Waterproof NON-flexible adhesive

[bud16415]

I once had a sales man come in selling a 100 ton press and he told me everyone else makes a 2000PSI press but we offer a 5000PSI press at no more cost. That’s about the same as your breaker example. My grandfather was a plasterer during the depression and he said when they would ask him if the wall was plumb he would say yes sir we make them plumb or over plumb.

I had a builder out once to look at an addition I wanted and I asked him about his last project and it was a 12 million dollar home. I asked him how in the world do you get a house to cost so much and he started in on the gold plated this and that and the front porch made from marble that was picked out and sent direct from Italy for this job. Copper roofs etc. He then commented on the specs I had drawn up on my addition and the interior wall finish, saying in the 12 million dollar house they got half inch drywall nothing as nice as I was asking for. I said are you kidding and he said nope that’s code and all they asked for. I asked him what he thought of my walls and he said it’s what I have in my house and what he just put in a church he belongs to.

I think you could start at the footer and go to the roof cap and find things that would be in excess of code. I wouldn’t say building to code is good enough. After all it has been studied and made into law. The fact that code keeps changing upward shows there can be more.

 

[dthornton]

Neal .. like your insight! I have a word for the way you operate - it's called "integrity"! Bud, I totally agree with all you said in your response. My house had "upgraded" wiring. The basement and first and part of the second floor had been replaced. The attic wiring (which supplies the second floor lights and receptacles) has knob and tube running everywhere. Also, in the basement, there are a whole bunch of junction boxes. I've discovered that many of the boxes had the ground wire twisted together with the neutral! The upstairs bath had been added after the house was built, and the plumber cut every one of the floor joists to run the drain pipe. I would have never discovered this if we weren't rearranging where the fixtures go. When I was a kid, my dad drove a taxi. He would actually stop at junk piles (back then, you set out "everything" for the weekly trash collection) and pick up old fans, lawnmowers, etc., and fix them. As a kid (10 years old?) he taught me to work on things. I have always viewed anything mechanical as a collection of "nut and bolts" - it's just a matter of "how" they are put together! I am NOT real familiar with construction, but am willing to tackle almost anything and am figuring a lot of this out as I go along.

Unfortunately, a lot of people have no ability whatsoever to even assess if there is something wrong with a house, much less fix it. For example, my wife can "demo" most anything in our house (and has been a great help to me), but if something happened to me, I don't think she could "fix" anything besides paint or wallpaper on her own. The faucet our friend left would not be a problem for me - I would get another one and have it changed in a half hour. It's just the fact that he wanted to hide it. But, whoever bought the house might not have the abilities you and Neal and I have, and would have to PAY someone to fix it. I don't think this would've been discovered in a normal house inspection, either. Not like they're "looking" for glue on anything. I think the least anyone can do is tell a buyer about any problems with a house. Then, they can decide if they want you to fix it, or pay someone to fix it, or move on to another house. It's referred to as "Do unto others ..." :agree:

 

[nealtw]

Like Oldog said, we have all made mistakes and learned along the way. I do feel for the people that learned from my mistakes, that's the problem with flipping houses before you know what you're doing.

 

[bud16415]

The house we just bought and are reconstructing / remodeling was looked at by a bunch of flippers I was told. They all passed on it because they seem to be looking for certain things. One being a house that’s way underpriced for the area do to neglect that’s easily fixed or covered over. They know all the trigger points that get a buyer and go with the stone countertops and the like. When the items become too labor intensive and time consuming they pass. They want to go in and buy a place for 70k put 20k in it and list it in 6 weeks for 160k and someone thinks they are getting a deal when they offer 140k and get it.

I think flipping can be done with or without integrity. I don’t blame anyone for making the most profit they can on their work and investments. I am surprised people don’t have the vision to see what can be in a place and do it themselves or hire it done. But most people only see what is right in front of them. When looking at houses the realtor commented that I didn’t notice a loose deck step everyone that he showed the house to was looking and complaining about. I said that’s 4 deck screws and 10 minutes to fix I’m not even worried about that. But the high water line on the basement wall 2 feet up no one commented on gave me a reason to pass on the house after popping the furnace door and seeing a rust line at the same height. He said no one ever mentioned a problem with water. Now the integrity comes in the next time he shows the house or would he go back and find out what happened and was the problem fixed.

Inspector Gadget is right the degree of the problem say changing out that faucet down the road might be much more of a problem for some than others and I was looking at it as not much of a deal and for someone else it’s a few hundred bucks to hire it done.