Keep the prices low. So many people are not able to afford homes already. I live in 1960’s home, no sheeting. 2X4, 2 layers of tar paper, stucco, I think it is fine I do agree that OSB would give much better shear strength.
@@gund89123this house is getting brick/stone fascia. I would trust plywood more because it gives you more places to tie the fascia to the structure. Plywood also prevents wracking of the structure. Although technically legal it's not a good design.
Here in Arizona it seems none of the tract home have sheathing all the way around. Instead, there is just house wrap attached to the studs except where they need sheer strength. I have no idea why that is ok.
Because those are clear violations the builder is required to fix them. If the builder doesn't it can lead to grounds of losing their license. Then they would still need to fork over the money for repairs.
@@ricktester2394 My daughter and son-in-law walked away from a $570K house in Round Rock it was so shoddy I was really shocked. I went with them to three inspections and every time there were 10-15 issues. The guy from the builder asked me if I was their inspector and I said yes, and the dad who will make sure they don't get screwed. None of the issues got fixed. They got their deposit back and the builder was cited by the city. I went by not too long ago and someone was living there and I am sure nothing was fixed. In the end they knew to just let this one go and still came out ahead. Big money for these row house builders coves most errors.
@@ricktester2394 Or they file a "letter of concern" to the local government for the inspector "publicly shaming" them on RU-vid, and trying to get the inspector's license revoked.
Unfortunately, at least here in Arizona, this would be considered a good build. Our current house, we had an independent inspector come in (who was a retired builder). At various stages of the build he picked up on over 500 faults, of which 120 were classed as serious. He also found the stucco was improperly formulated and as a result the stucco for the entire house had to be removed and redone. He accompanied us on the final walkthrough. Before we arrived he had walked the roof and found over a dozen problems that needed addressed. We then started the house inspection. We did the entrance way, lounge, dining room and kitchen. The window in the kitchen wasn't square and it was, in any case, misplaced by nine inches laterally. This meant the cabinets abutted the window on one side and on the other there was a one foot gap. In any case, the window wouldn't and couldn't open. By 'not square' I mean the angle on the corners was 85 degrees and 95 degrees. At this point, the builder got really angry and threw us out of the house. It took the builder another 3 months to fix all the faults in the report, but on the plus side we were the only buyers who didn't need any callbacks from the builder. Sadly, that same builder is still in business today. I hope they've gotten better... I would never dream of buying or building a house without a highly competent inspector who does great documentation (with photographic evidence). Never. Ever. It has saved us tens of thousand of dollars and these people are worth their weight in gold.
@@davidgapp1457 there's a bloke doing these videos here in Australia. Called siteinspections. Have a look at the absolute mess he finds. They make this house look like it was done properly.
Honestly it's nice that he's not such a jerk. A lot of these inspectors act like megalomaniacs on a pathetic little power trip. It's not his job to sh*t all over people. It's to point out mistakes. Period.
@@davidgapp1457 I grew up in Maryvale in west Phoenix, we had a brick John F Long home from 1961. Huge yard and zero HOA. Phoenix, a great place to be from.
As an old retired Building Inspector, I cannot believe all the shoddy workmanship! I would need a lot of red tags if I was responsible for this inspection!
@@colliemutt5structural cardboard 😅😂, I found it under shiplap siding on my addition that was built in the 80s. Complete garbage. Big box stores sell it.
Watching all these inspector videos makes me realize I should get in touch with an inspector to recommend me decent builders in an area when I want to build a place. So many builders cutting corners.
After watching a couple of your videos makes me wonder after all the points you make about the homes---do they actually get repaired correctly by the builder. I see some of the stuff you point out as almost needing a tear out to get it right
Feel sorry for Ben. That’s not sheathing, it’s literally cardboard and it’s garbage, as as you point out, it’s not installed properly. The walls framing the garage opening should be shear walls and anchored as you said…it would take several pages to list everything I saw. I’m guessing the contractor wasn’t counting on you finding everything. Also, while it’s good of you to to say something nice to the client, this house is total garbage, and best to walk away. The only way to fix it is to bulldoze it down and get a builder who knows what he/she is doing, and actually cares.
No OSB. Just studs and that sheathing, which is meant to be structural if you pause and read it. However, they installed it with something like an office stapler! It all has to come down and be NAILED into the studs.
