It all starts with cardboard sheathing. Any developer that builds with that junk is not going to be paying attention to detail on anything, except closing on time and maximizing profit. I feel sorry for the families who buy those money-pit houses.

Worked new home construction in Austin area many years ago as a finish carpenter. Saw inspectors pull up, job boss goes out, inspector signs off on paperwork and leaves without ever getting out of the pick up. Common occurrence.

I love the attention to detail. Making our homes better every day!

Trusses stored for more than one week shall be protected from the environment in a manner that provides adequate ventilation of the trusses. If tarpaulins or other protective covers are used, the ends shall be left open for ventilation. Tight fitting coverings are not recommended, since they can trap moisture. and Storing TrussesIf trusses are to be stored horizontally for more than one week, place blocking of sufficient height beneath the stack of trusses on eight to ten foot intervals (or as required) to minimize lateral bending and to lessen moisture gain from the ground.

I'm down in Austin visiting family for the holidays, I knew the pace of development was high compared to my neck of the woods (Pennsylvania) but seeing it with my own eyes is something else. We took my niece to a park in the city and must have passed by 20 brand new developments plastered with "now leasing" signs, which all looked exactly like the ones in this video. Seeing that gave me flashbacks to 2008... hope I'm just paranoid. Anyway, I always appreciate the videos, Merry Christmas & thanks for the entertainment!

It's always interesting to drive through a few years later and see the pattern failures.

Early in my life I was a telephone installer in central Florida, loved those new stucco houses since I never needed a drill to put a hole in the wall for the wire. Push my long screwdriver, twist a couple of times and straight through to the drywall, two more twists and it was ready. I had several of those long screwdrivers, even drilled tiny holes in the blades to hook the phone wire. Sometimes it was necessary to put in a ground rod when the underground service wasn't near the power ground. Since Florida is sand this normally wouldn't be a problem but in one fun instance the neighbor (old NY or Ohio retiree) was laughing as I carried that 10 foot ground rod thinking it was going to be fun watching me work. That was right up till I stabbed the rod in the ground and it kept going, all ten feet disappeared as it slipped out of my hand. Crap, I only had the one so made a trip to our ware house and got five more and a box of couplers. This time I put two together for a 20 footer and pushed 15 feet into the ground. Holding on I gently hammered the last five feet and it was still loose so I added another 10 food ground rod. With 28 feet in the ground it got tight so I had to work getting the last two feet down. The neighbor was no longer smiling, instead he was looking at that little crack on the back wall of his new house.

Tract home hacks with little to no supervision.....the new standard for homes on America...very sad indeed.

I had a custom house built several years ago (Design Tech) and my entire lumber load sat out in the rain for more than a month. I told the construction supervisor that his pile of twisted pretzels were not going to be in my house. During framing, I showed up on site every day with a can of red spray paint, so I could mark every defective board. That supervisor was eventually fired and his replacement was much better. Even custom builders can be problematic. Both of our water heaters turned out to be used, not new. The furnace control board was obsolete. And yada yada yada. We eventually sold the house as it wasn’t our retirement dream home after all.

Great video, damn scary to see the poor workmanship on brand new houses. I would say you have job security with all the violations you found.

I provide tech support for machinery used in truss plants. On a recent visit to a plant near Austin, they were running lumber that was BLACK with mold, before it was even assembled into trusses. Entire units of lumber had mold on every board.

That cardboard sheathing. So wonderful.

We’re on the Mexico Building codes now !

Good channel. Keep it up. People need to know / see the "quality" of some houses.

This is typically the quality in Texas from the production builders. The last time I was in Texas, 4 years ago, I saw a sign posted "Real Carpenters Wanted". The structural engineering on the plans was not followed on any home I walked in the rough in stage, yet they were installing siding. The interior of finished homes I walked were unbelievably bad in quality. Doors hung out of plumb and level, cabinets hung out of level, big bows in backsplash areas, slabs not flat and the list goes on and on. I saw one house where they miscut the carpet 1" away from the wall and left it. All of the jobsites looked like a bomb had gone off there and cleanup was an afterthought. I can tell you the quality is much better in the rest of the Country. These guys do not understand that they will make more money by doing it right the first time.

Thanks yall for watching!

People talk crap about the strict building codes of some states but guess what? We don't build houses with cardboard anymore!

I love your videos. Keep on fighting the good fight for good construction methods! I was a framer for a large part of my life and I HATE bad framing. You have inspired me to create a 3D model of a portal framed opening per IRC. Maybe 3D pictures will help some of these wall tippers do things right. Great video!

Shocking. With the way everything has been pre engineered, including clear instructions. They still cannot get with the program. The 90's were a mess also.

Well done! Great video!

Feels like my kind of day. Great job catching those violations.

