The kind of workmanship and lack of attention to detail that you're showing here is exactly why I became a home inspector and did that for 10 years before constructing my own home. It was a real eye-opener when I looked at rough work. Finding a builder that seriously supervised his people and took action where needed was rare I'm sorry to say. Matt, you are someone who any inspector would enjoy visiting. It's a breath of fresh air to see someone who understands quality building practices from rafters to sill plates. Excellent video, glad I took the time to watch!!!
Reinforces how challenging it makes to know how to trust a builder without having the building knowledge oneself and micromanaging/ overseeing every little step of the build process knowing how all those little steps make a significant impact on the end durability, efficiency, and general quality of the build. Worthwhile to see "mistakes" of others and or own too so we can all learn.
I learned on a siding job many years ago to "think like a drop of water" from a much more experienced carpenter. Suddenly all those details I was getting wrong made sense! This video has that plus now I have learned to "think like an ant" as well. PS, "Think like a drop of water" would be a good episode title..
So your saying when you understood the basic concept that you were wrapping a house to reject water ! Every process began to make sense ? go figure ! This is a principle that applies to so many basic maintenance projects ! When I applied this principle to sealing my father in law's roof I discovered one of his vents was never connected and that his roofer must have been an idiot !
When I was buying my last house, I used a realtor friend of mine. She’d been in the business for years but didn’t know how to really tell if a house was well built. She was great on modern finishes and knew all the cool stuff but she knew nothing about how to tell if the most recent remodel was done well or was a hack job. And we weren’t looking at cheap houses. Most were custom or semi custom when built. Sadly at least behalf of them were built poorly. I finally found one that was well built and when I talked to the owner I figured out why. He’d been a project manager for an engineering firm and while not a builder, he knew what to research and when something didn’t look right. He also gave me a carton of prints, specs, manuals, and all the change requests for his house. I’m sure he drove his builder nuts but it’s a great house. The attention to detail was there when it was built 20 years ago and it shows. Only thing that’s had to be replaced was the roof which was damaged by hail 8 years ago. It’s the details.
It’s amazing how cheap some of these semi custom or custom homes are built. Like you said looks good looking at it, but when you really start paying attention it’s very cheap.
@@lewisfisk Absolutely, the profit for the builders usually comes from the aesthetics. Unfortunately a lot of them will hide all their shoddy work essentially "polishing a turd". When I bought my first house I had to point out serious mold issues to my home inspector while he was focused on telling me some pieces of exterior trim needed to be replaced. So many people, including "the professionals" are just focused on what you can see. When it comes down to it though, it's what you cant see that will cost you the most in the end to repair.
@@lewisfisk The problem is it's all about quantity not quality. The workers will probably be paid for the amount they do and not for how good it is, as long as they reach a target the company won't care.
@@shawnanwo - Another issue for a build is the use of subcontractors. The builder farms out most of the work to other companies and so there's no way for the builder to really enforce quality control. Then, when most builders and contractors only care about speed and quantity, the end product (and the customer) will suffer. I've lived in numerous homes in my life and only two were well made and they came from the pre-WW2 era. Not that older homes are better, it's just easier to spot the shoddy ones after 50 years.
For 2 yearsI had the title of "Superintendent in charge of customer service" for 160 houses (which was just a fancy title for "I gotta truck full of tools and I know how to use them"). My job was to take notes after people bought, moved in and discovered problems, then fix all those problems...if you want your house built correctly, ya gotta build it yerself, period. Even Matt here with all his attention-to-detail cannot know how each nail is installed by his crews unless he himself installs it. You want square rooms? Build them yourself. You want proper spacing of drywall screws? Install each one yourself. I always loved removing ceramic tile when remodeling production houses because they were barely stuck to the concrete substrate. I pity the fool who ever has to remove any tile I installed. People will say there's no reason to super-stick tile down but maybe you've never had your Baby Grand Piano punch a crack in tile that rings hollow when you tap it. Personally I love over-kill in my work. I'm retired and I look back with no regrets...except for not charging enough.
I believe in over-building things. "If you do not have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over again?", as the old saying goes. Reinforced something that seemed kind of thin, put a solid board on top to better distribute the weight, attached it more solidly than designed.
Yes, as i have learned, no job too big, no price too big. Soak 'em. If they want 5 star quality they need to pay a 7 star price. Unfortunately, I have to use some subs sometimes too. Sometimes even fixing their mistakes, unless I hawk them all the time. People want the money, bhut don't want to put forth the effort.
My favorite line is " How would seeing my work from 10 yrs ago make me feel". When I started forty years ago that was not an issue, we all did the same type of work. But our modern practices and constant advances make a decade seem more like a lifetime or even a different generation altogether. Keep up the good work Matt, our only hope is to educate.
When I’ve hired guys to do work at my house, I tell them “I don’t care about how it looks when you’re done and I pay you. I know you know how to make it look good when it’s new. I care about how it’s going to look in 5-10 years.”
@@carlosperla7233 what 'final plans'? you mean they put up that cardboard sheathing as temporary? they will tear it down later, and put up proper sheathing? please, don't make me laugh
@@walterbrunswick you telling me that you could not waterproof that panel so water doesn’t get in? If you can’t, that makes me laugh. It is entirely possible that there are after proofing plans to be done at the end. Also possible that there aren’t but I would just go around assuming that everything I see as a possible problem will automatically end up being one.
I purchased a new construction home recently in California last year. We visited the job site 2-4 times a week. The builder didn’t care. We got to meet the neighbors too. I like seeing the frame and mechanical systems before being covered up. The job site is a fun place.
As a former landscaper: Builders burying junk on the property. Homeowner: Why does my grass always look bad in the same spot every year? Check sprinkler coverage and usual suspects, then take a probe and hit a slab of drywall, studs, nails and other trash 6 inches below the surface. Saw this everywhere.
I know it happened to my neighbor... After 10y a just about perfect 4x8 rectangle / triangle has slowly opened up in his back yard where it was filled in! And my yard has had pot holes that keep needing to be filled in, one just opened up last year that was about a foot deep. I think I have buried tree stumps, and my neighbor totally had a sheet of plywood or something! I just wonder what held it up for so long because it fell flat. It didn't get bumpy like it was plywood or sheetrock over rocks.
Notorious track home neighborhoods do that. I hate track home neighborhoods. So many corners get cut after they've built dozens of those things, it's like no one cares about workmanship, just get it up.
So true when you say that. My house was built in 1968 and every year during any new project around here I dig up beer/pop bottles, nails, electrical scraps, etc. just 8 inches or so below the surface. Very frustrating.
I have 22 years in professional home remodeling and repair. Matt is spot on. Builders use the excuse that these type of homes are production built and that the defects are normal and should be expected. Wrong! It's called sub contractors that are paid low and produce poor quality. Some have no pride in their workmanship others lack skill and training. Good video Matt, thanks.👍 -Glen
@@arpc0027 It would be fixed by forcing developers to not use slave labour and pay high wages and hire real tradespeople in the union. But they don't. Blaming the immigrants for taking these jobs is stupidity. It's the builders and developers who are taking these shortcuts.
After 46 years building, I am almost done. I fear for homeowners and buyers. There is so much rot, mold and water damage from flashing problems that it's crazy. Problems don't show up until it rots, or they see mold. In New England everything wants to rot if not done right. Much of my work is fixing other builders' crap 15 years later. There is one bad builder near me and I actually stopped and taught him how to use flashing tape and seal windows. It was a 30 sf commercial building he was renovating. I didn't know if his crew was going to lynch me.. It was personal because I was fixing his last reno at the time. A young family bought their dream lakeside home and they couldn't use their front door after it rained a day or two. Numerous leaks and problems throughout the home. Never trust home inspectors or building inspectors from the town or city.
Clear signs of an abusive contractor. No laborer will work extra for fine details when the contractor nickle and dimes them or doesnt even pay them. Contractor drives away in new lifted truck but has a problem paying for good labor work.
Thanks for pointing out all the crap done by production builders happening nationwide! I’ve seen all of these over the years as an electrician. Full cardboard sheathed neighborhoods or tyvek paper even on the custom homes. All riddled with beer bottles and trash blowing down the street. It’s all about low cost, high profits and home owners eat it up because they don’t know any better. I would never pay for a new house from any of these builders and I feel for the buyers knowing they are gonna be in a world of hurt down the road. With that said you would be a huge PITA to work for but I appreciate it and would gladly do it. It’s good to see someone taking pride in the quality of their homes.
@@AdamUnwiseowlKoenig dont forget port a potties are not cleaned EVERY week especially under covid. It may seem petty. I am trimming a house and 2 1/2 weeks the port a potties werent clean.
@Steve Slade Yeah, if I could close off Texas from the rest of the country building quality would go up significantly... I've seen consistently better work from Mexicans than from white "contractors" from Texas. They only stay for a season then are never heard from again after leaving shit work behind. So I'm always skeptical when I hear shit like this.
@@thoughtlesskills Absurd, Travel around Mexico and you will see the worst building practices imaginable. If Mexicans are better at everything, then why is Mexico such a toilet?
@@thoughtlesskills also it's becoming standard practice to hire a crew of south Americans to slam out projects and bring in North Americans to fix the shady work.
6:20 the bulge/bow in that strap is making it virtually useless. The house needs to have already broken in quite a few places before the strap engages, at which point it is too late. Super duper dumb.
After seeing this video I thank God my house was built in 1950. Yes I've thoroughly inspected it from crawlspace to attic space, and no dry rot etc. Of course I've had to upgrade some electrical circuits because grounded circuits were not required back then. And I've finally replaced the old galvanized pipes with Pex, but the old galv. pipes never leaked.
Older homes are very decent. When Tyvek and housewrap came on the market 35 years ago everyone forgot how to flash properly. many younger builders just never learned how to do things right.
I appreciate going over the little details that someone like me would never catch or think of if I were to build something of my own. More videos like this would be awesome!
All of those were great advice. I love that Matt explains why the different things are a problem from the long term perspective or how he's seen things degrade over time as a result of these shoddy techniques being employed. Knowing "the why" gives these lessons so much more meaning than if he walked around going "that's Messed up", "That's wrong", "Wouldn't have done that". As someone who hopes to construct my own place someday these sorts of things are invaluable. Also I think you were spot on about the Beer bottle and the Messy Construction site - no way to have confidence with that going on. Love this channel! Great Work Matt!. - MM in Denver CO
FINALLY, someone that actually gives a hoot about the build quality of a home that is not his own. A trait rarely found in the average construction worker. I bet that if any construction worker was supervising the build of his own home he would be as critical if not more of the build quality of his home.
The average worker at most of these builds will never own a home, let alone a nice new one... they could care less what these "rich" SOBs get stuck with. And thats the prevailing atitude unfortunately...
What I’ve learned from most videos like this, and personal experience: Most if not all houses are planned obsolescence pieces of crap that will not survive long enough to be paid off. Most will require a crap ton of maintenance and upkeep, or they will fall apart in 15 years. It’s either this or live like a bee in a miserable apartment or trailer.😩
Buy an older house! Mine was built in 1899 using virgin timber. 2x4s over a 100 years old are 4-5 times heavier than the 'new' fast growth lumber you get at the local yard. Some of the growth rings are 2-3mm apart. And yes, they really are 2x4 inches! Anyone remodeling a house in my neighborhood I go scavenge these old pieces of lumber, interior trim, doors, hardware, glass, etc. Just not the old lead plumbing!!! And they used 4 inch long nails. LOTS of them! When having new Marvin, French casement windows the guys showed me the window openings were still as square and plumb as the day the house was built! Those limestone blocks hadn't moved a bit! The side walls were 3 layers (3 coarses) of brick, thick. The roof rafters were 2x16s. I absolutely love this old house! It wraps its arms around me and I feel very secure, safe and protected in it. New houses?---- not so much!
