Because the dentist's office is closed this late, and you can't get a root canal?
I got called to to look at my buddy's duplex project last weekend. I would've rather had root canals done. Here's what 10 hours Saturday and 6 hours Sunday found:
Locksets in entry doors that looked like they were installed with an axe. (I thought he suffered a break-in at first) Leaking PVC sewer pipes in the basement of the front unit. Missing and improperly installed PEX supply pipes. Kinked HVAC refrigerant lines. Damaged and improperly installed cabinets. HVAC guys drilled through several electrical circuits with a holesaw. Wrong type door and a door missing in the firewall. Missing firestops in the firewall. Furnaces that were improperly placed blocking crawlspace access. PVC furnace venting leaking. (Looked like a 4 y/o did the work.) Condensate pumps that just drain into the crawlspaces. Missing electrical circuits. (Edit) A sewer cleanout sticking up a foot right in the middle of a sidewalk. (My favorite)
That's just off the top of my head. Monday the owner called me and screamed for a half an hour. (I'm not the contractor.)
I told him, "You don't need an engineer, you need a fucking lawyer."
I have no idea how some of that can be repaired. The project is already a couple hundred thousand over budget. He better pray for blind inspectors from the building department.
Having spent most of my life in the South, I have long wondered whether this slipshod workmanship was just a Southern thing. But lately I've come to believe that worthless contractors obtain widely both North and South -- as your report corroborates. My mother called such people "slovenly slobs"; I call them worse things.
People don't do what they say they're going to do, what you pay them to do, or what they ought to do.
Last year I walked through a house being built nearby. Slab foundation, and surprisingly, the concrete looked good -- level enough, and finished well (but I don't know how well the soil was compacted, or whether the reinforcement was done right). The framing was another story. I don't think I ever heard a hammer being used -- just air powered nail guns. Bang-bang-bang, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang, ... The lazy slobs even framed the windows with a nail gun, and it looked like Obama.
Nice looking metal roof and metal siding. But the gutter contractors didn't know how to secure a downspout. Straps wrong, holes drilled in the wrong place. Siding permanently marred.
I have long wondered whether this slipshod workmanship was just a Southern thing.
It didn't use to be that way here. This seems to be a post-Bidet problem. Shortly after the primary contractor got clot-shots, he lost his mind, was fired and abandoned a bunch of tools, etc. I guess this is the new normal. You wouldn't believe the HVAC.
Always remember, the closer to the equator, the shittier the construction.
My personal preference is one story, accessible, houses with 4' eaves. Zero gutters. Keep things stupid simple on the exterior and as elaborate as you can afford on the inside.
Equator. Interesting. I'll have to ponder that one...
What kills me is the crazy rooflines new houses are using. Forty-leven angles every which way for no good reason. I just designed our single story dream house with a single ridgeline for both house and attached garage. But property around here has gone up 4-10x in the last 5 years. So has the noise in my formerly quiet and country neighborhood. That's why we have to get out of here.
Are people using that plastic vinyl faux fencing out in Texas? Plastic fence around a 3/4 million dollar house. Kills me. Pipe fence kills me, too, like they use out in West Texas. But it doesn't kill me as bad as plastic fence.
#11:AllTheKings'HorsesWontDoIt
To: StraitGate(#10)
Equator. Interesting. I'll have to ponder that one...
that, and
"I don't think I ever heard a hammer being used -- just air powered nail guns. Bang-bang-bang, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang, ... The lazy slobs even framed the windows with a nail gun"
makes me think Mexican.
If I've heard it once I've heard it a million times from recently retired builder.
AllTheKings'HorsesWontDoIt posted on 2022-03-02 14:37:55
ReplyPrivate Reply
Traveling from Vienna (one of the most lovely cities we ever visited) via Eurail south toward Rome, the quality of the construction, and the maintenance thereof, deteriorated almost kilometer by kilometer.
By the time we were approaching Rome, and being cathedraled-out, we decided to do a 180 and head north to Geneva and visit Pam's sister and family there in that gorgeous city.
Drill-stem fencing is the best, and by far the most expensive for farms and ranches, while red cedar plank privacy fencing is the most popular for urban/suburban uses here.
Yeah, all kinds of fences here. I never really noticed that backyard fences are less common here than elsewhere.
FWIW, I worked for a fence company my first summer after high school. Used to love driving my children past the county stadium and showing them the tall backstops I helped build for the softball fields. With no power lift equipment, or even scaffolding!
Good times, no hard-hat, gloves recommended but not required, shirt optional...No OSHA! Plus, you made more than the minimum wage and you had few if any expenses. Nice.
#1: Fred Mertz To: Lod, Cynicom (#0)
Fred Mertz posted on 2022-03-01 21:08:20 Reply Private Reply
#2: Esso To: Lod (#0)
Esso posted on 2022-03-01 21:35:41 Reply Private Reply
#3: StraitGate To: Esso (#2)
Because the dentist's office is closed this late, and you can't get a root canal?
StraitGate posted on 2022-03-01 21:50:52 Reply Private Reply
#4: Esso To: StraitGate, Lod, 4um (#3)
I got called to to look at my buddy's duplex project last weekend. I would've rather had root canals done. Here's what 10 hours Saturday and 6 hours Sunday found:
Locksets in entry doors that looked like they were installed with an axe. (I thought he suffered a break-in at first)
Leaking PVC sewer pipes in the basement of the front unit.
Missing and improperly installed PEX supply pipes.
Kinked HVAC refrigerant lines.
Damaged and improperly installed cabinets.
