My company is having a 6plex re-built after a major fire and everything is getting re-built from the ground up.
I’m looking for a checklist or some tips from your experience on construction companies that cut corners and where they do it. The company we have right now is the biggest in town I think, although I have this little feeling that they are giving us the run-around and would like to check up on them.
I’ve got a pretty good handle on basic construction methods and home reno projects but I’d like to know more so I can give our out-of-town HQ the heads up.
I know a guy that’s flipping a house so I was over there talking to him about structural issues. What a can of worms this place was though, needless to say I learnt alot in an hour.
Anyone seen the Adam Corolla Project lately on TLC? Yeah, I really don’t want that happening…funny though.
I’d guess that you mainly have to worry about the framing. Plumbing, A/C, and electric are very specialized and you’ll have to rely on the building inspectors to make sure they are up to code. Drywall is easy, just make sure it’s fastened to code. The building inspector will also check the framing, but in my experience, some are far less thorough than others. I.e., I’ve got a house that used site-built flitch beams (basically plate steel sandwitched between 2x material.) The building inspector didn’t even notice. He should have asked for the engineer’s load/span spec’s and a letter vouching for the fact that they were built as designed. It was no big deal for me, cause I supervised the construction and had my engineer design them and check them out when they were finished. But that was a huge miss for the inspector. If they were done wrong the 2nd floor could collapse!
I have a friend that’s an architect. For some of his clients he regularly checks the job to make sure it’s being built according to the plans. You could also hire a P.E. to do third-party inspections just for you. I would guess a good 3rd party framing inspection might run $150 to $300.
The Adam Corolla show makes me laugh – never have I seen a guy with so much money and such an inept crew. Obviously they’ve been friends forever – just too funny. His assistant makes me laugh my rear off each time I see him – he’s great. Great show – it’s good to see someone making light of rehabbing.
I just watched Holmes on Homes on HGTV and it was nuts.
The home owner had all the permits and inspections passed but when Mike and his crew started pulling everything apart…check this out…
-Plumbing installed 6in above main electrical panel
-Not water specific lights in the shower
-Foundation wasn’t water tight=massive leaking
-Live wires dangling from the ceiling (seriously)
-Key studs in the wall were cut all the way through for plumbing
-Ceiling drywall wasn’t screwed completely
-Snow in the NEW attic=pos roof
-2X8s in the roof were not screwed completely=MAJOR twisting
-New bath tub sunk 1/8th of an inch…oops, forgot supports
It was nuts…$40K job turned into $100+K.
I was making notes the whole show…and the most outrageous part of the whole thing was this original contractor had about 3 pages of solid references.
I know where I’m going to be tomorrow evening and all day sat. :-\
