A Review of Hourglass Properties on Maui: our home was turned over unsafe, non-compliant to key regulations & building codes:
Patrick Stad operates Hourglass Properties and is building multiple homes on Maui (see select properties he owns in the box to the right) despite being an unlicensed homebuilder in the State (as at the publishing time of this blog Oct 2025). As he is unlicensed, Patrick used a loophole by claiming to be a homeowner/occupier builder to obtain a construction permit from the county but then changed his paperwork over to a separate builder last minute to be able to sell the home just before the Closing Date to obtain an occupancy permit to allow the home’s sale. As a “homeowner occupier” he is building many properties this way.
This review intends to inform others about the experience my family had in purchasing a one of Patrick’s homes in the luxury ($10M) space. Ours was by far the worst experience we had with a builder who’s turnover of the property was not only incomplete but seriously unsafe for my family.
Our experience required us to file a formal complaint with the county’s Regulated Industry’s Compliance Office (RICO) in the State of Hawaii due to Patrick’s unlicensed and illegal construction activity. The complaint is being processed currently by the County.
Here are the details of our experience with photos in case you intend to buy one of Patrick’s other properties so you better understand potential items to look out for.
Hourglass Properties/Patrick Stad owns the following properties in Maui based on our best research but please verify with your own:
100 Kalelemuku Pl, Kula, HI 96790
16 Kumu Niu Pl #Unit B, Lahaina, HI 96761
710 Mahana Ridge St, Kapalua, 96761
Lot 49 Mahana Ridge St, Lahaina, 96761
Lot 46 Mahana Ridge St, Lahaina, 96761
Lot 5 Mahana Ridge St, Lahaina, 96761
Tyler Coons is Patrick’s primary realtor on Maui who currently represents Patrick’s properties. Tyler was aware of Patrick’s unlicensed home building status as well as concerns noted on this site yet, at this time, still choses to represent the sale of Hourglass properties to the public. We recommend fair due diligence into Tyler’s listings in case they are Hourglass built homes.
We reached out to Tyler to confirm the above properties listed to ensure our accuracy which he did not respond to — he instead advised of his intent to refer us to his legal representation.
We eagerly welcome the opportunity to establish truthful facts in a court of law should the opportunity present, which we are currently working on filing against Hourglass directly after unsuccessful mediation.
1) Hourglass Properties delayed possession, shoddy craftsmanship, dangerous debris, and unprofessional hand-over
We moved from out of country with 2 aged pets, but the home purchase was delayed because after the deal was signed in March, material progress on the home stopped for months. As such, when we arrived to Maui we were forced to rent a VRBO at our expense in Kihei awaiting Patrick to finish construction and obtain the occupancy permit through his loophole of using a different builder to obtain our occupancy permit.
When we completed a home inspection, Patrick Stad and Hourglass Properties did organize remediation of a number of items - yet despite having 30-day contractual terms to remediate - many material items to date (at 1+ year later) have yet to be fixed despite repeated requests.
When I walked the yard at first to explore with my six year old daughter, we noticed sharp debris everywhere. I filled 3 contractor garbage bags with dangerous construction items strewn all around the yard including sharp broken tile, bent rebar, metal shards and other debris. I later learned that the HOA had sent a formal letter to Hourglass informing them of the need to clean the yard from dangerous waste and that a neighbor had also told Hourglass that they needed to clean up the construction debris - but they ignored and left it all for our personal cleanup.
The lawn and many beds were overgrown with weeds at handover. The interior of the house still had construction adhesive on windows. Broken tools were left behind. Landscaping was a mess. Our realtor called their’s to express how unprofessional a hand-over a home this was. Retaining walls were not only not backfilled properly but we located a fake drain (on purposely deceitful) put by the end of a retaining wall to “look” like wall drainage had been installed. Very cheap exterior lighting was used and burned out in weeks and needed replacing.
We had never had a home with such lack of care handed over to us before from any seller, let alone at this price point. We later learned that much of this was known and deliberately left as is for us.
2) Hourglass Properties installed an illegal Solar System - and did so unsafely
After one year of a non-functional and illegal solar system (Blue Sun brand which is not approved by MECO and should not have been installed) Patrick finally replaced the invertors to an approved brand and has advised, without any evidence provided to us so we remain uncertain, that they are in the process of MECO certification.
We hired an independant solar company who confirmed the non-compliant solar system as installed was dangerously arcing (sparking on the roof as a fire hazard (!), the entire PV system was not electrically grounded, was missing all emergency shut-off modules as required to code and whose wiring was dangerously run over sharp edges as pictured vs via conduit — any of which could have become criminal negligence had anything happened.
The company I had came to look at the system expressed surprised that an install that sloppy would pass inspection — which, of course, it never did.
Patrick primarily sent a low voltage (not a licensed electrician nor a solar professional) individual to look at the system for the first year. But after 1 year of ongoing electrical expenses incurred by us the system was allegedly technically replaced by Patrick — we eagerly await MECO review.
3) Other dangerous non-compliance to code, dishonesty & vandalism instructed directly from Patrick Stad
When we employed a different firm to fix our landscaping, the new team stumbled upon our main gas line being very dangerously installed just below grass grade by Hourglass Properties, vs. code, which requires at least 18” of depth. It was a miracle that the line, our home, or my family was not seriously harmed as heavy machinery use was required over top of that area to clean up massive sections of the yard (from weeds and builder planting of cheap ground cover which was against Mahana Estates HOA bilaws) and was required to be removed according to the HOA.
