# things only professionals see



## Splinter (Apr 5, 2005)

I've seen...
Paper tape used on drywall outside corners.
Porch framing not pitched away from the house. 
Hot water piping doing 3 laps around a large basement before heading to the kitchen sink (a mere 12 feet from the furnace).
Live wires left hanging in from the ceiling in the children's basement playroom. 
Brick veneer pulling away from the house. (HO parked his porche directly under)
Anal electricians who leave the screws perfectly vertical when they look so much better with the slot HORIZONTAL!!!!!!!:w00t:

Mitch- There's nothing wrong with a homeowner tackling a tile job. They arent going to flood the place or burn it down if they screw it up.... I've participated over at the John Bridge tile forums for years and have seen some amazing work done by regular ol' homeowners. Sure, I've seen some horrific tile jobs done by amateurs, but you can see that with just about any type of construction....


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## bujaly (Dec 16, 2006)

Splinter said:


> Mitch- There's nothing wrong with a homeowner tackling a tile job. They arent going to flood the place or burn it down if they screw it up.... I've participated over at the John Bridge tile forums for years and have seen some amazing work done by regular ol' homeowners. Sure, I've seen some horrific tile jobs done by amateurs, but you can see that with just about any type of construction....


 OH I KNOW!! Trust me, I've seen quality tile work, but honestly, I've seen a lot more of the shlt. Also, this just happens to be my biggest pet peeve and I don't know why.


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## Kent Whitten (Mar 24, 2006)

screws on outlets plates not straight or plates crooked

walls out of plumb/square

my wife would say I criticize everything and that's probably true.


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## trav007 (Jan 25, 2008)

'n gaps in laminate
baseboard thicker than door casings
new switches, new outlets, but left the old yellow thermostat!!!!
caulk filling a 1/2 inch or larger gap....must of used a lot and taken a long time too..he,he
ty tile work, you know, the kind you trip over 'cause the floor is that uneven.....I guess if the floor *was* level that makes it even worse of a tile job...


I do disagree with the crown moulding issue.....sometimes it just looks better upside down.


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## wizendwizard (Nov 11, 2007)

How about a 20x40 mobile home attached to the back of a very nice brick home as an addition.(per HO's request) No additional roofing, just some membrane and cool seal. After 15 years it destroyed the roof,kitchen,dining room, and bath. I couldn't believe someone call themselves a professional and did this. Thats ok all fixed now.


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## WNYcarpenter (Mar 2, 2007)

Saw kerfs on finished trim

Square strock trim witout eased edges

drywall dimples not filled well or un sanded

2 days in a hotel room or track home drives me and everyone around me crazy!

Restraunts are crazy too sometimes....I do point out good craftmanship when I see it though!


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## heavyduty73 (Jan 23, 2008)

Anal electricians who leave the screws perfectly vertical when they look so much better with the slot HORIZONTAL!!!!!!!:w00t:


Vertical screws don't hold dust while horizontial ones will.


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## heavyduty73 (Jan 23, 2008)

wizendwizard said:


> How about a 20x40 mobile home attached to the back of a very nice brick home as an addition.(per HO's request) No additional roofing, just some membrane and cool seal. After 15 years it destroyed the roof,kitchen,dining room, and bath. I couldn't believe someone call themselves a professional and did this. Thats ok all fixed now.


 
a guy near me stacked two mobil homes rather rhan side by side.and up the road from someone has built an enclosed porch off of the side of his 14 travel trailer that he lives in.
in the midwest at least it's common for a farmers son to build his house on the same farm site as his father I saw a house that was a ranch with 2.5 car attached garage attached to split level house.


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## silvertree (Jul 22, 2007)

I used to do repair work for a GC. I went out to fix things when the people got ready to sue. Remove and reset a "Nivram" Marvin window that was installed upside down. Other than that any kind of sloppy finishing like paint drips, open miters.


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

People who dont paint their steel entry door and just leave them the grey primer color forever.


