Beware of the pitfalls
When it comes to building homes, flaws happen.They result from human error, defective materials and acts of God or Mother Earth. Subcontractors and their employees come and go in mid-job. Concrete reacts to heat, cold, rain, salt and use by cracking and peeling. New houses don’t always settle uniformly, which can explain why floors and walls crack.

When it comes to building homes, flaws happen.

They result from human error, defective materials and acts of God or Mother Earth. Subcontractors and their employees come and go in mid-job.

Concrete reacts to heat, cold, rain, salt and use by cracking and peeling. New houses don’t always settle uniformly, which can explain why floors and walls crack.

Dan deStefano, president of deStefano Custom Builders of West Chester, summed up the dilemma of builders who strive to do faultless work against the odds.

“You have to pay attention to detail,” said deStefano, who is also serving a year as president of the Greater Cincinnati Home Builders Association.

“Builders are very, very willing to own up to a major defect and go assess the problem, see what happened and make it right, No.1 because most builders have integrity and want a good reference, but also because it’ll be a lot less expensive to fix a problem than to turn a blind eye and have a consumer hire a lawyer and bring a legal battle.”

DeStefano advises people to buy homes from member builders, who are subject to the association’s grievance procedures.

Jim Banks, a Madeira businessman who co-authored “Homebuilding Pitfalls: An Insider’s Guide to Getting the Quality New Home You Deserve” (New Community Press: 2002), said the quality of construction varies from builder to builder and from subdivision to subdivision.

He advises doing extensive homework on builders, including checks at the Better Business Bureau, the state attorney general’s office and in the case of publicly owned companies, the Securities and Exchange Commission. He urges people to interview the builder’s previous customers.

Banks’ strongest recommendation for prospective buyers of new homes? Don’t do it alone.

“You’re not going to be a construction expert. You need to hire one – and an attorney,” he said. “You need to put a team together and buy an insurance policy in that way.”

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