When I informed the builder of the serious gas line issue and requested A) a county inspection with the official gas line plans present and B) a licensed plumber to come and remediate, the builder blamed our landscaper for “pulling the gas line up” but that he didn’t want to argue about it and he would send someone to fix it, very much unlike many other items still not remediated, (but without the county inspection as requested). I put in writing to Patrick that he was not to send his low cost landscaper who left our yard in such a state to touch the gas line. Approximately two to three hours later, and while I was off Maui on the mainland, my landscaper called to ask me if I knew that Patrick’s landscaper was, in fact, digging up my yard against my express written instruction.
I looked at my security cameras to see that they were indeed vandalizing my property (and they had not even turned off the propane line to the home despite trenching with a machine), and I can only surmise they were trying to quickly fix/bury the problem before the county could see the serious safety concern noted as I had raised by desire for the county to be involved.
I called the landscaper and texted Patrick Stad again with instructions for them to leave my property asap. I then had to independently contact the gas company, licensed trades, and remediate the dangerous issue myself. Complaints are being filed with the county with RICO.
You can see video of them to the right digging up my property illegally, photos of the dangerous not to code gas line as originally installed by Hourglass, as well as damaged caused to electrical from their unauthorized digging work.
4) The many other issues of Hourglass Properties on Maui; cheap trades, buyer spend
A) Upon possession of the Kapalua home, we noticed that the natural stone tile flooring in the home (that had previously been covered with a sheet of brown paper) was badly damaged. Everyone who came and looked at it saw it was a problem, yet it required significant back and forth (Hourglass originally attempted to get by with quick patch work ‘bandaid’ fixes on the tile) before Patrick agreed to pay for the sanding down and resealing of all interior floor tile. This required us to repack all our furniture out of the house into the garage and have 2 weeks of whole home sanding to live around without furniture again. This was a known issue to the builder that they also didn’t bother fixing properly before possession.
B) Main and non-potable water meters on the property were installed with weak plumbing materials and were not installed to code. Fixing the water meter installs came at a personal cost of $18k to re-install and get properly inspected which the HOA was happy to see done properly.
C) At possession, the HVAC system wasn’t working properly and temperatures in the home were way off due to faulty sensors (Thermostat showing 99 degrees, trying to cool to 78, temperature in room showing 72). Again, this was a known issue that the builder didn’t bother trying to fix before possession. We had to insist the HVAC individual return multiple times to remediate the sensors.
D) Gaps existed between wood trim in ceilings and the attic creating air leaks between main living space and attic. Patrick Stad has ignored repeated requests to fix despite this being in the home inspection report that he had 30 days to contractually fix. Eventually he covered the cost of repairs after approximately 8 months of requests.
E) Stone wall finish around the property was incomplete and very sloppy and after two times of having Patrick’s stone wall team return to address all the gaps and unfinished mortar, there were still other mortar gaps that we had someone else fix at our expense.
F) The washing machines were not installed correctly (secure moving bolts not removed during install) and we replaced the machines at our expense.
G) Some other punch list items were fixed by Patrick - some cabinetry problems were fixed, electrical glitches (some plugs and a dishwasher were not working) were remediated.
H) An overflow drain on the pool basin was not connected to drainage and was just covered over by Patrick’s rock wall team (oddly shoddy to do) and pool water was spilling all over the yard as also the pool’s pumps and autofill were not set properly. I had the pool infrastructure fixed myself.
I) Our bathroom sinks were not plumbed to code and we had to have them independently remediated at great expense.
J) The driveway gate was welded so poorly the hinges could not function and the gates and hinges needed to be removed, rewelded and hung again. Hourglass Properties did phone the company I hired to fix it to tell them that they would them to repair it which they did.
K-?) There are more items that Patrick Stad has been contractually required to remediate within 30 days of the home inspection despite him not doing yet (like weather stripping, overspray, BBQ area rust), but we are having to slowly fix ourselves at our own ongoing expense. Recently Patrick’s Project Manager reached out asking what still needed to be remediated and I replied, to which I received nothing back from him.
Final Review of Hourglass Properties
Patrick Stad is focused on building ‘high design’ homes, which he does do. In a way, his homes are works of art for a more modern aesthetic. He has pride in the systems installed (audio, automation, networking) but then not only dropped the ball on very basic and professional finish, cleaning or care in handover of this property - but he on purposely left behind significant problems for us, at times with very basic coverups. We saw him often default to low cost (and at times unlicensed) individuals to address warranty items. All of the above put us in a position to have to spend significant costs ourselves post purchase to remediate. We saw Patrick try to shift blame, he has not been forthright or transparent on some stuff he doesn’t even know we know, and has refused to address many warranty items despite repeated requests resulting in us pursuing mediation and now full legal action.
We don’t understand how a builder like this who has been open about building multiple properties with many people can operate with being unlicensed in the state of Hawaii while using a county builder loophole like he does to obtain an occupancy permit, but we are working on that as well now with the County to help protect future buyers of Patrick’s homes with the Regulated Industry Compliance Office (RICO).
All of the above is your call if you wish to buy one of his other properties as listed above. We spent approximately $600k to bring our property to the condition and stature it should have originally been delivered with. We are very happy to live in this home now despite a few remaining fixes needed, but getting to this point has been the worst experience our family has had with any home builder we have had when buying a home.