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Dark side of the housing boom: Shoddy work
Cnn ^
| 2-14-07
| Sarah Max
Posted on 02/14/2007 9:00:35 AM PST by Hydroshock
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A close family friend moved into a new 3100 sq ft $400,000 house on a lake last month. It was so bad that it may have to be tore down and rebuilt. The foundation is cracked, walls were 3 inches out of plumb, the roof is leaking and losing shingles.
To: Hydroshock
Have they ever heard of a home inspector?
2
posted on
02/14/2007 9:02:32 AM PST
by
wizecrakker
(Trying to behave)
To: Hydroshock
100 to 1 says it was built by "hardworking" illegal Hispanic immigrants. I know all about their poor workmanship.
3
posted on
02/14/2007 9:04:48 AM PST
by
andonte
To: Hydroshock
You don't exactly have to be Albert Einstein to figure out the main reason why the general quality of construction work has deteriorated so much over the last decade or so.
"Cheap" is often only cheap in the short run.
4
posted on
02/14/2007 9:05:31 AM PST
by
jpl
To: wizecrakker
I used to sell real estate on Mercer Island. There was a common and very believeable story that a few decades ago there was a certain building inspector that, if you knew his favorite brand of bourbon, would rubber stamp your building quality. \
It is believeable because homes built within a certain time range had a certain "look and feel". It was almost universal.
5
posted on
02/14/2007 9:05:42 AM PST
by
RobRoy
(Islam is a greater threat to the world today than Nazism was in 1938.)
To: Hydroshock
Some is shoddy, some is great. You usually get what you pay for. BTW, the housing market is doing quite well as of late.
6
posted on
02/14/2007 9:06:11 AM PST
by
pissant
To: wizecrakker
Some builders don't allow you to bring in a home inspector. DR Horton didn't when I bought my house in 1999. I got lucky that there were only a few minor things wrong.
My in-laws bought a house at the same time that I did, but paid three times as much. I couldn't believe the problems they had-- roofs leaks that came through the ceiling lights, loose stuff all over counters installed incorrectly. I used to think you get what you pay for, but that house proved me wrong.
7
posted on
02/14/2007 9:06:30 AM PST
by
hoppity
To: wizecrakker
How do you inspect a home that has not been built? But local building inspectors should have picked up serious problems like shoddy foundation work.
8
posted on
02/14/2007 9:06:52 AM PST
by
finnman69
(cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animos)
To: wizecrakker
Yes, but it was new with an warrantee from a major national homebuilder. They are hageling with them now after they have gotten a home inspection. The inspector recommended tearing it down and redoing it from the ground up.
9
posted on
02/14/2007 9:07:36 AM PST
by
Hydroshock
(Duncan Hunter For President, checkout gohunter08.com.)
To: andonte
10
posted on
02/14/2007 9:08:10 AM PST
by
Hydroshock
(Duncan Hunter For President, checkout gohunter08.com.)
To: Hydroshock
11
posted on
02/14/2007 9:08:36 AM PST
by
P.O.E.
To: hoppity
Some builders don't allow you to bring in a home inspector. And those builders should be out of business for lack of customers.
Anyone who would purchase something as expensive as a house, without an inspection is... well... I don't really need to say it, do I?
12
posted on
02/14/2007 9:09:14 AM PST
by
wizecrakker
(Trying to behave)
To: Hydroshock
Problem is, the residential building code makes it virtually impossible to build a house with other than ballon framing (studs with drywall).
Better, alternative technologies like cordwood (www.daycreek.com) or log cabins require expensive engineering documentation in order to be approved.
13
posted on
02/14/2007 9:09:15 AM PST
by
ikka
To: Hydroshock
I call big houses today, "balloon houses." They're cavernous, but pretty thin. There's nothing worse than a great, expensive house with junk moulding.
14
posted on
02/14/2007 9:09:50 AM PST
by
Aquinasfan
(When you find "Sola Scriptura" in the Bible, let me know)
To: Hydroshock
The new building code: Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with a grease pencil, cut it with an axe. Pound to fit, caulk to cover and paint to match....
The new plumbing code: Hot's on the left, cold's on the right. 1/4" to a foot slope to get a turd to flow downhill, the boss is an a$$hole and payday is on Friday......
'bout 12 years ago I was working near Scottsdale, AZ, when a building boom was going on. I was there testing cellular telephone sites, but observed this new building code first hand as construction crews were decking roofs on houses adjacent to the cell site I was working on. Instead of cutting the OSB decking to fit, I watched in amazement as they layed the 4'x8' sheet on the valley of the roof, jumped on it and broke it, then, they nailed it into place. I took pictures it was so amusing, while at the same time disgusting.
15
posted on
02/14/2007 9:10:24 AM PST
by
Thermalseeker
(Just the facts, ma'am)
To: Hydroshock
That's why it pays to have a home inspection peformed BEFORE you buy the home and get the seller to include a 1 year home warranty in the contract. Odds are good you won't get a lemon but you never know so it pays to check everything out. A home will be the biggest purchase you will ever make in your lifetime.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
16
posted on
02/14/2007 9:12:49 AM PST
by
goldstategop
(In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
To: Hydroshock
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. And I would be willing to bet that I can name the builder, too.
To: pissant
You get what the subcontractors build for you. Without good oversight/mgmt you get Sh_T.
18
posted on
02/14/2007 9:14:41 AM PST
by
zek157
To: zek157
I know. My best friend builds houses for a living.
19
posted on
02/14/2007 9:16:01 AM PST
by
pissant
To: Non-Sequitur
Let me guess... begins with a P?
20
posted on
02/14/2007 9:19:34 AM PST
by
oblomov
(Progress is precisely that which the rules and regulations did not foresee. - von Mises)
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