I’m in the business 35 yrs and I’ve never seen such bad workmanship. No one cleans up after themselves it’s like it’s beneath them. My father was in the same business (electrician) he once told me you could do the job completely wrong upside down and backwards but if you sweep out the garage when your done it’s assumed you’ve done the job correctly. That’s how much it matters. I hate starting my day with a trashed site and I’m real tired of cleaning up every ones mess because the client is coming home. No one cares and that in itself is terrifying for the future of the industry.
Only wired in a few new houses over my 50 years as I was a comercial sparky. We would often work 12 hours in a house and would stop mid way tl thru the day and do a quick sweep then a good sweep at end of day. General contractor loved us as the only trade on the job to clean up after themselves.
Last Month I did some repair work on a house a woman wanted to sell. She showed up just as I was cleaning up. She was shocked I was using a vacuums to clean the rug with. The place was spotless, and all she could say was, WOW. She had work done by others and they left a mess for her to clean up. I do work, I clean up as I go, and leave it looking like I would want my home looking when finished. Yet, so many people want to save money, so they get what they pay for. I make a decent wage, but I also do a job that is good enough for me to put my signature in an unseen place after I finish.
My auto shop teacher told us something similar. Most of us were in there just to learn a bit about trouble shooting and car repair (and to get our shop class requirement for graduation), but he said that no matter how well you get someone's car running when it is in for repair it won't count for much if you have grease on the car floor and/or car seats when you return it to the customer.
I worked in a hospital coffee shop when a nurse was relating how a top notch surgeon had the intern sew up the patient. The surgeon watched then stopped the intern, undid the intern's stitches and did the stitching himself making the remark: "If others saw how poorly the stitching was done, they will assume the surgery performed internally, beneath the skin was likely poorly done as well." I never forgot that story.
My contractor told me when I complained about all the garbage left EVERYWHERE, "it's a jobsite, get used to it! Our remodel has been an absolute nightmare and YES! They used spray foam from a can to air seal outlet boxes. And the drywall cuts looked like a drunk 8yr old did it. Some had gaps 2+ inches. So depressing. Almost caused a divorce but we are hanging on by a thread.
Clearly, they only shelled out for Zip just because it's a big name brand and they want to give the *illusion* that they aren't half-assing the build, even though they definitely are.
The time savings of it is still factored into their labor calculations and depending on the design can be cheaper than OSB and wrapping. So basically it's still potentially a cost savings and quality illusion combo.
@@sshakin, that's not what he's saying at all. Zip is a good product and people know it's a good product. And bad contractors will abuse people's limited knowledge to seem more competent than they are.
I liked that first one. I remember many years ago watching a new home construction. And before they put the timbers down along the base, the put some type of simple rubber like gasket material. it created a nice tight seal and was made to last a long long time (synthetic materials so no degrading and not attractive to insects and such). And despite this material being around for at least 10+ years, you often see them NOT using it to build home to save a few cents. Wow.
I was removing some drywall in a closet a couple years back. Well there was a cavity behind the drywall behind my water heater. When I looked in there I found a trash bag of beer cans left from the builders in 04... haha
I helped a friend put some hardwood in their dining room some years back. They had bought the house new, so we pulled up the carpet and underpad that the builder had put down. Under the underpad we found in one spot an empty juice box. Now a flat juice box is not going to telegraph through, but how lazy (or lacking in pride of work) do you have to be when installing the underpad and carpet that you don't even bother to fully clear the area of garbage and debris before you install. Maybe it was a bet between the installer and someone to see if anyone would notice?
My wall was full of drywall off cuts. Yup they were too lazy to throw them in the trash. Easier to just put them in the wall and cover it I guess. I discoved it while trying to fish an electrical wire. I was always hitting something and decided to open the walls. That was a fun surprise...
I have just as many examples I can show you from builds here around Houston. And even when you try to have conversations with the builders about the consistent issues in their methods, they just ignore you. Buyers without knowledge won't know there are issues until long after the warranty is gone, and they have their $$.
I live in Houston and yup, you're correct! I've been to "fancy" 400K-1.2M neighborhoods and the quality and fit was garbage, and CPVC plumbing??? The crews seemed to have no rhyme or reason or supervision, they just needed to fit their 40 hours in on whatever house I guess! The same house would be installing lights and vents while the walls werent even painted yet, painting trim with huge amounts of sawdust lying around, workers tracking is mud onto freshly polyed floors. The amount of repairs and rework needed was insane. Also smelled piss on more than a few slabs and subfloors, while a portapotty was literally across the street. The worst was seeing a leaking CPVC connection at a shower while touring. Called the office to give them a heads up. Looked around 2 weeks later and they had covered it up and tiled, with water leaking out the wall. Good fucking luck to that homeowner! And that is why I self-contracted my own gut renovation. Only way to avoid getting screwed over, but its still a rough road. Only crew I had issues with was drywall, should have just hired a LA or MS crew since Houston drywall is complete bullshit nowadays.
This is a very timely video for me!!! Learning from others mistakes is priceless. I'm renovating parts of a 1953 house I grew up in. Lots of air leaks and other issues that come with an older home. Your videos are helping me a lot. So glad I found your channel!!💞!!!
"Matt roasts other builders for 14 minutes" love it. Needs to happen. Everyone should strive to be better. It is better for the customer and our society.
mister clean yeah, but I’m old and have been on the tools most of my working life and I have noticed a distinct shift in attitude in these parts and it’s not for the better. Building science has leapt ahead, fantastic, but what is missing is faith in the future. It’s a ‘dog eat dog’ vibe doing the rounds.
You have no idea how many houses I've been under that were built decades ago and I find beer cans or bottles from brands that don't even exist any more. Now in houses built in the 50s or before, the only thing I've found are tools that people left behind. But that's how far back you have to go where not a single house I've been under has had some hidden trash or debris
Care is an issue as is lack of training and craftsperson standards. We try and use as many factory build components as possible that the architect will stomach. A much higher and more even product is the result.
This is largely because of buyers. They want a mcmansion on a bungalow budget, so builders hire the LOWWWWWEST bidder who then can't afford to hire craftsmen or use decent materials.
@@N20Joe I have to agree. There is a builder who put up an infill house that I walked by on the way home every day when it was going up. It looks like a fairly standard cookie cutter infill, but they took their time and did everything very well. One year later it still hasn't sold, while slightly cheaper ones that went up in a quarter of the time and have trendier but lower quality finishings have sold.
Great video! With what I've learned working on all my own house modifications and repairs I figured I would know at least 3 of the 10. I knew nothing about any of these things. From an engineering stand point I was pretty much following each example as you explained them though. As I get ready to likely have my next house built I am very glad I saw this video.
@@BiggMo SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY!!! You can't see your house while I build it, there are too many unsafe open beer bottles! (If safety really is a reason then your builder isn't following OSHA rules. Give the owner a hard hat.)
@@ryanroberts1104 Builders HATE Osha rules. Check out the youtuber "Essential Craftsman". He tries to present himself as some kind of good, old-fashioned guy who knows what he is doing (and he does know, but that doesn't make him honest), but he rants against OSHA from time to time. We have OSHA because you cannot and must not ever trust an unregulated builder. A house can kill you if built improperly. The "Essential Craftsman" is part of the problem. He is evil.
That cabinet blocking in the kitchen was laughable. The problem today is that there are no true framers left in production building. You have one guy who could be called a framer leading a crew of hourly paid help who have no idea what they’re doing. Ask anyone of them how to build a set of stairs and just sit back and watch the puzzlement on their face begin to take hold. All the good framers don’t want to deal with the constant repetitive and inane building plans. Good framers like to be challenged, take pride, and enjoy their work. The same goes for every other trade. I’ve been working in production for five years now and every time I try to get someone to take initiative and save having to call them back over and over again to make things right, is frustrating and demoralizing. I see other people around me who don’t care and treat it as just a paycheck not realizing that they’re building someone’s dream home. No matter what happens on the job site, I always will make sure, to make it right to the best of my abilities, with the material that we use, the trades that install it, and the forethought of how the homeowner will use the house. We need to change the mentality of the production industry, into building quality homes at reasonable prices, and not just a better lipstick on the same pig! I suggested early in my career after seeing one of Matt’s videos to use the engineered SLS studs as the quality of lumber that we were getting was subpar for what we were asking the framers to install. Fast forward five years, and after countless fill in orders, denied credit on returns and the hiring of two field verifiers, did our company do the math and realize that while the engineered lumber was more expensive initially, it would save us money in the long run.And of course no one remembers me in our meetings mentioning a single word about the SLS studs nor the advanced framing techniques in order to optimize their usage. It is the young guys getting into this field who can promote change and better standards of construction. Our biggest hurdle is convincing the executives that by doing it right the first time, not only will it eliminate majority of costly warranty calls but will help build the companies brand in the market place. happy homeowners tell everyone they know just the same as the dissatisfied ones. End of rant Thank you
i agree the lumber coming out on jobs is laughable but we are supposed to use it you can only nfg so many before you run out and the lumber company will tell you there is nothing wrong with them as far as young people in the field where are you finding them the company i work for 90 % are over 40 we can't find younger help that will show up every day
Part of the other side of the problem .. Most workers get paid pittance and rushed ..Carpenters today are judged on how fast they are , not how well they do the job . EVERYONE is a carpenter . Go to Home Depot and buy a belt is like stepping in a phone booth .. They come out a stud slinging carpenter ,, The pay has not kept up .. Material prices have increased , Builders still want their royal cut and the wages for the nail, benders remain stagnant . Attention to detail is lost since most don't care nor realize what they are doing and how it will it impact the future of the house . Those that pay attention to details and protect , think about water penetration , wicking, proper flashing are few and far between ..Also .. When a house is not well thought out . Each sub will cut the others subs throat just to get his job done . I am a water fanatic .. It is the Destroyer of homes . Flashing , kickouts , laying head flashing flat . no clearances for siding . splashback , proper flashing for every penetration of a wall . Ask any builder . " Are you a quality builder ?" 40 years of sawdust in my belt speaking
I sent whole pallet of 2X back, they took all the rejects from the store, re-palletized them and delivered them to my house. Nothing but Kindling. I’m going to pay the the extra for metal studs for my basement remodel. You go to these big box stores early in the morning, you see people hanging around in the parking lot. Someone will pull up in an old beat up van, and yell out what needs to be done. There is a disorganized rush to the Van. He has just picked up Carpenters, Finish Carpenters, Tile Setters, Electricians, Sheetrock Hangers, Plasters, Etc.
@@IVORY123100 Amen. I have been fighting gross water intrusion and collateral damage since my post college days in Massachusetts, starting in 1976. Now in Colorado, and I have had to train my roofer, and or do their flashing (most typical SOP, for my complex projects), in order to have the quality, durability, peace of mind and freedom from liability that I insist on (I like to sleep at night).
This is why so many of my friends and myself will not hire a contractor to save our lives. They consistently demonstrate they don't have common sense and build to a level of good enough. Thanks for shining a light on these over and over!
4 года назад+18
Tankless should be in a closet with a pan or garage wall on stand-offs with a pan. Halfway recessed in an exterior wall might look nice but it completely misses sealing, maintenance, repair, and replacement. M O L D
Why wouldn't they just turn the box around? I want access to my heater from inside the garage. I don't want to have to go out in the ice and snow to see why I don't have hot water...
I've had 2 homes built, next year building my finally resting place. Makes me wonder how many dumb things were done to the 2 previous houses. I'm glad I found your channel. I have learned so many things to watch for next year!!!! Thanks for informing the consumer!! I appreciate it!!!
owned 12 homes every one was screwed up in one way or another.. common thread shower doors installed wrong and leaked every damn home.. Toll bros put a broken tile behind shower door track...Had some weird sounding floor tiles outside shower when tapped on... It was a leaker. .half inch of tile missing on the corner.. at the base leaked from day 1...I hate toll bros.... Incompetent..
