Those are very good points. For what I have seen (since I go there every weekend), it takes them about a month from the time they pour the concrete to the time they start building. I may be wrong but it seems that way
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buying a house
- Thread starter ZX600
- Start date
OpenGambit
Banned
Oh i understand you did your research. I am just saying that the mentality the client should do his own research and not ask questions becuase they might be "dumb" is a ridiculous concept.
I agree, specially since the purchase ain't a chunk of change
QuantumBlue919Guy
Well-known member
I built concrete foundations by trade for around 5 years,, its not the concrete that I would be worried about being poured in the winter- but the men who are working in the freezing cold and want to go home! Shortcuts galore in the winter
Most builders like to keep the foundation walls heated in the winter to prevent any freezing. When the main floor is in place they close up the basement access with plywood and insulate any large holes to contain the heat. Problems I have seen happen with the 2 extreme temperature differences of the basement and freezing cold main floor area is the sweating that occurs under the plywood subfloor. This causes the plywood and floor
joists to be drenched in moisture which causes serious mold issues in the future. I have also checked behind the insulation on the walls and joist cavities to find the the insulation drenched in water which then renders the R value useless and makes a great breeding ground for mold spores. Ever walk into a new home basement and get a whiff of a musty smell in the air?
Also I have seen times where the house is insulated and boarded and heaters fired up to heat the house for the tapers to start mudding. The problem is when the attic hasn't had insulation blown in yet. The moisture accumulates under the vapor barrier and starts damaging the ceiling and growing mold. Most reputable builders know this already but sometimes in their haste of building under a very tight schedule and to get the home heated up sooner than later they fire the heat up days before the blown insulation arrives.
Other things to look for are builders who prematurely "age" your furnace by running it as a construction heater during the home build. I have often times come across filters that were severely caked in dust. That's if they even have a filter installed to begin with. Don't complain a few short years down the road when the furnace gives up the ghost just out of its warranty period. Most reputable builders will run portable heat. Electric heaters are the best. They cost a small fortune to run but make a dry heat which helps cure the drywall taping.
One other area of concern in winter building would be the roofing. The shingles become quite brittle in the cold and usually will crack when bent especially when capping along the peaks of the roof. The cold temps also keep the shingles from bonding to each other so when a good windstorm hits a few tabs break off.
Thousands of homes are built in the winter and by some very respectable builders so most of these issues never occur. But i have come across them so just giving a heads up of things to keep an eye out for.
joists to be drenched in moisture which causes serious mold issues in the future. I have also checked behind the insulation on the walls and joist cavities to find the the insulation drenched in water which then renders the R value useless and makes a great breeding ground for mold spores. Ever walk into a new home basement and get a whiff of a musty smell in the air?
Also I have seen times where the house is insulated and boarded and heaters fired up to heat the house for the tapers to start mudding. The problem is when the attic hasn't had insulation blown in yet. The moisture accumulates under the vapor barrier and starts damaging the ceiling and growing mold. Most reputable builders know this already but sometimes in their haste of building under a very tight schedule and to get the home heated up sooner than later they fire the heat up days before the blown insulation arrives.
Other things to look for are builders who prematurely "age" your furnace by running it as a construction heater during the home build. I have often times come across filters that were severely caked in dust. That's if they even have a filter installed to begin with. Don't complain a few short years down the road when the furnace gives up the ghost just out of its warranty period. Most reputable builders will run portable heat. Electric heaters are the best. They cost a small fortune to run but make a dry heat which helps cure the drywall taping.
One other area of concern in winter building would be the roofing. The shingles become quite brittle in the cold and usually will crack when bent especially when capping along the peaks of the roof. The cold temps also keep the shingles from bonding to each other so when a good windstorm hits a few tabs break off.
Thousands of homes are built in the winter and by some very respectable builders so most of these issues never occur. But i have come across them so just giving a heads up of things to keep an eye out for.
I hope at lot of this has been cleaned up, inspectors pay way more attention now that lawsuits have been rolled onto municipalities for allowing shoddy work to be completed.
The building code keeps getting updated to protect us from what is essentially poor work, every new home gets a sump pump even if its built on a mountaintop and they all get plastic drainboard.
Not pooping on anyones dream of a new home, I'd buy one, they have warranties. But I'd tour the site every chance i had.
The house i'm in has two steel 8x6 beams spanning the basement, one beam supporting the house is sitting on a pc of clay exterior brick because some tool that did the formed stemwall could read a tape measure and the recess is 3'' too deep. Local building inspectors never saw it, home inspection done a resell never saw it.
This goes for *every* trade working on homes in the winter. Just slap em together and get the heck outta there. Framers are the worst offenders.
Anyways, I've just built my 3rd house and did a full reno on a 4th over 10 year period, acting as my own subcontractor. Sadly, for the most part, there is a downward spiral in the work quality of the people working on the homes these days.
I'm finding more and more people care less about the pride in workmanship and quality, and the sooner they can slap together their work, the sooner they can get paid and on to the next one. I also find a "robot mentality" when doing their work. It seems that nobody takes the time to THINK, and figure out a solution, or a better way of doing things.
