Posted on 02/14/2007 9:00:35 AM PST by Hydroshock
(Money Magazine) -- Less than a year after moving into her new 2,100-square-foot house in Lenexa, Kans., Susan Sabin has strung up lemon lights in her front window.
The lemons, she says, go perfectly with the home's most prominent features: jammed doors, warped windows, bent pipes and cracked walls. "The house is essentially splitting in two," says Sabin.
Where to go for help If you're buying or fear a problem: These consumer groups post advice for buyers, news about home builders and the latest on construction materials: HomeOwners for Better Building (hobb.org) and Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings (hadd.com). If you need a pro: You can find a home inspector in your area at the American Society of Home Inspectors Web site at ashi.org. If you suspect fraud: Complain to regulators. Find out how to reach your state attorney general's office at naag.org; reach the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov.
At the peak of the recent housing boom, home buyers scooped up a million newly built homes every year while homeowners poured more than $200 billion into renovations. But now stories of shifting soil, leaky roofs, damaged stucco and other construction defects abound.
Though many builders have worked to improve the quality of their houses over the past decade, says Alan Mooney, president of Criterium Engineers, a national engineering firm, the building frenzy also opened the door for unskilled labor, unscrupulous contractors and untested products.
"When everyone is out there building as fast as they can, that does result in more defects," he says.
Contractor problems rank among the most common consumer complaints, according to the Better Business Bureau, and a recent Criterium Engineers study found that 17 percent of new residential construction projects inspected by the firm in 2006 had at least two significant problems.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
I would bet that you are at least 110% right. I have said many times on FR that there would be serious problems with the constuction of homes and commercial buildings in the near future because of the use of illegals. Not everyone who crosses our borders illegally are carpenters and brick layers. The construction industry uses them as such but it is only because they work cheap. Not because of their skills.
Bump for later comment
Just because a house has "studs and drywall" doesn't mean it is balloon framed. What is your objection to balloon framing? A balloon framed house will have less settling issues than a platform framed house.
While looking at model homes a few years ago we noticed that some balusters had been installed upside down on the main staircase.
Gee, could this be traced to the prevelance of many of the workers in the construction industry being unskilled, illegal aliens?
Probably not, here in west/central Indiana good, old-fashioned, red-blooded Americans are fully capable of building shoddy houses. Stupidity and laziness are what make a bad contractor, not country of origin.
This causes the vinyl siding to start rolling-up in sheets and separating from the exterior walls.
Seeing vinyl siding on the house would have been the first clue as to how the house was constructed.
The guy you're looking for is the best mud pumper in town.
I don't know who (s)he is, but they won't be cheap.
He's going to drill a few holes in your foundation and pump the whole thing up with pressurized 'create. If it go's wrong it's potentially very ugly. But it's the only thing that can fix what you describe.
My house was built in 1965 by my father inlaw and I. The foundation is 27 inches of re-enforced concrete and 3 rows of masonry blocks. The house has settled very little over the years and the walls are still pretty much square. Floor joist are 2x12 inch. Ceiling joist are 2x10 inches. We built it to last. Have done very little work on it over the years.
I apologize if I misused the term "balloon framing". My understanding is that it is a term for the usual 2x4 or 2x6 framed house, as opposed to say, a timber-framed house. If I am wrong, please explain.
I will send this to my husband, who's in charge of all things mud-related. Many thanks!
It is. I reluctantly sold my previous house but I was lucky enough to find one that suited me even better.
Amazingly, even tho this house is twice the size of my previous house, I use no more in utilities to heat the house than before due to the great construction and optimal siting.
Now if it would only clean itself ...
Balloon framing is a framing style where the walls rest directly on the sills, instead of on top a subfloor. A two-story balloon framed house would be framed with 20' 2x4 or 2x6 instead of two seperate stories using 8'.
Thank you for that explanation, I was unaware of the distinction and was using balloon framing and regular framing.
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