America's largest homebuilder faces claims of 'defective pipes' in Georgia — it could be more widespread than reported

More than a dozen Georgia homeowners have filed an arbitration complaint against D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI), accusing the country's largest homebuilder by volume (1) of selling them homes fitted with plumbing they say has cracked, leaked and caused extensive water damage, according to an investigation by Atlanta News First.
But the Georgia complaint may be part of a broader pattern: PEX pipe failure claims have surfaced in D.R. Horton homes across multiple states, and the company that supplied the pipes is facing a growing wave of litigation nationwide.
The Dec. 22, 2025 complaint was filed with the American Arbitration Association on behalf of 16 households in the Stonewood Creek subdivision in Dallas, Georgia. Each home was built by D.R. Horton and plumbed with cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) pipes made by Uponor Inc. (2), a plumbing products company now part of Swiss industrial conglomerate Georg Fischer.
The homeowners allege the pipes started failing roughly four years after move-in, according to the complaint.
Homeowner Matthew Ardis told the outlet he stopped counting leaks "somewhere in the teens" and that the inside of his home now resembles "Swiss cheese" from repeated patch jobs. Ardis said he's spent close to $30,000 out of pocket, with total damages exceeding $100,000 .
"I'm realistic that as a homeowner, there's going to be repairs, but nothing to this extent," Ardis told Atlanta News First. "They have the responsibility to provide me with a livable home."
Other residents described what it's like living with plumbing they can't trust. Rosemary Pastula called the situation a "time bomb," telling the outlet she's a "nervous wreck all the time" wondering when the next failure will hit. Yazmin Roman said the leaks have upended her family's routine — she told Atlanta News First she doesn't want to leave the house for fear of coming home to a disaster. Roman said she's spent approximately $5,000 out of pocket, with total repair estimates exceeding $50,000.
The complaint states that D.R. Horton built approximately 95 single-family homes in Stonewood Creek and used Uponor as its pipe supplier. The 16 claimant households purchased their homes between 2018 and 2023.
The filing attributes the pipe failures to micro-cracks and pinholes that allow water to escape and damage the surrounding structure.
The claimants say D.R. Horton has repaired or replaced pipes in other homes in the subdivision but has not done the same for their 16 households. They also allege the builder declined to notify all homeowners that their plumbing may be defective, according to Atlanta News First (3).
All of the failures occurred within both the homes' 10-year D.R. Horton limited warranty and 25-year Uponor express warranty, the complaint states.
"They made a promise to these homeowners in the form of a warranty, and they're now not living up to that promise," attorney Chuck Douglas, who represents one of the claimants, told the outlet.
D.R. Horton did not respond to Atlanta News First's multiple requests for comment. Uponor declined an interview but provided a written statement saying independent experts found no systemic issue with its PEX pipe and that the company has been "working toward fair and appropriate resolutions."
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The Georgia case isn't an isolated incident. D.R. Horton homes and PEX pipe failures have crossed paths before — and the builder's footprint is massive. The company operates in 126 markets across 36 states and closed 84,863 homes in its fiscal year ended September 2025, according to its SEC filing (4).
In San Antonio, D.R. Horton said in a 2016 KSAT-TV investigation that roughly 1,000 homes in Bexar County had experienced PEX-related leaks, blaming pipes from a specific manufacturer installed between 2008 and 2012, according to KSAT (5). Homeowners there reported a similar cycle of repeated bursts and incremental repairs.
The manufacturer was later identified through litigation as NIBCO, Inc. A $7.65 million class action settlement covered D.R. Horton-built homes in 19 Alabama cities and 12 Texas cities, according to the official settlement site (6).
There's also a broader settlement. A $43.5 million nationwide NIBCO PEX settlement covered additional homes across the country, though it excluded the Alabama and Texas properties already addressed by the smaller deal, according to the settlement administrator (7).
In a related Alabama Supreme Court case, NIBCO argued that faulty installation by D.R. Horton's plumbing subcontractor — not a manufacturing defect — caused the failures. The homeowners blamed NIBCO's product. The court found the claims were "closely intertwined" and declined to resolve the dispute on summary judgment, according to the opinion (8).
More recently, multiple proposed class actions have been filed against Uponor in federal courts in California and Minnesota. The lawsuits allege its AquaPEX piping, manufactured between approximately 2010 and 2021, is prone to oxidation-related cracking and can fail within three to 10 years, according to plaintiffs' attorneys (9). That's well short of the 50- to 100-year lifespan Uponor has marketed. Uponor has disputed these claims and is seeking to compel individual arbitration in some of the cases, according to Audet & Partners (10).
And in February 2026, a new class action — Harmon v. Uponor Inc. — was filed in Minnesota federal court by Berger Montague on behalf of homeowners in Texas, Arizona and Georgia, alleging AquaPEX pipes suffer from premature oxidative degradation. One plaintiff reported six separate leaks since July 2025, according to Law.com (11). The fact that Georgia homeowners are named in this filing makes it directly relevant to the Stonewood Creek situation.
If you own a home built by a national builder in the last 15 years, it's worth taking a few minutes to check what's running through your walls. PEX pipes are flexible plastic tubing — often white, red or blue — with the manufacturer's name and product details printed directly on the pipe in a repeating text string. Look under sinks, near water heaters or in unfinished basements for "Uponor," "AquaPEX" or the older brand name "Wirsbo."
If your pipes aren't easily visible, your home inspection report may list the manufacturer. You can also contact your builder's warranty department or have a licensed plumber identify it.
For homeowners already dealing with recurring leaks, document everything — photos, receipts, dates. File a formal warranty claim in writing.
It's also worth consulting a construction defect or consumer protection attorney, particularly since new-home contracts often include arbitration clauses with specific deadlines for filing claims. Check whether your home or state is covered by an existing class action or settlement — the official NIBCO settlement site at pexsystemsettlement.com and ClassAction.org's Uponor tracker are good starting points.
It's also worth reviewing your homeowners insurance policy. Standard policies typically cover sudden and accidental water damage but may exclude damage from long-term leaks or maintenance failures. If your insurer denies a claim, that denial letter can still be useful evidence in a warranty or legal dispute.
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D.R. Horton (1); Uponor (2); Atlanta News First (3); SEC (4); KSAT (5); Alabama Texas PEX Settlement (6); NIBCO PEX System Settlement (7); FindLaw (8); Birka-White Law Offices (9); Audet & Partners (10); Law.com (11)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.