“Specifically, what makes a custom construction better than a tract house (sorry, if this is a naive question) ?”
Custom houses are overseen by a particular and discerning individual usually a female Artist/Socialite married to very well paid and anal rocket scientist:). Actually there are huge degrees of difference in custom homes. One could look just like a tract home and most do, they are just built on a lot owned by an individual. So by definition it is a custom home, or a spec. home,if it is an investor hoping to sell it. This home could still be built with a little more TLC and attention to detail than a production home. So custom construction is not always better but the best homes are usually custom homes.The variety of construction for magazine quality custom homes is way too much to go into here. They don’t use faux stuff anywhere usually.
What do you mean by “dense feel” ?
You have to get kind of physical. If you ever have been in double wide trailer or a cheap maufactured home that is the opposite of dense. Everything looks and feels like it is ready to fall apart and it will.
The builder has some choice in framing standards. I frame my exterior walls above code and interior walls to the normal standard of exterior walls. I sheath the entire exterior in better grades of plywood. No OSB.(Chip Board).
You can look in the attic and see if OSB was used for the roof sheathing. If you eliminate the house based on this alone though, you will be eliminating a lot of houses. If you see plywood that might be a good sign.
Better practices would involve framing with 2×6’s instead of 2×4’s. This is more important for tall walls in my opinion.
When nobody is looking try to pull off a piece of moulding,open a door and try to yank it off the hinges :). Shut a couple of doors pretty hard and see if things shake or not. Make a fist and bang on any tiled surfaces they should feel as though they are embeded in concrete not stuck to drywall or bare plywood. Jump on the areas of wood subfloors and see if it feels solid or shakes. If possible pull up a corner of carpet and see if it was screwed down or nailed. It should be screwed and glued .The carpet should look and feel like it was stretched tightly not just flopped down. any thresholds between finish flooring types should feel solid. Try to lift the top off the counter or island it should not creak or budge.Shake any stair or balcony handrails. Do the stairs feel solid? Try to break a drawer front off the cabinets. Look for tongue and grove construction or an alterantive construction that has no give if you try to flex the drawer front. Stapled drawer boxes are indicative of cheap cabinets. Knock on the side of the cabinets they should feel solid. Dixiline actually has a grade of cabinets they call builder’s grade. They are kind of cheap. Not all builders use this grade though, some use real good stuff. (Really good cabinetry is very expensive). Better houses usually have higher window & door budgets so study the quality of windows. Just because they are big and grand doesn’t mean they are the best.
Disclaimer:
I am not a house snob. My house and the ones I have participated in building are not in magazines.