Most of the solutions involve tearing out significant sections of your already built house. Want to fix those leaky walls? Tear off the siding and sheathing and do it properly. You get to that point and discover the framing is rotten? Welp, get some shoring poles because you're about to rip out a good chunk of your load-bearing wall. Otherwise, it's pretty much just using the correct products in the correct places.
Best solution is to look at each point individually and look up how to do it right. Unless Matt does a video specifically on this that seems to be best
Thank you! Getting ready to bump out our porch and guest bedroom and do a complete reno converting the porch to a 4 season room. Giving me a lot to look out for!
Walks up to random worker at random house: "Let's watch this guy as he uses his nailgun to put in nails. Look how horrible he does this. It's just garbage. These nails could be pulled right out." Then proceeds to tear down walls and rip up material, all while the construction crew watches in amazement.
Matt, if those homeowners only find one bottle, they can consider themselves lucky. My wife and I recently started converting our attic, into two bedrooms, for our boys, and we found dozens of nip bottles, and crumpled-up beer cans, throughout the attic insulation, ceiling, and walls! And like you said, everything I find wrong, I wonder how sober the build crew was!
I used to do seamless gutters, which made us some of the last guys on the exterior work. Also, due to the nature of gutters we got to examine the work with a level and tape measure. Oh my, I knew which builders to use and which ones to run from. The worst part, most homeowners were completely oblivious to the defects either due to lack of knowledge or the excitement of building a new home.
100% right on the messy job site. I'm a tradesman and everyday before I leave I organize my materials and have them consolidated to one area that is not likely to be in another trades way. I also keep my immediate work area clean by having a garbage can or box to throw my scrap and waste materials into while I'm working, especially if I'm sharing the work area with other trades...my thought is that it lets anyone looking at my progress clearly see the materials and equipment that match the plans for that area. It also lowers the level of visual critical scrutiny of my in progress and completed work, and that is not that I'm trying to get away with cutting corners and don't want to get caught. It's about the attitude of the relationship between me and the onsite superintendent. It fosters an attitude of both working for the same goal and outcome. It's the difference of observing your work with the idea of distrust and I'm looking carefully for any mistakes and I'm going to bust you for it. Compared to observing and seeing something that doesn't appear correct and then asking about it or pointing it out with the intent to help you in case you missed something or forgot...residential construction is always hit and miss especially with production builders...
Concrete is plenty easy to botch too. It still needs waterproofing, otherwise it cracks over time and can fail suddenly. And air tightness is good for heating/cooling efficiency in both cases too, and, while it's less of an issue around the edges, it's just as hard to achieve around external openings (windows, outlets, piping, etc). Formwork is also very fallible, bc wet concrete is so heavy and, well, wet.
8:56: That electrical box made me puke. Bent the livin' daylights out of the top nail. Now the screws on the device that's going in there will not line up with the mounting holes. And Sparky never even bothered to make the box up. This would be a failed inspection in many areas.
I would say “it should fail inspection.” Unfortunately I don’t think it really would...I did some Reno work and pulled all the permits trying to do everything right. I was shocked by how lax and disinterested the inspectors were. They didn’t seem to care at all and barely gave it a once over... maybe that’s just my area or an unusual experience but the inspections were a joke
Shoot I work as a helper on production condos and the inspector spends an hour bullshitting with my boss and does.not.look.at ANYTHING! Not to mention the framing- matt would have the inspector on the phone after he recovered from a heart attack!🤣
I'm about to have a house built. I appreciate the clean site and the correct materials. I will be out there nearly every day. My wife ended up being the de facto contractor on our last major remodel in this one. We actually came out and swept every night even to keep dust down. This set an example so the workers got the hint. That kind of sloppy comes from top down.
When I was working for a contractor in the 90s building houses he said those cracks were necessary so that the house could breath lol. I didn’t know any better, I was a teenager. Thinking about it now i wonder if he knew better or was just being cheap.
It does breathe! We are in a cyclical world. In the north here, we have a lot of 100 year old houses that have original siding. They are still standing strong. My point is, don't discount knowledge from others, just because you don't clearly understand it. In today's culture, we have to save the earth. So, consequently, we have tightened the envelope, and now we fight mold.
He is kind of correct. There are issues with building "tight" like the newer homes, getting rid of moisture is one and maintaining air quality is another. Most of that is pushed by the government in the name of "energy efficiency," which is probably pushed by lobbyists of companies selling "energy efficient" products, lol. It is an easy sell, tho, when you mention the critter proofing benefit of building "tight".
I remembered about an hour after watching the video why those cracks bothered me so much: that's structurally weak, as well as not being sealed. all of that needs to be nailed TIGHT, or you lose structural integrity.
Man there is nothing wrong with "pet peeves" and some call it, I call it doing you job and doing it right. That is one reason we as carpenters get such a bad wrap sometimes, I mean we are doing one of the oldest and most honorable professions on the planet, my motto is do it right or leave it alone. Keeping a clean job site shows your care for the entire project.
You said "messy job sites are a pet peeve" I was thinking you're about to go OCD...then you pull up to a work site and it looks like they are trying to repair tornado damage. That isn't messy, it's a disaster.
"I won't (slam my knife into this cardboard sheathing), because I don't want to destroy someone else's work". You meant someone else's "pretend-to-work", in order to maximize their off-the-shelf build profits.
I hate seeing beers on jobsites I'm a remodeling contractor and was walking threw a house that was almost done and there was empty cans all over and I told the owner his electrician or plumber must of been drinking them because my guys would never..... he goes no that was me how do you think I got threw a whole house remodel with my WIFE lmaoo 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
I can fully appreciate someone's attention to detail, especially builder's that are making someone's home. This video seemed more about just criticizing other's work (very possibly just his competitors) rather than showing the reason why it doesn't work properly (like the water heater cabinet), but doesn't use any of the 20+ yrs experience to say a way to fix it.
You comment: "doesn't use any of the 20+ yrs experience to say a way to fix it." So you watched this video and didn't understand, the way to "fix it" is for the home builder and workers to stop being half ass, shotty workers. He is pointing out that people just don't give a damn about their work ethics or their finished product. The way to "fit it" is for American people to have more pride in their finished work. His 20 years experience is not going to change the way other people to their day to day work.
@@igoski1582 could change mine if I'm taught to do something a certain way that isn't right (or done to a lower standard). But simply walking around to other people's work and doing things that even an inspector wouldn't do.... it's just gloating about experience and trashing other people's work. Such thing as corrective criticism that shows what they did wrong, why it's wrong, then explain how to make it right whether it's what he would have done or any of the multiple other ways to make it right. Criticism is much easier than teaching though
Absolutely this. It's why the entire real estate industry is a sham. Pay for an inspection? For what? All this garbage is sealed up inside and they can't see anymore than you can. It should be code to document and maintain photos of construction so the future buyer can actually determine the quality. Also 99.99999% of the construction industry should just give up and do something else they're ridiculously incompetent.
@@drparty i work construction and you wouldnt believe the shit people do. Photo documentary is mandatory when fixing other peoples fuck ups. It also makes you look that much better when compared to the old. The problem is cheap ass people. They want the lowest bid and my general contractor has always said if his bid was lowest we're either fucking up beforehand or nobody wants to tackle the job.
FishFind3000 the benefit of showing all of us the wrong way to do it, besides that stuff is no less effective after its damaged. It’s not like he can find this crap on his own sites to show us.
My dad owned his own construction company and when I was young he never allowed his subs to do so much! I remember him being mad about dirty job sites and drinking and acting crazy on the job sites! I agree with all your pet peeves I’m glad to know there are REAL BUILDERS that genuinely care about their work for years on end!
As someone who has been excoriated here for being "mean", I find it somewhat humorous to see this "Builders Bash" video. Is it necessary? Is it truthful? Is it kind? Heck, yes; just ignore the part about "kind". The bigger problem is that the guy walking by Matt's truck at the trashy site has virtually nothing to do with whatever is done at that job site. The money men, safe in their posh offices, control all. To the detriment of the home-buying public. This video could be shot anywhere that the larger developers and national homebuilders operate, and it might be mean, but it would certainly be truthful. Necessary? It would be nice to think so, but even 659k educated homeowners are going to have a tough time turning this industry around. Speaking as a custom builder (for the past half century now), with little need for tribal affiliation.
Lee Stevens I’m with you. I don’t get the all the comments saying we shouldn’t criticize other tradesmen or builders. It needs to be said. Circling the wagons only perpetuates the problems. There’s a general lack of quality control in residential production building. It’s a lot of lowest bid subs trying to make as much as they can doing as little as possible and they get away with it with the lack of oversight. Most buyers are none the wiser.
No the trades work on a fixed cost per job. If they have to clean up the site they dont get paid extra. But some tradesmen like to keep a clean workplace and will put in the time with their guys to do so. Others just dont care.
Osb is a fact of life because of the plywood prices. Plywood often and will delaminate and cause deformed walls and floors as well as squeaks. Osb isn’t always a second choice and often is best used in conjunction with other water proofing products.
If it gets wet, OSB is ruined. They are now making beams and studs out of OSB. I get the impression that in 50 years there will be a lot of very very cheap housing out there.
I’ve been a carpenter for forty years now and bought a new house yes a track home for which I worked on for fifteen years at the beginning of my career, didn’t want to but I always bought houses that I had to work on so I thought that I would buy one that was newer so I would not have a lot of work on {wrong} the materials nowadays are far better than back in the days but if you have a bunch off carpenters that don’t care but to get on the next house so I have been tearing them apart the home warranty personal love me so I had them come fix some things and it seemed that when they did they made it worse so now I’m fixing most everything myself and I did check out the House before I bought it and most everything I looked at was done properly like flashing of doors and windows so here we go I’m working on my new house just like I did with a old house , this guy is totally right on the common sense with most of these construction companies they have none and most of the carpenters are below standard nowadays, if you buy a new house keep an eye out for water leaks around things sometimes it might be to late the damage is already done here in California you have a ten year warranty so use it don’t be shy
Shoddy and shortcuts cost so much more in the long run. I always appreciate your knowledge. I overbuilt , never a problem . Lastly I went out to do windows and doors and a hardie board siding at my sons house and he used all the modern coatings and membranes. He went way above code. And he made sure it was done right. I also taught him safety in the workplace, clean up your job site continually. Great advice from you. Build it right, sleep at night.
Triple-expanding foam has like six legit uses. And everyone ends up poking it into everything, figuring it's going to be waterproof, weatherproof, fireproof, rodentproof, or even *structural* (my favorite).
Sometimes builders to it to themselves. A "contractor" down the street did a lick-and-stick job on his old house. This included putting that thin pretend hardwood flooring down. Went right over the old register openings [the big square ones that are about 15x15"]. Couple of years later he walked over the spot and his leg broke through and he dropped into the hole. Apart from lacerations [lucky, because inside of thigh has some big arteries] he now had a floor and basement ceiling to repair. But boy was he fast when he did the floor, totally makes up for the time lost two years later! A plumber on the street did his own house and when he sold it the inspector for the buyer had him re do most of the plumbing. Great advert for your own business! I don't think I'm a difficult owner, but I do all my own work. Every, and I mean every contractor who has done work for me has damaged the building envelope. The roofer didn't flash the chimney. The electrician didn't seal the subgrade power conduit and I had to stop them from putting the new electrical box directly onto a weeping concrete basement wall. The A/C guy left squirrel size subgrade openings around his pipes. Their "repair" was to caulk the opening from inside the house. However, when burying the 200 amp service cable the excavator guy broomed the driveway of debris before driving the machine across it, and literally was so proficient that he lifted the buried phone line with a toothed bucket without damage. He tore up the yard from wall to fenceline and put it back with less damage to the house than one electrician with a drill! So pros are out there, yet i guarantee (while I was so happy to see him broom the driveway [absolute must in my construction worker family] before driving a cat across it) there will be homeowners who would react "I'm not paying you to clean my driveway! Work faster!"
