Shoddy Home Construction Standards

[HtownTX]

While purchasing our home in Midtown and going through the home inspections I became very frustrated with the shoddy construction. According to this Consumer Reports article it's very common nationwide: http://www.consumerreports.org/main/conten...3East_id=333143 and Criterium Engineers estimates that as many as 15% of new homes are seriously defective (foundations or framing): http://www.criterium-engineers.com/residen...nstruction.html

I am fairly certain my home is adequately built, but after we closed realized I shouldn't have agreed to binding arbitration: http://www.hobb.org/arbitration.shtml

Then today I saw this discouraging article about new, low, building standards in Houston... http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3009677

It's not a Midtown-specific problem at all, and my builder has given me confidence, but I wish Houston would buck up to the builder lobbyists. There was a home lemon law proposed a while back that the builders managed to shoot down.

[HeightsGuy]

I live in Shady Acres, and I have been noticing more and more new homes in the area built on pier and beam, with the piers being much more hi-tech than the old blocks laid directly on the ground. I am pretty impressed with the design and think it's a long-term solution to the soil problems we run into in our fair city built on sand and clay.

[Guest danax]

It's not a Midtown-specific problem at all, and my builder has given me confidence, but I wish Houston would buck up to the builder lobbyists.  There was a home lemon law proposed a while back that the builders managed to shoot down.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I remember reading something about Robert Perry of Perry Homes being the #1 donator to political campaigns in Texas and his big agenda was doing away with arbitration and lawsuits against builders, or something to that effect.

[H-Town]

I remember reading something about Robert Perry of Perry Homes being the #1 donator to political campaigns in Texas and his big agenda was doing away with arbitration and lawsuits against builders, or something to that effect.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yup: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na...-home-headlines

Texas homebuilders are big contributors to Republican political campaigns.

In the 2002 election cycle, Bob Perry and his wife, Doylene, the owners of Houston-based Perry Homes, gave $4.2 million to Texas candidates and their political action committees, including $905,000 to the Texas Republican Party.

Dubbed by the Dallas Morning News the "most influential man in Texas you have never met," the reclusive Perry gave three times more money to state politicians than anyone else in 2001-02.

A longtime friend and ally of Karl Rove, President Bush's political strategist, Perry also gave most of the money that funded this summer's ad campaign by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacking the military record of Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry.

As a homebuilder, Perry had plenty of allies in winning a business-friendly state government. The group that has given the most money to Texas politicians

[H-Town]

Good read in this week's Press about shoddy home construction, Perry, and inner-loop development: http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2005-02...ture_print.html

It contains 2 sidebars; one on Perry's political donations, and the other regarding alternatives to Perryesque construction: http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2005-02-24/sidebar.html

http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2005-02-24/sidebar2.html

The beginning of the article:

He called them "the little houses." They were the shotgun shacks and decomposing Victorians, the flophouses where the panhandlers crashed and the drug dealers weighed rock. Along the crabgrass yards of the Fourth Ward slum, they bred the kind of crime and poverty unheard of in Rich Agnew's Clear Lake subdivision. Yet walking the narrow streets with a realtor, Agnew could hardly see them.

Instead, he saw uniform brick facades reminiscent of new row houses in old London. Sidewalks striated to resemble cobblestones led him past young shrubs planted with cookie-cutter precision. The realtor ushered Agnew through the door of a new model town house, one among hundreds sporting vanity rooms, granite countertops and shiny wood floors.

An uppermost window gave Agnew and his wife a glimpse of the downtown skyline. The middle-aged couple imagined an exciting life of freedom from their commute, lawn mower and energy bills. But they wanted this lifestyle without the chaos of inner Houston's urban hodgepodge; they feared losing the programmed, suburban feel of the Perry Homes neighborhood where they had raised kids.

And that's why Sutton Square, one of Perry's new urban versions of the suburbs, was almost perfect.

"We liked the appearance of the homes that they built," Agnew says. "And we were really sold on the fact that eventually Perry would buy the rest of these little houses and build town homes."

