Without builders, there would be no real estate. These courageous souls risk life and limb (and money) to create virtually all the homes in America (and beyond). Except for DIY builders, the rest of us are beholden to these professionals for the homes we live in and enjoy.
It takes a special kind of person to be a professional builder, especially if he/she fronts a portion of the funds constructing the home. I got to know one especially well when living in a rural county a while back. He specialized in commercial projects but also did residential homes. The patience of Job is how I would characterize this stalwart individual as obstacle after obstacle was thrown in his way. Still, he kept chugging along, investing $millions to realize his vision of a new residential development in my community.
Builders also serve as contractors for smaller jobs. A kitchen or bathroom remodel is perhaps the most common sort of job undertaken by builders, though there are contractors who specialize in such interior work exclusively, avoiding the arduous (and time-consuming) home-building projects that true builders focus on. Repair and replacement of roofs is another type of job contractors perform, especially if they wish to make outsize profits.
Contractors, especially those who are both capable and honest, are in short supply nationwide and have been for decades. This bestows a certain power and mystique to your local contractor given how much his/her services are in demand.
Several years ago, some friends waited two years for their modest kitchen and dining room remodel to be done because of contractor issues in their community. Although pleased with the results, the cost was nearly double what they had planned for, forcing a retrenchment in the scale of the project (this was well before the pandemic).
My former home was built by a master builder, known for his attention to detail and quality work. And it was a relatively recent build that had been well taken care of by the previous owners.
So well taken care of by them and myself that when it came time for me to sell, the home inspector told the buyers “This home is not in good condition [long pause for dramatic effect], it’s in great condition!”
My current home is a different story.
I could tell the moment I first entered the home as a potential buyer that it was in serious need of TLC. However, I was seduced by the siren song of a beautiful neighborhood high above the town. The views were spectacular, and the layout was straightforward and sensible. That part of town was deemed by many to be the most desirable in the region, and hence it was not surprising that very few homes there ever came on the market.
I put in a bid at the full listing price (after having my first bid rejected as too low) and then negotiated the price down to compensate for the litany of issues that the sellers (and previous owners) hadn’t taken the time to address. The home inspection report listed a couple of dozen problems and I noted several more. A contractor’s formal evaluation provided the basis for a reduction in price and a stipulation that most of the furniture and all of the appliances remain in place. At the time, I estimated the cost of repairs and such to be ca. $16,000, a figure that is approximately what I’ve spent so far to fix the place up.
The home is nearly 40 years old and looks like it. Most of the plumbing and lighting fixtures were from the original construction. The sellers were strapped for cash so spent precious little money maintaining the home. The flat roof had habitual (though manageable) problems, the heating vent was done improperly, and a light fixture was completely inoperable (to cite just a few of the dozens of issues that have had to be addressed since moving in several years ago).
Most of the money (and time) spent so far has focused on new sinks, faucets, toilets, floor tile, a shower, and a water softening system. But windows, screens, and lighting fixtures have also been replaced.
Ideally, the work should have been performed by a single contractor. But in this community, such contractors are hard to find (even pre-pandemic). My realtor found one, but his wife called to cancel the project minutes before it was supposed to begin (he needed to finish a house flipping job).
The next contractor, recommended by a client of the same realtor, did show up but botched much of the work performed, so was fired after a week (about half of what he did had to be redone by others).
Next, I chose a company that promised: “No job is too small.” They specialized in small interior projects, and the work performed was of high quality. Unfortunately, their expertise was limited to a few types of work, so I went on the hunt for more versatile contractors, adopting a piecemeal strategy.
The electrical and lighting problems were fixed by a retired electrician found through mutual friends (this work was done very well and inexpensively).
One room in the home still had the original carpet (nearly 40 years old), now threadbare. I contacted two companies. One was a floor installation contractor who worked with local tile stores. He wanted $1,400 for the installation alone (the tile would cost even more). The other option was a tile wholesaler who worked mainly with contractors. However, some of their employees also installed floors. I chose that company because the quality of the tile was good (and reasonably priced) and the cost of installation was only $500 (the total cost with tile was just over $1,000). The quality of the installation was excellent and the tile floor continues to draw compliments three years on.
The water in my new community is exceptionally hard, like in my previous home in a different region. I had installed a water softener in that house so knew the true cost of installation and, as important, what matters in a water softening system (reducing the amount of calcium and other hard minerals) and what doesn’t (additional filters on a whole-house system; a reverse-osmosis system can be inexpensively added to the kitchen for drinking water).
Five water companies bid on the job. Their estimates ranged from $2,250 to $10,000 for essentially the same functionality (the more costly bids included unnecessary filters). I chose the lowest bid, not only because it was comparable to what I had before but also because this company was honest and competent. Sometimes, a low bid is the best option.
My new home’s roof presented the greatest challenge. Seven contractors, roofing specialists, and (insurance) appraisers spent hours evaluating the roof, each rendering a different opinion as to what needed to be done.
I had been assured by the previous owners that the roof only required simple maintenance and didn’t leak (after recent repairs recently done). Unfortunately, the roof’s problems were more complex and deeper than they thought. It took me two years to figure out what repairs were necessary to prevent the roof from leaking further (due to the infrequency of serious rain in this region, hence minimizing opportunities to test different repair scenarios). The leaks were mostly of a minor nature, with little interior damage, save one). The exception was the consequence of a freak snowstorm that caused serious damage in the kitchen and some minor leaks in two other rooms. It required three different roofers and, as important, my personal intervention to get to the root of the roof’s problems.
