Making friends: Builder's edition

[MidEngine]

The house build is not going well; had multiple failures in the foundation that had to be remedied, and yesterday failed the framing inspection. These issues could have been easily avoided if the trades were paying attention, good enough isn't. I keep telling them they need to correct specific mistakes and they ignore me, so today I hired a licensed inspector to take a look at things every other week.

Contractors HATE home inspectors, but I gotta look after my own best interests. Should be interesting..

[MisterButtercup]

@midengine That sucks. It really is faster/cheaper overall to do it right the first time. Hopefully they'll learn going forward. No extra cost to you for the repairs though, right?

[DAWRX]

@midengine said in Making friends: Builder's edition:

multiple failures in the foundation that had to be remedied

I’m really curious as to what happened here.

[Smallbear]

@midengine

Trades?? Pay attention??

The bow stuck a good 2" into the next room.

The funniest thing in this case, almost everything else in the house was perfect... this guy usually keeps his guys in line... and they missed this. Competence, competence, competence, MEH CAN'T BE BOTHERED, straight back to competence

[MidEngine]

@misterbuttercup nope, but the concern is what the county inspectors might miss too. Multiple eyes on the project will help.

[MidEngine]

@dawrx

1. They poured part of the foundation over some large rocks. County reviewed and allowed for it, signed off by the county engineer. It's not hard to move rocks

2. Damaged I-beam, had to be replaced. Damage from repeated whacking with a hammer to force the beam into place.

3. I beams were cut too short all long the garage wall, they installed a ledger board to provide support.

[Shop-Teacher]

@midengine said in Making friends: Builder's edition:

Contractors HATE home inspectors, but I gotta look after my own best interests. Should be interesting..

They do, but if you fuck up badly enough that the home owner decides they need to hire an independent inspector, you suck at your job. I say that as somebody who spent every school break from age 13-25 working for my dad's residential construction company. Nobody ever hired an independent inspector to watch us, because we didn't suck.

My dad did once bid on a job for some family friends, and they decided to go with a competitor because their bid was so much lower. Before they signed with the competitor, they paid my dad to look over that over bid/contract. My dad found so many problems and inconsistencies, that they ended up hiring my dad to do the job instead.

[MidEngine]

@smallbear I had three of those, I replaced them myself. Also have 20 studs that technically pass grade two but have little to no edge to attach drywall, or god forbid hang something in the wall in the future. Supposed to be fixed, if they don't do it soon I'll grab some 2x6's and sister them myself.

[fintail]

@midengine This kind of thing has me in fear of new builds. The disconnect between price and quality in PNW housing is amusing - at least in cheaper regions, you can justify iffy builds with the low price. Here, you often pay for a gold nugget and get a gold flake or maybe a chunk of iron pyrite.

I got a quote not long ago from a big local builder. Simple ~1200 sq ft planbook house, key being the 2 car attached garage, modest/moderate finishes. House price was going to be ~225K, before permitting, land improvements, utilities, and of course buying the lot itself. I was suspicious, and I fear my budget would be destroyed once all of the unknowns are factored in. I might feel better with a maintained existing house, as even some 60s builds appear more solid than moderns. I really just want the garage and central HVAC, anyway.

My mom is about to move on from her existing (unmaintained) house and seek something to last the rest of her days - in her 70s now, and her current place needs too much work. My sister suggested having something built, but I am also leery of that, not just for budget overruns and running behind schedule, but if/when it has defects, and it will, I'd be hearing all about it.

[ibRAD]

@midengine Brutal. I can only imagine someone building their 'dream' home that doesn't know any better or can't be on site to keep an eye on things.

Definitely in your best interest to keep the inspector around. Maybe once the contractors realize you're not going to let shit go they'll put some effort into making things right the first time.

[LooseonExit]

@midengine
Sorry you're having issues. It's common, which is entirely stupid. Just lazy as hell workers and contractors just caring about the bottom line. Inspectors are really worth it. Hopefully the extra eyes helps save you from future issues.

@midengine said in Making friends: Builder's edition:

@dawrx

1. They poured part of the foundation over some large rocks. County reviewed and allowed for it, signed off by the county engineer. It's not hard to move rocks

2. Damaged I-beam, had to be replaced. Damage from repeated whacking with a hammer to force the beam into place.

3. I beams were cut too short all long the garage wall, they installed a ledger board to provide support.

Jeezus.