Lol that operator probably makes $75-110 an hour. He better be on his A game. Plus they dont work as many hours or as hard lol every time I drive equipment Its like a day off lol hard for people to be precise with hand tools on their feet every day in every weather condition.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on these subject-matters! The thing that REALLY bothers me, aside from the shoddy electrical work... At 9:52, take notice of the Romex® cable staples/straps! If water/elements from outside doesn't short the location's A/C outlet, the poorly-driven straps will! GREAT WORK on sharing your thoughts and expertise!
I had an expensive house built by a "reputable" builder who had done a great job on other houses - but- 1) he had never built a 3 story house, 2) turns out it was his LAST house build before he retired. It was all bad, still having another builder fixing the screw ups. since he "retired" he dropped his insurance and He has nothing of value to go after. Building inspections are a joke, they missed 99% of the problems. The house came in at about $750k, and so far about $110,000 in "repairs" 3 years later.
Seattle had a thing called Street of Dreams it was display houses before they were sold. I went to one and walked around inside with everybody else and the fit and finish was very nice but then I snuck off and went in the crawl space and it was just completely shoddy. There was a concrete pier that was off center where the support column was resting on the edge of the pier.
I worked a week on one of those Street of Dreams just doing final cleanup and detailing when I was in college. There were high end homes still going up right next to those showcase builds. I watched a guy sheeting the details at the top of a two story bay bump out. His cutting tool was the claw of his hammer. Sure it was going to be covered with siding but long stretches of sheeting were ragged gnarly messes of bashed up OSB.
It's ridiculous to compare Essential Craftsman with those houses in this video, so messy and nasty. You are literally insulting Essential Craftsman performance.
I’m a new framer in Canada. I deal with this stuff on my crew all the time... I fix everything it’s un fair but someone has to care. I’m just patently waiting for my boss to let me go on my own so I can hold a higher standard of quality
Congratulations on producing what must be the most "advertiser friendly" channel on RUclips. Good, interesting info though. Keep up the good work. (The person who left that exposed beaver puke sheathing should be given a fair trial before hanging.)
This shows what ive been saying for a while even homes are becoming disposable. these homes are built to last 20 maybe 30 yeats one familys mortgage. the day its paid off bulldoze the house and a new family comes in and builds a new house foundation and all.
4:19 perfect timing. LOL. I remember my father hiring home depot day laborer pro plumber that fell asleep under the house with a six pack of beer. He thought the guy was dead since it took a few minutes to wake him. He was fired.
On the resest tankless use two 90s on inlet and outlet (close) or streat. With a piece of flashing about a 135 bend with some volcam sealant works wonders. Volcam is my go to sealant when the guy before you didn't care
Tankless mounted outside is criminally stupid. As tens of thousands of Texans just found out with catastrophic failures and ruptures. In any climate, it's stupid.
@Matt Risinger I really appreciate your "Heart of a Teacher" approach to pointing out these errors, not just to other contractors, but to consumers as well. I'm a REALTOR® in Boise, Idaho and you have opened my eyes to what potential liabilities I may be selling my clients. Perhaps you can do a series of videos that help educate those in MY industry (Real Estate Agents) so that we can insist on higher standards of construction like the standards you promote. Thanks for being you, and for being genuine. BTW- I really appreciated your Christmas Message that you added to the end of a video you did last December 24, 2019. Sincerely- Dave
Years ago when I was the supers helper. I would see the framers get full 30 packs and bring them back to the houses the were building. Completely up professional.
As an electrician. My pet peeve is labeling. If doing a large cabinet, typically CAT5/6/7 and coax. Please label both ends the same and use the same symbols. I’m on a solar field job right now and the other electrician is labeling his ends CE1, while I’m doing the way the foreman wants it... CE-01. Of course I can say anything because I’m just a first year apprentice, while he’s a 35 year vet.
35 years taught him that writing the "-0" not only adds more characters one has to write and increases the length of the label... but more importantly it increases the amount of time and fatigue one will be spending at each label. Time and efficiency goes a long way and maybe while we are still young we don't really see the issue with that but once we get real old, we will start to count our minutes and seconds like a kid counting pennies in a candy store. 😆
I never understood short overhangs in warm climates. Run those eaves out 2' or better and shade that wall. Especially in warm, wet climates. Keep it shaded and dry.
I hate messy job sites, It says so much about the care (and lack of) from the contractors. Also have been in my current home for 3 years and while making some cosmetic changes and other work, I have found Modleo cans on top of cabiinets, buried in flower beds, in attic, and jamed in the hole in a tree. Must have been party central when built. Thanks for tips. I plan to have a custom built in a couple years for retirement and will apply some of your thinking on water barrier management.
You can try by banning any shit sub from your company's site(s). Let their boss know they may not have any future work if things don't improve. Guy I work for caught painters drinking on the job, reported them, they got fired. Of course they came back at night and smashed out a window in the house.
And the "gaskets" where the wires enter the plastic boxes don't seal well when you poke a wire through, and trying to pull a wire back out is very likely to ruin the plastic spring clamp (and box). I'll never use plastic boxes again.
The problem is that there is no real accountability in this country. My dad was stationed in Germany for 30 years so I grew up over there and those people know how to build! No rats nests of conduits criss crossing through a ceiling because you can just drywall over it...etc. We need MUCH MORE vocational training here in the US. And we need to start requiring log books for houses, meaning that every licensed plumber or electrician needs to log his work and ID in a book to make him be held accountable for his work.
go back to germany we dont need you in this wonderful country.. if you didnt know there are alot of vocational schools in America... even the government can help put you into Job Corp..
@@yp6997 U need to STFU, bcuz wut he's saying makes a whole lotta sense if u really think about it & he's right they should start doing that....Ur probably being defensive bcuz u maybe 1 of the shoddy builders he's exposing 🤔
@@68heavyChevyRidaShoddy builder??yeah I guess you're a better builder than me... Ima superstar builder in my city(large city) I'm pretty sure you are a sour old man clown!
Matt says foam doesn't seal - then points to areas that were not foamed. Nothing seals if you don't use it 🤔 Anyway, on my sill I used a foam sill sealer under the bottom plate, then used a bead of Huber liquid flash between the concrete and sill plate on the inside. Most people caulk, but the liquid flash seals incredibly well and sticks to anything. It's expensive, but not much more than Quad.
Some years ago, I bought a new house in a large development. Moved all my furniture in and that first day, before I spent my first night, discovered there was outside sheathing in the house corners, only. The vinyl siding was nailed over the 2by4s. I moved the next day back to the farm and sold the new house. There is always a multitude of mistakes buried throughout the construction of most new houses.
LOL...I found some beer cans from 1954 in my attic rock-wool insulation! Too bad they were not in better shape (must have been tin back then, cause they could have been worth something...had they not rusted).
The kind of workmanship and lack of attention to detail that you're showing here is exactly why I became a home inspector and did that for 10 years before constructing my own home. It was a real eye-opener when I looked at rough work. Finding a builder that seriously supervised his people and took action where needed was rare I'm sorry to say. Matt, you are someone who any inspector would enjoy visiting. It's a breath of fresh air to see someone who understands quality building practices from rafters to sill plates. Excellent video, glad I took the time to watch!!!
Where did you get your certification? I am interested.
Any advice on how to find a good builder? I’m looking for one in Maryland.
A market driven solely by money, and doesn’t pay carpenters squaT …. What did you think you’re going to find every day ???
Lot of liability as a home inspector no? What happens if you miss something?
@@TheTruthSeeker756 They have to carry errors and omissions insurance to renew their licenses with the state, in my state anyway.
Reinforces how challenging it makes to know how to trust a builder without having the building knowledge oneself and micromanaging/ overseeing every little step of the build process knowing how all those little steps make a significant impact on the end durability, efficiency, and general quality of the build. Worthwhile to see "mistakes" of others and or own too so we can all learn.
Get a house inspection . You can do that on new construction contrary to the myths out there.
I learned on a siding job many years ago to "think like a drop of water" from a much more experienced carpenter. Suddenly all those details I was getting wrong made sense! This video has that plus now I have learned to "think like an ant" as well. PS, "Think like a drop of water" would be a good episode title..
So your saying when you understood the basic concept that you were wrapping a house to reject water ! Every process began to make sense ? go figure ! This is a principle that applies to so many basic maintenance projects ! When I applied this principle to sealing my father in law's roof I discovered one of his vents was never connected and that his roofer must have been an idiot !
When I was buying my last house, I used a realtor friend of mine. She’d been in the business for years but didn’t know how to really tell if a house was well built. She was great on modern finishes and knew all the cool stuff but she knew nothing about how to tell if the most recent remodel was done well or was a hack job. And we weren’t looking at cheap houses. Most were custom or semi custom when built. Sadly at least behalf of them were built poorly. I finally found one that was well built and when I talked to the owner I figured out why. He’d been a project manager for an engineering firm and while not a builder, he knew what to research and when something didn’t look right. He also gave me a carton of prints, specs, manuals, and all the change requests for his house. I’m sure he drove his builder nuts but it’s a great house. The attention to detail was there when it was built 20 years ago and it shows. Only thing that’s had to be replaced was the roof which was damaged by hail 8 years ago. It’s the details.
It’s amazing how cheap some of these semi custom or custom homes are built. Like you said looks good looking at it, but when you really start paying attention it’s very cheap.
@@lewisfisk Absolutely, the profit for the builders usually comes from the aesthetics. Unfortunately a lot of them will hide all their shoddy work essentially "polishing a turd".
When I bought my first house I had to point out serious mold issues to my home inspector while he was focused on telling me some pieces of exterior trim needed to be replaced.
So many people, including "the professionals" are just focused on what you can see. When it comes down to it though, it's what you cant see that will cost you the most in the end to repair.
@@lewisfisk The problem is it's all about quantity not quality. The workers will probably be paid for the amount they do and not for how good it is, as long as they reach a target the company won't care.
@@shawnanwo - Another issue for a build is the use of subcontractors. The builder farms out most of the work to other companies and so there's no way for the builder to really enforce quality control. Then, when most builders and contractors only care about speed and quantity, the end product (and the customer) will suffer.
I've lived in numerous homes in my life and only two were well made and they came from the pre-WW2 era. Not that older homes are better, it's just easier to spot the shoddy ones after 50 years.
Realtors are useless. Only trying to get their commission
For 2 yearsI had the title of "Superintendent in charge of customer service" for 160 houses (which was just a fancy title for "I gotta truck full of tools and I know how to use them"). My job was to take notes after people bought, moved in and discovered problems, then fix all those problems...if you want your house built correctly, ya gotta build it yerself, period. Even Matt here with all his attention-to-detail cannot know how each nail is installed by his crews unless he himself installs it. You want square rooms? Build them yourself. You want proper spacing of drywall screws? Install each one yourself. I always loved removing ceramic tile when remodeling production houses because they were barely stuck to the concrete substrate. I pity the fool who ever has to remove any tile I installed. People will say there's no reason to super-stick tile down but maybe you've never had your Baby Grand Piano punch a crack in tile that rings hollow when you tap it. Personally I love over-kill in my work. I'm retired and I look back with no regrets...except for not charging enough.
Anyone can point fingers and judge.
I believe in over-building things. "If you do not have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over again?", as the old saying goes. Reinforced something that seemed kind of thin, put a solid board on top to better distribute the weight, attached it more solidly than designed.
Yes, as i have learned, no job too big, no price too big. Soak 'em. If they want 5 star quality they need to pay a 7 star price. Unfortunately, I have to use some subs sometimes too. Sometimes even fixing their mistakes, unless I hawk them all the time. People want the money, bhut don't want to put forth the effort.
@@olddirtyburt7522 "People want the money, bhut don't want to put forth the effort" says the guy who wants 7 star money for a 5 star job.
Haha you should do like a gordon ramsay for building lol. Hells Contractors haha.....THIS HOUSE IS RAW
Hells House.