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

I dont even know where to start, I see all sorts of stuff like everything mentioned so far. One of the worst is a dueplex and the sil plate is exposed about 1" under the siding.


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

ModernStyle said:


> People who dont paint their steel entry door and just leave them the grey primer color forever.


Whats wrong with that, I like grey.


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## NorthstarNC (Oct 17, 2007)

Not really a screw up, but I hate seeing a beam/LVL over a front porch with 1 or 1.5 runs of siding, instead of wrapped with vinyl, or trim, or SOMETHING other then a very short run of siding. Makes an otherwise nice house look like a POS to me. Horrible, I'm getting pissed off just thinking of one....


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## A W Smith (Oct 14, 2007)

NorthstarNC said:


> Not really a screw up, but I hate seeing a beam/LVL over a front porch with 1 or 1.5 runs of siding, instead of wrapped with vinyl, or trim, or SOMETHING other then a very short run of siding. Makes an otherwise nice house look like a POS to me. Horrible, I'm getting pissed off just thinking of one....


 
Oh that reminds me. How many times have we all seen siding panels used for soffit ?? Its a tragedy thats been going on since the aluminum siding days of the forties and fifties and continues today with vinyl.


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

I hate when you see a porch built over stairs and you can see the old stairs under it.


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## PARA1 (Jul 18, 2007)

EXHAUST VENT piping not plumb, sticking out of the roof at an angle.


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## wizendwizard (Nov 11, 2007)

heavyduty73 said:


> a guy near me stacked two mobil homes rather rhan side by side.and up the road from someone has built an enclosed porch off of the side of his 14 travel trailer that he lives in.
> in the midwest at least it's common for a farmers son to build his house on the same farm site as his father I saw a house that was a ranch with 2.5 car attached garage attached to split level house.


Stacked? OMFG i'd love to see the staircase.....


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## send_it_all (Apr 10, 2007)

A W Smith said:


> How about finger joint trim work stained. I saw a lot of that in the seventies and eighties.
> 
> 1) Exterior doors in 2 x 6 walls with extension jambs slapped onto the interior for the latch to drag against
> 2) DIY two by two suspended ceiling grid using only main tees and two foot tees with the mains two feet on center
> ...


Same Australian "carpenter" host guy built an OUTDOOR WATER FEATURE out of regular old MDF.


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

send_it_all said:


> Same Australian "carpenter" host guy built an OUTDOOR WATER FEATURE out of regular old MDF.


Whats wrong with that, everyone I see seems to swear by the stuff. I hate it and think its crap. I never seen it hold up to any sort of neglect. Using it near water is just retarded.


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## FramingFanatic (Dec 21, 2007)

I think the worst I have ver seen is Fingerjointed lumber being used horizontally as plates for the walls. Guy told my boss that he had been framing for 10 years, so my boss set him up on a floor that we had just sheathed to go mark out the plates and build the walls. He used all fingerjointed for plates. When i saw that i took the good ol love stick and destroyed everywall he built to prove a point.


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## TempestV (Feb 3, 2007)

wow- electrical boxes and covers out of plumb
Loose joints in trim
Doors and walls out of plumb, and/or bowed
Doors with improperly set hinges so that they drag or bairly catch when you close them, or the gap between the door and the jamb is uneven
Paint anywhere it shouldn't be
Out of square corners that show up when you cover them with drywall
Uneven floors
Drywall seams visible
Trim reveals not even
"Rustic" look used as an excuse for poor workmanship (BIG pet peeve)
Realizing that underneath the table cloth, the restaurant table is just a sheet of partical board

I could go on and on.

I knew I wasn't alone, because my dad does the same thing- If you really want to drive those around you crazy while at some restaurant, get two carpenters critiquing the workmanship and having a long conversation about it- trust me, I've been there. But hey, it's so hard when there is a splice in the wainscoting in the middle of the wall that is a half an inch wide, and you can see right through it, into the room on the other side.:blink:

My mom and dad were at a party at a friend of ours high end home, and my mom sees another guest staring at the trim, and comments "you must be a carpenter". The guy was surprised and asked how she knew, and she told him that her husband does the same thing.


