Posted on 02/14/2007 9:00:35 AM PST by Hydroshock
There's a huge retirement community with more than 1200 houses already built in our community. The builders use illegals for all construction labor and build the worst houses in the area. The houses are so poorly and cheaply built, they won't last 20 years, for sure.
Pure BS it was around that time or before that the builders were only taking the LOW BIDS for the contracts they let. They got exactly what they paid for. Subs were able to put in low bids because most of them hired many many illegals.
Funny that you think that . . . I spent close to two decades in the construction industry, and know that shoddy work is shoddy work, whether it is performed by an illegal alien that some small fish hired off a Home Depot lot to finish a house, or a $40/hour union drunkard working a highrise project for an international firm.
What jobs do you think the illegals are doing?
In my experience, the small ones.
And I should add that I've seen plenty of small jobs ruined by bona-fide Americans citizens.
Builders are on the hook for construction defects for 10 years.
I was a sub contractor doing trim work and kitchen cabinets in the mid 1980s. Mostly condos by H.K.Hovnanian. These units were thrown together! From my boss to the super on the job site it was hurry,hurry,hurry,..get it done....and make it look good. I used to tell my boss "You can't do both." Not a plumb wall or a square corner to be found. Union framers did the most piss poor work I ever did see. It took then 3 times as long to do bad work.
I guess for a retirement community that's all they need to build for.
I hear that.
In my years and experience in construction,I've seen more bad work than good.
Maybe you are so enraged at illegal aliens, you don't realize that they're not the only ones doing shoddy work. Funny, and sad at the same time.
You've been very fortunate with your experience!
Best of luck.
We moved into our current house almost 2 years ago.
We had some problems, but NOTHING compared to some of the nightmares I've read about here!
I recall reading about an $800K house in Atlanta that was caving in because the builder built it on a DITCH and only filled the ditch with topsoil before starting construction instead of properly grading the entire lot and doing whatever was necessary to bolster that portion of the lot and foundation. Said there were cracks in all the walls and a big split running down the middle of the house. All the doors were stuck. The family had to move out because it was declared unsafe and could collaps at any time.
Last year, a big church (built in the early 80's) collapsed during a church service. One of the deacons looked up and saw a large crack TRAVELING along the ceiling and immediately stopped the service and evacuated the church.
It TOTALLY collapsed shortly thereafter. Nobody was hurt thankfully.
Are you shopping for a short-term residence, or an heirloom? That's the central question. I see the appeal of newer houses, with their larger rooms and vaulted ceilings and sufficient wiring, and if I thought I were likely to move in five to ten years, I might go that route. Of course, you can go with an older but recently-renovated house and get the best of both.
If I ever own a brand-new house, it'll be one I build. My grandmother's house in Orlando is amazing -- Grandpa was an architect who built big, mostly hospitals, and I'm convinced he built his own house from the left-overs. Where most houses have wooden joists, he used steel I-beams. And because it was built a piece at a time, there are a couple of places where rooms have windows looking into other rooms.
Grandma has only evacuated for a storm once in my memory. A couple of years ago, when Orlando got two hurricanes in pretty quick succession, I called to check on her. Her plan was to take out her hearing aid and sleep through it. I don't think she lost a shingle, though some of the garden plantings took a beating.
I know what your mean, my nickname around he is "rebar".
houses built with untrained illegal alien help, and you want fine crafted homes to last several generations?
Now that is one pipe dream.
Yep. Alot of these people who bought them will be ticked when they figure out the mortgage lasts longer then the house.
You're putting an awful lot of faith in a home inspector. In many of these new homes the shoddy work doesn't really begin to show up until months after moving in when things start really going wrong.
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