Our Experience with Lotus Building Group in Nashville, TN – A Cautionary Tale
If you are considering working with Lotus Building Group in Nashville, TN, I urge you to read this carefully. In my opinion, this company operates with practices that I would describe as predatory, dishonest, and negligent. What should have been an exciting renovation turned into one of the most devastating and stressful experiences of my life. The financial damage was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the emotional toll has been just as severe.
This blog post is long, detailed, and based entirely on my personal experience and documented evidence. My hope is that by sharing it, others will avoid what we went through.
Budget and Billing – The $500,000 Surprise
When we hired Lotus, we had a clear and finalized budget. It was agreed to in writing, confirmed multiple times, and tracked consistently for months. For the majority of the project, there were no change orders. Everything was supposed to be locked in.
Then, in the final 30 days, Lotus dropped a bombshell: over $500,000 in additional charges appeared out of nowhere. There were no meetings, no notes, no texts, no emails, no signed approvals — nothing. Just surprise invoices that pushed the job nearly 65% over budget.
From my perspective, this wasn’t just sloppy accounting. It felt predatory — a deliberate attempt to corner us at the end of the project when timelines and commitments made it nearly impossible to push back.
On top of that, the billing records were riddled with irregularities:
Fabricated or misleading timesheet entries for days when crews weren’t even on site.
Labor for trim and punch work billed as “in-house” even though it was subcontracted.
Invoices that didn’t match the actual scope or work performed.
We have extensive documentation of all of this — emails, texts, photos, videos, and third-party confirmations.
Negligence and Failures Across the Board
Beyond the billing, the quality of workmanship was horrific. In my opinion, Lotus Building Group demonstrated negligence across every major trade:
Plumbing: Foundation plumbing failures and multiple leaks caused extensive water damage.
HVAC: The DADU system leaked, and the main system for the 2nd and 3rd floors was undersized and incapable of cooling the space.
Electrical: Several areas of electrical work were flagged as unsafe.
Tile: Grout lines were sloppy and uneven, tile work had to be ripped out and redone.
Marble and Stone: Surfaces were permanently damaged because they were not protected during construction.
Structural Issues: Independent contractors later confirmed dangerous structural negligence.
One of the most disturbing issues was around U&O approval. Lotus told us the property had passed inspections. When we checked records ourselves, it turned out the property had actually failed. In my opinion, that kind of misrepresentation is not just dishonest — it’s dangerous.
The Kitchen Cabinet Disaster
If there’s one area that sums up our experience, it’s the kitchen cabinets. They were, in a word, horrific.
Paint began chipping within weeks of use.
Cabinet doors weren’t sized correctly, leaving interior shelves exposed.
The surfaces were not sanded properly.
The wood felt cheap, flimsy, and low quality.
The overall finish looked like the work of a novice.
In my opinion, their so-called cabinet fabrication business is not trustworthy. The quality was so poor it felt like a scam designed to inflate costs without delivering value. Other customers we’ve spoken to reported the exact same cabinet issues — chipping paint, wrong sizing, and bargain-bin materials passed off as custom work.
Management, Communication, and Gaslighting
The way the project was managed was just as bad as the workmanship. The project manager repeatedly ignored directions, forcing costly rework. Crews were disorganized and careless.
The owner contradicted his own statements constantly and dismissed documented concerns. Conversations that should have been solutions-focused turned combative. In my opinion, instead of owning mistakes, Lotus defaulted to gaslighting clients — telling us we were imagining problems even when evidence was right in front of them.
By March, things were so bad we tried to fire Lotus. That decision is fully documented in emails and texts. In response, they canceled the contract themselves and walked off the job — no final walkthrough, no resolution, no accountability. They left us with an unfinished, unsafe property and enormous financial harm.
What Lotus Said – and My Responses
Lotus has tried to defend themselves publicly and privately, but their statements only highlight how unaccountable they are. Here are some examples:
Lotus Claim: We owed them $430,000 in outstanding balance and refused a final walkthrough.
My Response: In my opinion, we do not owe this money. Between unfinished work, billing irregularities, property damage, and negligence, their demand was outrageous. We have documentation showing they never once initiated a final walkthrough.
Lotus Claim: Delays were due to us not finalizing designs.
My Response: Another falsehood. Our interior designer confirmed that all designs and scope were finalized in November 2024. The truth is Lotus crews simply didn’t show up for weeks at a time.
Lotus Claim: They worked transparently through BuilderTrend.
My Response: While they used BuilderTrend, I repeatedly emailed them reminding them to finalize budgets and line items. Everything was “finalized” until suddenly it wasn’t — when they arbitrarily raised costs by $500,000 in the last month.
Lotus Claim: Guests showed up to unfinished properties due to our mismanagement.
My Response: Guests arrived because Lotus failed to meet deadlines they themselves promised — December, then March, then April, then May, then June. Every delay was brushed off, and when we pushed, we were told we had never requested a timeline at all.
Not an Isolated Case
Since sharing my story, I’ve been contacted by multiple past customers of Lotus Building Group. Their accounts mirror mine almost exactly:
Unauthorized billing increases.
Fabricated or irregular timesheets.
Unsafe workmanship in plumbing, HVAC, and electrical.
Projects abandoned before completion.
In my opinion, this isn’t just one bad project. It’s a pattern.
The Personal and Financial Impact
The financial toll has been enormous — hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional costs, repairs, and corrections. But the personal impact has been even heavier. The stress, the constant battles, the feeling of being lied to and dismissed — it has been devastating.
How do you do this to another family? How do you look someone in the eye, confirm a budget, and then spring a half-million-dollar surprise with no warning? How do you walk off a job site and leave behind unsafe, unfinished work?
In my opinion, this company has shown a complete disregard for accountability, professionalism, and even basic decency.
Final Thoughts – A Strong Warning
If you are considering hiring Lotus Building Group in Nashville, TN, I strongly caution you to reconsider. Based on my experience and those of others I’ve spoken with, this company:
Engages in predatory billing practices.
Leaves projects unsafe and incomplete.
Misrepresents inspections and approvals.
Produces poor-quality, low-end cabinetry passed off as “custom.”
Gaslights clients instead of taking responsibility.
In my opinion, this company is dangerous to work with. Please perform extreme due diligence if you consider them, and be prepared for serious financial, emotional, and legal consequences.
For us, Lotus Building Group turned a dream project into a nightmare. I would not wish this experience on anyone. Stay away. Stay far away.