@@MoneyManHolmes it can be stapled per the mfg. just has to be the proper staples. However, tply is just pure garbage. Very happy I fronted the cost for 1/2” zip for my home.
I can't believe that thermoply stuff is structural. I can see a vapor barrier but it can't be a strong as osb. And supposedly you don't even need horizontal bracing when you use it. I see that OX brand all the time.
@@gwilliams1001 what’s funny is OX claims it’s as strong as 7/16 OSB….. yet builders still have to put up OSB at corners and around garage openings for extra shear strength. If the OX is just as good why do you need OSB for added shear?
Because. It. Passed. The. City. Inspection! I have a lot of love for my ATX city inspectors, but they are overworked and over stressed and don't have the time that I have to spend on a job. Believe me they find a whole lot of stuff but under the pressure that they've got they can't find everything.
I noticed homes being built in the background. I'll bet they ALL have the same defects. That builder should be "Stopped" until all his homes meet code.
Who said the builder has a licence to build in the first place. He just quoted 30% cheaper then any other builder and forgot to tell the owner about not having a licence or it's in the post.
Bought a new construction home in 2002. As luck would have it, the pre drywall inspector came while I was visiting the site. Believe it or not, the guy spent about ten minutes on the site. I had to call his boss and he was not happy with me. Oh, well, it’s my money.
At 6:53 you can see they ended one of the HVAC supply trunks with a wye. The trunk has to terminate with an end cap and the supply branches need to be 2 feet from the end. With the way it currently is, there will be little to no airflow coming out of those registers.
Thanks for pointing that out. I'm going to do some more research on duct requirements and best practices so that I can Make sure to catch things like this in the future.
Hahaha Thanks homie! There are a lot of grumpy, crusty old inspectors out there and I suppose if your job is to point out everybody's mistakes all day every day for a career then it might lend to becoming A bit pessimistic about things. I don't want to turn in to one of those grumpy, crusty old inspectors!
Wow, stunning incompetence and corner cutting. I have owned a few older homes and dealt with the problems they had resulting from substandard construction. Absolutely horrifying that essentially the same stuff still happens. And EVERYONE says everyone else did it wrong 😂
I’ve seen a couple of jobs like this. One commercial wood framed building tried to save money and hired one guy and his wife to do all concrete and frame. You know it was bad when the curves for the driveway had Masonite on one side and the orange stripe plastic from a road barrier on the other. I’m a plumber so I don’t know the terms but it was designed by bmc and the provided everything needed to build it. Yet they used a couple of 16 penny nails rather than joist hangers, no h clips on roof decking. I’m a plumber so the big issue I had was random nail patterns on top plates. I probably used up 2 self feed bits on the jobs. One stud they missed all three nails on top. It was near where we had to have a ladder. After I almost fell by grabbing it, I pulled the top out so they’d see it and fix it. They’d just go push it back in. Same thing happened two more times, I’d pull it out and they’d push it back in. After the third time, I just ripped the whole thing out and told the gc it needed to be put back in. The gc ended up hiring a third party inspector like this video to basically go over it with a fine tooth comb and give them a list of what was needed to fix it to pass inspection. Then we did a house outside of Austin for a preacher. He hired roofers and framers from his church. They had walls that looked like an s. Some walls had almost a 2” difference. Our rough in crew missed a couple of toilets so I had to chip them up and move them. I checked everyone so they’d all be right. Then when setting toilets one was like 4” too close to the wall. I had to chip up and put an offset flange and barely made the toilet fit. I was stumped until I remembered that was one of the really wavy walls. I’d bet money the framers came back and straightened it without paying any attention to where the wall needed to be. They had a beam in the garage that I could rock with my hand. Also multiple boards in the attic had nails sticking out of them. It look like the removed them from somewhere and then just flipped the board and reused them somewhere else without pulling the nails. This really pissed me off because I was walking through the attic. I was focused on the joists and never thought I’d put my hand down on a board and find 4 nails coming out. I almost fell out of the attic. I’m long winded but moral of the story is you get what you pay for. If you’re investing all that money in a house, make sure you do your due diligence. Don’t trust a state license or the builders word.
You really are a great inspector and for sure you showed me the problems that the house has, now the builder that is using this framers sucks, actually I’m scared even to go and buy a new house unless I know really who built it!!! It’s an eye opener for all the buyers!
