Thank you very much sriddle1ny. I am doing just about everything you state in your post. For the past 6 months I have literally been watching EVERY Holmes on Homes episodes writing down all the tricks to the trade.
I really like that show and find that I learn something new in just about every episode. He builds in Canada, and things are different there then down here in East Texas, so some of it doesn't apply to me, but it's still fun to learn about.
You have to be careful with these shows. He doesn't have a budget and he is promoting materials on his shows that he is paid to use. Some of those products are new and have not stood the test of time. If you have watched his shows for very long, you might notice how he has changed how he does showers, and how he promotes some items over others.
I can't fault anything that he does, but I will say that there are other ways to do things. His engineering is first rate, and I love how much money and effort that he puts into insulation. I subscribed to his magazine for a year, but it was terrible. All Mike, all the time.
I've noticed that in his newer shows that he does in the US, he's using local contractors for the shows and he's more of a spokesman to explain what they are doing. Again, that's a regonal thing and there is no way for him to know and operate in differnt areas and be productive. He's more of a Bob Villa in those shows where he just visits the job site and isn't involved in what is going on.
His Holms Inspection show is both scary and eye opening. Seeing what others have done to the houses over the years and nobody catching it shocks me. As a remodeler, I see some of these things too, but never to the degree that he comes across!!!!
When building a new home, research and then investigate. Be careful of anything that in new or labeled green. There are things coming out all the time that promise everything, but rarely live up to the hype over the years. I would much rather go with old technology that is proven then take a chance on something that isn't.
Trust your guy when you see somethign on the job that makes you nervous. One thing that the people on those shows all have in common is that they knew early on that the contractor they hired wasn't up to the job. They all made the same mistake in hoping that it would get better. It never does. If you get nervous about what is going on, stop everything and either find out 100% what th answer is, or bring in somebody that you trust who does.
I have a client who has a son that was having a house built. They started to have doubts abou the contractor that he had hired and asked me to take a look at the house. It was a disaster. I wrote up a list of things that where wrong and things that where done that where wasteful or what I thought was a mistake for that house in that setting. Everything that I listed could have easily been fixed and in my opinion, the house should not have moved foreward until those things where fixed. The son's wife got offended that I had inspected the house without her permission and the contractor called me a lier and said that I was making it all up because I wanted the job and he got it instead. I was booked up for months, like I always am and didn't have the time or interest in building that house.
They went on and I was asked to not come by the house again. When it was done, it appraised for less then what it cost to build it. It's uglier then I thought it would be, and the contractor has redone the porch twice without fixing the problems that I had mentioned. The father, my client, has appoligized and asked me what they could do to fix all the problems. It's going to cost a lot more money, and nobody has any left after paying so much more for the house then they had planned on.
What really sucks is that the wifes parents paid for the build with the expectations that they would get a loan for it when it was done and take over ownership of the house. This is why the wife had so much power over it and why I was not wanted to return. The bank wont finance a loan on it because they said it's worth $50 a square foot and they paid close to $80 a foot the last time I was told anything.
Listen to your inner voice, listen to those who offer advice and even critisisms. It's all meant to help you out and maybe point out something that you might have overlooked, or that you are seeing in a way that doesn't make sense to others. We all have our blind spots and a vission in our heads that doesn't always turn out the way we thought it would.
There is a thread on here where a guy hired a contractor that he thought was great. He posted pics and it was obvious that this contractor didn't have a clue. Many of us pointed out a list of issues that we saw in the pics, but he didn't believe us at first. I even received an email from him to stop posting on his thread about what I was seeing or he would stop posting any more pics. Eventually it got so bad that he ended up firing the guy and has since corrected most of the problems. I admire him for that, but was disapointed when he dug in and refused to see some of the issues that where pointed out early on.
Good luck with your house. Post pics of it's progress and we'll ask questions and point things out that don't make sense. The more eyes you have, the more that will be seen.
Eddie