The builder more concerned about profits.

Cardboard houses sold for a premium markup 🙈

Good job security for you with the build quality these days.

Curious to what happens to these issues in your final report? Does the contractor come back and repair them? How are they able to repair some things like the strong ties that are imbedded in the concreate slab?

It all starts with an approval of the building plans allowing the cheapest and least structurally sound building methodology. Then it is followed with the lowest bidder contractors, most of which can't even read the English plans, and who aren't paid even remotely enough to even consider incorporating PRIDE into anything they do! These houses are literally made of cards. Don't even get me started on looking out your bedroom window and getting personal with your new neighbors having fun in their bedroom. Privacy = luxury! Postage stamp lot with junk house, no privacy, no luxury is poor investment. These are built like depreciating assets. As PT Barnum said, there is a sucker born every minute.

I would never buy new construction and especially in a subdivision where houses are only 10ft apart. Might as well be an apartment IMO.

Thermo Ply is just thicker cardboard. Cheap cheap cheap. How do they get away without using real plywood, zip or even OSB? No Shear strength?

What brand of run-flat tyres do you like?

those trusses laying out in the rain is not much of an issue as long as its not more than a couple months. until the finished roof is on the house they are going to get wet every time it rains anyways. those sheets of drywall laying in the mud is what happens when they dont want to pay for site delivery so its just dropped right behind the curb. the lost sheets wont really be much of an issue if the drywall guy is worth a dam they always order about 5-10 extra sheets for wastage

They tore the whole thing down and started over from bare earth - right? Right?

My dad owned his own company and held a class A contractors license he had 50+ years experience in construction Dad never worked or even bid track jobs because of the low quality of track homes even back in the 70s and 80s Pop ran a tight site trusses weren't left in the dirt or drywall and the site was kept neat and picked up I watch a few channels and it's crazy to see how job sites are left a total mess as I watched this video I could just here my pops voice in my head if this was his job site it would of been in the fan 💩💩

Why is that A/C drain vent alwasy short? Was short on my A/C too.

What's with all the green studs, don't see that around here.

Cardboard sheathing with staples?...ya that house will preform well in a seismic zone. Those garage end walls should be simpson strong wall units

some places the bolts on the garage door would pass because they have ramset nails also shot into the concrete not just the single bolt holding down

I'm curious how you document all of these issues. I assume you'll provide a detailed report. What software do you use?

Deja vu on this video. Think this is a re-upload. Understandable given the holidays, though.

Looking like a normal production site....😢 big $ for 💩

What a mess. If I ever Left a JOB site like that I'd get a phone call at 10pm and get told to go clean it up. WTAF>

Bottom of windows are not supposed to be taped

What is the green on the bottom of all the framing?

Speaking of inspections, looks like you’re 8 months overdue for one!

What are the sales prices of these cardboard tinker toy houses?

All these foundation to structure anchors require precision from foundation forms and house framers. Clearly either they are lacking in skill, or under pressure to move too fast.

Another one without a hurricane tie in sight.... Twister ever goes through there and the roof will be gone in a flash.

These houses are disgusting. Terrible layouts, cheap/trash materials, filthy jobsites, mistakes galore... Who ever buys these houses is getting absolutely screwed.

It’s all about speed in these tract homes. Quality is hard to find. You have to really look hard to find any.

Why is that green sprayed 3' up the framing?

Ok now for his inspection. Where is your PPE ?.

We need more sticky tape 😂

Good eye

What a mess!!! You don't have a compound for materials?

Nothing like being that close to ur neighbor!

After watching so many YouTub inspectors, I would love to know what experience is required to become a home inspector.

New homes in America for the “average” homeowner are JUNK!!!! My first house was an 85 year old brick house, 2bdrm with 1 bath….lived there for 10 years and NEVER had any problems, just routine maintenance more or less. Made the huge mistake of having one of these cookie cutters built and 19 years later I’ve probably spent 40k in fixing things….. friend of mine worked midnights so he could sit in a lawn chair all day and watch the people who built his house, he’s never had any problems, so I guess him babysitting a bunch of professional idiots paid off for him.

Cheaply built tract homes.

that house has straps, "even though they look like sh1t". lol

Vent 3' minimum from the OPERABLE portion of a window. --That window looks fixed, so the vent isn't near an opening--. None of those holdowns look right. Good thing there's no wind in Texas!

That means every other home wasn't done right either!

First time watcher. I curious what the green material is on the studs and how it gets on there?

So, you're the inspector? Why are the builders failing to meet code everywhere?

Anybody ever heard of a dumpster?