I've seen plumber work where they literally cut a chunk of the bottom cord of the truss out to put their piping through. Sadly, this went unnoticed until after tile was put in, which caused a dip in the roof cause the integrity the truss was comprised. It was a real pain to fix.
As a contractor I can’t stand working on cardboard houses. So many people were ripped off. Nothing like buying a $800k house that’s got no structural integrity and pink insulation. Try attaching a pipe to the side of a house that’s cardboard; the only thing holding it is plastic siding that will crack in the winter.
I feel sorry for people who buy homes with cardboard exterior sheathing.... looks like the new guys on framing crew were tasked with window, flashing and sheathing installation. How is this house gonna pass a blower door test? And no termite treatment anywhere on the lower framing?
Ive watched a few of these inspections and as an Electrician of 33 years in the trade doing residential and commercial I feel for the home buyers these days. All the work being done and these homes being erected so fast that corners are cut. I look at the wiring and framing and I just hate it all.
Building houses with cardboard, staples, tape and some wood :) Here in Switzerland, they build houses that would last 200 years. And them knock them down after 50, because enough many people are willing to pay more for a new house, but there's no space left.
I'm a builder and have no fear of this inspector. He's knowledgeable and fair. In thirty 30 years of building I have never witnessed anything close to this construction fiasco. It is so atrocious it looks staged. Buyers should fear this builder!
As an inspector hired by the buyer, they do not. I don't have the authority that the city inspectors have. That said, my client, the buyer, has a big fat report full of photos, comments, and references of the standards used that they can pull out and use as leverage to get these things repaired. The worst thing for the builder would be to not repair them, they fail, and then they are on the hook for getting it fixed after the house has closed!
@@constructivainspections Excellent answer to the question! We are in process of buying a new construction house and having the Phase 1 and 2 inspections has been a tremendous help to us in (1) Making the builder aware up front that our inspector will be monitoring the build so they might pay more attention to our house as opposed to the other 20 or 30 they are building at the same time with no buyer's inspections. (2) Catching less than professional work by subs and our supt requiring them to come back and correct and also (3) Having documentation should items not be addressed and issues come up after closing. You guys provide a great service and it's a shame that more folks dont choose to involve you guys. And shame on any Realtors that are representing buys that dont REQUIRE them to use an inspector during the build and NOT just for the "Final" inspection...
Quality workmanship! My father built 4 houses in his life, although he hired a builder and didn’t frame the houses he was on site every day from the first day of construction. These guys would have gotten 4 or 5 studs cut and my dad would have told them to pack up their tools and move on. What a joke.
It's unreal these builders still have work. Been a drywall hanger for 16 ish years.. I still see some of he worse built homes.. it's sad with levels and lasers.. people just cut corners.
How in the world can these deficiencies be remedied? It's not possible. By what process does the occupancy certificate get issued? Pity the buyers of this house. I am gearing up to build a house this year, and this affirms my plan to build it myself.
Noted. It probably does sound arrogant for a you tube commenter to say he’s going to build his own house. 😂 It’s definitely not something I’m taking lightly. However, I started framing carpentry with my dad at 12, worked framing in college, and have been extensively remodeling my homes for 30 yrs. This will be my capstone project, with my son alongside. We won’t be in a hurry, and have a good network of friends in the trades, so I have some confidence we’ll be ok.
I know this is an old video, but I just found your site. Novice question. Some of this framing looks like a teardown. How can you repair the double plates or deal with the missing truss?
It doesn’t violate code, but a nitpick for me is the use of flex tube for the vents on those long, straight spans. Greatly reduced flow rate which means a beefier fan which is way more expensive than just running straight pipe, not to mention the extra power cost and noise.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who dislikes long runs of flex hose. It will have sag points where water and dust will build up. - It's even worse when long runs of it are used for clothes dryers. They slow down the air so that lint deposits and catches on all the ribs, which develop into clogs, and you get reduced dryer performance, and sometimes house fires.
I was looking at some videos of buildings collapsing for want of proper sheathing! This looks like it could easily join that video in the future. What an unbelievable example of shoddy building. I did not see anyone else in this video. My guess is that the guy just walked into that building and pretended to be invited by the owner!! This is the absolute opposite of Matt Risinger's efforts to improve residential construction in the entire country!!
