Building House - Newbie Needs Help! - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

pdizzle · 10-05-2010, 08:14 AM

Hi guys,

---I'm hoping someone on here has some construction experience or some experience building their own home with a Calgary builder. I apologize in advance for being a bit of a "newb". This is my first time owning and building a house.---

Right now, I'm building with Albi Homes and they're just about to sign off on all the electrical, plumbing, framing, etc. and are going to start insulating and putting up drywall. Has anyone you know of done a third party inspection (outside of city inspectors & the builders inspectors) at this stage of the building game? I just want to make sure that all the plumbing seals are put in correctly, the electrical looks up to code, etc. before the walls are actually put up. That way, if something looks amiss, then we can fix the problem now rather than 3 months from now (which would considerably delay our possession). Also, we don't get to see any of the city/builder inspection reports until we take possession of the house. If I had a third party do an inspection at this time, I'd at least have an opinion in writing on the house's progress.

That said, do you know of any home inspectors that do such a thing? Can you recommend any? Am I completely crazy? Investing in a home costs a ton of money these days and I'd sort of like to protect my investment (or at least have peace of mind during the construction process).

Thanks!

P

Sliver · 10-05-2010, 08:19 AM

At first blush I thought it was a bit paranoid of you, but it's actually a really good idea.

DrJ · 10-05-2010, 09:26 AM

When building our house, we didn't go with a third party inspector but we were pretty involved with the building process (ie. met with the architect, met the owners of the company and knew at least one member of every process - framer, electrician, etc.).

The city inspection is really poor IIRC. I don't think they really looked at the pipes and other things they really had to use some effort seek out...I distinctly remember them looking over the appliances really well, though.

With a larger builder like Albi, I think you will be okay.

DuffMan · 10-05-2010, 09:35 AM

Not sure what they would tell you that the real inspectors wouldn't already tell the builder, if something is deficient.
Go there yourself and take a good look around and ask a lot of questions and nitpick on things. Builders love when homeowners do that.

hmmhmmcamo · 10-05-2010, 09:44 AM

Take LOTS of photos or video of EVERYTHING before they start boarding. You'd be surprised how useful/important a 'random photo of nothing in particular' can be down the road.

DuffMan · 10-05-2010, 10:09 AM

and make sure they don't leave any poop in cans in your walls.

GreatWhiteEbola · 10-05-2010, 10:17 AM

Call Mike Holmes.

hmmhmmcamo · 10-05-2010, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuffMan

and make sure they don't leave any poop in cans in your walls.

or any other garbage. Trades love to leave scraps of drywall, wire, pipe, fast food bags, pop cans etc. in the walls and other nooks and crannies just so they don't have to carry it out/dispose of it.

pdizzle · 10-06-2010, 08:17 AM

Thanks for the advice guys! Much appreciated.

I_am_Beast · 10-06-2010, 10:57 AM

build a few homes with a few builders, and each one of them had a condition in their contract I signed before they started building that no 3rd party inspection was allowed due to slowing down the building process......

3thirty · 10-06-2010, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hmmhmmcamo

Take LOTS of photos or video of EVERYTHING before they start boarding. You'd be surprised how useful/important a 'random photo of nothing in particular' can be down the road.

This! I had trouble mounting a few things and pictures would have been great since studs were not where they were supposed to be.

We had a family friend look through everything, IMO it is nice to have a second opinion on stuff because when guy A is finished you never know if guy B messes up guy A's work to finish his.

Most are paid by the job, not the hour, so time is the most important factor in most trades eyes.

I-Hate-Hulse · 10-06-2010, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteEbola

Call Mike Holmes.

Actually, that's precisely what you can do.

http://mikeholmesinspections.com/ser...nspection-pdi/

Sounds close to what you want.

Be sure you get someone that knows building codes. The uselessness of the "regular" home inspectors in this regard can not be emphasized enough as they will make you sign something that acknowledges they aren't responsible for code violations.

Temporary_User · 10-06-2010, 06:28 PM

I'm confused, are you building the home or is Albi Homes doing the work?

pdizzle · 10-14-2010, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Actually, that's precisely what you can do.

http://mikeholmesinspections.com/ser...nspection-pdi/

Sounds close to what you want.

Be sure you get someone that knows building codes. The uselessness of the "regular" home inspectors in this regard can not be emphasized enough as they will make you sign something that acknowledges they aren't responsible for code violations.

Well, I made a call to Mike and they don't do interim inspections. All they do is the one at the end (pre-possession). In my case, this type of inspection would do little to help me.

UPDATE SINCE LAST POST:
I managed to find an inspector that does do interim inspections here in Calgary. In my opinion, I think he did a great job. He found a few deficiencies that the other two inspectors missed. That said, the builder was awesome about letting us in to do the inspection and were even better about getting the deficiencies resolved. I think it's the best $300 I ever spent, especially since the inspector found a potential major future mold problem.

Thanks for all the advice guys,

P-dizz

pdizzle · 10-14-2010, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Temporary_User

I'm confused, are you building the home or is Albi Homes doing the work?

Albi is my builder. However, they're doing the work and I innevitably end up with the house when they're done.

pdizzle · 10-14-2010, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_am_Beast

build a few homes with a few builders, and each one of them had a condition in their contract I signed before they started building that no 3rd party inspection was allowed due to slowing down the building process......

Albi was really good about letting us in. To quote them, "We have nothing to hide". That certainly raises my opinion of them as a builder for sure.

pdizzle · 10-14-2010, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hmmhmmcamo

Take LOTS of photos or video of EVERYTHING before they start boarding. You'd be surprised how useful/important a 'random photo of nothing in particular' can be down the road.

Thanks for the tip. We took pictures of all the rough-ins, etc. so we'd know where they are in the future in case we ever want to install satellite tv, central vac, etc.

flambers · 10-14-2010, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hmmhmmcamo

Take LOTS of photos or video of EVERYTHING before they start boarding. You'd be surprised how useful/important a 'random photo of nothing in particular' can be down the road.

Good idea,

Another item make sure you have a very...very detailed contract.

Everything must be clearly specified (i.e. upgrades are a problem).