Since the building boom hit inner Houston in the late 1990s, thousands of home buyers have made the same leap of faith. Lured by gentrifying neighborhoods, better nightlife and rising property values, they've moved from distant culs-de-sac into the shadow of downtown, often paying more than $300,000 for skinny slices of wood and brick in new urban villages. Perry Homes is on the leading edge of this trend, advocates say, seeding an urban renaissance one foundation at a time.

The company promises that its homes will be solid, care-free, efficient and economical.

Agnew's new town house was all of those things -- for about a year. In 2002, cracks appeared on the floor of the garage and in the house's bricks and mortar. A pipe in a bedroom wall sprung a leak. Nails poked through tilting drywall, and off-balance doors wouldn't stay open. Thrown up in the span of a few months, Agnew's building was supposed to be warranted from major defects for a decade. But Perry Homes refused to fix most of the problems.

Agnew's real name has been changed; he hopes to sell his house someday, and is afraid his public identification would make that impossible.

Perry Homes agreed through a spokesman to accept a list of written questions for this story but responded a week later that it would not be answering them.

"There's no more trust for Perry Homes, as far as I'm concerned," Agnew says.

Customers aren't the only ones who've lost faith in Perry. Other Inner Loop residents feel equally betrayed. They've escaped the bland suburbs only to see downtown's old oaks felled and bright cottages toppled. They describe a campaign to whitewash the city's anarchic soul. They call it Perry Homogenization.

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[jgs1419]

Texas has made some advances in building code and home building standards. On June 1, 2005, the standards for building, performance and warranties will take effect. While there has been some compromise getting this far (most particularly in the dispute resolution process), this is a substantial step toward improving the quality of housing.

It is important to note that these are minimum standards required to get a certificate of occupancy. Many of the standards significantly exceed the practices of some of our production builders, especially with regard to insulation, ducting, etc..

For more information: www.trcc.state.tx.us

[suzerain]

Texas has made some advances in building code and home building standards.  On June 1, 2005, the standards for building, performance and warranties will take effect.  While there has been some compromise getting this far (most particularly in the dispute resolution process), this is a substantial step toward improving the quality of housing. 

It is important to note that these are minimum standards required to get a certificate of occupancy.  Many of the standards significantly exceed the practices of some of our production builders, especially with regard to insulation, ducting, etc..

For more information:  www.trcc.state.tx.us

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I guess this means it is better off to wait to purchase a home where constuction begins after June 1.

[johncoby]

I guess this means it is better off to wait to purchase a home where constuction begins after June 1.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

NO! I would buy a 5 year old new home! The warranty standards they created are EXTREMELY limited. As an example, I know of a house that is just 1.5 years old. The tile throughout the house has cracked adn come up off the floor.

Under the new standards this is NOT COVERED!

I have reviewed, and participated in the workshops for these standards and they are an embarrassment to the homebuilding industry.

[pineda]

While there has been some compromise getting this far (most particularly in the dispute resolution process)

What do you mean when you say there's been some compromise, especially in the dispute resolution process? Aren't forced arbitration agreements already mandatory at any closing? How could this get any worse for a potential homebuyer? What recourse do homebuyers have to get around this?

[johncoby]

What do you mean when you say there's been some compromise, especially in the dispute resolution process? Aren't forced arbitration agreements already mandatory at any closing? How could this get any worse for a potential homebuyer? What recourse do homebuyers have to get around this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good question! I would like to know also. The dispute resolution process was largly created by law. There wasnt any significant changes to it since the day the bill passed. It is a very complicated procedure chaulk full of legal potholes, and the Commission has absolutely NO enforcement powers.

This is truly a GREAT bill for the builders.

[pineda]

Thanks for joining this forum. I, for one, will appreciate hearing your views on this process, especially the new mediation clauses being built into the closing contracts of every new home sold. I think it offers lots of protections for the builders, and almost no recourse for homeowners. Case in point; Windrose is/was owned by Friendswood Development Company. Lennar Homes, a major builder in Windrose, is a division of Friendswood. The HOA is controlled by the Friendswood Development Company, as is the neighborhood newsletter. Their tight grip over almost every aspect allows very little communication to happen if there are problems either in the neighborhood or with the builders there.