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## pappagor (Jan 29, 2008)

corner bead put on not plum or squar my 28 oz. hammer makes it look better.


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## troubleseeker (Sep 24, 2006)

Scott Young;134396
casing used for chair rail and or base.
[/quote said:


> My favorite casing use is when I see it zig zagging up the out side of a stairway,to hide the ends fo the risers because someone did not know how to install the mitered skirt board. Plenty of large houses in national builder developments around the Houston area with this special touch:laughing:


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## Kat (Feb 8, 2008)

How about the "can light" I found while tearing apart a bathroom? 60 watt incandescent nicely fitted into a folgers can with a picture frame (double sided tape holding it in place) in a shower! No joke, I've got photos!


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## Renee2007 (May 13, 2007)

There are many things I have noticed but I keep going back to one of the worst!

Was quoting a small project in a customer's house and noticed some trim missing in her kitchen that had been installed three years ago and then....hold on guys....walked into the powder room that backed up to the kitchen and seen NAILS coming INTO the room from the supports for the cabinets. Either they Used 10" nails or whoever built that bathroom didn't install the 2 x 4's correctly!


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## Renee2007 (May 13, 2007)

Kat said:


> How about the "can light" I found while tearing apart a bathroom? 60 watt incandescent nicely fitted into a folgers can with a picture frame (double sided tape holding it in place) in a shower! No joke, I've got photos!


Let's just say they were "resourceful"? LOL


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## 1ost (Jan 5, 2008)

-Doors Shut from being out of plumb
-Bottoms of cut doors not installed
-Fresh paint over tape on a wall.
-Fresh paint over staples on trim and walls
-Textured ceiling without a bed coat on drywall You can see the tape!!
-Vent stack for Toilet open in Cold air return.
-Cover plate screws not up and down. Im guilty of pulling out my knife and fixing screws when out to dinner. WIFE lOVES THAT ONE 
-Doors Rub on new Carpet.
-Outlet cover Breaks when you push in a plug. because of box set back to far.
-Electrical box falls in the wall when you plug in the saw. 
-Gaps on Trim. or Holes left in trim after paint
-1" space between sink and wall filled with white Painters caulk
-HO Fixed the hole in the wall and was proud, took a roller with paint did a pass on the wall put up news paper then painted over it let dry and did that 5 times
-Stained doors though out house and a White garage door next to stained basement door.
-screen Doors Installed on backwards.
-Exterior Door opens out.
-Sloppy Hand rails on a deck.
-One of my fav, Drywall screws used for a 20x20 deck with 2x6 Top Deck!!!!!

I can go for for hours. Just though I would put in a few thoughts.

How do you make a single switch into a 3 way???? thats a new one to me


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

1ost;374446-Vent stack for Toilet open in Cold air return.
-screen Doors Installed on backwards.
-Exterior Door opens out.
[/quote said:


> I couldnt imagine teh vent stack in the cold air return.
> 
> I seen the screen door thing all the time.
> 
> My dad puts exterior doors on open out :furious: Says thats how they do it in europe because it cant be kicked in. I do my best to straighten him out on this.


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## HallisseyDesign (Jul 6, 2007)

ok to the casing being used as baseboard many HO's i deal with love it and want it. I say ok and go on with work. I also put it my basement. I kinda like it there too. So to each his own. I do th electrical screws plumb because I know if somebody else has been back into the box or whatever since I last left it.


