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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,726 posts, read 58,079,686 times
Reputation: 46195
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1) What jurisdiction in TX are you? (did I miss that?) Our counties in TX do not require building inspections NONE Only septic (environmental) and electrical (National). NO 'BUILDING' inspections required! No plan review . no engineering...
2) Texas seems to have the most LAX laws in contractor bonding I have encountered. It is nearly impossible to collect on the bond / licensing of a TX contractor (if yours even bothered to get licensed)
3) If you have paid this guy a DIME... you are gonna need to invest your next dime in a Lawyer.
4) Foundations are pretty critical. get it right THEN build.
I NEVER allow a DROP of concrete to be poured without first inspecting prep and lasering the forms MYSELF!
I learned this the "HARD" way! (You know... on the far end of a jack-hammer)
1) What jurisdiction in TX are you? (did I miss that?) Our counties in TX do not require building inspections NONE Only septic (environmental) and electrical (National). NO 'BUILDING' inspections required! No plan review . no engineering...
2) Texas seems to have the most LAX laws in contractor bonding I have encountered. It is nearly impossible to collect on the bond / licensing of a TX contractor (if yours even bothered to get licensed)
3) If you have paid this guy a DIME... you are gonna need to invest your next dime in a Lawyer.
4) Foundations are pretty critical. get it right THEN build.
I NEVER allow a DROP of concrete to be poured without first inspecting prep and lasering the forms MYSELF!
I learned this the "HARD" way! (You know... on the far end of a jack-hammer)
Wow, no plan inspection/approval or inspections in certain parts of Texas, that’s crazy!
I guess that area would attract many wannabe contractors to get started. (and hopefully ended quickly)
1) What jurisdiction in TX are you? (did I miss that?) Our counties in TX do not require building inspections NONE Only septic (environmental) and electrical (National). NO 'BUILDING' inspections required! No plan review . no engineering...
2) Texas seems to have the most LAX laws in contractor bonding I have encountered. It is nearly impossible to collect on the bond / licensing of a TX contractor (if yours even bothered to get licensed)
3) If you have paid this guy a DIME... you are gonna need to invest your next dime in a Lawyer.
4) Foundations are pretty critical. get it right THEN build.
I NEVER allow a DROP of concrete to be poured without first inspecting prep and lasering the forms MYSELF!
I learned this the "HARD" way! (You know... on the far end of a jack-hammer)
You caps lock key is malfunctioning. If you fix my house, I will fix your computer for you so the caps lock will not continue to type random words in all caps.
Hardwood floor was shimmed to level it, but the boards were not set tight enough or something to they slid off the shims and left big gaps between some of the floor boards.
The basement is block. They were supposed to fill the cells with concrete and rebar every four feet. The only filled it to the level of the soil at the time the work was done instead of filling it all the way, and they did not fill the cells at all along one wall.
The placed light switches too close to doors so the moldings had to be cut out around the switches (obviously this was caught early).
The sub-drain was farm a drain a system that does not work worth a hoot.
Some of the siding was cut short and then installed anyway.
About half the doors were hung incorrectly.
The water heater venting was installed incorrectly. It slopes upward and it comes out too low and gets buried in snow.
The shower membrane was way too low and is incomplete. This requires we completely remove all the tile and replace the membrane.
The vent fan in the shower was not framed in, it was just screwed into the lath.
The steam shower and Jacuzzi pump were wired incorrectly.
A custom built door on the carriage house was built out of untreated lumber. Then the 250 pound doors were hung on hinges that were just lag bolted to the studs.
An exterior panel on the roof was made of untreated plywood. It rotted out in ten years. This is hard to describe.
The front porch was improperly fastened to the house and came apart after bout ten years.
An exterior wooden step up to one side of the porch was built of untreated lumber and had to be replaced (this is odd because four other wood steps were built of treated lumber and are fine.
The back porch columns were built of 1x6s rather than a solid piece they warped and twisted and pulled apart at he base.
The concrete deck around the pool both sank and lifted in some places it is more than 2 inches.
An interior wall was not properly constructed. When an angry kid slammed the door, the wall flexed and broke.
The foam insulation at the top of the basement wall had gaps that allowed air to come through.
Several kitchen outlets had no GFCI protection.
two showers have no access to the valve.
A pocket door was installed with no access and the runners were screwed into the top of the door with short screws.
An electrical outlet box was installed directly under the pipes for an outdoor shower
The County in question does not require the foundation pre-pour inspection. They only require septic system permit and floodplan certification.
It would then be imperative to employ a construction engineer to perform those tasks that are most often performed by municipalities and have the approval of the engineer written into the building contract.
It would then be imperative to employ a construction engineer to perform those tasks that are most often performed by municipalities and have the approval of the engineer written into the building contract.
An engineer could not inspect to prevent poor workmanship or would he (perhaps a few can) be able to properly hang a door. Their skill is working with math to design structural elements of a building, their tools are pencil, paper and a calculator, not hand or power tools.
All that needed is a good builder with carpenters and tradesman who know what they are doing and are not taking shortcuts due to lack of knowledge or being denied the necessary time to do it properly by their boss.
Any decent carpenter should know how to hang a door, install a wood floor or frame a porch roof securely to the house, it’s simple stuff.
Rather than hire someone to babysit the contractor, you need to find and hire a good contractor that you can trust. Often homeowners just go with the lowest price without proper analysis, I’ve seen it many times.
Very often, the lowest price turns out to be the most expensive❗️
Yes, that is what occurred. The County did not require a foundation pre-pour inspection but our building contract with the builder did. We paid for and the builder hired a licensed structural/foundation engineer to design and draw the slab on grade foundation including soil samples, and a pre-pour inspection and a sealed foundation plan. The engineer was not hired to inspect all other aspect of the construction job another inspector was hired for a pre-drywall inspection after the defects started showing up (early on).
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