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New Construction Uninhabitable?

JMHO

The attorney said the house wasn't sealed well enough. Me thinks the opposite is the case. Not sure of the climate where the story took place, but in any climate you CAN"T allow a vapor sandwich, which is probably what happened in this case.

I learned the term "vapor sandwich" just yesterday, but not of the concept, which I have been doing battle with for a long time. Moisture in the form of vapor will almost always get in, be it from the outside or inside. It must be able to get out, or dry up. A perfect installation of vapor retarders, water resistive barriers, sealing, and even "smart" membranes is required to prevent the likelihood of this type of thing occurring. Very few perfect installations exist, especially with 60-day builds by production builders. So even if the design was good, the execution probably wasn't. Any more, I'm not even sure what a good design would look like. Now someone is going to pay the price.

We have a situation where perfection is required for a system to work, in an environment where perfection is very, very rare, if its even possible.
 
Sifu said:
Moisture in the form of vapor will almost always get in, be it from the outside or inside. It must be able to get out, or dry up.
Click to expand...
I saw a Joe Lstiburek video where he said assemblies should be designed so if they fail they fail in a “failsafe manner,” if I remember correctly he was referring to placement of vapor barriers assuming moisture was going to get in the wall.

Sifu said:
We have a situation where perfection is required for a system to work, in an environment where perfection is very, very rare, if its even possible.
Click to expand...
Here’s a video where Joe Lstiburek basically says that perfection is impossible…

 
Good call. Possible scenario, Foamed with no fresh air dilution moisture being created in the living space from normal human activity bathing, laundry, fossil fuel cooking, oversized cooling system. If the house can not breathe it will sweat from the inside, evidenced by the moisture in a microwave, lights ac vents and atic.
 
Sifu said:
JMHO

The attorney said the house wasn't sealed well enough. Me thinks the opposite is the case. Not sure of the climate where the story took place, but in any climate you CAN"T allow a vapor sandwich, which is probably what happened in this case.
Click to expand...

This was my immediate reaction, as well. Sealed too tight.
 
Brand new lake house out in the county (no permits or inspections required) House was finished in late September. Owners winterized it, shut the HVAC off and went south for the winter. When they came back in late April the house was full of mold. They tried to blame the contractor saying the house leaked. All the moisture from the drywall finish, tile and grout installation and painting wasn't able to dry and escape from the interior of the house.
 
The water was in the attic. It is possible that a radiant barrier was incorrectly installed.
 
"Sealed too tight" - kinda. Really, the problem is a lack of mechanical ventilation.
 
jar546 said:
This is in Texas. What are your thoughts?

Click to expand...
Every house built in Texas is so far out of code compliance that one cannot quite conceive it. No licensing. All municipal departments are understaffed and woefully undereducated. The Texas Association of Builders spends millions lobbying Austin for builder-friendly legislation. The Texas Residential Construction Liability Act (RCLA) is 100% pro- builder. The builder contracts are inconscionable and their warranties are so thin one cannot wipe one's ass with them. Example: all warranties upfront exclude all code compliance.
Texas sucks.
jar546 said:
This is in Texas. What are your thoughts?

Click to expand...
The state of Texas has long been known for its deregulated approach to business, and nowhere is this more evident than in the residential construction industry. While Texas boasts a booming housing market and rapid development, what many homebuyers don’t realize is that nearly every house built in the state is riddled with code violations, constructed by unlicensed builders, and backed by warranties that are barely worth the paper they’re printed on. This isn’t just a minor issue—it’s an industry-wide failure, enabled by lax government oversight, powerful lobbying from builder associations, and consumer protection laws that overwhelmingly favor builders over homeowners.



The reality is staggering: most newly built homes in Texas do not fully comply with the adopted building codes. This is not a matter of occasional oversights or a few bad apples; it’s the standard operating procedure. In 27 years of inspecting homes—over 13,000 of them—I have yet to find one that fully complies with the code. Not one. The reasons for this are systemic. Unlike other states, Texas does not require residential builders to be licensed. Anyone with a truck, a hammer, and a business card can call themselves a homebuilder and start constructing homes. No proof of competency. No mandatory training. No accountability. Municipal building departments across Texas are critically understaffed. Most cities simply do not have enough inspectors to perform thorough inspections. In many cases, inspectors are pressured to approve houses quickly, sometimes conducting drive-by inspections or signing off on homes without ever setting foot inside. Worse still, many municipal inspectors are not adequately trained in modern building codes. This lack of expertise results in subpar enforcement, allowing builders to cut corners without consequence. Builders in Texas have no financial incentive to follow the code. Cutting corners saves them money, and since there is little enforcement, they do it with impunity. Many builders design their processes to be just "good enough" to pass a cursory inspection—if the inspector even shows up.