I just realized what that sheathing was..... my jaw literally dropped! I built a 12x12 shed with 2 x windows, a front door, and a 8x7 regular garage door this past winter. I did everything by myself except finish the slab, install the garage door, and install the vinyl siding. I used it as practice for some things I want to do on my main house (replace all the windows... house was built in 2003 but builder cut corners and used retro-fit windows... think the house wrap is paper towels or something... etc..). Anyway, my house wrap I used for my shed (the blue Lowes brand fabric, ($299 /roll) is way better than that 'sheathing'. I used 19/32 OSB for the roof and studs are 16" on center. My shed is very weather tight (more so than my darn house) and even though it isn't insulated, it was not bad after I had it weather tight in single digit weather!!! Oh yeah, I used cap staples for my house wrap and for my roofing underlayment... and even though I don't plan on heating the shed, I installed 2 rows of ice/water shield (for practice)!!!
My guess on the window binding and having a crack was .. stresses on the frame already due to ever so slight shifting of the wooden framing due to improper construction. Just enough to pressure the window and crack the glass, and bend the frame causing it to bind.
When my wife and had our house built we couldn’t believe the number of complaints against the builders in our area. It felt like every single one of them was the worst scum on the planet. We eventually got in contact with a framing crew that works with a couple of the home builders. They explained to us that the home builders would have the plans in front of them and choose to not follow them and would instruct the framers to do things against code and hope the inspector wouldn’t notice. So we became our own contractor. Hired in the people we wanted to ensure our house was built the way we wanted it to be built. Do not trust home builders.
@@heliumcalcium396 I wanted to echo that. There were indeed houses from 100 years prior that were built badly. But time has removed them from our experience, leaving mostly the good ones for us to observe as examples from then. I did hear that the Sears homes that could be ordered and assembled on site, about 80 years ago, were much better than a lot of what we see now.
@@rjgaynor8 hey, it really saddens me that you feel that way. Greedy contractors have taken over the industry of homebuilding, so i understand, still it bothers me that things are the way they are. I got out of new construction years ago because of rush jobs and greed. I cant believe this video, "sheathing". Wow.
@@MrLocusthead that “sheathing” would not survive the winters here. Osb has a hard time here but as long as it’s 3/4 it’s ok. We had our house sheathed in 3/4 ply. Winters here get really windy and can push a snow bank against the side of your house. Most of the foundations are a couple feet off the ground because of the snow load. The old brick houses had no problems with the snow, but the people here with new houses end up having major problems after the first winter. The wind also can rack a house. And since we can have a blow that can last up to a month the constant movement of these tall skinny houses is causing doors and windows to get stuck. My wife and I started our own business doing renovations (mostly undoing what some flipper did) and we hate it when we go to see a customer with a brand new house. The worst part is we basically specialize in fixing this stuff now. A lot of these type of videos are not near me because new construction here is rare now. The building craze from 20 years ago finally ebbed and now the cracks are showing, quite literally a “new” construction from 10 years ago is now condemned and is set to be demoed next week. We cannot fix it. Foundation shifted really bad.
Ever seen a curbside house inspection? Inspector pulls up, greets the crew foreman, signs the paperwork and hands them a sticker for the breaker panel. Five to ten minutes per structure, easy money.
Wow, in Australia it's 150mm, (6") regulation overlap for sisalation foil -- but doesn't have to be over a stud. Then we use 4mm brace ply or diagonal steel strapping BEFORE ANY cladding to stop racking. Jezzuz.
This is just depressing. I have no connections to this home but on behalf of the homeowner, I'm disgusted with this builder. I've lived in new builds many times, and the workmanship is continually going down hill.
@1:16: Exterior studs on the flat?! I assume that's an unconditioned space, but I'd want to see way more bracing for that gable end. It's like a house of cards.
The cardboard sheathing is mind blowing to me - I am from up north. I noticed how you pointed out the nailing patterns on the shear walls on either side of the garage door. I get that you need more nails there with plywood/osb, would it even make a difference with the cardboard?!
Nothing unusual here in west Michigan. My brother-in-law was an inspector in two townships, this is the normal here! And then the builders would get mad at him for finding code violations like this. Being a builder myself it was unbelievable the stories he had!!