YOU COULDVE KILLED SOMEONE
I think you meant “ the house is raw you fucking doughnut” 🤣🤣
J H THERE IS SO MUCH FUCKEN RICE IN THIS HOUSE 🤣
BABYS DIAPER !!! A BABYS DIAPER
My favorite line is " How would seeing my work from 10 yrs ago make me feel". When I started forty years ago that was not an issue, we all did the same type of work. But our modern practices and constant advances make a decade seem more like a lifetime or even a different generation altogether. Keep up the good work Matt, our only hope is to educate.
When I’ve hired guys to do work at my house, I tell them “I don’t care about how it looks when you’re done and I pay you. I know you know how to make it look good when it’s new. I care about how it’s going to look in 5-10 years.”
"Can foam not good for air sealing" Well yeah especially when you don't actually put it in many of the holes.
Mans going through the neighborhood pouring water on walls and ripping people flashing 🤣🤣
Yeah….it was bad before but way worse when he tears materials and pours water all over.
@@carlosperla7233 water is going to get in from the rain anyway... he's just helping..
@@walterbrunswick he has no idea what the final plans are….all assumptions at this point.
@@carlosperla7233 what 'final plans'? you mean they put up that cardboard sheathing as temporary? they will tear it down later, and put up proper sheathing? please, don't make me laugh
@@walterbrunswick you telling me that you could not waterproof that panel so water doesn’t get in? If you can’t, that makes me laugh. It is entirely possible that there are after proofing plans to be done at the end. Also possible that there aren’t but I would just go around assuming that everything I see as a possible problem will automatically end up being one.
I purchased a new construction home recently in California last year. We visited the job site 2-4 times a week. The builder didn’t care. We got to meet the neighbors too. I like seeing the frame and mechanical systems before being covered up.
The job site is a fun place.
As a former landscaper: Builders burying junk on the property. Homeowner: Why does my grass always look bad in the same spot every year? Check sprinkler coverage and usual suspects, then take a probe and hit a slab of drywall, studs, nails and other trash 6 inches below the surface. Saw this everywhere.
MY LAWN.
I know it happened to my neighbor... After 10y a just about perfect 4x8 rectangle / triangle has slowly opened up in his back yard where it was filled in! And my yard has had pot holes that keep needing to be filled in, one just opened up last year that was about a foot deep. I think I have buried tree stumps, and my neighbor totally had a sheet of plywood or something! I just wonder what held it up for so long because it fell flat. It didn't get bumpy like it was plywood or sheetrock over rocks.
He's right, my new home i had built had junk a few inches under the ground. Found many things they cut corners on after i learned more. Sad but true.
Notorious track home neighborhoods do that. I hate track home neighborhoods. So many corners get cut after they've built dozens of those things, it's like no one cares about workmanship, just get it up.
So true when you say that. My house was built in 1968 and every year during any new project around here I dig up beer/pop bottles, nails, electrical scraps, etc. just 8 inches or so below the surface. Very frustrating.
I have 22 years in professional home remodeling and repair. Matt is spot on. Builders use the excuse that these type of homes are production built and that the defects are normal and should be expected. Wrong! It's called sub contractors that are paid low and produce poor quality. Some have no pride in their workmanship others lack skill and training. Good video Matt, thanks.👍 -Glen
A lot of those poor quality subcontractors could be fixed by hiring a Border Patrol agent to check their identification.
@@arpc0027 It would be fixed by forcing developers to not use slave labour and pay high wages and hire real tradespeople in the union. But they don't. Blaming the immigrants for taking these jobs is stupidity. It's the builders and developers who are taking these shortcuts.
After 46 years building, I am almost done. I fear for homeowners and buyers. There is so much rot, mold and water damage from flashing problems that it's crazy. Problems don't show up until it rots, or they see mold. In New England everything wants to rot if not done right. Much of my work is fixing other builders' crap 15 years later. There is one bad builder near me and I actually stopped and taught him how to use flashing tape and seal windows. It was a 30 sf commercial building he was renovating. I didn't know if his crew was going to lynch me.. It was personal because I was fixing his last reno at the time. A young family bought their dream lakeside home and they couldn't use their front door after it rained a day or two. Numerous leaks and problems throughout the home. Never trust home inspectors or building inspectors from the town or city.
You should do a "best practices" series showing problems and then detailing the solution.
Sendit Sunday Europe is not a monolith and construction materials vary just like in US.
I fully agree, showing issues without showing the proper solution seems to be just a "pet peeve".
Clear signs of an abusive contractor. No laborer will work extra for fine details when the contractor nickle and dimes them or doesnt even pay them.
Contractor drives away in new lifted truck but has a problem paying for good labor work.
So true! So so so so true
Man you said perfectly.
I agree 100%
True, but the subcontractors that keep bidding lower and lower know they are cutting corners and quality.
Thank you for mentioning this.
Did he just walk into a random neighborhood and talk shit on the build quality? Because I love it.
And, he poured water in the water heater.... the nerve!!
He Is in a- 🕳
Came here looking for comments like this. #KindredSpirits.
Hahaha
That kinda shit will get you shot if you have the wrong complexion.
Thanks for pointing out all the crap done by production builders happening nationwide! I’ve seen all of these over the years as an electrician. Full cardboard sheathed neighborhoods or tyvek paper even on the custom homes. All riddled with beer bottles and trash blowing down the street. It’s all about low cost, high profits and home owners eat it up because they don’t know any better. I would never pay for a new house from any of these builders and I feel for the buyers knowing they are gonna be in a world of hurt down the road. With that said you would be a huge PITA to work for but I appreciate it and would gladly do it. It’s good to see someone taking pride in the quality of their homes.
Oh and forgot to mention the piss...piss everywhere
As an interior trim guy, he’d be great to work for because I know he made sure everything done before me was done right.
@@AdamUnwiseowlKoenig dont forget port a potties are not cleaned EVERY week especially under covid. It may seem petty. I am trimming a house and 2 1/2 weeks the port a potties werent clean.
The race to build fast & cheap has resulted in a reduction of skill and quality.
@Steve Slade Yeah, if I could close off Texas from the rest of the country building quality would go up significantly... I've seen consistently better work from Mexicans than from white "contractors" from Texas. They only stay for a season then are never heard from again after leaving shit work behind. So I'm always skeptical when I hear shit like this.
Nah, it's about greed and the complete lack of integrity in the industry.
@@thoughtlesskills Absurd, Travel around Mexico and you will see the worst building practices imaginable. If Mexicans are better at everything, then why is Mexico such a toilet?
@@thoughtlesskills Ha thats a joke I'm always going behind the crew of South Americans and fixing mistakes
@@thoughtlesskills also it's becoming standard practice to hire a crew of south Americans to slam out projects and bring in North Americans to fix the shady work.
Watching Matt's experience tear these builds apart makes me question my own home's build quality.
bruh no wonder we cant get rid of our ants
I'm in a KB Home. I question it every single day. 😑😑😑
I appreciate and bless you.
@@tommyaoi1183 ...KB = Krappily Built.
@@arpc0027KB Home, KrAppY Built Home. We build it to last 5 years.
6:20 the bulge/bow in that strap is making it virtually useless. The house needs to have already broken in quite a few places before the strap engages, at which point it is too late. Super duper dumb.
I saw that and he missed it. Red Tag in my book. Fix it! Pull all those nails and do it right.
Didn't notice at first but good catch
Hes just going around to other peoples job sites and talking crap. lol I love it! More people need to hold these hacks accountable.
After seeing this video I thank God my house was built in 1950. Yes I've thoroughly inspected it from crawlspace
to attic space, and no dry rot etc. Of course I've had to upgrade some electrical circuits because grounded
circuits were not required back then. And I've finally replaced the old galvanized pipes with Pex, but the old galv.
pipes never leaked.
Older homes are very decent. When Tyvek and housewrap came on the market 35 years ago everyone forgot how to flash properly. many younger builders just never learned how to do things right.
I appreciate going over the little details that someone like me would never catch or think of if I were to build something of my own. More videos like this would be awesome!
All of those were great advice. I love that Matt explains why the different things are a problem from the long term perspective or how he's seen things degrade over time as a result of these shoddy techniques being employed. Knowing "the why" gives these lessons so much more meaning than if he walked around going "that's Messed up", "That's wrong", "Wouldn't have done that". As someone who hopes to construct my own place someday these sorts of things are invaluable. Also I think you were spot on about the Beer bottle and the Messy Construction site - no way to have confidence with that going on. Love this channel! Great Work Matt!. - MM in Denver CO
FINALLY, someone that actually gives a hoot about the build quality of a home that is not his own. A trait rarely found in the average construction worker. I bet that if any construction worker was supervising the build of his own home he would be as critical if not more of the build quality of his home.
The average worker at most of these builds will never own a home, let alone a nice new one... they could care less what these "rich" SOBs get stuck with. And thats the prevailing atitude unfortunately...
I like that you take much pride in your work ,truly trying to build a quality homes.
What I’ve learned from most videos like this, and personal experience:
Most if not all houses are planned obsolescence pieces of crap that will not survive long enough to be paid off.
Most will require a crap ton of maintenance and upkeep, or they will fall apart in 15 years.
It’s either this or live like a bee in a miserable apartment or trailer.😩
Gives people cheap, flippable disasters to make some money off of in 10-15 years though
Buy an older house! Mine was built in 1899 using virgin timber. 2x4s over a 100 years old are 4-5 times heavier than the 'new' fast growth lumber you get at the local yard. Some of the growth rings are 2-3mm apart. And yes, they really are 2x4 inches! Anyone remodeling a house in my neighborhood I go scavenge these old pieces of lumber, interior trim, doors, hardware, glass, etc. Just not the old lead plumbing!!! And they used 4 inch long nails. LOTS of them!
When having new Marvin, French casement windows the guys showed me the window openings were still as square and plumb as the day the house was built! Those limestone blocks hadn't moved a bit! The side walls were 3 layers (3 coarses) of brick, thick. The roof rafters were 2x16s.
I absolutely love this old house! It wraps its arms around me and I feel very secure, safe and protected in it. New houses?---- not so much!
I’m in the business 35 yrs and I’ve never seen such bad workmanship. No one cleans up after themselves it’s like it’s beneath them. My father was in the same business (electrician) he once told me you could do the job completely wrong upside down and backwards but if you sweep out the garage when your done it’s assumed you’ve done the job correctly. That’s how much it matters. I hate starting my day with a trashed site and I’m real tired of cleaning up every ones mess because the client is coming home. No one cares and that in itself is terrifying for the future of the industry.
Only wired in a few new houses over my 50 years as I was a comercial sparky. We would often work 12 hours in a house and would stop mid way tl thru the day and do a quick sweep then a good sweep at end of day. General contractor loved us as the only trade on the job to clean up after themselves.
Last Month I did some repair work on a house a woman wanted to sell. She showed up just as I was cleaning up. She was shocked I was using a vacuums to clean the rug with. The place was spotless, and all she could say was, WOW. She had work done by others and they left a mess for her to clean up. I do work, I clean up as I go, and leave it looking like I would want my home looking when finished. Yet, so many people want to save money, so they get what they pay for. I make a decent wage, but I also do a job that is good enough for me to put my signature in an unseen place after I finish.
My auto shop teacher told us something similar. Most of us were in there just to learn a bit about trouble shooting and car repair (and to get our shop class requirement for graduation), but he said that no matter how well you get someone's car running when it is in for repair it won't count for much if you have grease on the car floor and/or car seats when you return it to the customer.
I worked in a hospital coffee shop when a nurse was relating how a top notch surgeon had the intern sew up the patient. The surgeon watched then stopped the intern, undid the intern's stitches and did the stitching himself making the remark: "If others saw how poorly the stitching was done, they will assume the surgery performed internally, beneath the skin was likely poorly done as well." I never forgot that story.