[musicman]

Case in point; Windrose is/was owned by Friendswood Development Company. Lennar Homes, a major builder in Windrose, is a division of Friendswood. The HOA is controlled by the Friendswood Development Company, as is the neighborhood newsletter. Their tight grip over almost every aspect allows very little communication to happen if there are problems either in the neighborhood or with the builders there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Our illustrious Mayor has pushed a program where home builders can pay their own inspectors to inspect a house instead of using city inspectors. Developers are saying that the city is too slow to inspect, therefore this program was implemented. What do you think this is going to do for quality??

I know many people are having problems with the fake stucco people are using. Seems the material does not allow a house to breathe so humidity control inside is important. One you see a crack in the material....the cracked MUST be fixed otherwise water will leak behind the wall and cause mold. This material is being used everywhere now cause it is so cheap.

One horror story. I know a rich couple in midtown who bought two townhomes cause they didn't know what corner they wanted to be on. Once they decided, they gutted one of the homes to make it like they wanted. They put the other one back on the market. It was NEVER lived in and passed inspection. They had it inspected for sale and the inspector stated that the roof supports were undersized. They had to spend over 3000 to fix the problems. I believe they ended up suing the builder who settled out of court.

[johncoby]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/2292246

Rick Casey wrote about a builder who required you to not talk with the media, via the internet, or talk with reporters, or picket, or place signs in their yards if they have a complaint with the builder.

Later this builder stopped the practice.

[Trophy Property]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/2292246

Rick Casey wrote about a builder who required you to not talk with the media, via the internet, or talk with reporters, or picket, or place signs in their yards if they have a complaint with the builder.

Later this builder stopped the practice.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wonder if KB would still sell you the house if you were to have your attorney stike that clause from the contract.

[johncoby]

I wonder if KB would still sell you the house if you were to have your attorney stike that clause from the contract.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can send in a pack of attorneys and all you will get is a bill. The vast majority f the builders do not change their contracts.

[Trophy Property]

You can send in a pack of attorneys and all you will get is a bill. The vast majority f the builders do not change their contracts.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is because they know that if you do not sign and they lose the deal they will turn around a find someone who will not even read the contract. Once that changes so will the terms !

[hydepark]

I guess this means it is better off to wait to purchase a home where constuction begins after June 1.

If you are going to wait for the TRCC to do something... plan a long wait. We have been waiting for the ruling on the investigation of Tremont/stature for over a year.They are by the builder. for the builder.of the builder, so don'tt hold your breathe.

I have been to Austin one Director already resigned. If he did his job Perry would have him fired from "his agency," and if he did't all he did was get called on the carpet from the rest of Texas for not protecting the homeowners. It is a joke. As Carol Strayhorn said it should be blown up . Rep. Garnet Coleman said." only in Texas can you buy your own agency and regulate yoruself." They have made millions off the homeowners just since Perry bought it.

[justiceforall]

NO!

Under the new standards this is NOT COVERED!

Condos are not covered in TRCC either. I purchased a new condo in Houston where I immediately discovered mold and got sick after moving in. Today, my condo remains uninhabitable, I have since moved out, and remain homeless. The Governor and I both thought TRCC could help me in my condo troubles, but we were both wrong. It took six months for me to find out.

Governor Perry suggested in a letter that I seek TRCCs help on getting my condo fixed. He provided me with the contact info for TRCC, the address to write them as if all my condo troubles would be solved. So I did. Months later, TRCC responded: Sorry, but our agency can't help you, TRCC doesn't include condos only 'free standing homes'. A condo is not a home. Our own politicians do not know this, they don't even understand TRCC.

Perry seems no sympathy to understand the lack of home owner's protection within a state agency he created nor which types of homes it even includes.

[Guest danax]

It sounds like the building industry has set up a true "let the buyer beware" system. These kinds of laws are how Texas gets such a bad reputation, which will really ripen if these thousands of townhomes and condos end up being junk in a short time.

I'm wondering what possible indicators a potential buyer might be able to see that would tip them off to shoddy construction. Walk throughs, inspections......is nothing found to be awry?

