Home Construction Market
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With low finance rates more Americans are purchasing homes than ever before, but the quality of these mass constructed homes is dropping. Imagine breaking your back for ten years to save up for your first home and losing it all and more because your home fell victim to a fire. This is a common example of what may happen when a house is poorly constructed. Home builders are disregarding the much needed safety regulations when calculating their budgets. In the construction business time is money, and when time is an issue sacrifices are often made. It is these sacrifices that are lowering the standards of building within the home-building industry, costing Americans millions annually due to property losses and repair costs. Foundations are cracking due to poor engineering and rushed pouring processes, and homes are burning as if they were mere piles of kindling due to faulty wiring and the disregard of general fire precaution. A problem that has become increasingly more prevalent the last couple of years is the loss of property due to natural disasters. Regulations and guidelines have been developed and introduced into the construction industry to aid in preventing the destruction of homes in such a crisis. The devastation these natural disasters may cause accounts for billions annually but can drastically be reduced with stricter enforcement of precautionary measures outlined in construction regulation codes. Who should be held accountable? Maybe we should penalize the construction companies for ignoring what may seem like insignificant precautionary measures in order to complete projects on time and within budget. Or should we turn to the bigger picture and question the state or national level regulation agencies for their slacking enforcement and infrequent development of these imperative regulatory codes? Where ever the problem originates from, it needs to be resolved before the appeal of being an American homeowner loses its prestige. More importantly, homeowners are at a financial and physical risk because safety and quality control has lost its priority.
Purchasing a home is many times one of the most important investments a person or family may encounter. Most commonly homes are financed over periods ranging from ten to twenty years, but in some cases this is ample time for the integrity of poorly constructed homes to deteriorate beyond repair. This raises much concern within state regulatory agencies that overlook the lacking quality in thousands of homes built annually. Agencies such as the Texas Department of Regulation and Licensing and OSHA provide strict guidelines covering many different aspects of construction in order to insure quality and safety throughout the industry. These regulations cover everything from fire safety to structural integrity in harsh weather environment. The problem at hand has to do with the overlooking of these vital guidelines as a sacrifice to tight budgets and time-restraining deadlines. Foundations are prematurely crumbling, and homes are burning uncontrollably as a result.
The structural integrity of a home is reliant upon a properly laid and placed foundation as well as the quality of the materials that are used to form this foundation and the framework that is rooted into it. The methods used to form these frameworks and foundations must be appropriately applied with respect to the degree of architecture used to design the home. If extreme care is not taken with the construction process, a crumbling foundation or a sagging framework may result. This could be devastating to a homeowner because often times these problems require a complete reconstruction of the home. “In Oregon, a family built a semi custom home for $66,000 on a lot they owned only to discover mold in the walls four months later. Home buyers in Newark, NJ found crumbling concrete, falling bricks, and flooded basements within months of moving into a recently built condominium complex. An Oklahoma couple says they face $60,000 in foundation and roof repairs for a house they bought new three years earlier for $127,000” (Housewrecked). Problems of this magnitude are not tremendously common, but relatively minor problems that can cost consumers tens of thousands of dollars are. The lack of proper moisture control incorporated into the home can lead to mold and health problems. Poorly constructed frameworks will cause doors and windows to operate improperly and will worsen over time. These problems require the removal of sheetrock walls and cause a serious headache for consumers struggling to begin a life in their newly afforded investment. A problem increasing in infamy is faulty wiring that can quickly result in a downright scary situation; fire. “Many times the culprit is an arc fault. An arc fault is a discharge of an electric current across a gap. Many of us have seen and arc such as from an arc welder or a downed power line. An arc fault is an unintended flow of electricity flowing through an unintentional path” (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters).
Strict regulations are enforced at several different levels of government to ensure the quality of all aspects of the construction process. These regulations vary from state to state but generally cover many factors such as: geological location, material use, physical construction, structural safety, fire safety, and a plethora of major and minor details that have an influence on the final product. An appropriate example is the discontinuation of the use of aluminum wiring due to its nature of overheating. Instead, copper wiring is required in all home circuits by regulation agencies for its stable characteristics (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters).
In areas prone to harsh weather conditions, homes are required to be built to hold up to the natural conditions. A heavier price is usually set to include such precautionary measures, but the alterations and provisions are being disregarded. “Floridians are suing Mercedes Homes, alleging improperly installed walls and windows didnt allow their home to stand up to hurricanes. Some homeowners say the resultant water damage left their home uninhabitable” (Perkins). Improvement in the ability of new homes to stand up to the destructive power of hurricanes has been recognized due to observance towards up to date building codes. Newly developed “hurricane clips” are being used to secure roof structures and are proving to be extremely effective. In the past few years Florida has fallen victim to many severe hurricanes and provides excellent examples of properly constructed homes. In the early nineties Florida suffered a 35 billion dollar deconstructive blow resulting from a line of hurricanes. With the enforcement of new building codes in effect in the twenty first century, the majority of new homes are virtually untouched by the tremendous forces of category three and greater storms (Witt).