There is no pride and professionalism in the trades any more. Sad to see

If it wasn't for the Simpson truss/framing screws you showed, I was going to ask what decade this video was taken???? Thermoply and staples...Are you serious??? I thought they quit making Thermoply more than 20 years ago, I haven't even seen any of that here in northeast Florida in decades, and staples, we haven't used staples of any kind for any kind of framing since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. And who is the Brainiac that designed a brick ledge the same height as the slab?? Of course water is going to pond up and get in, even with the moist stop. And at the kitchen hood vent, I have never heard of drywall screw protection plates referred to as plate reinforcement. With all of the above in mind, what is the BIG importance about taping the straps at the garage doors????? Does that make them stronger, I don't think so. And I don't even know what to say about the dryer vent concern, the window may not be fixed, but people rarely open windows anymore, and if they do, what is a little dryer heat going to hurt. Glad I don't live in Austin. I'll stop now.

I'd take one of those houses for free. Then sell it the next day. JUNK

The framers only read spanish.

glad you asked.... no no no

You sound a lil bit like Nick Johnson….like you’re related or something, 🧐😂

When these houses are sold they will make the owners join a HMO and hound the onwers for bad houses

No zip sheathing? No thanks.

Do they sell these pos or give them away, that whole site is a joke

Well, Texans get what they deserve. Contractors don't need a license in Texas. Any fool can slap a sticker on a pickup and voila, they're a 'contractor'. Frankly, tract home builders should all face massive class-actions as this grabage construction is everywhere. Using glorified cardboard with staples as 'sheathing' is insane. The lack of holddowns at the garage is boggling.

watching your videos i am glad i will never live in texas-- their construction is garbage

These houses are hideous, it's got to be really soul-zapping to do this everyday and see the same crap being pumped out. It's kind of crazy though because building house is not that difficult, relatively speaking, it's a basic series of steps that you just follow each and every time. I guess if you're starting with the wrong steps then you just follow those each and every time. I have a house from the '50s, and I have the house from the '90s, I'm going to hang on to those for a while. No way I would build anything new unless I was building it myself, or it was a custom builder who only builds a handful a year. These perspective homeowners have to educate themselves on how a house is built and the process by which issues are taken care of. It falls on them as much as it falls on the builder. Be smart people this is a big investment, start acting like it.

What kind of incompetent amateurs built this house ? ? Holy crap ! ! !

Arrogant as ever

A cardboard house. Only in America.

Only fools buy track housing. And, as a bonus, they usually come with HOA's.

They build cheap flimsy houses in the US, go to places like Hungary and Romania in Google street view, they build houses WAY different! I saw one under construction in Gyomore Hungary in Google street view, they use large kiln fired hollow red terracotta blocks for all the walls, the roofs are not solidified gasoline asphalt like here- they put up kiln fired red terracotta roof tiles, they stucco the exterior. The walls appear to be about 12 to 14" thick, the terracotta blocks resemble concrete blocks but larger and stronger, and since they are vitrified in a kiln around 2,000 degrees F, they are highly fire proof- more than concrete blocks. I don't know how they do the interior, but I assume they add insulation board inside, maybe in the terracotta block cavities as well, and wood walls. They are SOLID, strong houses and highly fire and wind resistant. We USED to build commercial buildings with these red blocks, faced with hard brick outside, inside narrower blocks were used for partition walls, and inside floors forming arches between steel I beams- they are the reason why 90 West street in NYC built around 1915, it is 23 stories, it was severely damaged by the WTC collapse and fires raged inside for a long time burning office stuff, yet the terracotta blocks in the floors and partition walls stopped structural damage and limited the fires, the building was subsequently renovated and the damaged gothic exterior terracotta and brick were restored. We stopped using these blocks and went with flimsy, cheap sheetrock for partition walls, and what I like to call "Oriental strand board" for the walls, covered outside with plastic siding all waiting for one spark to ignite it all in a huge conflagration that because the houses are like 10 feet apart- spread from one to the next with ease. I saw a video where a row of about 8 or so houses were under construction, a fire started on the deck I think by someone welding or a plumber with a torch, and in minutes the whole house was a roaring furnace and it spread to all the others on both sides of it.

All those 3rd world hacks taking over

Most likely non-English speaking unskilled labor doing a lot of this work. I pity the people that buy these junkers. In just a few years they are going to be having all sorts of problems.

Those who can t do,inspect.

How in the world does this junk pass inspection? 😵

1/8in "structural" sheathing 🤮

Just cheap trac homes built with cheap materials, and poor craftsman with no care for there work.

This guy doesnt know craps

Bunch of junk !

Card board sheathing 🤦‍♂️… = cheap builder and bet the house will be overpriced.

Any inspector in foam crocks should not be on a job site

Total shit homes today are a built with no pride and bad buiding materials

Spec homes are the worst! And I guarantee you all these homes are just spec homes…