More than a dozen Georgia homeowners have filed an arbitration lawsuit against DR Horton (NYSE:DHI), accusing the nation’s largest homebuilder by volume (1) of selling them homes equipped with pipes that they claim have cracked, leaked and caused extensive water damage, according to an Atlanta News First investigation.
But Georgia’s complaint may be part of a larger pattern: Claims over PEX pipe failures in DR Horton homes have arisen in several states, and the company that supplied the pipes faces a growing wave of litigation across the country.
The December 22, 2025, complaint was filed with the American Arbitration Association on behalf of 16 homes in the Stonewood Creek subdivision in Dallas, Georgia. Each house was built by DR Horton and connected with cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) pipes manufactured by Uponor Inc. (2), a plumbing products company now part of the Swiss industrial conglomerate Georg Fischer.
The owners allege that the pipes began to fail approximately four years after they moved in, according to the complaint.
Homeowner Matthew Ardis told the outlet that he stopped counting leaks “sometime in the teens” and that the inside of his home now resembles “Swiss cheese” due to repeated patching jobs. Ardis said he spent about $30,000 out of pocket and the total damages exceeded $100,000.
“I’m realistic that as a homeowner there will be repairs, but nothing of this magnitude,” Ardis told Atlanta News First. “They have a responsibility to provide me with a livable home.”
Other residents described what it’s like to live with pipes they can’t trust. Rosemary Pastula called the situation a “ticking time bomb” and told the outlet that she is “on edge all the time” wondering when the next failure will occur. Yazmin Roman said the leaks have disrupted her family’s routine: She told Atlanta News First that she doesn’t want to leave the house for fear of a disaster when she returns. Roman said he has spent approximately $5,000 out of pocket, and total repair estimates exceed $50,000.
The lawsuit claims DR Horton built approximately 95 single-family homes in Stonewood Creek and used Uponor as a pipe supplier. The 16 claimant households bought their homes between 2018 and 2023.
The presentation attributes pipe failures to microcracks and pores that allow water to escape and damage the surrounding structure.
The complainants say DR Horton has repaired or replaced pipes in other homes in the subdivision, but has not done the same in its 16 homes. They also allege that the builder refused to notify all homeowners that their pipes might be defective, according to Atlanta News First (3).
All failures occurred within the homes’ 10-year DR Horton limited warranty and 25-year Uponor express warranty, the complaint states.
“They made a promise to these owners in the form of a guarantee, and now they are not keeping that promise,” attorney Chuck Douglas, who represents one of the plaintiffs, told the outlet.
DR Horton did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Atlanta News First. Uponor declined an interview, but provided a written statement saying that independent experts did not find any systemic problems with its PEX pipe and that the company has been “working toward fair and appropriate solutions.”
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The Georgia case is not an isolated incident. DR Horton homes and PEX pipe failures have intersected before, and the builder’s footprint is enormous. The company operates in 126 markets in 36 states and closed 84,863 homes in its fiscal year ending September 2025, according to its SEC filing (4).
In San Antonio, DR Horton said in a 2016 KSAT-TV investigation that approximately 1,000 homes in Bexar County had experienced PEX-related leaks, blaming a specific manufacturer’s pipes installed between 2008 and 2012, according to KSAT (5). Homeowners there reported a similar cycle of repeated explosions and incremental repairs.
The manufacturer was later identified through litigation as NIBCO, Inc. A $7.65 million class action settlement covered homes built by DR Horton in 19 cities in Alabama and 12 cities in Texas, according to the official settlement site (6).
There is also broader agreement. A national NIBCO PEX deal worth $43.5 million covered additional housing across the country, although it excluded properties in Alabama and Texas that were already covered by the smaller deal, according to the deal administrator (7).
In a related Alabama Supreme Court case, NIBCO argued that faulty installation by DR Horton’s plumbing subcontractor (not a manufacturing defect) caused the failures. The owners blamed the NIBCO product. The court found the claims to be “closely intertwined” and declined to resolve the dispute by summary judgment, according to the opinion (8).
More recently, multiple proposed class action lawsuits have been filed against Uponor in federal courts in California and Minnesota. The lawsuits allege that its AquaPEX pipes, manufactured between approximately 2010 and 2021, are prone to rust-related cracks and can fail within three to 10 years, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys (9). That’s well below the 50- to 100-year lifespan marketed by Uponor. Uponor has disputed these claims and is attempting to force individual arbitration in some of the cases, according to Audet & Partners (10).
And in February 2026, a new class action lawsuit: Harmon v. Uponor Inc. — was filed in federal court in Minnesota by Berger Montague on behalf of homeowners in Texas, Arizona and Georgia, alleging that AquaPEX pipe suffers from premature oxidative degradation. One plaintiff reported six separate breaches since July 2025, according to Law.com (11). The fact that Georgia homeowners are named in this presentation makes it directly relevant to the Stonewood Creek situation.
If you own a home built by a national builder within the last 15 years, it’s worth taking a few minutes to check out what’s going through your walls. PEX pipes are flexible plastic tubes, 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 “Wirsbo.”
If your pipes are not easily visible, your home inspection report may include the manufacturer. You can also contact your builder’s warranty department or ask a licensed plumber to identify you.
For homeowners already dealing with recurring leaks, document everything: photos, receipts, dates. Submit a formal warranty claim in writing.
It’s also worth consulting a construction defect or consumer protection attorney, especially since new home contracts often include arbitration clauses with specific deadlines for filing claims. Check if your home or state is covered by a class action lawsuit or an existing settlement: NIBCO’s official settlement site at pexsystemsettlement.com and ClassAction.org’s Uponor tracker are good starting points.
It’s also worth checking your home insurance policy. Standard policies generally 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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DR Horton (1); Sobreón (2); Atlanta News First (3); SEC (4); KSAT (5); Alabama, Texas PEX Agreement (6); Agreement on the NIBCO PEX system (7); Search law (8); Birka-White Law Offices (9); Audet and partners (10); Ley.com (11)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
