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Tales from the Dark Side

| Posted in General Discussion on January 20, 1999 02:07am

*
Okay…we just bought a house that had a DIY “sun room” put on the back. It was actually done by the previous owners and their neighbor. Here’s the results of their savings….They took the existing deck and put cinderblock underneath up to the level of the floor joists. They then built a fully enclosed room with three windows and a door. Within a year, the room pulled away from the house and started leaking. The previous owners patched the ceiling and put new supports under the “room”. Of course, their supports were 2X4’s on the dirt. When we came in to buy this house, the inspector mandated some changes. A contractor came in and jacked up the room, poured footings and put steel house jacks in place. They cleaned up the wiring that was running along the ground and tacked it in place. The entire house was re-roofed. I have since insulated the crawlspace and am now looking at insulating the ceiling (as they did not). The room still slants (a tennis ball picks up speed quite fast). We may end up tearing the whole thing out and starting over with one of those SunRoom kits. I like a fixer-upper and that’s what we got. Nothing like saving some money. My hat is off to those previous owners for the dollars they saved up front and got smacked with in the end. (Of course, I live there now and I’m the one getting smacked. Sometimes, you can’t do it yourself.

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  1. Brent_ | Jan 20, 1999 02:07am | #2

    *
    Okay...we just bought a house that had a DIY "sun room" put on the back. It was actually done by the previous owners and their neighbor. Here's the results of their savings....They took the existing deck and put cinderblock underneath up to the level of the floor joists. They then built a fully enclosed room with three windows and a door. Within a year, the room pulled away from the house and started leaking. The previous owners patched the ceiling and put new supports under the "room". Of course, their supports were 2X4's on the dirt. When we came in to buy this house, the inspector mandated some changes. A contractor came in and jacked up the room, poured footings and put steel house jacks in place. They cleaned up the wiring that was running along the ground and tacked it in place. The entire house was re-roofed. I have since insulated the crawlspace and am now looking at insulating the ceiling (as they did not). The room still slants (a tennis ball picks up speed quite fast). We may end up tearing the whole thing out and starting over with one of those SunRoom kits. I like a fixer-upper and that's what we got. Nothing like saving some money. My hat is off to those previous owners for the dollars they saved up front and got smacked with in the end. (Of course, I live there now and I'm the one getting smacked. Sometimes, you can't do it yourself.

  2. Guest_ | Jan 27, 1999 09:46am | #3

    *
    A dark side tale:

    A neighbor was building a very nice home. Around 4500 sqft, bid for construction was $550k (excluding land, well, decks and driveway). Lots of Glass, wood windows, Craftsman style, maple,cherry, brush nickel hardware. Contractor was well known/respected. Older fellow, looking to retire and was breaking in a partner. Well, he passed away from a heart attack. Young buck sez "I can do it." They should have ran while they had the chance.

    First off he gets down to the foundation. Apparantly interprets hold down locations as "suggested" placements. This is California! (There goes the shear panel calcs)

    Framing equally flawed. Not a single bit of blocking for extensive trim. Pieces bowed all over the place. TJIs hacked to death. HVAC company decided to put in their standard package, not the 97%/14.0SEER that was spec'd in contract. 10SEER, 80%. Supply vents (one per room, no matter the size) just above the entrance door.

    The final straw was he decided to do the tile roof himself. Owners felt something was up, there had been no inspections for 10 months and nothing really moving to completion, despite several advances on various draws.

    They had a general, and then a Electrical/HVAC contractor give written reports. Then off to court.

    Turns out, this fellow was the former "States Attorney" for california. She is also a lawyer. The ABSOLUTELY LAST people you'd every want to f*** with. Everybody got sued. They put together a "litigation plan" to use early judgements as evidence in the next lawsuit. What a mess.

    They are living there now, but 2.5 years late. A stunning home with a hell of a story.

  3. Guest_ | Jan 28, 1999 08:12pm | #4

    *
    We've all read the do's and don'ts (?) of how to hire (or work as) a GC for home additions/remodels, etc. I am planning an addition to our house some time in the next year, so it was with considerable interest that I was told our neighbors accross the street were about to embark on the same path. The work began the first week of January.

    A little background: 1) The neighbors, as far as I can tell, have not invested a lot of time in understanding how the building process work, nor in the finer details of residential construction. 2) We live in Westchester County, NY, and the building trade (and costs) are booming. Getting anyone to do any work without being charged what I would estimate to be 2 or 3x "normal" rates (based upon posts on this site & other research) is almost impossible. 3) The neighbors had this contractor build them a deck last summer, & they think it's wonderful. When I saw it, I understood why they had been the low bidder. Railing was entirely fastened to posts w/ 16 ga. (non-galvanized) finish nails, all butt-jointed, etc. I would have fired the guy after a day's work. 4) The estimates (from 3 builders) for the addition came in at double what the architect (who was affiliated with the deck-GC) estimated. The deck-GC came in lowest, but still well above the architect's estimate. 5) Apparently without doing any more research on the deck-GC, they hired him based on price & the "lovely" deck.

    They paid the guy the first installment of about $40K & most of the roof came off last week. It's been pretty nasty here for the last 2 weeks, so there are tarps up everywhere. Yesterday, big stink ensues, with the builder screaming that he's making no money on this deal, & he quits. His crew comes back this morning to collect all equipment (including tarps). Neighbors file 7-figure lawsuit at 9 A.M.

    Some of the lessons from this are fairly obvious. Unfortunately, carelessness on the part of the neighbors has resulted in hiring (from what I can tell) is a "bad apple", which will add to the perception that all building professionals are scam artists. This is clearly not deserved by the majority of professionals, who do quality work at a reasonable profit.

    As I watch all this unfold, I am clearly determined to avoid the obvious & hidden pitfalls that have befallen those across the street.

    Thoughts or comments?

    Pondering (& learning from the mis-steps of others),

    Per Swede

    1. Guest_ | Jan 20, 1999 01:40am | #1

      *That same contractor must have done the job on our friends over in Cresskill NJ. Same exact scenario, except the roof leaked after it was shingled and the tarp removed. Nice lawsuit, house sits unfinished, etc.-RobP.S. - One phrase I use in dealing with contractor's professionally and personally - "This will not be a low bid job in terms of quality or price. I am willing to uphold my end, if you cannot uphold yours now is the time to tell me."This statement gets referred back to from time to time, of course I weed out crappy bidders before I even get their price.-Rob

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