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Single Mom’s Back and She Ain’t Happy
By JLP | May 9, 2006
Yes, I know “ain’t” ain’t a word but I like catchy titles.
Wanna buy a Ryland home? Single Mom did and she isn’t happy! Poor quality paired with the expense of building a new home are the reasons I haven’t wanted to build a home. I’m nuts when it comes to quality. I would drive a contractor crazy because I would expect ABSOLUTE perfection. I guess I figure since I was paying for it, I should deserve it.
I have gone into new homes that are triple the price of our home and seen stuff that I would NEVER do in my house. For instance: culk. Guys, you can’t freakin’ fill in a 1/2 inch gap with culk! I just won’t work! As much as these builders charge to build a house, the house should be nearly perfect when it is finished.
Anyway, SingleMom, welcome back to the blogging community. Maybe once Ryland sees their name spread around 5,000 different blogs, they’ll change their tune. Unfortunately, it’s not just Ryland with the problem. Almost all the builders cut corners when they shouldn’t.
Topics: Miscellaneous | 4 Comments »
May 9th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
I agree builders are shady characters. I heard similar stories from everyone I know that’s had a house built – my grandparents, my mom, my cousin, my aunt…
It’s like a broken record.
May 9th, 2006 at 4:16 pm
I grew up in an older section of town where a lot of them homes were fieldstone farmhouses over 100 years old. When I think of the thin drywall people buy up at $500K+, I think they’re crazy. I know some friends though I was crazy buying into an older building, but I swear, the place is rock solid and it’s not flimsy. I feel like a lot of townhomes in NoVA are made of straw and the Big Bad Wolf could knock them over pretty easily.
May 10th, 2006 at 6:01 am
My mother had a new house built and the multitude of problems was breathtaking. Here’s a few:
Electrical: underground lines kept having ground faults. The underground conduit ended 12″ down and was just bare wire after that. Connections wrapped in tape. The incoming power was not connected properly, causing all current to flow to ground through the house grounding. This is BAD – causing voltage flux’s of 30%+. Lots of burnt out lightbulbs.
Plumbing: Septic tanks installed below ground water and installed uphill from the house. Guess what don’t flow uphill?
Framing: Nail gun happy. Third floor attic floor supported by nails not a load bearing wall. The floor joists are nailed to a header which is nailed to a board sitting on top of the wall. No joist hangers used anywhere.
Siding: All window frames without an overhang leak in heavy rain. Water flows behind siding and in around frames.
Roofing: 20% of shingles blew off within 2 months. Builder fixed by glueing broken shingles back in place with silicone caulk.
Foundation: No problems here. A good job done by a relocated yankee.
Bottom line: Mom fired the builder half way thru and moved away. I’m now finishing the house so I see all this in person. And my 200 yr old farmhouse sits over there on the hill, just going and going and going…….
May 10th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Are you sure “ain’t” isn’t a word?
http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/drlang003.html