eventual purchase through Diane in Fireside, we have been impressed with the care, excellent service and attention to detail that Janssen puts into their homes. We were able to purchase a spec home that was not yet completed, and they were happy to delay things so we could make our own selections whenever possible. We have spoken with many of the tradespersons who worked on our home and they echo our sentiment that "Janssen is different!" They use only top quality materials and trades and as a result there were almost no deficiencies to correct! The couple of things that have come up have been taken care of within days--no argument, no stalling, no excuses. Coincidentally I was talking with a friend who built with Janssen in Calgary in the '80's, and he could not say enough good things about their home as well! It's a family business that has thrived for 50 years because they seem to treat every buyer like family! We would not hesitate to recommend Janssen to anyone who would like a well-built home without any hassles!

Paul

We bought a Janssen Home (JH) and lived in it for about 8 years. Like all new builds, there were deficiencies in the house; however, any concerns we had with the house dissipated immediately due to how great they were to deal with post possession. Whenever we reached out, they replied quickly, with support and/or options. Doreen was great at facilitating all warranty items via email, she was prompt to follow up on all emails (even if to quickly acknowledge with a 'I got your note, leave this with me and I will follow up by Tuesday'), she never questioned our concerns and always acted. There were a couple of items they even supported us on outside of the promised 1yr warranty period, this may not apply to everyone as circumstances will be different, but because it was my experience, I can say they stood by their work/quality and wanted their customers to be happy with their new home by going over and above. Their project manager Lawrence, who was on site for the warranty items/repairs, was amazing to deal with. Not only was he good at his job, but he was also incredibly polite, patient & understanding of the frustrations/concerns that we had as homebuyers. His demeanor was a breath of fresh air for us. I am not sure if either of these folks are still there, I hope so!

I never thought too much of our experience at that time, but we have since bought a home with another builder in the Cochrane area and the customer service pales in comparison to what we had with JH. It's easy to take good customer service for granted when it's there, but when you don't have it (especially for a purchase as important as a home) you feel it in a big way... As great as the 2 employees that I mentioned above were to deal with, they still need approval on items from the head office; Fortunately, JH would default to supporting us on the repairs right from the start, as opposed to our current builder that denies items regularly, or tries to convince you that obvious deficiencies are 'normal' or 'within code' (AKA 'get over it') when they are clearly not acceptable on a new home... putting you in a position to fight for warranty/support on what you would expect to be dealt with on a new build with zero resistance, it's exhausting and really ruins the new home experience; never did we have this problem with JH and we miss the fluid process they provided.

Also, the home that JH built for us was solid and the workmanship held up nicely in the 8 years we owned it.

In hindsight, Janssen Homes was fantastic to work with. I didn't realize it as much at the time but now that we can compare the experience to another competing builder in the same market, it really highlighted how positive the JH experience was. That's why I felt compelled to write a review about them even though we have not communicated with them for a few years and have not lived in that house since last year. Good service deserves to be recognized, even if I'm a few years late on the shout out.
I would buy another home from JH in the future, and we would have explored this on our most recent home build if they operated/built in the neighborhood that we were looking at. Maybe next time!

K. C. C.

My wife and I have been living in our Janssen Home for coming up on 11 years now. When we bought it, 11 years ago, we were highly impressed, not by the included details of the house, but the buying experience. It was not the traditional nickel and dime negotiation, but a fair and reasonable offer/counter-offer experience.

The house itself came standard with features that were upgrades on most, if not all other houses we had looked at, at that time. The build quality was exceptional. I honestly cannot remember having a warranty issue, though there might have been a drywall screw or two that popped.

Anyway, the reason I am writing this review now, 11 years later (aside from the fact that Google reviews may not have existed 11 years ago) is that I called the builder up the other day for advice on how to fix some cultured stone that had fallen off as a result of some settling of the structure against the driveway (for once, the internet was totally useless in providing helpful information). Janssen's response (thanks Diane!) was to send their stone guy out to take a look and provide me the info I needed to fix it myself and an estimate of having it done professionally. Eleven years after we bought the house!! If that's not after-sale service, I don't know what is. If we ever are to build another house, Janssen Homes is the only builder I would want to build it. Regrettably, they may never have the chance, as it appears they built us our dream home first time around! Thank you, Janssen Homes.

Matt S.

Janssen Homes has been absolutely incredible to deal with at every step. I was not sure what to expect as first time home buyers and first time home builders, but they were extremely professional, patient, and helpful. I am beyond impressed with the quality of their build (especially considering that they appear to be so cost-competitive compared to their counterparts) including the attention to detail, and their follow-up support for any little issue that has come up. Their home designs continue to impress me as I get used to the new house. Layouts are very well thought out, and the houses already include so many features that other builders would consider "upgrades" such as decks, fireplaces, and non-wire shelving. It was an absolute pleasure working with Guy and Diane and I would happily recommend Janssen to anybody looking to build a new home.

CSB R.

We gave them such a long time to adhere to their promises. To no avail. Misled us for years and then proceeded to ignore us all together. Not a happy customer and in speaking to neighbours in the area, this is much more common than not with this builder. Will only mention a couple of the issues encountered but there were many, many more.

We have had major garage slope/drainage issues since day one. Their initial fix was to drill a hole in the concrete in the corner of the garage (?); when that didn't work, we have been given the run-around for literally years. The excuses and reasons for the delay changing each and every time. Now they ignore us altogether.

Laundry/attic ventilation issues since day one. They promised us there was no issue; meanwhile every winter there is massive ice build-up on the exterior laundry/attic wall. The solution: spray some more insulation into the attic. That didn't work either.

We are left with major issues that should have been covered by warranty and the builder continuously avoided the proper fixes.

We were told "Our Tradespeople are the best in the business and they have all been with us for years' they take pride in their work." Well no. They have a couple of long-term employees; the rest are the newest and cheapest they can find. They went through 3 different hvac companies in lest than a year.

We love Cochrane and the Janssen salesperson at the time was amazing; we just wish this builder actually stood behind their product like they promised us they would.

Gregg B.

Its nice to give credit where it is deserved. We have been a trade partner with Janssen Homes for approx. 8 years and it has been a pleasure to work with them. They are a company that consistently builds a beautiful quality home, they have great communication throughout the build with all their trades, and include materials and finishings other builders consider upgrades. Its nice to work with a builder where quality comes first.

Phil M.

I live in rivercrest townhomes beautiful place nice scenery just perfect place to live