HVAC guys drilled through several electrical circuits with a holesaw.
Wrong type door and a door missing in the firewall.
Missing firestops in the firewall.
Furnaces that were improperly placed blocking crawlspace access.
PVC furnace venting leaking. (Looked like a 4 y/o did the work.)
Condensate pumps that just drain into the crawlspaces.
Missing electrical circuits.
(Edit) A sewer cleanout sticking up a foot right in the middle of a sidewalk. (My favorite)
That's just off the top of my head. Monday the owner called me and screamed for a half an hour. (I'm not the contractor.)
I told him, "You don't need an engineer, you need a fucking lawyer."
I have no idea how some of that can be repaired. The project is already a couple hundred thousand over budget. He better pray for blind inspectors from the building department.
I've never seen such a fucked up program.
Esso posted on 2022-03-02 09:14:12 Reply Private Reply
#5: Lod To: StraitGate (#3)
Even the possibility of seeing his head explode wasn't enough for me to endure dead man stumbling.
Lod posted on 2022-03-02 09:20:00 Reply Private Reply
#6: Lod To: Esso (#4)
Sounds more like a job for a D-9.
Does motrin & canadian give you any relief?
Lod posted on 2022-03-02 09:25:09 Reply Private Reply
#7: StraitGate To: Esso (#4)
People don't do what they say they're going to do, what you pay them to do, or what they ought to do.
Last year I walked through a house being built nearby. Slab foundation, and surprisingly, the concrete looked good -- level enough, and finished well (but I don't know how well the soil was compacted, or whether the reinforcement was done right). The framing was another story. I don't think I ever heard a hammer being used -- just air powered nail guns. Bang-bang-bang, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang, ... The lazy slobs even framed the windows with a nail gun, and it looked like Obama.
Nice looking metal roof and metal siding. But the gutter contractors didn't know how to secure a downspout. Straps wrong, holes drilled in the wrong place. Siding permanently marred.
StraitGate posted on 2022-03-02 10:50:26 Reply Private Reply
#8: Esso To: StraitGate, 4um (#7)
It didn't use to be that way here. This seems to be a post-Bidet problem. Shortly after the primary contractor got clot-shots, he lost his mind, was fired and abandoned a bunch of tools, etc. I guess this is the new normal. You wouldn't believe the HVAC.
Esso posted on 2022-03-02 11:07:57 Reply Private Reply
#9: Lod To: StraitGate, Esso, 4um (#7)
My personal preference is one story, accessible, houses with 4' eaves. Zero gutters. Keep things stupid simple on the exterior and as elaborate as you can afford on the inside.
Lod posted on 2022-03-02 11:58:26 Reply Private Reply
#10: StraitGate To: Lod (#9)
What kills me is the crazy rooflines new houses are using. Forty-leven angles every which way for no good reason. I just designed our single story dream house with a single ridgeline for both house and attached garage. But property around here has gone up 4-10x in the last 5 years. So has the noise in my formerly quiet and country neighborhood. That's why we have to get out of here.
Are people using that plastic vinyl faux fencing out in Texas? Plastic fence around a 3/4 million dollar house. Kills me. Pipe fence kills me, too, like they use out in West Texas. But it doesn't kill me as bad as plastic fence.
StraitGate posted on 2022-03-02 13:50:19 Reply Private Reply
#11: AllTheKings'HorsesWontDoIt To: StraitGate (#10)
that, and
"I don't think I ever heard a hammer being used -- just air powered nail guns. Bang-bang-bang, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang, ... The lazy slobs even framed the windows with a nail gun"
makes me think Mexican.
If I've heard it once I've heard it a million times from recently retired builder.
AllTheKings'HorsesWontDoIt posted on 2022-03-02 14:37:55 Reply Private Reply
#12: Lod To: StraitGate (#10)
Lod posted on 2022-03-02 20:26:15 Reply Private Reply
#13: Lod To: StraitGate (#10)
Traveling from Vienna (one of the most lovely cities we ever visited) via Eurail south toward Rome, the quality of the construction, and the maintenance thereof, deteriorated almost kilometer by kilometer.
By the time we were approaching Rome, and being cathedraled-out, we decided to do a 180 and head north to Geneva and visit Pam's sister and family there in that gorgeous city.
Drill-stem fencing is the best, and by far the most expensive for farms and ranches, while red cedar plank privacy fencing is the most popular for urban/suburban uses here.
Lod posted on 2022-03-03 09:49:01 Reply Private Reply
#14: StraitGate To: Lod (#13)
I didn't know that pipe fence was made from drill stems and sucker rods from oil drilling rigs. Interesting.
StraitGate posted on 2022-03-03 13:20:05 Reply Private Reply
#15: Lod To: StraitGate (#14)
When I first visited OH back when, I was absolutely flabbergasted that there were no back yard fences.
Lod posted on 2022-03-03 15:59:42 Reply Private Reply
#16: StraitGate To: Lod (#15)
FWIW, I worked for a fence company my first summer after high school. Used to love driving my children past the county stadium and showing them the tall backstops I helped build for the softball fields. With no power lift equipment, or even scaffolding!
StraitGate posted on 2022-03-03 20:42:16 Reply Private Reply
#17: Lod To: StraitGate (#16)
Lod posted on 2022-03-03 21:40:58 Reply Private Reply
#18: StraitGate To: Lod (#17)
StraitGate posted on 2022-03-03 22:09:08 Reply Private Reply
#19: Esso To: StraitGate (#18)
Esso posted on 2022-03-04 06:10:57 Reply Private Reply