Never been more disappointed with the quality of work in my current house, then ever before. Only had, I'd say, 4 contractors that really shone, but the rest, I wont use again.
Having said that, when I do my final project, I'll have to hand pick the cream of the contractors and hope for the best.
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Thank you guys, F1mauro those are very useful tips and I will definitely be looking for those.
Since the hole was just opened, I am hoping that most of the house will be build during good weather, we are taking possession in October so hopefully the dry wall taping, roof, etc.. Will be done much later during the summer
I have been watching all kinds of home improvement shows like homes on Holmes to learn what to look for in regards to mistakes lol.
I'm going to try to learn and get as much info as possible on how to conduct inspections
Since the hole was just opened, I am hoping that most of the house will be build during good weather, we are taking possession in October so hopefully the dry wall taping, roof, etc.. Will be done much later during the summer
I have been watching all kinds of home improvement shows like homes on Holmes to learn what to look for in regards to mistakes lol.
I'm going to try to learn and get as much info as possible on how to conduct inspections
Oh gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawd. Don't, just don't. Save yourself the agony.
You'll *never* be happy with your builder or your house.
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lol I know, he obviously over exaggerates so he can have a show, but there are some good timbits out of it, specially for someone like me, with no experience on this.
Having built two custom homes, one as general contractor and one as the client and spent loads of time on construction sites, I was in the building materials business for a long while and an inspector for a manufacturer , I have come to the following conclusions.
Really skilled tradesman aren't often found doing subdivision production work. The guys there are ok but the artists are working someplace else. You dont need to be a genius to know water runs downhill, but they get it wrong often enough.
Good trade guys are booked out, hiring the guy thats available tomorrow? you'll know why he was availble soon enough.
Watching TV shows can give you some insight but most of the Super Contractors like Holmes play it up really over the top. They get to see some really bad construction. I'm shocked at some of the crap you see "professionals" getting away with.
Visit your job site often, take lots of photos of anything that looks off. Dont bug the jobsite guys, there will be a liason for you to deal with at the builder.
Really skilled tradesman aren't often found doing subdivision production work. The guys there are ok but the artists are working someplace else. You dont need to be a genius to know water runs downhill, but they get it wrong often enough.
Good trade guys are booked out, hiring the guy thats available tomorrow? you'll know why he was availble soon enough.
Watching TV shows can give you some insight but most of the Super Contractors like Holmes play it up really over the top. They get to see some really bad construction. I'm shocked at some of the crap you see "professionals" getting away with.
Visit your job site often, take lots of photos of anything that looks off. Dont bug the jobsite guys, there will be a liason for you to deal with at the builder.
I think this is a great point. My neighbour visited so often, and bothered so many workers, that he ultimately was threatened with 'no trespassing' threats, etc.
I have no idea the legitimacy of the legal threat, but pissing off the people actually working on your home isn't going to get the best quality work done.
Technically, its not "his house" until closing day.
So, its really a bad idea to visit job sites, unless permission is granted, or you are escorted by the site super. Do you have proper insurance? Safety foot wear? Hard hat? What happens if a 2x4 comes crashing down and smacking you in the head? Or you trip and fall into the basement?
If you get hurt on a Builders job site, its his policy that gets affected. All the other trades carry WSIB and insurance.
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I agree with you guys, visiting the site while there is work going on outside the set visits is not a good idea, plus you need proper protective equipment and all you really are going to do is piss off the guys working on your house.
Tribute sent an email, i guess they send it to everyone letting us know that visiting the site is not allowed. I guess they do it for the reasons mentioned by everyone above, safety mostly
However, I will pick once in a while after hours once construction workers have gone home
Now it's time to start thinking on selling the Condo
Tribute sent an email, i guess they send it to everyone letting us know that visiting the site is not allowed. I guess they do it for the reasons mentioned by everyone above, safety mostly
However, I will pick once in a while after hours once construction workers have gone home
Now it's time to start thinking on selling the Condo
However, I will pick once in a while after hours once construction workers have gone home
Just a heads-up that when we were waiting for our house to be built (i.e. checking things out once-in-a-while), they had a private security firm keeping an eye on things. Just don't make an *** of yourself, and you shouldn't have much of a problem.
Interesting, what would you call making an *** out of yourself?
I would go in (if it looks safe to do so) check things out and leave
I did the same thing when our house was being built .. every couple weeks id go to the site after the guys were gone, or weekends.
They hired private security to patrol the site, but seeing me there so often they got to know me. Id go in the house and check out the progress and such.
The security are more worried about illegal dumping and such, which is a huge problem on any new home costruction along with theft of materials.
They hired private security to patrol the site, but seeing me there so often they got to know me. Id go in the house and check out the progress and such.
The security are more worried about illegal dumping and such, which is a huge problem on any new home costruction along with theft of materials.
What you describe is what we did. Checked things out once in a while, snapped some pix (for before and after reminders) and left. I'd guess the security is there just as much (if not more so) to keep thieves out vs. curious future owners.
Attitude (as always) goes a long way - don't be a dick, and you'll probably just get a 'sorry, we understand you're curious but you need to leave'. We visited probably 10 times over the course of the build and only once were asked to vamoose.
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