Is the washing machine or a slop sink going to be installed in the garage? If so you can't have the plastic washing machine box or any of the drain stub outs in plastic. They have to be metal due to penetrating a fire wall. 30 yr plumbing contractor and commercial plumbing inspectctor.
I won't touch on all the defects that were mentioned. I know that I wouldn't do them. I will touch on the 2x6 construction. Awhile back I heard of using double 2x4 walls with a gap between them that basically makes the wall 10" to 12" thick depending on the spacing. It also creates separation that is filled in with insulation. What's your opinion on this? This is supposedly stronger than 2x'6 and is cheaper, except for the amount of insulation that fills in the walls.
I can only imagine how much time and money it will take to fix.. my dad always said, "Take the time to do it right the first time because it will cost you three times to fix."
So my question is this: how on earth did the structure NOT get inspected floor by floor prior to the trusses being added? Many of these issues can’t be properly fixed so will need bandaids to fix
Yeah, good LUCK with getting all that fixed. Guarantee you it wasn't. I had no idea they still allowed that cardboard crap on houses still. I mean, in FL that stuff stopped being used in the... 80s? I still find this stuff on gables and dormers in FL on homes built in 60s-80s. We always replace it with plywood, then vapor barrier it for vinyl siding.
If I were to have a home custom built, there would certainly be an independent inspector paid for by me on the job and have that inspector report to the city inspector, too.
Matt Risinger just did a video on how garbage that cardboard is for rigidity... And how little more it is. The OSB sheathing is ~$15/sheet and the cardboard is ~$9/sheet. Not much difference when building an entire house. I can't believe code still allows it to be used. I can attest that it sucks. My home was 'sheathed' with this when it was built about 20 years ago. A few years ago we had a wind event from the North/Northwest (thats the direction most big storms come from in San Antonio Texas) that was powerful enough to 'rack' every house on my street where the back of the house faces North and the wind wasn't cut / blocked by either very large oak trees or other 2 stoy homes behind them (breaks up the wind). Some trees even fell. Needless to say, i had to hire a structural engineer and my insurance isn't happy. $$$
How about all that unsupported and unprotected romex dangling across the ceiling joists and bottom chords? We're required to protect them. The purpose is to prevent damage from someone working the attic.
I can’t imagine what it will take to resolve this. I don’t understand how this happens - especially a home that you are going to raise a family in. What the heck.
Those braces are temporary they're not even recessed into the wall there literally nailed on top of the studs how do you ever think that they would sheetrock. Just sheetrock around it?
Who in the hell is this builder? These people need to be exposed. Once the drywall and siding is installed, the potential home buyers will never know just how shotty these houses are for at least the first couple of years. Then they'll start seeing the rot and mold. Furthermore, that cardboard sheathing should be outlawed.
Yes, I would like to know the builder as well. I believe he inspects houses somewhere around Austin Texas. I would not want to buy a home built by this builder.
wait you can use staples for sheathing? i always use screws i have tons of roof decking that has that and once a leak starts the staples rust to nothing and the whole board starts coming up. also osb is horrible for longevity. spend the last few day patching a roof leak from the 80 year old cedar plywood roof deck osb last maybe a 20 years best case. never let a repair man or builder use osb on your stuff just pay the extra cost it's worth it.
When did poster board and staples become structural sheathing. Feel sorry for the unsuspecting home buyer who does not realize how crappy their new home is built.
Was this built by a DIY guy who is a professional coffee maker or something? I am no carpenter but can easily see how shoddy this work is. My first thought on the sheathing is that they should leave it all in place and put a second layer, properly placed and attached. I don't know if that's ok or not. Again, I am no carpenter.
@@jessewilson8676 Ha.. yes ... after the fact... but I'm wondering if the issue was pointed out during this framing stage... how would the builder fix the issue?
This level of craftsmanship isn't acceptable at ANY stage of the build. The only part that can be open for interpretation is the foundation anchors, it's possible that negotiations are going on to determine who gets a charge back on redoing them. That isn't an uncommon occurrence for the foundation contractor to miss on some or leave some out. As far as the sheathing goes someone took the time to staple it, why would I think their plan all along was to do it twice? All of the mistakes were due to lack of knowledge and a complete and total lack of pride. The top plate joints show that the builder has no clue what their purpose is for.