[john norris]

@smallbear Could have warped after the install. Fresh wood does that sometimes.

[MidEngine]

@ibrad They KNOW I have a GC license and I'm watching the build closely, the house is 200' from where we currently live in our small cottage. I need oversights documented in the event I need to take legal action at some point. The build went up $30k because materials, and there's been multiple gaps where no one shows up for over a week. I can live with that, but I will not compromise on quality. Not one bit.

[Smallbear]

@john-norris Doubt it. Not that much, anyway. Cupping, bowing, maybe, not 2+" of side bend. Plus, you can't really see it in the picture, but the joints to the plates were pretty good, not opened up drastically like you'd expect had it warped after the fact.

[MidEngine]

@fintail I wouldn't shy away from building, I certainly would avoid DR Horton and Lennar at all cost, they're awful. Set up a team working on your behalf to hold the builder accountable and it will turn out just fine. I'm frustrated because the builder, who supposedly vets their subs rigorously is MIA most of the time -> juggling too many builds. It doesn't help that my construction supervisor quit so they handed his work load to another guy, and he can't keep up.

Inspection scheduled for today and hopefully framing will pass. The crew standing by to install windows & doors, wrap the house, and install the siding is waiting to hear about the inspection. They gave me their number and asked that I text them once the inspection is done (walk the job with the county inspector).. that's not my responsibility but I'll do it all the same.

[MidEngine]

@ibrad I'm a Mike Holmes kinda guy..

[nerd_racing]

After reading all of this... I'm just gonna go live in a van down by the river. A nice van, but a van none the less

[MidEngine]

@nerd_racing Got room for me and Mrs. MidEngine?

[Cash Rewards]

@midengine I don't know about where you are, but there's a construction boom near me. County (and bank, depending on how the loan is set up) needs to inspect at various steps, as you know. But countries haven't necessarily upped staffing, so inspections can be backlogged. That might account for some days without work?

[MidEngine]

@cash-rewards I'm self financed, so there's no bank involvement. The county will typically send inspectors the next day, so that hasn't been an issue (oddly enough). The days without work is when the crew leaves to work on another job, leaving us waiting. Annoying but not uncommon, but that's no excuse for sloppy work.

[Cash Rewards]

@midengine yeah, that's frustrating as hell then if that's the case

[fintail]

@midengine I'll probably end up going for something existing - maybe less chance of quick financial ruin or destroyed budgets. In my area, an existing older house (not huge, not fancy) that might be 300K is probably going to be 400++ if new, with similar amenities. Although Iumber price increases have slowed, I doubt prices will collapse, and land certainly isn't getting cheaper in this area. What you mention is a good point, too - so many builds and so much pressure, that it maybe increases the chances of problems. Old houses have a chance of someone prior messing things up, but also a chance of it actually being maintained OK.

I really fear issues if we went with a new build for my mom - she'd come unglued if it ran late or cost tens of thousands more.

[MidEngine]

@fintail Then don't build new, there will be delays and increases. That's why you need a contingency fund, and patience. The upside is you get exactly what you want, any existing home will have compromises. A really well maintained existing home that's reasonably priced is a unicorn, and you still need a contingency fund because shit happens.

[Bloody-the-resident-LandRover-apologist]

@midengine oof that sucks, when we had our addition put up on the house we went with the more expensive GC (who also happens to live up the street from us) and probably paid around $10-$15k more but I'm glad we did. He delayed the project because by the time we had all the required permits (thanks D&R Canal Commission) it was getting too cold to pour the foundation. He specifically said, "I can have the foundation poured now, but if we have a bad frost it won't set correctly and you'll have foundation issues years down the line". Any other GC probably would have just yolo'd it and poured the foundation just to get to the next job.

I'm pretty sure if our house got hit by a natural disaster the addition would be the last thing standing heh.

Hopefully your guys pull their shit together.

[fintail]

@midengine Yep. If something shits the bed in an old house, you can sometimes put it off and save up/ DIY, or arrange financing (HELOC, or even just charge it, etc). In a new build, if you get a 50K surprise bill for an incomplete house and need money now, well, time to raid the 401K probably, and that's something I don't want to do.