Those cursed 1990s Vegas builders

Nevada is not the only state to have shoddy or "In & Out"
home builders that short cut corners, in order to make huge profits.

Love how they snapped the joist line for those long staples... !!

I feel sorry for the new house buyers of todays markets.
In some places you can walk through in the stages that it is built, with the good "Guys" but the fly by night guys are wham, bam, thank you and good luck.

Most homes should have material list that meets spec's and that it was installed........
but like mentioned, the insulation is up there in the attic !!

I did 33 years of Heavy Construction and just cringe at what some of the low quality builders put out.

Good luck.
 
Nevada Ed said:
Nevada is not the only state to have shoddy or "In & Out"
home builders that short cut corners, in order to make huge profits.

Love how they snapped the joist line for those long staples... !!
Click to expand...

You will have to excuse my ignorance, but which picture should I look at and what am I looking for.
 
I used foam at the Carriage house/Barn at the lake......in the Pa. Laurel Highlands about 2600 ft.

From 12/14/19 to 1/24 its cost me just over $2/day* to heat the lower garage level to 50 degrees. (propane) It's 28x36 x12high.....just over 1000sq ft or 12,000 cubic feet.

With 8ft ceilings it would equal 1500 sq ft.


Originally we were going to use fiberglass on the lower walls ( upper floor apartment was spec'ed to foam)... decided to go all foam.. about a $1 more / sq ft.

Upstairs 1000 sq ft is running about $1.20 a day to hold it at 60 (75%)
when were not there and 70 (25%) when we are using mini splits.

Total $3.25/day..........$100/month.

With summer cooling I'm estimating a 2 year payback... 3 at most.


*Footnote: we also use propane for hot water (tankless water heater) and a gas Franklin Stove/fireplace in the "not so great room" of the Apt. We've used a total of 84 gallons since July 1st 2019.
 
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Watchdog said:
Who were the inspector(s) who passed and signed off on it? Have to wonder if some money changed hands under the table.
Click to expand...

In my case, I'm sure the inspectors were "paid off". Along with the unrolled roll of insulation in the attic, a few years later we discovered the builder had left all of the plywood sheathing off the house! He had nailed the siding directly to the vertical studs! We had to strip off all of the siding and installed insulating sheathing and new siding. Sure helped reduce the heating bills.

When we were leaving the house transfer settlement, the builder made the comment about clearing $50 with the sale of the house. During the settlement we discovered he had several loans on the house which were paid off by the sale of the house.
 
Actually it's kinda easy to forget the blown in attic insulation because that's one of the last things done. I've forgotten a time or two when I build houses but I always remember and add it before I sell one. I'm not sure if there are more dishonest people in construction than any other business and like many things, when buying a house you "get what you pay for". I see some new homes are advertised for sale and at a glance they look pretty good, but their asking price is less than my cost. I have no idea how these builders can build them so cheap because I try very hard to keep my costs down since the market is so competitive. They must really be saving money on things you don't see. I will also say the builders who are in financial trouble and having difficulty paying bills are the ones you need to worry about.
 
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There a AAA or top companies that are listed with the Better Business office in your area.

They need "Ata boys" to stay there and just one "oh ****" can remove them if it is not fixed.

References are one way to check out a company and another is if they want
too much money up front or not just for the materials.
NEVER pay more than 50% of the total cost or bid.
That way you have control over them to do the job correctly and ask to see the wiring, plumbing , insulation for your inspection as well as the inspector.
 
I had my present house built in 2005. My aunt and uncle were retired and came by the job site every day and took pictures. If they saw anything that looked off they called me and I called the general manager and he saw to taking care of it. My aunt and uncle actually became friendly with the workers and the workers didn't act like they felt my aunt and uncle were being overbearing. I did make sure to check out the reputation of the company, including whether they paid their subcontractors on time. Everything checked out, and it's been a great house for 14 years.
 
Farmer17 said:
Actually it's kinda easy to forget the blown in attic insulation because that's one of the last things done. I've forgotten a time or two when I build houses but I always remember and add it before I sell one.
Click to expand...

I suspect the original insulation was so poor in this house for a few reasons. First is the complexity of the attic and the low roof pitch. It's a bear getting around in there. Then there is the good possibility that it was ready for insulation on a nice sunny day in late June/early July. I'm sure my attic is positively dangerous to inhabit under those conditions. So, the worker probably got up there in the more accessible area just inside the hatch, sprayed some cellulose about for a few minutes and bailed before heatstroke got him.
 
There’s really no excuse for poor insulation, if there is a certain area that’s difficult to get to they can always put batt insulation in before the sheet rock goes on then blow the rest in after sheetrock. My insulation crews also use about 50 tubes of caulk and spray foam to get every tiny little crack around doors, windows, and framing before they net the walls and blow them in. A lot of builders don’t do that and they use cheap windows and cheap HVAC units and that’s the main reason people’s bills aren’t as low as they should be.
 
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