...Like one builder said to me, you can notice a few problems with what I built... but I could point out a dozen more issues/problems but you can't afford me to build you a perfect house... since then, I don't look at things through a microscope. Yep, that's good enough... I'm looking at crappy sheet rock work right at this moment!!...
While I can relate to what your builder told you, there are the basics in residential construction that beginners get wrong all the time. When a building inspector comes out to a project, he has a list of things he looks for right off on a job. If he sees that all of those basic things are done correctly, he usually doesn't go looking for the little things. But when he sees that some of the basic things are not done properly, he gets nervous and starts to look at everything.
When I see pics of a project on here, I ask myself if it's a significant structural mistake that might lead to a very expensive repair in the future, or if it's more cosmetic and doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. I realize that most of the guys on here are just like me in having a limited budget to get as much done as we can. Sometimes we just do things because that's how we saw others do it, or thought we saw it done that way.
I've learned more on here by posting what I've done and getting feedback then I ever thought possible. My mistakes where pointed out by those with more experience then I have, and thankfully their comments saved me thousands of dollars and many, many hours of doing it over again.
It's hard to be told that you did it wrong and then to go back and fix it when you are proud of what you have done. It's even harder to hire a pro to do it for you and have others tell you that your pro is doing it wrong after you have praised is skill set and paid him a lot of money.
I never criticize what it looks like, and usually stop following a thread once it gets into the finished off stage of things. My taste is very specific and I find most people build stuff that I don't care for. In every build thread, when I see mistakes happen that indicate a level of ignorance, I point them out. Sometimes I get nasty emails telling me to not comment. Other times I get emails or comments for more information. If I said nothing, I would feel bad about not offering my opinion when I think that it's wrong. I can't imagine not wanting to hear that form others, and hopefully there will always be plenty of you on here who feel the same.