There's a group of townhomes that have gone up directly across from my parking garage near Shepherd and I-10. They're finishing the interiors now and, at prices starting at $314.9K, I'm a little surprised that the windows don't line up perfectly. As the sides and backs are Hardi-planked, I can count planks to see where the window sills align with each other, and they're off a little. One bottom trim piece is crooked and doesn't align with the siding.

Maybe I don't understand construction practices and my old Victorian has carpenter imperfections too but if I were walking around one of these units and noticed such obvious signs of lack of attention to detail and care, I would walk away. You can tell me that this stuff is normal and doesn't matter but if the visible is not carefully done, then one must assume that the invisible is too. It doesn't seem to me that it takes much more than a little patience and caring to have windows in symmetry and alignment with one another.

[hydepark]

It sounds like the building industry has set up a true "let the buyer beware" system. These kinds of laws are how Texas gets such a bad reputation, which will really ripen if these thousands of townhomes and condos end up being junk in a short time.

I'm wondering what possible indicators a potential buyer might be able to see that would tip them off to shoddy construction. Walk throughs, inspections......is nothing found to be awry?

There's a group of townhomes that have gone up directly across from my parking garage near Shepherd and I-10. They're finishing the interiors now and, at prices starting at $314.9K, I'm a little surprised that the windows don't line up perfectly. As the sides and backs are Hardi-planked, I can count planks to see where the window sills align with each other, and they're off a little. One bottom trim piece is crooked and doesn't align with the siding.

Maybe I don't understand construction practices and my old Victorian has carpenter imperfections too but if I were walking around one of these units and noticed such obvious signs of lack of attention to detail and care, I would walk away. You can tell me that this stuff is normal and doesn't matter but if the visible is not carefully done, then one must assume that the invisible is too. It doesn't seem to me that it takes much more than a little patience and caring to have windows in symmetry and alignment with one another.

[musicman]

There's a group of townhomes that have gone up directly across from my parking garage near Shepherd and I-10. They're finishing the interiors now and, at prices starting at $314.9K, I'm a little surprised that the windows don't line up perfectly. As the sides and backs are Hardi-planked, I can count planks to see where the window sills align with each other, and they're off a little. One bottom trim piece is crooked and doesn't align with the siding.

Maybe I don't understand construction practices and my old Victorian has carpenter imperfections too but if I were walking around one of these units and noticed such obvious signs of lack of attention to detail and care, I would walk away. You can tell me that this stuff is normal and doesn't matter but if the visible is not carefully done, then one must assume that the invisible is too. It doesn't seem to me that it takes much more than a little patience and caring to have windows in symmetry and alignment with one another.

Danax you hit it right on the mark. Most builders' construction is of poor quality. The units may look great, but are built really cheaply. One major problem people continue to have is mold damage as a result of using fake stucco. I visited a 6 yr old unit near the museum and the owner told me that she had to have the entire unit redone because of a crack in the stucco which resulted in a slow leak (and hence mold damage.) She said she could barely see it so she didn't think it was a problem. And of course 6 yrs later the builders are long gone.

Whenever you have a home built, make sure and go by frequently with someone who has some knowledge. It may save you lots of heartache later on.

[ldogg]

danax...

I think I know which ones you are talking about. I used to live in some beige stucco townhomes on Nolda between TC Jester and Durham.... if these are the same I'm thinking of, the builder isn't really a builder.. it was a lady who appeared to have bought the lot and her dad was helping her out on subcontracting it all... the project has gone on forever and still aren't done... I've noticed several improper things there in the past year...

[hydepark]

While purchasing our home in Midtown and going through the home inspections I became very frustrated with the shoddy construction. According to this Consumer Reports article it's very common nationwide: http://www.consumerreports.org/main/conten...3East_id=333143 and Criterium Engineers estimates that as many as 15% of new homes are seriously defective (foundations or framing): http://www.criterium-engineers.com/residen...nstruction.html

I am fairly certain my home is adequately built, but after we closed realized I shouldn't have agreed to binding arbitration: http://www.hobb.org/arbitration.shtml

Then today I saw this discouraging article about new, low, building standards in Houston... http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3009677

It's not a Midtown-specific problem at all, and my builder has given me confidence, but I wish Houston would buck up to the builder lobbyists. There was a home lemon law proposed a while back that the builders managed to shoot down.