My contractor told me when I complained about all the garbage left EVERYWHERE, "it's a jobsite, get used to it! Our remodel has been an absolute nightmare and YES! They used spray foam from a can to air seal outlet boxes. And the drywall cuts looked like a drunk 8yr old did it. Some had gaps 2+ inches. So depressing. Almost caused a divorce but we are hanging on by a thread.
My Father had it in the builders contract he could come on site at any time..He hired the builder who had no problem with that..
Why would he need that.in a contract its his property
@@ndn2589 this
Well your father lied.
@@ndn2589 as a reminder
Restoration work you miss the point he said he hired the builder who had no problem with it. he used it as a way to screen contractors
Clearly, they only shelled out for Zip just because it's a big name brand and they want to give the *illusion* that they aren't half-assing the build, even though they definitely are.
The time savings of it is still factored into their labor calculations and depending on the design can be cheaper than OSB and wrapping. So basically it's still potentially a cost savings and quality illusion combo.
are you saying nobody should use Zip?
@@sshakin, that's not what he's saying at all. Zip is a good product and people know it's a good product. And bad contractors will abuse people's limited knowledge to seem more competent than they are.
I liked that first one. I remember many years ago watching a new home construction. And before they put the timbers down along the base, the put some type of simple rubber like gasket material. it created a nice tight seal and was made to last a long long time (synthetic materials so no degrading and not attractive to insects and such). And despite this material being around for at least 10+ years, you often see them NOT using it to build home to save a few cents. Wow.
it's called sill gasket. I think it's code now.
Mine is kind of like a very thick padding which seals the timber that is placed along my foundation, is that what you're talking about?
I was removing some drywall in a closet a couple years back. Well there was a cavity behind the drywall behind my water heater. When I looked in there I found a trash bag of beer cans left from the builders in 04... haha
I helped a friend put some hardwood in their dining room some years back. They had bought the house new, so we pulled up the carpet and underpad that the builder had put down. Under the underpad we found in one spot an empty juice box. Now a flat juice box is not going to telegraph through, but how lazy (or lacking in pride of work) do you have to be when installing the underpad and carpet that you don't even bother to fully clear the area of garbage and debris before you install. Maybe it was a bet between the installer and someone to see if anyone would notice?
There seems to be a definite correlation between how shoddily-built a house is and how many beercans are behind the walls.
You must live in Austin. Mexican crews. ha ha
My wall was full of drywall off cuts. Yup they were too lazy to throw them in the trash. Easier to just put them in the wall and cover it I guess. I discoved it while trying to fish an electrical wire. I was always hitting something and decided to open the walls. That was a fun surprise...
I remodel bathrooms and find all sorts of crap behind bathtubs. Coolest thing I found was a playboy from the 70s and in really good condition
I have just as many examples I can show you from builds here around Houston. And even when you try to have conversations with the builders about the consistent issues in their methods, they just ignore you. Buyers without knowledge won't know there are issues until long after the warranty is gone, and they have their $$.
I live in Houston and yup, you're correct! I've been to "fancy" 400K-1.2M neighborhoods and the quality and fit was garbage, and CPVC plumbing??? The crews seemed to have no rhyme or reason or supervision, they just needed to fit their 40 hours in on whatever house I guess! The same house would be installing lights and vents while the walls werent even painted yet, painting trim with huge amounts of sawdust lying around, workers tracking is mud onto freshly polyed floors. The amount of repairs and rework needed was insane. Also smelled piss on more than a few slabs and subfloors, while a portapotty was literally across the street.
The worst was seeing a leaking CPVC connection at a shower while touring. Called the office to give them a heads up. Looked around 2 weeks later and they had covered it up and tiled, with water leaking out the wall. Good fucking luck to that homeowner!
And that is why I self-contracted my own gut renovation. Only way to avoid getting screwed over, but its still a rough road. Only crew I had issues with was drywall, should have just hired a LA or MS crew since Houston drywall is complete bullshit nowadays.
This is a very timely video for me!!! Learning from others mistakes is priceless. I'm renovating parts of a 1953 house I grew up in. Lots of air leaks and other issues that come with an older home. Your videos are helping me a lot. So glad I found your channel!!💞!!!
I am in the same boat. Renovating my parent’s place.
"Matt roasts other builders for 14 minutes" love it. Needs to happen. Everyone should strive to be better. It is better for the customer and our society.
+ " and throws in a couple of advertisements for Zip Systems" 😀
Yep, otherwise it becomes the norm to do crappy work like that.
The problem is cultural. Builders and their crews just don’t care. Money has trumped pride and self respect.
mister clean yeah, but I’m old and have been on the tools most of my working life and I have noticed a distinct shift in attitude in these parts and it’s not for the better. Building science has leapt ahead, fantastic, but what is missing is faith in the future. It’s a ‘dog eat dog’ vibe doing the rounds.
You have no idea how many houses I've been under that were built decades ago and I find beer cans or bottles from brands that don't even exist any more. Now in houses built in the 50s or before, the only thing I've found are tools that people left behind. But that's how far back you have to go where not a single house I've been under has had some hidden trash or debris
Care is an issue as is lack of training and craftsperson standards.
We try and use as many factory build components as
possible that the architect will stomach. A much higher
and more even product is the result.
This is largely because of buyers. They want a mcmansion on a bungalow budget, so builders hire the LOWWWWWEST bidder who then can't afford to hire craftsmen or use decent materials.
@@N20Joe I have to agree. There is a builder who put up an infill house that I walked by on the way home every day when it was going up. It looks like a fairly standard cookie cutter infill, but they took their time and did everything very well. One year later it still hasn't sold, while slightly cheaper ones that went up in a quarter of the time and have trendier but lower quality finishings have sold.
Great video! With what I've learned working on all my own house modifications and repairs I figured I would know at least 3 of the 10. I knew nothing about any of these things. From an engineering stand point I was pretty much following each example as you explained them though. As I get ready to likely have my next house built I am very glad I saw this video.
That is why a lot of builders don't want the customer coming around during the these phases.
Will Ragas Exactly.
Partially correct, but biggest reason is liability. Everyone has a lawyer
@@BiggMo SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY!!! You can't see your house while I build it, there are too many unsafe open beer bottles! (If safety really is a reason then your builder isn't following OSHA rules. Give the owner a hard hat.)
@@ryanroberts1104 Builders HATE Osha rules. Check out the youtuber "Essential Craftsman". He tries to present himself as some kind of good, old-fashioned guy who knows what he is doing (and he does know, but that doesn't make him honest), but he rants against OSHA from time to time. We have OSHA because you cannot and must not ever trust an unregulated builder. A house can kill you if built improperly. The "Essential Craftsman" is part of the problem. He is evil.
If they don't want customers seeing their shoddy work, perhaps they shouldn't be doing shoddy work.
That cabinet blocking in the kitchen was laughable. The problem today is that there are no true framers left in production building. You have one guy who could be called a framer leading a crew of hourly paid help who have no idea what they’re doing. Ask anyone of them how to build a set of stairs and just sit back and watch the puzzlement on their face begin to take hold. All the good framers don’t want to deal with the constant repetitive and inane building plans. Good framers like to be challenged, take pride, and enjoy their work. The same goes for every other trade. I’ve been working in production for five years now and every time I try to get someone to take initiative and save having to call them back over and over again to make things right, is frustrating and demoralizing. I see other people around me who don’t care and treat it as just a paycheck not realizing that they’re building someone’s dream home. No matter what happens on the job site, I always will make sure, to make it right to the best of my abilities, with the material that we use, the trades that install it, and the forethought of how the homeowner will use the house. We need to change the mentality of the production industry, into building quality homes at reasonable prices, and not just a better lipstick on the same pig!
I suggested early in my career after seeing one of Matt’s videos to use the engineered SLS studs as the quality of lumber that we were getting was subpar for what we were asking the framers to install. Fast forward five years, and after countless fill in orders, denied credit on returns and the hiring of two field verifiers, did our company do the math and realize that while the engineered lumber was more expensive initially, it would save us money in the long run.And of course no one remembers me in our meetings mentioning a single word about the SLS studs nor the advanced framing techniques in order to optimize their usage.
It is the young guys getting into this field who can promote change and better standards of construction. Our biggest hurdle is convincing the executives that by doing it right the first time, not only will it eliminate majority of costly warranty calls but will help build the companies brand in the market place. happy homeowners tell everyone they know just the same as the dissatisfied ones.
End of rant
Thank you
i agree the lumber coming out on jobs is laughable but we are supposed to use it you can only nfg so many before you run out and the lumber company will tell you there is nothing wrong with them as far as young people in the field where are you finding them the company i work for 90 % are over 40 we can't find younger help that will show up every day
Part of the other side of the problem .. Most workers get paid pittance and rushed ..Carpenters today are judged on how fast they are , not how well they do the job . EVERYONE is a carpenter . Go to Home Depot and buy a belt is like stepping in a phone booth .. They come out a stud slinging carpenter ,, The pay has not kept up .. Material prices have increased , Builders still want their royal cut and the wages for the nail, benders remain stagnant . Attention to detail is lost since most don't care nor realize what they are doing and how it will it impact the future of the house . Those that pay attention to details and protect , think about water penetration , wicking, proper flashing are few and far between ..Also .. When a house is not well thought out . Each sub will cut the others subs throat just to get his job done . I am a water fanatic .. It is the Destroyer of homes . Flashing , kickouts , laying head flashing flat . no clearances for siding . splashback , proper flashing for every penetration of a wall . Ask any builder . " Are you a quality builder ?" 40 years of sawdust in my belt speaking
I sent whole pallet of 2X back, they took all the rejects from the store, re-palletized them and delivered them to my house. Nothing but Kindling. I’m going to pay the the extra for metal studs for my basement remodel. You go to these big box stores early in the morning, you see people hanging around in the parking lot. Someone will pull up in an old beat up van, and yell out what needs to be done. There is a disorganized rush to the Van. He has just picked up Carpenters, Finish Carpenters, Tile Setters, Electricians, Sheetrock Hangers, Plasters, Etc.
@@IVORY123100 Amen. I have been fighting gross water intrusion and collateral damage since my post college days in Massachusetts, starting in 1976. Now in Colorado, and I have had to train my roofer, and or do their flashing (most typical SOP, for my complex projects), in order to have the quality, durability, peace of mind and freedom from liability that I insist on (I like to sleep at night).
I also watch skilled tradesmen refuse to share knowledge for fear of being replaced.
This is why so many of my friends and myself will not hire a contractor to save our lives. They consistently demonstrate they don't have common sense and build to a level of good enough. Thanks for shining a light on these over and over!
Tankless should be in a closet with a pan or garage wall on stand-offs with a pan. Halfway recessed in an exterior wall might look nice but it completely misses sealing, maintenance, repair, and replacement.
M O L D
Why wouldn't they just turn the box around? I want access to my heater from inside the garage. I don't want to have to go out in the ice and snow to see why I don't have hot water...
dumbest thing ever, surely there was room for the tankless
@@eyeswideshut2800 it's for gas venting I believe
7:23 that blocking on the right in the wall is crooked and all the other jacked up blocking. Who ever did that probably drank that beer Matt found.
I've had 2 homes built, next year building my finally resting place. Makes me wonder how many dumb things were done to the 2 previous houses. I'm glad I found your channel. I have learned so many things to watch for next year!!!! Thanks for informing the consumer!! I appreciate it!!!
owned 12 homes every one was screwed up in one way or another.. common thread shower doors installed wrong and leaked every damn home.. Toll bros put a broken tile behind shower door track...Had some weird sounding floor tiles outside shower when tapped on... It was a leaker. .half inch of tile missing on the corner.. at the base leaked from day 1...I hate toll bros.... Incompetent..
@@Peter-td3yk It's so sad the decline in quality of work anymore. Makes me scared to build again.
Showing a solution for the problems would be useful for us DYIers.
