Who is building the homes in your area?

[imported_John Smith]

In Houston, the predominant construction worker for new homes are Mexicans, with the majority of them being illegal (or to be PC, "undocumented").

For the most part, they seem to do a decent job, but all it takes is one worker that doesnt really know much to be the weak link in the chain. Of course, the same could be said for any construction work. Although, I frequently seem to find the weak links work in my inspections.

I often discuss the subject with clients/peers, etc that you probably get more quality control in cheap appliance from China than you do a new home.

Sure, the city inspectors will usually stop buy, but they are so thinly spread out, they really can catch everything.

Im curious if this is just a local thing or if my peers in other parts of the country have the same issue with workers (union or not).

Sure, houses aren't falling down throughout my city due to these problems, but there is no doubt in my mind that people are paying big bucks later on to correct relatively easy and cheap problems later on.

Dont even get me started on new homes (from $100 to 1 million) with garbage drywalled over, human waste in bathtubs, showers, etc,. Talk to a carpet layer somtime and listen to what they frequently find under carpets installed during new construction. The days of the true craftsman seem to be gone (at least in my area).

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[David Banks]

Not that bad around here. Then again we do not have the volume of building you guys have due to population explosion some states in the South/West are having. Not as much land left around here. More controlled madness.

[Leon Mann]

As a former Project Manager for a construction company, your project is only as good as the person in charge. If the developer doesnt care about what hes building I promise that the subcontractors wont either.

[Aaron Miller]

The same flying monkey circus is building homes in the D/FW area as in Houston and, I suppose, elsewhere in the country. The circus consists of a ring master or project manager or, in the most liberal sense of the term "builder" and mirgant undocumented sub contractors. That, is the problem with the lack of quality in homes today. Undereducated project managers depending on the knowledge, experience, and skill of sub contractors who come from a country where wood-frame buildings are rare and the language is somewhat different than ours.

Add to this mix the municipal inspector who makes $20K annually before under-the-table stipends in the form of cash, liquor, cigars, golf club memberships, et al. from the builders, and you have a fine mess indeed.

When I was building I worked with my own crew who were actual English-speaking citizens of this country, and skilled craftsmen who were masters of their own crafts and familiar with all of the trades. This allowed for an open communication between all parties concerned and a respectful atmosphere in which one trade watched out for the ones before them and the ones to follow. That world has vanished.

Unless, of course, it is covertly being harbored in Florida by Friar Peck and the Holy Order of the Knit Pickers.

Aaron

[Kevin VanderWarf]

The I get sick of hearing is people saying "those mexicans sure do work hard".
The inspector that does 4 or 5 1 hour inspections per day probably works hard too.
People complain that you never find an american contractor on site after 2pm on Friday. The people who say things like that know for a fact because they pass by the back side of the site while playing their 18 holes, on Friday.
They can afford to take Fridays off and play golf because they don't feel they should pay a true craftsman what he's worth.
One good thing for HI's, we have to communicate, I don't see undocumented people taking over our industry anytime soon and we get to inspect all of there crap.

[Aaron Miller]

The I get sick of hearing is people saying "those mexicans sure do work hard".
The inspector that does 4 or 5 1 hour inspections per day probably works hard too.
People complain that you never find an american contractor on site after 2pm on Friday. The people who say things like that know for a fact because they pass by the back side of the site while playing their 18 holes, on Friday.
They can afford to take Fridays off and play golf because they don't feel they should pay a true craftsman what he's worth.
One good thing for HI's, we have to communicate, I don't see undocumented people taking over our industry anytime soon and we get to inspect all of there crap.

Kevin:

I hope you're right. But here in Texas we are lorded over by the fickle and relentlessly inane Texas Real Estate Commission that is apt at any time to require our reports be issued in both Spanish and English. After that, Spanish alone may suffice. The PC bullshit seems never-ending and completely pervasive.

Aaron

[Kevin VanderWarf]

"I hope your right"
Well, I hope so too. But I have a large tandem axle landscape trailer in my back yard, ready to go. If you can't beat em join em. In the end I will look out for numero uno, no pun intended.