Citizens' and Poor Quality Building
Koontz - A reader writes:
I've long believed that the houses I've seen being thrown up are of poor quality and craftsmanship. It seems the focus is on getting it done as cheaply as possible instead of building it to last. What is the layperson to do about it?
I'd like to build a house in the next five years on my own lot. How do I get started learning more about the process?
There are many houses built that are, to my mind, of poor quality and craftsmanship, and I am often disgusted with the lack of consideration regarding longevity. Here on the West Coast it seems we actually build with the assumption that the houses will not stand the test of time! In my town there are few, (read none), new housing tracts that will be left standing in one hundred years, whereas our downtown district still has several buildings that have survived that long! But I disagree with Jodi's contention that, "the layperson doesn't have a lot of choice as a consumer in the selection of a quality dwelling". I believe that the consumer holds all the power in this situation. Sadly, they often don't know how to excercise that power. I'll pick up that topic in the next post, here's how I would handle the second part of the question.
First, you're on the right track knowing you need education. Take it where ever you can find it-visit housing sites on your cruising around days-especially at the framing stage. Tradespeople are often supremely happy to talk about their projects-get chummy if they have the time to talk with you. Ask about anything and everything you see-and then ask again at the next site you visit. There's almost always more than one right answer to every question.
Read everything you can find-and I don't mean "building for dummies". Read the magazines from Taunton Press, as Jodi suggested, and get some of the books they recommend. They always have a great reading list, from general information to very specific. At this point, you want general info. Don't get bogged down in how to build the best bookcase...
Read Tracy Kidders' book entitled HOUSE. A must for anyone who wants to attempt building from the ground-up. Use the internet. Taunton has a great chat room where builders talk and will answer questions-as much as I appreciate the DIY attitude, forget those sites-you need information from tradespeople who have been in the field for decades, not a couple of years.
Start asking friends/family/neighbors about the houses they've lived in or bought-living in a place happily is a great reference. There are some good builders out there and you're on a mission to find them. Often homeowners' actually know the name of their builder, (even if they bought the house 30 years after it was built). My mothers' house was built in the 50's by a local builder by the name of Grove. Every house I've ever come across by this builder has been a joy to work in, and I think to live in for the homeowners'. This guy knew what he was doing and hired people who built to a specific, and high, standard. I've got to assume there are still builders' like that around...(please let there be...) So talk to people who are buying and/or building now. Talk to them especially when they've been in the house a year or so!
In my area, there are big name builders who develop tract houses but there are also companies that specialize in one house construction. This is your contractor-and do hire a contractor! Unless you actually go to work in the trades for the next five years, you'll never be happy with a house built from the ground-up by a novice-I do agree with Jodi on that. When you find those contractor's who work on one or two houses at a time-and preferably one, start going to their job sites if you can. You've looked at tracts, now you have a bench-mark for the work you're seeing at these sites-and you'll probably notice alot of differences.
The current issue, (oct 2005), of This Old House magazine has an excellent article on how to hire the right contractor/architect/designer. I bought the issue for that article specifically, ready to laugh aloud at their recommendations-I'm such a snot! I ended up reading it aloud to my partner over lunch and we were both really impressed with the advice. If anything, it gave clients too much information-as with any business, I appreciate the advantage on my side...but there really wasn't a thing I disagreed with or could add.
From a perfectly personal perspective, I would recommend paying attention to what you really want in your house. If you need 3500 square feet, you will end up losing the craftsmanship and quality because the reality is that most of us can't afford it in that size house. There are still craftsmen and women out there, but quality costs and consumers too readily trade it off to get something else; like the latest bullshit counter-top material. It's the building that counts, you can always upgrade the cosmetics later.
P.S.-To hell with propositions, but I would pay attention to building codes as they are often more responsible for the lack of building quality than anything. Codes are to be considered "the minimum standard", much like "contractor grade" materials, and you can always build higher than that...and often should!. We now have "one coat" stucco and it's to code---it's an exterior coating that I can literally put my fist through as long as I don't hit a stud-the toughest thing about this stucco is the chicken wire behind it, so to hell with someone kicking my door in, all they have to do is walk through the damn wall!