Most of the solutions involve tearing out significant sections of your already built house. Want to fix those leaky walls? Tear off the siding and sheathing and do it properly. You get to that point and discover the framing is rotten? Welp, get some shoring poles because you're about to rip out a good chunk of your load-bearing wall.
Otherwise, it's pretty much just using the correct products in the correct places.
@@josephdomshy4068 Yes, I refer to it as the Mike Holmes approach "Tear it all apart", every show he ever did, hilarious
Best solution is to look at each point individually and look up how to do it right. Unless Matt does a video specifically on this that seems to be best
Would be nice if he showed what, n how he would do it and used instead.. as he showed what not to use.👍
If you can't do your own research to do it properly, then you shouldn't be doing it yourself
Thank you! Getting ready to bump out our porch and guest bedroom and do a complete reno converting the porch to a 4 season room. Giving me a lot to look out for!
Walks up to random worker at random house: "Let's watch this guy as he uses his nailgun to put in nails. Look how horrible he does this. It's just garbage. These nails could be pulled right out." Then proceeds to tear down walls and rip up material, all while the construction crew watches in amazement.
The hero we need but don't deserve
Matt, if those homeowners only find one bottle, they can consider themselves lucky. My wife and I recently started converting our attic, into two bedrooms, for our boys, and we found dozens of nip bottles, and crumpled-up beer cans, throughout the attic insulation, ceiling, and walls! And like you said, everything I find wrong, I wonder how sober the build crew was!
Jeffrey Muller we found urine filled catorade bottles left behind in our attic..just disgusting,,,in our attic.
@@johnvitz310 Wow, that's aweful.
I used to do seamless gutters, which made us some of the last guys on the exterior work. Also, due to the nature of gutters we got to examine the work with a level and tape measure. Oh my, I knew which builders to use and which ones to run from.
The worst part, most homeowners were completely oblivious to the defects either due to lack of knowledge or the excitement of building a new home.
100% right on the messy job site. I'm a tradesman and everyday before I leave I organize my materials and have them consolidated to one area that is not likely to be in another trades way. I also keep my immediate work area clean by having a garbage can or box to throw my scrap and waste materials into while I'm working, especially if I'm sharing the work area with other trades...my thought is that it lets anyone looking at my progress clearly see the materials and equipment that match the plans for that area. It also lowers the level of visual critical scrutiny of my in progress and completed work, and that is not that I'm trying to get away with cutting corners and don't want to get caught. It's about the attitude of the relationship between me and the onsite superintendent. It fosters an attitude of both working for the same goal and outcome. It's the difference of observing your work with the idea of distrust and I'm looking carefully for any mistakes and I'm going to bust you for it. Compared to observing and seeing something that doesn't appear correct and then asking about it or pointing it out with the intent to help you in case you missed something or forgot...residential construction is always hit and miss especially with production builders...
This makes me appreciate the simplicity of concrete.
that can be botched too! XD
Concrete is plenty easy to botch too. It still needs waterproofing, otherwise it cracks over time and can fail suddenly. And air tightness is good for heating/cooling efficiency in both cases too, and, while it's less of an issue around the edges, it's just as hard to achieve around external openings (windows, outlets, piping, etc). Formwork is also very fallible, bc wet concrete is so heavy and, well, wet.
8:56: That electrical box made me puke. Bent the livin' daylights out of the top nail. Now the screws on the device that's going in there will not line up with the mounting holes. And Sparky never even bothered to make the box up. This would be a failed inspection in many areas.
I would say “it should fail inspection.” Unfortunately I don’t think it really would...I did some Reno work and pulled all the permits trying to do everything right. I was shocked by how lax and disinterested the inspectors were. They didn’t seem to care at all and barely gave it a once over... maybe that’s just my area or an unusual experience but the inspections were a joke
@@timothydemott8351 same here in L.A.😢
What about the strap for the gas line into the plywood? I can’t fathom the expense to build things so cheaply. Someone please report this builder.
Shoot I work as a helper on production condos and the inspector spends an hour bullshitting with my boss and does.not.look.at
ANYTHING! Not to mention the framing- matt would have the inspector on the phone after he recovered from a heart attack!🤣
As a sparky
I'm about to have a house built. I appreciate the clean site and the correct materials. I will be out there nearly every day. My wife ended up being the de facto contractor on our last major remodel in this one. We actually came out and swept every night even to keep dust down. This set an example so the workers got the hint. That kind of sloppy comes from top down.
When I was working for a contractor in the 90s building houses he said those cracks were necessary so that the house could breath lol. I didn’t know any better, I was a teenager. Thinking about it now i wonder if he knew better or was just being cheap.
How else is the bottom plate supposed to dry out?
It does breathe! We are in a cyclical world. In the north here, we have a lot of 100 year old houses that have original siding. They are still standing strong.
My point is, don't discount knowledge from others, just because you don't clearly understand it.
In today's culture, we have to save the earth. So, consequently, we have tightened the envelope, and now we fight mold.
He is kind of correct. There are issues with building "tight" like the newer homes, getting rid of moisture is one and maintaining air quality is another. Most of that is pushed by the government in the name of "energy efficiency," which is probably pushed by lobbyists of companies selling "energy efficient" products, lol.
It is an easy sell, tho, when you mention the critter proofing benefit of building "tight".
I remembered about an hour after watching the video why those cracks bothered me so much: that's structurally weak, as well as not being sealed. all of that needs to be nailed TIGHT, or you lose structural integrity.
Man there is nothing wrong with "pet peeves" and some call it, I call it doing you job and doing it right. That is one reason we as carpenters get such a bad wrap sometimes, I mean we are doing one of the oldest and most honorable professions on the planet, my motto is do it right or leave it alone. Keeping a clean job site shows your care for the entire project.
You said "messy job sites are a pet peeve" I was thinking you're about to go OCD...then you pull up to a work site and it looks like they are trying to repair tornado damage. That isn't messy, it's a disaster.
"I won't (slam my knife into this cardboard sheathing), because I don't want to destroy someone else's work".
You meant someone else's "pretend-to-work", in order to maximize their off-the-shelf build profits.
Oh I bet he really wanted to do it! I could almost see the shoulder devil and angel fighting it out!
I hate seeing beers on jobsites I'm a remodeling contractor and was walking threw a house that was almost done and there was empty cans all over and I told the owner his electrician or plumber must of been drinking them because my guys would never..... he goes no that was me how do you think I got threw a whole house remodel with my WIFE lmaoo 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Unexpected answer🤣
@mister clean Don't worry, after he was done walking threw the house and saw what the electriontion was doing he through them off the job....
@@hunterjones9822 Idk about yous guys,but when is drink on the job only Brawndo light lime.
It's got you plants crave,it's got electric lights.
I just through up.
@@W9CR hilarious...I through up my hands and through in the towel on that one.
I can fully appreciate someone's attention to detail, especially builder's that are making someone's home. This video seemed more about just criticizing other's work (very possibly just his competitors) rather than showing the reason why it doesn't work properly (like the water heater cabinet), but doesn't use any of the 20+ yrs experience to say a way to fix it.
You comment: "doesn't use any of the 20+ yrs experience to say a way to fix it." So you watched this video and didn't understand, the way to "fix it" is for the home builder and workers to stop being half ass, shotty workers. He is pointing out that people just don't give a damn about their work ethics or their finished product. The way to "fit it" is for American people to have more pride in their finished work. His 20 years experience is not going to change the way other people to their day to day work.
@@igoski1582 could change mine if I'm taught to do something a certain way that isn't right (or done to a lower standard). But simply walking around to other people's work and doing things that even an inspector wouldn't do.... it's just gloating about experience and trashing other people's work.
Such thing as corrective criticism that shows what they did wrong, why it's wrong, then explain how to make it right whether it's what he would have done or any of the multiple other ways to make it right.
Criticism is much easier than teaching though
This is sad because buyers are completely at the builders mercy when buying a house with no way to really inspect these issues after the home is built
Absolutely this. It's why the entire real estate industry is a sham. Pay for an inspection? For what? All this garbage is sealed up inside and they can't see anymore than you can. It should be code to document and maintain photos of construction so the future buyer can actually determine the quality. Also 99.99999% of the construction industry should just give up and do something else they're ridiculously incompetent.
@@drparty i work construction and you wouldnt believe the shit people do. Photo documentary is mandatory when fixing other peoples fuck ups. It also makes you look that much better when compared to the old. The problem is cheap ass people. They want the lowest bid and my general contractor has always said if his bid was lowest we're either fucking up beforehand or nobody wants to tackle the job.
A thermal camera can reveal a lot of hidden issues. I think home inspectors should include a blower door test in their inspection criteria.
This is why homeowners should hire independent construction managers to act as expert inspectors for QA and billing transparency.
Matt just driving around to other people's job sites on a Sunday just tearing them apart, literally and figuratively.
I don’t get what he thinks gives him the right to come and damage someone else’s property.
FishFind3000 the benefit of showing all of us the wrong way to do it, besides that stuff is no less effective after its damaged.
It’s not like he can find this crap on his own sites to show us.
FishFind3000 it’s legal in Texas.
I would say that he, defensibly, didn't destroy anything that wasn't bound to be destroyed by its instillation. The destruction was endogenous, y'all.
@@FishFind3000 Destroy what exactly?
My dad owned his own construction company and when I was young he never allowed his subs to do so much! I remember him being mad about dirty job sites and drinking and acting crazy on the job sites! I agree with all your pet peeves I’m glad to know there are REAL BUILDERS that genuinely care about their work for years on end!
As someone who has been excoriated here for being "mean", I find it somewhat humorous to see this "Builders Bash" video. Is it necessary? Is it truthful? Is it kind? Heck, yes; just ignore the part about "kind". The bigger problem is that the guy walking by Matt's truck at the trashy site has virtually nothing to do with whatever is done at that job site. The money men, safe in their posh offices, control all. To the detriment of the home-buying public. This video could be shot anywhere that the larger developers and national homebuilders operate, and it might be mean, but it would certainly be truthful. Necessary? It would be nice to think so, but even 659k educated homeowners are going to have a tough time turning this industry around. Speaking as a custom builder (for the past half century now), with little need for tribal affiliation.
Lee Stevens I’m with you. I don’t get the all the comments saying we shouldn’t criticize other tradesmen or builders. It needs to be said. Circling the wagons only perpetuates the problems. There’s a general lack of quality control in residential production building. It’s a lot of lowest bid subs trying to make as much as they can doing as little as possible and they get away with it with the lack of oversight. Most buyers are none the wiser.
No the trades work on a fixed cost per job. If they have to clean up the site they dont get paid extra. But some tradesmen like to keep a clean workplace and will put in the time with their guys to do so. Others just dont care.
OSB is one of my pet peeves.
Osb is a fact of life because of the plywood prices. Plywood often and will delaminate and cause deformed walls and floors as well as squeaks. Osb isn’t always a second choice and often is best used in conjunction with other water proofing products.
OSB is fine for sheathing. More shear strength than plywood. Not a fan of it as subflooring.
If it gets wet, OSB is ruined. They are now making beams and studs out of OSB.
I get the impression that in 50 years there will be a lot of very very cheap housing out there.
@@herpnderpn2484 The reality is flywood doesnt do great either. OSB works fine if you keep it dry. Keeping it dry is details.