[hydepark]

While purchasing our home in Midtown and going through the home inspections I became very frustrated with the shoddy construction. According to this Consumer Reports article it's very common nationwide: http://www.consumerreports.org/main/conten...3East_id=333143 and Criterium Engineers estimates that as many as 15% of new homes are seriously defective (foundations or framing): http://www.criterium-engineers.com/residen...nstruction.html

I am fairly certain my home is adequately built, but after we closed realized I shouldn't have agreed to binding arbitration: http://www.hobb.org/arbitration.shtml

Then today I saw this discouraging article about new, low, building standards in Houston... http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3009677

It's not a Midtown-specific problem at all, and my builder has given me confidence, but I wish Houston would buck up to the builder lobbyists. There was a home lemon law proposed a while back that the builders managed to shoot down.

Thank you! You are so right ! I hope you got a great house. With an arbitration clause most people do not understand what it means or how it works against them or that they most probably can't afford it. Many won't be able to come up with the filing fees and if they do they have got to search long and hard for an attorney that will go with them. It can be a 10 thousand dollar retianer and some of those I have talked to spent 100,000 dollars on legal fees alone.

The little guy does not come out. He does not have the slick lawyers that make a living protecting bad builders and have it down pat... how to get you in and out of arbitration, send you out the other side: broke, disheartened, in a state of shock... and for many under a secrecy agreement.(gag Order)

We had this brought in on us by stealth bomber. It's after effects are just now coming to light and as we realize we have a town filled with defective homes and no where to turn. Unfortunatly, more and more homebuyers are coming to this reallization the hard way. The others don't believe you or I yet.

[hydepark]

While purchasing our home in Midtown and going through the home inspections I became very frustrated with the shoddy construction. According to this Consumer Reports article it's very common nationwide: http://www.consumerreports.org/main/conten...3East_id=333143 and Criterium Engineers estimates that as many as 15% of new homes are seriously defective (foundations or framing): http://www.criterium-engineers.com/residen...nstruction.html

I am fairly certain my home is adequately built, but after we closed realized I shouldn't have agreed to binding arbitration: http://www.hobb.org/arbitration.shtml

Then today I saw this discouraging article about new, low, building standards in Houston... http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3009677

It's not a Midtown-specific problem at all, and my builder has given me confidence, but I wish Houston would buck up to the builder lobbyists. There was a home lemon law proposed a while back that the builders managed to shoot down.

Want to see for yourself what happens to a homeowner that complains about bad builders... be in Judge Kent Sullivans' 80th District Court, 16th floor, 1019 Congress Ave. at 2:30 tomorrow, Friday the 24th of February. We will see if justice prevails...or might over right.

[hydepark]

danax...

I think I know which ones you are talking about. I used to live in some beige stucco townhomes on Nolda between TC Jester and Durham.... if these are the same I'm thinking of, the builder isn't really a builder.. it was a lady who appeared to have bought the lot and her dad was helping her out on subcontracting it all... the project has gone on forever and still aren't done... I've noticed several improper things there in the past year...

:ph34r:

The TRCC is no help. We can no longer get help form Deceptive Trade Practices Act either.

Even though the TRCC laws are retroactive back to 1993 and my contract was fraud, it doesn't matter because if the arbitration clause is in the contract...which it is in all new homes in Texas. The arbitration contract can not be voided. You can not sue. You no longer have any seventh amendment rights.

I have been trying to sue for fraud for 2 years. You have no recourse agasinst a builder, no matter what he does to you. even if you house is so bad you can't live in it. No one in this state will help you and attorneys can't help, except cost you more money. The laws of Texas are against you. Sadly more and more people are finding this out the hard way.

No one believes you in the beginng until they have a major problem and then the vortex of buck passing is endless, until you exhaust yourself and funds. Texas is not the home of the American Dream.

The builder won't sue me for slander because I am telling the truth and he is afraid to go to court because all that he has done would be made public knowledge.