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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

(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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aliens; dirtylittlesecrets; housing
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To: Muzzle_em

Alot of tehse houses that were thrown up in hte past 5 years will not be there in 20.


61 posted on 02/14/2007 1:08:08 PM PST by Hydroshock (Duncan Hunter For President, checkout gohunter08.com.)
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To: jiggyboy

The key to doing your own home is getting the right subs. The problem is the illegals are so cheap they have driven many of he craftsman out of the field. The illegals do nto care they disappear if you come after them for cheap work.


62 posted on 02/14/2007 1:13:37 PM PST by Hydroshock (Duncan Hunter For President, checkout gohunter08.com.)
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To: jiggyboy
It was my first large construction job, very time consuming, but also very rewarding. Saved a lot of money, and got a great house out of it. I used this book to help me: "The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home" by Dave McGuerty and Kent Lester.
Some of it is basic stuff, but it has a lot of tips on all types of construction, dealing with subs, checklists, managing time and money...
63 posted on 02/14/2007 1:17:33 PM PST by jaydubya2
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To: jblair

That was a mouthful in a beautiful simple statement!!


64 posted on 02/14/2007 1:29:11 PM PST by RSmithOpt (Liberalism: Highway to Hell)
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To: jaydubya2

Your experience was similar to ours -- our H&C inspector didn't even look at our furnace when we went for our C of O!

We GC'd our house two years ago. The frame is steel, 8" exterior walls with 16 and 22 gauge, and the interior is 5/8" drywall.

I keep telling my husband the only way I'm leaving our place is feet first. I'm more than familiar with new house construction practices -- and the slap and dash work of illegals -- which makes me less inclined to leave all the more...


65 posted on 02/14/2007 1:42:07 PM PST by Kieri (A Grafted Branch (Rom. 11))
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To: Kieri

I'm glad it worked out well for you. It sounds like you built a solid house. Enjoy!


66 posted on 02/14/2007 1:44:43 PM PST by jaydubya2
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To: ReignOfError

Got any tips on convincing a wife that older is better? We are currently in "discussion" as I want something older and proven (and built heavy) while she has a huge preference for a new McTownhouse.


67 posted on 02/14/2007 2:00:35 PM PST by ikka
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To: rabidralph
A home costs a lot of money. It should be of high quality so it appreciates well if you ever need to sell it. There's no excuse for shoddy or sub-par construction in the home-building business.

"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

68 posted on 02/14/2007 2:25:28 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop
A home costs a lot of money. It should be of high quality so it appreciates well if you ever need to sell it. There's no excuse for shoddy or sub-par construction in the home-building business.

That isn't what people can afford in many cases. I've seen better looking barns than some of the McMansions going up.

They may attempt to have the front of the house look nice, but the rest of it looks like part of the David Koresh Waco compound.

69 posted on 02/14/2007 2:49:37 PM PST by EVO X
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To: Hydroshock

Illegals - doing the shoddy work that Americans refuse to do.


70 posted on 02/14/2007 2:51:45 PM PST by common denominator
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To: hoppity
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.

An obvious case of Bait and Switch . . . without the switch.

;-)

71 posted on 02/14/2007 2:57:11 PM PST by savedbygrace (SECURE THE BORDERS FIRST (I'M YELLING ON PURPOSE))
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To: Hydroshock

Contractors create temporary corporations to build a particular development, then dissolve the corporation as soon as it's done. Nobody to sue when all the defects start rearing their ugly heads.


72 posted on 02/14/2007 2:59:49 PM PST by TChris (The Democrat Party: A sewer into which is emptied treason, inhumanity and barbarism - O. Morton)
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To: jaydubya2
I've "Generaled" the homes we've built and after we were half way through the first, the inspections got shorter and shorter. I asked the inspector way he was cutting his time so short with his quick walk arounds and he told me: "Everything you do is code or better and you're painstaking in your work".

It's called confidence levels. When your clients know your level of expertise and the quality of your work cannot be topped, and your rep depends on repeat business, you make sure that they're never disappointed.

Of course, 30 years in the trade helped a bit too.

73 posted on 02/14/2007 3:00:13 PM PST by OregonRancher
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To: Muzzle_em

Warranty and a lawyer time!


74 posted on 02/14/2007 4:51:25 PM PST by Issaquahking (Pardon Compean and Ramos Now!)
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To: Hydroshock

AMREP


One company (builder/developer) to avoid like the plague.


75 posted on 02/14/2007 4:53:00 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
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To: 1rudeboy

Your probably not in the construction industry, otherwise you'd be aware of the mexican invasion into home building.


76 posted on 02/14/2007 4:54:01 PM PST by Issaquahking (Pardon Compean and Ramos Now!)
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To: Hydroshock

Use to be that the kids would knock a baseball through a window.
Now they hit them through the wall.


77 posted on 02/14/2007 4:56:04 PM PST by Ramcat (Thank You American Veterans)
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To: ikka

The house I live in was built in 1957.

It has seen tornadoes, hurricanes, and ice storms. It survived.

A few, not many, new buildings, did not make it through Hurricane Hugo in my city.

Mind we are several 100 miles inland.


78 posted on 02/14/2007 4:59:33 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
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To: Muzzle_em
re: white stucco: I have heard of a local guy who left the area due to relocation.

The company relocating him refuses to buy any stone-veneer or stucco houses, so before he moved he had to redo the siding.

Turned out that it was not sealed properly at the top part, near the roof, and water had been coming in behind the stucco, hitting the masonite that sheathes the house, gathering there and rotting away the wood behind the drywall.

79 posted on 02/14/2007 5:16:36 PM PST by ikka
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To: pabianice
re:They tried to go after the builder but he just told them to f*** themselves and moved back to Russia.---)))

LOLski

80 posted on 02/14/2007 5:24:40 PM PST by Mamzelle
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