We bought an existing home in '92, that had been built in '85.
Over the next 10 years, I found that scrimping of $100 by the builder had literally cost me thousands of dollars.
Lack of flashing between the deck and the house. Cost, a few bucks, repairs were around 600.
Lack of a torque arrester on the well. Cost around $7.00. Repair of well and replacement of pump, around $1200.
Lack of flashing where roof changed elevation, a few bucks cost. Repair of water damage down to the sub floor on the second level, a few thousand.
I could go on and on.
I always swore if I ever met the builder I would head butt him.
Right now, in my town there are two spec houses being built next to each other. One is by a semi retired contractor who does this to pass the time. It is all solid construction, and done right. The other is being built by a contracting company that builds a lot of cookie cutter homes. It is small, cheaply built, and won't last.
The well built home is larger but cheaper by about $20K.
If you are building a new home, be on the site EVERY DAY. Make sure to educate yourself on the basics of home building, and be aware that most of the home builders today will cut corners.
Over the next 10 years, I found that scrimping of $100 by the builder had literally cost me thousands of dollars.
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It’s all part of the “to hell with tomorrow” syndrome. At the plant where I now work part time I keep telling people that half the work we do would not even be necessary if people didn’t try to duck out of the little one minute tasks that cost someone else an hour or more to redo later. I have literally spent eight hours doing something that could have been done in twenty minutes if it had been done when it was supposed to be done by the person who was supposed to do it.
I’ve also seen “white wood” used in place of pressure treated wood in exterior applications. There’s no excuse for that. The builder knows that after he paints the exterior trim, it will be virtually undetectable to the average Joe who will later spend thousands to have the wood replaced after it rots in a few years.