Not much more saddening in new construction could be the discovery of footprints in the hardwood flooring finish coat.
Silly and disconcerting. Uncaring and disappointing. Unbelievable and dishonorable.
DISPLAYING THIS AS THE "REVEAL" TO BUYERS SHOULD EMBARRASS ANY BUILDER. BUT IT APPARENTLY DOES NOT.
In chapter 18 of Daniel Defoe's classic novel Robinson Crusoe, the cast away is walking on the beach one day and frightened when he runs across a single footprint in the sand.
He is astonished and runs to his "castle" to think it over. At first thinking it is the devil, he at last decides that was the footprint of another man.
In this new construction I was very disappointed to see so many scuffs and scrapes in the hardwood flooring finish.
But then, to get to the staircase to see footprints on every single stair from the entry hall to the upper level I was, like Robinson Crusoe, astonished!
That is not drywall powder easily cleaned off! That is imprinted in the poly coating! There is a similar, permanent mark in every stair from bottom to top!
The word "unacceptable" doesn't even apply here! I can think of a lot of words that do though.
And confessing to having seen a lot of schmuck work, this was a first for me! A footprint in EVERY stair! Thoroughly disgusting.
Well, we have to give this crew a nod for consistency.
Somewhat hard to see as it was raining, I found footprints in the concrete driveway outside. This is one of many traipsing from one side to the other.
It didn't photograph well, but is framed in yellow, and amazingly the same size as the one indoors!
No, no we can't walk around. We have to walk through the curing concrete.
This is a sad, sad state of affairs we are having to deal with in this area. The Golden Rule is dead.
The lack of professionalism of the people who are now "working" on "building" houses is alarming. And around here we are demonstrably inundated with this mess 'o mess.
Does di-di-di, dah-dah-dah, di-di-di mean anything to you?
That is Morse Code for S-O-S. We should all be sending out that cry for help. From my perspective things are getting worse and worse, and the decline seems to be accelerating in speed.
My recommendation: there may be times when you have a final walk through of a new house to see things that are truly astonishing. Buyers should not settle for this! Hiring a home inspector is truly a great idea, and a Best Practice, but really, if everyone was doing what everyone is supposed to be doing would a home inspector even be necessary? I for one am glad that I AM necessary to the process, if only to give a nod to great work. But alas, that does not happen. And I am left, like Robinson Crusoe, to retreat to my castle to contemplate our society's lot. And fear for the future.
Comments(53)