The Texas Association of Builders (TAB) is one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the state, spending millions of dollars to ensure that pro-builder legislation gets passed in Austin. Their goal is simple: make it as easy and profitable as possible for builders to operate with minimal regulation. This relentless lobbying has resulted in weakened consumer protections that make it difficult for homeowners to seek legal recourse for construction defects, municipal oversight being stripped away, preventing cities from enacting stricter building standards, and an unregulated builder market where even the most egregious violations go unpunished. TAB doesn’t represent homeowners. It represents builders’ interests, and in Texas, those interests always come first.



If you buy a defective home in Texas, don’t expect the legal system to be on your side. The Texas Residential Construction Liability Act (RCLA) is a piece of legislation that protects builders from liability, making it nearly impossible for homeowners to hold them accountable. Under the RCLA, homeowners must give builders multiple chances to "fix" defects, even when the builder's previous fixes have failed. Most lawsuits are blocked before they even start, thanks to procedural hurdles that benefit the builder. Legal damages are limited, ensuring that even if a homeowner does win a case, the payout is rarely enough to cover the full cost of repairs. RCLA is a one-sided law, designed by builders, for builders. Homeowners who try to fight back are often left with nothing but frustration and expensive legal bills.



Most homebuyers assume that when they sign a contract to purchase a new home, the agreement is fair and reasonable. In Texas, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Builder contracts are written in such a way that they strip homebuyers of nearly all their rights. Common clauses include mandatory arbitration clauses, preventing homeowners from taking their case to court, waivers of implied warranties, meaning that builders are not legally required to ensure their homes are constructed to minimum code standards, and severely limited warranties, which often exclude structural defects, electrical failures, and even code compliance itself. Many of these warranties are so weak that they are practically useless. As one frustrated homeowner put it, "You couldn’t even wipe your ass with them."



Texas is a buyer-beware state when it comes to residential construction. There are few protections in place for consumers, and those that do exist are heavily skewed in favor of builders. If you’re buying a new home in Texas, you need to hire an independent, ICC-certified inspector—never rely on the builder’s inspector. You need to read your contract thoroughly—assume the worst and get legal advice before signing. You need to understand that RCLA limits your legal options—once you sign, your ability to fight back is severely restricted. And you need to expect code violations—assume that your home will have problems and budget for repairs accordingly.



The Texas homebuilding industry is a free-for-all, where builders profit at the expense of homeowners, municipal oversight is a joke, and consumer protection laws are written by the very people they are supposed to regulate. Until Texas enacts meaningful reforms—such as licensing builders, properly funding municipal inspection departments, and repealing anti-consumer laws like RCLA—homebuyers will continue to be at the mercy of an industry that prioritizes profits over people. If Texas truly wants to be a great place to live, it needs to start by ensuring that the homes it builds are safe, structurally sound, and built to code. Until then, the state’s homebuyers are on their own.
 
texasinspector said:
Every house built in Texas is so far out of code compliance that one cannot quite conceive it. No licensing. All municipal departments are understaffed and woefully undereducated. The Texas Association of Builders spends millions lobbying Austin for builder-friendly legislation. The Texas Residential Construction Liability Act (RCLA) is 100% pro- builder. The builder contracts are inconscionable and their warranties are so thin one cannot wipe one's ass with them. Example: all warranties upfront exclude all code compliance.
Texas sucks.

The state of Texas has long been known for its deregulated approach to business, and nowhere is this more evident than in the residential construction industry. While Texas boasts a booming housing market and rapid development, what many homebuyers don’t realize is that nearly every house built in the state is riddled with code violations, constructed by unlicensed builders, and backed by warranties that are barely worth the paper they’re printed on. This isn’t just a minor issue—it’s an industry-wide failure, enabled by lax government oversight, powerful lobbying from builder associations, and consumer protection laws that overwhelmingly favor builders over homeowners.