Roofer #1 had limited knowledge; he was mainly an appraiser and salesperson. But he followed my instructions on how to fix the primary leak over the kitchen sink (using metal flashing on a parapet wall, which resolved that issue). He hadn’t a clue as to how to fix the other leaks (despite several tries). Roofer #2 (one of the most reputable and experienced roofers in town) successfully addressed the second kitchen leak but failed to fix the leaks in the den and bathroom.
I found the third (and most capable) roofer by happenstance. I consulted an attorney specializing in faulty construction litigation to determine whether it was worth suing the previous owners for non-disclosure of a couple of serious issues, one of which involved the roof. The attorney recommended a builder with true expertise in home roofs (who often served as the attorney’s expert witness on litigation involving roofs and other aspects of construction).
This “Yoda” of roofers was indeed more competent and knowledgeable than the others. However, when it came time to pinpoint the precise locations on the roof that needed patching, he had to rely on my observations and recommendations. Even with his experience and skill, it would not have been possible to deal with the culprits without my personal intervention.
The previous roofers had wrongly believed that the source of the leaks lay on the flat surface of the roof. But I noticed the leaks were spatially associated with parapet walls and thereby deduced that the problems must originate with the walls above the roof’s surface. To confirm my suspicion, I went to a spot in my backyard where the parapet wall over the den was clearly visible and sighted a large hole on one side. This is where rain must have entered and then found its way into the home. The roofer quickly patched that hole once I showed him where it was.
The other leak, over a bathroom sink, was more challenging to fix. There had been four separate attempts to stop that leak, the most recent being by my master roofer. All the efforts had been in vain. I had suggested a “water test,” to this fellow at the outset, an option he rejected as unnecessary. After his first try failed, he agreed to a water test, an option I surmised was generally shunned by roofers as too elementary and essentially beneath their dignity. Shouldn’t a master roofer be able to spot a leak in the roof by the naked eye? Well, not in this case.
In a water test, a hose dumps water on the suspect part of the roof (in this instance, the parapet wall over the bathroom) while someone else (the roofer and me) observes its impact in the bathroom. My roofer’s workmate had to change the position of the hose several times before water came trickling down over the sink. At that point, we communicated the result to this fellow outside who was then able to identify by eye the portion of the parapet wall that required patching.
Since the completion of the roof repairs, no further leaks have occurred (“knock on wood”). Why have I gone into such detail about such dealings with contractors?
My professional background differs from most homeowners. I am a scientist who has worked on engineering applications for much of my career. Problem-solving and getting to the root of an issue is the name of the game in my field. That sort of background allowed me, with no previous background in home construction, to uncover the source of the leaks where the professionals had failed. My philosophy about contractors and their bids stems from a scientist’s healthy skepticism about claims not accompanied by strong supporting evidence.
Unfortunately, most homeowners lack such a background or the ability to properly maintain their homes without professional help. We are no longer a “frontier” or “farm” society where construction and repair skills were commonplace. The right sort of education could remedy this situation, but it takes time and money to do so. Home inspection books and YouTube videos are helpful, but as a society, we’re largely dependent on local contractors for maintaining and renovating our homes.
How about buying a newly built home? Shouldn’t this solve this problem? Not really. My master builder knows of many recently built homes that are riddled with construction flaws the developer refuses to acknowledge (and hence won’t cover under warranty). How does he know? Because he serves as an expert witness for distressed plaintiffs.
Years ago, I was advised by a realtor, who was also an educator for the local real estate community, to buy a home that was between five and fifteen years old. His reasoning: 1. It takes about five years for all the flaws in a new home to be identified and fixed, and 2. After fifteen years most homes require costly repairs and equipment replacements, thus adding to the cost of the home. His advice, though given decades ago, still applies to home buying in America (and probably elsewhere).
So, what should be done if you need work done on your home?
Reach out to friends and kin to identify reliable, trustworthy contractors. As part of this effort, consult Yelp and Google reviews, and then follow up with phone calls and estimates to assess the prospective contractor’s integrity and competence. Client references can also help. This is how I found a capable contractor to fix the interior kitchen damage mentioned earlier. My realtor’s cousin had used a certain company and was pleased with the results. “Is your cousin an especially picky and discriminating client?” Her affirmative reply was all it took for me to call the company for an estimate. Thankfully, that project went smoothly and well.
For the longer term, this country needs to rethink how builders and other artisans are trained. In Germany, a teenager is apprenticed to a local builder at an early age (by 18 or younger). That individual learns the trade from a master builder, the way generations of tradesmen in that country have learned. The system is designed to ensure a high level of quality and competence, much higher than what’s commonly found in the US. Both the Federal and State governments should consider allocating more money to training youth in the construction trade. Until then it will be mostly a matter of luck (and research) as to whether you hire a competent contractor.
Under the nom-de-plume, Sherlock Homes, I examine residential real estate from the buyer’s perspective (with a forthcoming book written from the seller’s point of view):
“House Hunter Confidential,” available on Kindle, discusses some of the issues raised in this article (Chapter 22 for recommended reading, and Chapter 79 regarding the experience buying and renovating my current home).