I don’t have personal experience with construction defect issues.
I do have lots of experience dealing with plumbers, handymen, painters, carpet installers, window installers, etc – all the services needed to keep rental property in tip-top shape.
I was continually frustrated and amazed at the low quality workmanship I got for my money. Even more amazing to me was that nobody cared whether I had one unit or twenty – I still got the same half-ass work.
I have to assume that the same thing occurs in new housing construction.
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One of my properties was near NTC / Liberty Station so I kept a close eye on the development there.
Navy records show 50-60 toxic hot spots on the property and there are questions about how well these sites were cleaned up.
The most telling point to me is that McMillan trucked in six feet of clean topsoil before building on the home sites. Wouldn’t want anyone to test the soil in their front yard now would we?
McMillan told the city that he needed the extra height so the sewage would drain which is interesting since none of the historic buildings are being raised but I assume they will have bathrooms in them???
Here’s a website that tracks ongoing issues at Liberty Station: http://www.ntcsd.org/ – spend some time at this site if you want to see how badly the city and McMillan are screwing the public on this deal.
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I think there is a bigger issue that ties into poor workmanship and low quality construction and that is that Americans have developed a sense of entitlement.
Many people seem to think that they are entitled to a middle-class (or better) lifestyle without working or certainly without working very hard.
I’m not sure how we address this issue. I think it will take another depression like the 1930’s to wake people up.
If I was in charge of this country I would institute a “No Work-y, No Eat-y” program. “You no work-y, you no eat-y.”
