Posted on 02/14/2007 9:00:35 AM PST by Hydroshock
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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