I've long believed that the houses I've seen being thrown up are of poor quality and craftsmanship. It seems the focus is on getting it done as cheaply as possible instead of building it to last. What is the layperson to do about it?
I'd like to build a house in the next five years on my own lot. How do I get started learning more about the process?
There are many houses built that are, to my mind, of poor quality and craftsmanship, and I am often disgusted with the lack of consideration regarding longevity. Here on the West Coast it seems we actually build with the assumption that the houses will not stand the test of time! In my town there are few, (read none), new housing tracts that will be left standing in one hundred years, whereas our downtown district still has several buildings that have survived that long! But I disagree with Jodi's contention that, "the layperson doesn't have a lot of choice as a consumer in the selection of a quality dwelling". I believe that the consumer holds all the power in this situation. Sadly, they often don't know how to excercise that power. I'll pick up that topic in the next post, here's how I would handle the second part of the question.
First, you're on the right track knowing you need education. Take it where ever you can find it-visit housing sites on your cruising around days-especially at the framing stage. Tradespeople are often supremely happy to talk about their projects-get chummy if they have the time to talk with you. Ask about anything and everything you see-and then ask again at the next site you visit. There's almost always more than one right answer to every question.
Read everything you can find-and I don't mean "building for dummies". Read the magazines from Taunton Press, as Jodi suggested, and get some of the books they recommend. They always have a great reading list, from general information to very specific. At this point, you want general info. Don't get bogged down in how to build the best bookcase...
Read Tracy Kidders' book entitled HOUSE. A must for anyone who wants to attempt building from the ground-up. Use the internet. Taunton has a great chat room where builders talk and will answer questions-as much as I appreciate the DIY attitude, forget those sites-you need information from tradespeople who have been in the field for decades, not a couple of years.
Start asking friends/family/neighbors about the houses they've lived in or bought-living in a place happily is a great reference. There are some good builders out there and you're on a mission to find them. Often homeowners' actually know the name of their builder, (even if they bought the house 30 years after it was built). My mothers' house was built in the 50's by a local builder by the name of Grove. Every house I've ever come across by this builder has been a joy to work in, and I think to live in for the homeowners'. This guy knew what he was doing and hired people who built to a specific, and high, standard. I've got to assume there are still builders' like that around...(please let there be...) So talk to people who are buying and/or building now. Talk to them especially when they've been in the house a year or so!
In my area, there are big name builders who develop tract houses but there are also companies that specialize in one house construction. This is your contractor-and do hire a contractor! Unless you actually go to work in the trades for the next five years, you'll never be happy with a house built from the ground-up by a novice-I do agree with Jodi on that. When you find those contractor's who work on one or two houses at a time-and preferably one, start going to their job sites if you can. You've looked at tracts, now you have a bench-mark for the work you're seeing at these sites-and you'll probably notice alot of differences.
The current issue, (oct 2005), of This Old House magazine has an excellent article on how to hire the right contractor/architect/designer. I bought the issue for that article specifically, ready to laugh aloud at their recommendations-I'm such a snot! I ended up reading it aloud to my partner over lunch and we were both really impressed with the advice. If anything, it gave clients too much information-as with any business, I appreciate the advantage on my side...but there really wasn't a thing I disagreed with or could add.
From a perfectly personal perspective, I would recommend paying attention to what you really want in your house. If you need 3500 square feet, you will end up losing the craftsmanship and quality because the reality is that most of us can't afford it in that size house. There are still craftsmen and women out there, but quality costs and consumers too readily trade it off to get something else; like the latest bullshit counter-top material. It's the building that counts, you can always upgrade the cosmetics later.
P.S.-To hell with propositions, but I would pay attention to building codes as they are often more responsible for the lack of building quality than anything. Codes are to be considered "the minimum standard", much like "contractor grade" materials, and you can always build higher than that...and often should!. We now have "one coat" stucco and it's to code---it's an exterior coating that I can literally put my fist through as long as I don't hit a stud-the toughest thing about this stucco is the chicken wire behind it, so to hell with someone kicking my door in, all they have to do is walk through the damn wall!
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