MasterShake

If you really want a water softener, then seriously consider doing it yourself or even hiring a plumber to save a lot of money over what the bigger companies will charge you. If you can locate the main water line into your house and also find access to a drain, you can get a good system for under $1K and install it yourself (or use a plumber) with just a basic water heater install kit, a little plumbing pipe and a yoke/bypass switch. In my case, the main water line came in through the garage, so I was able to setup a system there. The softener will help with calcium (and magnesium) buildup if you really do have hard water. Lime is basically just a form of calcium, but a softener may not help with all kinds lime, so keep that in mind.

The trick to finding the correct water softener size is to find out what the water hardness level is. Your salesman should give you the number, or you can do your own test for around $40. Then use a chart, such as the one at http://www.watervalue.com/sizing_chart.html to find the correct size of the system. This site suggest a regineration every 4 days, but you can probably regenerate every week or so to help save on overall water usage.

If your water does not taste good -- and most people do not seem to like the taste of softened water, you can add a reverse osmosis system to your kitchen (under the sink) for about $300 or so. RO systems tend to waste a lot of water, so it is usually not a good idea for the whole house. Also, showering with softened water will take some getting used to, but it isn't really all that bad IMO.

Sorry for the ramble, but I just went through this myself and spent more than a few weeks gathering this information. Hope it helps.

As everyone is saying, if you have doubts keep looking. There are a lot of builders to select from.

That said, I personally doubt that Beazer will go bankrupt, but you never know.

As for an extreme example of what could happen if Beazer did go bankrupt: Turner Dunn was a home builder in Phoenix, Az. that went bankrupt in 2006. They basically had stopped paying their contractors, suppliers, etc. (most likely due to financial concerns). This obviously stopped all work, leaving many customers in a state of limbo.

One news story was quoted with this statement: "In the wake of this are the home buyers who have been waiting months and months for a new home to be built after paying thousands in earnest money only to find themselves still without their promised new home and facing hurdles to recover their deposit funds. Contractors have also been left unpaid for the work completed on these properties."

Many people could not get their deposits back (even after trying to contact the bankruptcy court and the State Registrar of Contractors), nor did they have any idea of when their houses would be completed -- if ever. Towards the end, as part of the bankruptcy procedure, all of the houses and lots were auctioned off to other builders.

I think a lot of it just plain has to do with cost, and the perceived "what you get for the money". Most people want the best (and biggest) they can get, but for the least amount of cost -- which is basically what all of the current mass-builders are selling. Most new mass-produced houses are built as cheaply as possible, but often designed to look like they have value, and most buyers don't really care. They just don't want to have to pay too much.

Aside from some of the newer technologies available (insulation and energy efficiency, etc.), all of the posts above would seem to apply to someone who actually cares about quality, and who has the ability to appreciate it, and is willing to pay a little more for the quality. But of course, most people are more concerned about the initial price, without regard to the long-term costs or what will actually last over time. Using the carpet example above, it is much less expensive to go with the cheap builder installed carpet, than opt for an upgrade to a good hard-wood (or even a cheaper laminate wood) floor. This is probably part of the reason why it is so difficult to find good quality these days.

I figured it was a bit of a foregone conclusion. Anyone who is going to spend the money on TechShield isn't going to be dopey enough to not insulate the rest of the house.

Even so, TechShield would provide noticeable differences in cooling costs in the summer even with less than stellar wall insulation as it keeps the sun from directly heating the house through the roof. Crappy windows and insulation reduce it's effectiveness, but they don't completely negate it.

Thanks for the replies.

In my case it is a new build -- and the TechShield is an extra option. The rest of the house will have R-13 insulation, dual pane windows, 14-SEER air conditioner, etc. The attic is supposed to have R-30 insulation standard, but they are trying to up-sell the TechShield, saying it will "drastically" reduce electricity usage in the summer months because it keeps the attic cooler. The sales pitch sounded good, so I wanted to see if anyone had any real world experience with it.

Anyone use TechShield roofing insulation or think it is of any real (noticable) worth -- compared to price?

Anyone know anything about Chesmar homes? They seem to be a new(er) builder in the Houston area. I did a search on Google, but I didn't really find anything other than their home page, nor was I able find anything in this forum. Are they part of a larger, more well-known company? Thanks!

I consider it Cypress, even with the Houston address. Or you could call it Hot Wells, too.

Hot Wells? Never heard of that one. I'm still trying to learn all of the areas myself. Interesting. Thanks!

What area would you consider Stonegate to be? Most people seem to consider it to be Cypress, some consider it to be Houston proper (because of the 70095 zip) and even a few might consider it to be Katy.

Stonegate is just south of the 290, above West (above the 529) and east Barker Cypress -- somewhat north of Copperfield, I believe.