I’ve been a carpenter for forty years now and bought a new house yes a track home for which I worked on for fifteen years at the beginning of my career, didn’t want to but I always bought houses that I had to work on so I thought that I would buy one that was newer so I would not have a lot of work on {wrong} the materials nowadays are far better than back in the days but if you have a bunch off carpenters that don’t care but to get on the next house so I have been tearing them apart the home warranty personal love me so I had them come fix some things and it seemed that when they did they made it worse so now I’m fixing most everything myself and I did check out the House before I bought it and most everything I looked at was done properly like flashing of doors and windows so here we go I’m working on my new house just like I did with a old house , this guy is totally right on the common sense with most of these construction companies they have none and most of the carpenters are below standard nowadays, if you buy a new house keep an eye out for water leaks around things sometimes it might be to late the damage is already done here in California you have a ten year warranty so use it don’t be shy
Shoddy and shortcuts cost so much more in the long run. I always appreciate your knowledge. I overbuilt , never a problem . Lastly I went out to do windows and doors and a hardie board siding at my sons house and he used all the modern coatings and membranes. He went way above code. And he made sure it was done right. I also taught him safety in the workplace, clean up your job site continually. Great advice from you. Build it right, sleep at night.
Matt, this content is invaluable to my development as a builder, keep it coming my friend!
When you said messy I thought of some things laying around. That first clip of mess was outrageous
Triple-expanding foam has like six legit uses. And everyone ends up poking it into everything, figuring it's going to be waterproof, weatherproof, fireproof, rodentproof, or even *structural* (my favorite).
Sometimes builders to it to themselves. A "contractor" down the street did a lick-and-stick job on his old house. This included putting that thin pretend hardwood flooring down. Went right over the old register openings [the big square ones that are about 15x15"]. Couple of years later he walked over the spot and his leg broke through and he dropped into the hole. Apart from lacerations [lucky, because inside of thigh has some big arteries] he now had a floor and basement ceiling to repair. But boy was he fast when he did the floor, totally makes up for the time lost two years later! A plumber on the street did his own house and when he sold it the inspector for the buyer had him re do most of the plumbing. Great advert for your own business!
I don't think I'm a difficult owner, but I do all my own work. Every, and I mean every contractor who has done work for me has damaged the building envelope. The roofer didn't flash the chimney. The electrician didn't seal the subgrade power conduit and I had to stop them from putting the new electrical box directly onto a weeping concrete basement wall. The A/C guy left squirrel size subgrade openings around his pipes. Their "repair" was to caulk the opening from inside the house.
However, when burying the 200 amp service cable the excavator guy broomed the driveway of debris before driving the machine across it, and literally was so proficient that he lifted the buried phone line with a toothed bucket without damage. He tore up the yard from wall to fenceline and put it back with less damage to the house than one electrician with a drill! So pros are out there, yet i guarantee (while I was so happy to see him broom the driveway [absolute must in my construction worker family] before driving a cat across it) there will be homeowners who would react "I'm not paying you to clean my driveway! Work faster!"
Lol that operator probably makes $75-110 an hour. He better be on his A game. Plus they dont work as many hours or as hard lol every time I drive equipment Its like a day off lol hard for people to be precise with hand tools on their feet every day in every weather condition.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on these subject-matters! The thing that REALLY bothers me, aside from the shoddy electrical work... At 9:52, take notice of the Romex® cable staples/straps! If water/elements from outside doesn't short the location's A/C outlet, the poorly-driven straps will! GREAT WORK on sharing your thoughts and expertise!
What are you talking about? You are making stuff up now.
I had an expensive house built by a "reputable" builder who had done a great job on other houses - but- 1) he had never built a 3 story house,
2) turns out it was his LAST house build before he retired. It was all bad, still having another builder fixing the screw ups.
since he "retired" he dropped his insurance and He has nothing of value to go after. Building inspections are a joke, they missed 99% of the problems. The house came in at about $750k, and so far about $110,000 in "repairs" 3 years later.
Seattle had a thing called Street of Dreams it was display houses before they were sold. I went to one and walked around inside with everybody else and the fit and finish was very nice but then I snuck off and went in the crawl space and it was just completely shoddy. There was a concrete pier that was off center where the support column was resting on the edge of the pier.
I wonder how did they even pass inspections?
I worked a week on one of those Street of Dreams just doing final cleanup and detailing when I was in college. There were high end homes still going up right next to those showcase builds. I watched a guy sheeting the details at the top of a two story bay bump out. His cutting tool was the claw of his hammer. Sure it was going to be covered with siding but long stretches of sheeting were ragged gnarly messes of bashed up OSB.
I dare you to show up on Essential Craftsman's jobsite. He'd be the one roasting you. "Ya just.. ya gotta wear proper garments for this type of work."
It's ridiculous to compare Essential Craftsman with those houses in this video, so messy and nasty. You are literally insulting Essential Craftsman performance.
Pet peeves are great to show, how does a home owner who finds these situations in their own home fix them long after the house has been built??
It's not bashing builders when they intentionally do not give a shit about building a quality product 👍🏼💯🇺🇸🤯😁
It's the work force. Everyone is just there for a check.
You are the kind of builder/inspector any future home owner wants on their project - one that has "PET PEEVES". Great video, Matt!
I’m a new framer in Canada. I deal with this stuff on my crew all the time... I fix everything it’s un fair but someone has to care. I’m just patently waiting for my boss to let me go on my own so I can hold a higher standard of quality
thats the way to do it bud, good on you
Congratulations on producing what must be the most "advertiser friendly" channel on RUclips.
Good, interesting info though. Keep up the good work. (The person who left that exposed beaver puke sheathing should be given a fair trial before hanging.)
The forman: goddammit who let this guy in again, lol
That's right! Who does he think he is? Ahmaud Arbery?
Right? WHERE is the damn guard?? Is he even present at work?
The attention to security is the same level as attention to doing things right. Either do it right or spend money on security.
I love 2 learning , off details thanks
This shows what ive been saying for a while even homes are becoming disposable. these homes are built to last 20 maybe 30 yeats one familys mortgage. the day its paid off bulldoze the house and a new family comes in and builds a new house foundation and all.
4:19 perfect timing. LOL. I remember my father hiring home depot day laborer pro plumber that fell asleep under the house with a six pack of beer. He thought the guy was dead since it took a few minutes to wake him. He was fired.
On the resest tankless use two 90s on inlet and outlet (close) or streat. With a piece of flashing about a 135 bend with some volcam sealant works wonders. Volcam is my go to sealant when the guy before you didn't care
Imagine some customers seeing these and saying, HEY THIS IS MY FUTURE NEW BUILD!
I wish he was their county inspector. Heads would roll. These subs don't seem to know why they're using vapor barriers, sealants, etc.
Tankless mounted outside is criminally stupid. As tens of thousands of Texans just found out with catastrophic failures and ruptures. In any climate, it's stupid.
I've heard that entire neighborhoods lost their externally mounted tankless heaters in Dallas.
@@nicholasnielsen2644 only because they lost power, generator, then no problem
And install the water heater as far from the finish plumbing as possible, preferably next door
@@frankstallcup8720 Those tankless are NG which went out too.
@@CraigThorne everyone has an opinion
@Matt Risinger I really appreciate your "Heart of a Teacher" approach to pointing out these errors, not just to other contractors, but to consumers as well. I'm a REALTOR® in Boise, Idaho and you have opened my eyes to what potential liabilities I may be selling my clients. Perhaps you can do a series of videos that help educate those in MY industry (Real Estate Agents) so that we can insist on higher standards of construction like the standards you promote. Thanks for being you, and for being genuine. BTW- I really appreciated your Christmas Message that you added to the end of a video you did last December 24, 2019. Sincerely- Dave
Agent here too, highly suggest doing Energy Star Home Building classes and helping your local Habitat to learn how building is done properly.
@@Nicholas-f5 Good idea. Thanks!
Years ago when I was the supers helper. I would see the framers get full 30 packs and bring them back to the houses the were building. Completely up professional.
A quality product becomes worthless if it is not installed as designed. Thanx Matt! You're improving the profession, one job site at a time.
As an electrician. My pet peeve is labeling. If doing a large cabinet, typically CAT5/6/7 and coax. Please label both ends the same and use the same symbols.
I’m on a solar field job right now and the other electrician is labeling his ends CE1, while I’m doing the way the foreman wants it... CE-01. Of course I can say anything because I’m just a first year apprentice, while he’s a 35 year vet.
35 years taught him that writing the "-0" not only adds more characters one has to write and increases the length of the label... but more importantly it increases the amount of time and fatigue one will be spending at each label. Time and efficiency goes a long way and maybe while we are still young we don't really see the issue with that but once we get real old, we will start to count our minutes and seconds like a kid counting pennies in a candy store. 😆
I never understood short overhangs in warm climates. Run those eaves out 2' or better and shade that wall. Especially in warm, wet climates. Keep it shaded and dry.
Warm moist climates mean hurricans. Making big overhangs increases the wind ulife causing the wood to fail in a storm. So now your house is gone.
No overhangs in Vegas. The sun beats on your walls all day long.
I hate messy job sites, It says so much about the care (and lack of) from the contractors. Also have been in my current home for 3 years and while making some cosmetic changes and other work, I have found Modleo cans on top of cabiinets, buried in flower beds, in attic, and jamed in the hole in a tree. Must have been party central when built. Thanks for tips. I plan to have a custom built in a couple years for retirement and will apply some of your thinking on water barrier management.
In Ontario we have building codes that would make all these houses defects.poorly built, yes but minimum code is up to each individual district
You cant fix "I don't care"
"Looks good from my house!"
Can't fix stupid either. :)
You can try by banning any shit sub from your company's site(s). Let their boss know they may not have any future work if things don't improve. Guy I work for caught painters drinking on the job, reported them, they got fired. Of course they came back at night and smashed out a window in the house.
3:26 "Just as I suspected" You dumped water down the hole of course it's going to come out of the bottom.
We use gasket sealed boxes for electrical up here in Canada. Its code.
And the "gaskets" where the wires enter the plastic boxes don't seal well when you poke a wire through, and trying to pull a wire back out is very likely to ruin the plastic spring clamp (and box). I'll never use plastic boxes again.
bummer
The problem is that there is no real accountability in this country. My dad was stationed in Germany for 30 years so I grew up over there and those people know how to build!
No rats nests of conduits criss crossing through a ceiling because you can just drywall over it...etc.
We need MUCH MORE vocational training here in the US. And we need to start requiring log books for houses, meaning that every licensed plumber or electrician needs to log his work and ID in a book to make him be held accountable for his work.
go back to germany we dont need you in this wonderful country..
if you didnt know there are alot of vocational schools in America...
even the government can help put you into Job Corp..
@@yp6997 U need to STFU, bcuz wut he's saying makes a whole lotta sense if u really think about it & he's right they should start doing that....Ur probably being defensive bcuz u maybe 1 of the shoddy builders he's exposing 🤔
I totally agree with you 100%
@@68heavyChevyRidaShoddy builder??yeah I guess you're a better builder than me... Ima superstar builder in my city(large city)
I'm pretty sure you are a sour old man clown!
@@yp6997 Wuteva dude & no I'm not a old man I'm still young
Matt says foam doesn't seal - then points to areas that were not foamed. Nothing seals if you don't use it 🤔 Anyway, on my sill I used a foam sill sealer under the bottom plate, then used a bead of Huber liquid flash between the concrete and sill plate on the inside. Most people caulk, but the liquid flash seals incredibly well and sticks to anything. It's expensive, but not much more than Quad.
I worked construction for years. My huge pet peeve is SPITTING ON THE FLOOR INSIDE (or in the walls!!)! JUST STOP!
I really appreciate your quality build the time and effort you put into it I would much rather quality instead of quantity on my home
Jason Jones what did he build, he just walked around complaining
Some years ago, I bought a new house in a large development. Moved all my furniture in and that first day, before I spent my first night, discovered there was outside sheathing in the house corners, only. The vinyl siding was nailed over the 2by4s. I moved the next day back to the farm and sold the new house. There is always a multitude of mistakes buried throughout the construction of most new houses.
At least we made an attempt to hide our beer cans back in the day.
LOL...I found some beer cans from 1954 in my attic rock-wool insulation! Too bad they were not in better shape (must have been tin back then, cause they could have been worth something...had they not rusted).
We still find beer cans and lucky strikes cig packs
Doesn't help that you can't just chuck them in the work dumpsters anymore.