They hired neighbor to build Carolina Forest dream home. Now years late, it’s ‘nightmare’

Chuck and Dee Maples had planned to move during November 2021 into their dream home, a custom built house in Carolina Forest backed up to a scenic lake and specifically designed to ensure the aging couple could live comfortably through their golden years.

But that dream has become a nightmare with Chuck, 86, and Dee, 78, nearly three years later living out of a camper with their two Maltese dogs in a Myrtle Beach campground while their future home remains unfinished. Warranties on their appliances have expired while still in the box, a construction ladder inside has collected spiderwebs, and a smoke detector upstairs beeps every couple minutes — its low battery a reminder of how long this project has endured.

The couple, who sold their homes in Maine and Texas to move to the Myrtle Beach area, signed the $715,000 contract in January 2021 with Brighton Construction , whose owner Tom Bridgeman happens to live in the same Plantation Lakes cul-de-sac where their home was to be built.

“We met (Bridgeman) 10 years ago and thought he was the cat’s meow,” Dee Maples said. “We considered him a friend. He said he’d treat us right.”

But that neighborly friendship has fully soured as countless projected completion dates have come and gone while the Maples rack up tens of thousands of dollars in unplanned costs for their campsite, HOA fines and storage fees.

How does contractor explain delays?

Bridgeman told The Sun News he’s never had a home construction project take this long, and said the Maples’ indecisiveness and poor communication have caused most of the delays. Brighton has been in business nearly 20 years and is rated highly on online platforms.

Bridgeman explained that his crew immediately lost about six months because they couldn’t find an engineer to design the house to include an indoor therapy pool the Maples wanted, and their decisions to find their own granite supplier and purchase their cabinets at Home Depot instead of working with Brighton’s preferred subcontractors have caused more delays.

“I wanted to build the house as fast as I could. It’s affecting my business,” Bridgeman said, noting potential customers often ask about his neighbor’s home, which last year displayed a sign blaming Brighton Construction for “Our 3rd Christmas deprived of holidays in our home with family and friends.”

Dee Maples said her sister and some of her friends, who had eagerly anticipated visiting their new home, have died before getting to see the finished product.

“I understand they’re frustrated, totally get it,” Bridgeman said. “But they only want to see their side.”

Brighton’s foreman on the project, who asked not to be named, said he met with the Maples weekly for hours for at least a year, but he eventually stopped because they wouldn’t make any final decisions, so it became unproductive.

The foreman noted electrical work, in particular, was delayed because the couple kept requesting changes to work that had already been completed. He also alleged landscaping outside the home was delayed months because the Maples wouldn’t finalize a plant list, but the landscaper told The Sun News the only cause for delays was that he hadn’t been paid by Brighton.

Others frustrated with builder

Dee Maples remains adamant that she and her husband have not caused any delays, noting they haven’t requested any change orders. Any lengthy decisions about materials happened because Bridgeman wasn’t forthcoming about allowances, she said, so they were frequently told their choices were over budget and had to choose again.

Iago Almeida, who works for the granite shop the Maples hired, said he was regularly at the house and witnessed the contractor take months to complete small tasks that shouldn’t have taken longer than a day.

“I deal with people every single day,” Almeida said. “I know what a problematic customer is, and that’s not (the Maples).”

The Maples shared numerous emails with The Sun News showing consistent frustrations with Brighton’s delays from the Maples, their bank loan officer and their neighborhood’s Architectural Review Board, ARB.

Bridgeman and his foreman noted they’ve started and completed several home builds since they first started construction on the Maples’ house, though a June 2024 email from the Plantation Lakes ARB states the contractor has exceeded its 12-month construction interval on three other homes as well.

County steps in due to license lapse

The final straw for the Maples occurred when Horry County Code Enforcement adorned their unfinished home with a bright yellow Stop Work Order on July 24.

The county issued these orders on eight single-family structures with permits issued to Brighton Construction because the company’s contractor license lapsed, county spokeswoman Mikayla Moskov confirmed. The contractor’s home builder license expired at the end of June and is currently pending board review as of Monday, online S.C. Labor, Licensing and Regulation records show.

Bridgeman told The Sun News they sent in their license renewal paperwork on time, but they were told they needed to submit additional documents due to an ongoing lawsuit, and he expects their license to be renewed this week.

The Maples found another contractor earlier this month willing to take over the permit for their house, and he’s told them he should be able to get their home move-in ready within the next two months.

“It’s been a nightmare,” Dee Maples said, sitting in their unfinished kitchen beside stacks of papers that she’s collected to document every email, text message and contract they’ve had with Brighton. “We bought this house for the view. We just want to enjoy it while we still can.”