The reality is staggering: most newly built homes in Texas do not fully comply with the adopted building codes. This is not a matter of occasional oversights or a few bad apples; it’s the standard operating procedure. In 27 years of inspecting homes—over 13,000 of them—I have yet to find one that fully complies with the code. Not one. The reasons for this are systemic. Unlike other states, Texas does not require residential builders to be licensed. Anyone with a truck, a hammer, and a business card can call themselves a homebuilder and start constructing homes. No proof of competency. No mandatory training. No accountability. Municipal building departments across Texas are critically understaffed. Most cities simply do not have enough inspectors to perform thorough inspections. In many cases, inspectors are pressured to approve houses quickly, sometimes conducting drive-by inspections or signing off on homes without ever setting foot inside. Worse still, many municipal inspectors are not adequately trained in modern building codes. This lack of expertise results in subpar enforcement, allowing builders to cut corners without consequence. Builders in Texas have no financial incentive to follow the code. Cutting corners saves them money, and since there is little enforcement, they do it with impunity. Many builders design their processes to be just "good enough" to pass a cursory inspection—if the inspector even shows up.



The Texas Association of Builders (TAB) is one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the state, spending millions of dollars to ensure that pro-builder legislation gets passed in Austin. Their goal is simple: make it as easy and profitable as possible for builders to operate with minimal regulation. This relentless lobbying has resulted in weakened consumer protections that make it difficult for homeowners to seek legal recourse for construction defects, municipal oversight being stripped away, preventing cities from enacting stricter building standards, and an unregulated builder market where even the most egregious violations go unpunished. TAB doesn’t represent homeowners. It represents builders’ interests, and in Texas, those interests always come first.



If you buy a defective home in Texas, don’t expect the legal system to be on your side. The Texas Residential Construction Liability Act (RCLA) is a piece of legislation that protects builders from liability, making it nearly impossible for homeowners to hold them accountable. Under the RCLA, homeowners must give builders multiple chances to "fix" defects, even when the builder's previous fixes have failed. Most lawsuits are blocked before they even start, thanks to procedural hurdles that benefit the builder. Legal damages are limited, ensuring that even if a homeowner does win a case, the payout is rarely enough to cover the full cost of repairs. RCLA is a one-sided law, designed by builders, for builders. Homeowners who try to fight back are often left with nothing but frustration and expensive legal bills.



Most homebuyers assume that when they sign a contract to purchase a new home, the agreement is fair and reasonable. In Texas, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Builder contracts are written in such a way that they strip homebuyers of nearly all their rights. Common clauses include mandatory arbitration clauses, preventing homeowners from taking their case to court, waivers of implied warranties, meaning that builders are not legally required to ensure their homes are constructed to minimum code standards, and severely limited warranties, which often exclude structural defects, electrical failures, and even code compliance itself. Many of these warranties are so weak that they are practically useless. As one frustrated homeowner put it, "You couldn’t even wipe your ass with them."



Texas is a buyer-beware state when it comes to residential construction. There are few protections in place for consumers, and those that do exist are heavily skewed in favor of builders. If you’re buying a new home in Texas, you need to hire an independent, ICC-certified inspector—never rely on the builder’s inspector. You need to read your contract thoroughly—assume the worst and get legal advice before signing. You need to understand that RCLA limits your legal options—once you sign, your ability to fight back is severely restricted. And you need to expect code violations—assume that your home will have problems and budget for repairs accordingly.



The Texas homebuilding industry is a free-for-all, where builders profit at the expense of homeowners, municipal oversight is a joke, and consumer protection laws are written by the very people they are supposed to regulate. Until Texas enacts meaningful reforms—such as licensing builders, properly funding municipal inspection departments, and repealing anti-consumer laws like RCLA—homebuyers will continue to be at the mercy of an industry that prioritizes profits over people. If Texas truly wants to be a great place to live, it needs to start by ensuring that the homes it builds are safe, structurally sound, and built to code. Until then, the state’s homebuyers are on their own.
Click to expand...
But hey...it keeps the economy going when you have to spend a bunch of money on your brand-new home for repairs.....
 
While this house and this type of thing may indeed be "not to code" or "poorly inspected" I would offer that it could be to code, and may have been inspected to code to some degree. Sometimes the problem is the code. There are unintended consequences to code. Where before we may have had a loose envelope we now have extreme attempts to tighten it. Where before we had a lower degree of thermal protection, we now have increased amounts of insulation. Maybe before we had allowances for the reality of how imperfect systems and implementation can be, now we assume everyone understands the code and implements it perfectly. And maybe not applicable to the house in the video or others like it, consider a house that has the perfect system, and a perfect install. After a few years and/or different owners, when John Q. Owner decides to pop in some can lights, or add some outlets, maybe run some data sets. What happens to that perfect system and install then? Do we expect John Q. to understand (or care) about the implications? Especially when odds are it won't be John Q. that pays the price years later?

There needs to be some acknowledgement that even a perfect system is vulnerable to an imperfect install or imperfect renovation. JMHO.
 
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