March 29, 1979 - Calgary Herald

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Now You Can Get Your Home Analyzed Before You Buy It”

By staff writer

A Calgary company is offering a special service to home buyers- a service that helps them know what they’re getting when they buy a house.

Here’s how it works.

Let’s say you have found a house you would like to buy- perhaps an old home, or maybe a new one. But you’re a little skeptical because some of you friends have had difficulties with their homes after they have moved in.

You examined the house carefully, of course, and have noticed a few little things, but you’re not too sure how many you missed or how important are the ones that you did see.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have the opinion of an experienced construction expert that has been building homes for years?

Home-Alyze Ltd. Provides a complete analysis on your prospective home. Inspections are performed in a clear-cut, step-by-step procedure, using a 15-page inspection and test manual, with more than 300 check points as a guide for the inspector.

There are many problems in house construction.

Did you know, for example, that floor joists can be installed upside down? As long as there is not a parallel bearing partition above, it will result in no more than a slight dip in the floor or perhaps a squeak, both of which are easily corrected.

The typed report you get from Calgary firm will be several pages long and indicates each problem, it is probable cause and the most effective way to correct it. The main headings under which the report is prepared are; concrete floor, foundation walls, construction of the main sub floor, structure of upper levels, roof structure (upside and out), heating systems, plumbing systems , electrical systems, interior finishing, layout and serviceability and exterior.

A Home-Alyze report is not just for home buyers, however. If you already own a home, and want to make some improvements, it can give you a pretty good idea of where to start.

Another service company is to provide contract inspection if you are building your own home. They also plan soon to offer an instruction course for the do-it-yourself builder. It will be a no-nonsense direct-to-the-point program on construction procedure, hiring and controlling sub trade, buying materials, and being your own inspector.

Quality in house construction has always been a simple matter of economics. The big production builders complete in the market on a price basis. They must keep construction costs down and production time as short as possible to minimize interim finance costs. The construction superintendent or foreman charged with these directives is in a big hurry and is usually responsible for many houses. His main activity will be scheduling trades and materials efficiently. Quality control, if he indeed has time for it, comes after cost control and schedule deadlines.

Then we come to the sub-contractor, who has bid the lowest price he can possibly live with, in order to get the contract. HE can not afford to take one hour longer on a house than is absolutely necessary. This sub-contractor then can not afford to pay a whole crew of well-experienced tradesmen. He must use anywhere from 50 percent to 80 percent inexperienced help to keep labour costs down and be competitive in his bidding.

Finally, we get down to the tradesmen and laborers who work for the sub-contractor. They are under pressure to get in and get out as fast as possible. These people at the bottom of the price heap have no time to put pride in their work. But they are the source of whatever quality goes or do not go into the house.

How let’s turn to the building inspector. You can question any builder on the quality of his product and he will usually say that it conforms to the building code for sure, because if it wouldn’t have passed it.

If the building inspector notices a serious infraction, he will undoubtedly make the builder fix it. But what id he doesn’t notice it? Inspection is usually required only four times during construction. Often, if the inspector is to complete the inspections demanded of him in the busy season, he cannot spend more then a few minutes at each house.

If building inspections for quality control was increased to the point where it was absolutely dependable, whether by the builder or the municipality, it would result in better workmanship and increase house prices significantly.