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## srb (Feb 9, 2008)

winder stairs in new house. 8ft print with 9ft studs...13steps to 17steps .oops


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## diego79 (Nov 22, 2005)

Grout lines that are flush with the tile making them virtually impossible to color seal

wax applied to grout which is virtually impossible to totally remove

countless homeowners proud of their self install tile installations with jagged lines, high grout lines, little 1/2 inch pieces of tile tile around the whole perimeter and uneven grout lines at the baseboards


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## laybrick (Jul 2, 2006)

being a mason , every time I have to sit in a drive-thru , I get sea-sick every time I look at the bed joints & the bricks look like dolphins doing tricks at sea world  Just like remodeling, I could go on all day. 20 brick w/ nice joints & then 4 w/ huge joints, 2 huge bed joints to make the top of an opening, start at half bond & end up at 3/4 in the middle, quoins that aren't plumb w/ each other (or not plumb at all!) , wavy corners, arches that look more like stairs, soldiers that make ya almost fall over looking at them, bond lines that , & even worse, control joints that wander worse than your worst laborer etc.etc. same with stone work, some looks like a three year old laid it. If your gonna use rediculously huge mortar joints, at least try to contour the stones to match the ones next to it, when you're laying rectangular stones, don't stand to many on edge , it looks like crap.:wallbash: Nobody's perfect, but lets try to do things as though we're not doing it for blind people . Plus it makes the next job easier to get. Sorry for bringing masonry into this, but it's the same w/ every trade. There's craftsmen, then there's crapsmen. If you're not qualified to do something, don't pretend you are so you can soak some poor sap out of $$:2guns:


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## NJPainter (Dec 6, 2006)

Brushslingers said:


> Paint on doorknobs, crooked cut lines and crooked tile lines, electric plates with the cover screw not up and down, ya... i'm anal. My wife gets mad when I walk into someones home and start scracthing paint from the knobs. I mentioned once to a good friend of hers, not a bad job but all these cut lines are croooked as hell... turns out, SHE did it.


:laughing:


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## trav007 (Jan 25, 2008)

At a clients house one day I noticed something wrong. Being that I was there to measure up for a custom maple pantry to match the existing cabinetry, obviously there's no choice but to look up, and immediately, to my chagrin, I noticed that a couple pieces of the cabinet crowns were upside down.....at least they got most of it right...

sSOOOOooo......I snickered and pointed it out........they have lived there 3 years and never noticed it.....until, I looked up. I't was pretty obvious *why *it had been done too!

Now it's noticed every day....


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## davy crockett (Dec 19, 2007)

I prefer the 18" full tile along one wall with the 2" slivver on the opposite wall (saves cut time) and also like the trap under the sink to have atleast 14 slipnuts.:w00t:


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## diggerdude (Jan 11, 2008)

levelness of everything. inside and out.


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

davy crockett said:


> also like the trap under the sink to have atleast 14 slipnuts.:w00t:


I laughed at that, what I like even more is the slinky drain pipe. :laughing: I have to admit even I used one on a migrant house.


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## kris jusnes (Apr 10, 2006)

Mismatched door hardware (example: brass hinges and nickel knobs)
Butt joints on exterior crown


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## 3-D Mason (Dec 17, 2007)

laybrick said:


> being a mason , every time I have to sit in a drive-thru , I get sea-sick every time I look at the bed joints & the bricks look like dolphins doing tricks at sea world  Just like remodeling, I could go on all day. 20 brick w/ nice joints & then 4 w/ huge joints, 2 huge bed joints to make the top of an opening, start at half bond & end up at 3/4 in the middle, quoins that aren't plumb w/ each other (or not plumb at all!) , wavy corners, arches that look more like stairs, soldiers that make ya almost fall over looking at them, bond lines that , & even worse, control joints that wander worse than your worst laborer etc.etc. same with stone work, some looks like a three year old laid it. If your gonna use rediculously huge mortar joints, at least try to contour the stones to match the ones next to it, when you're laying rectangular stones, don't stand to many on edge , it looks like crap.:wallbash: Nobody's perfect, but lets try to do things as though we're not doing it for blind people . Plus it makes the next job easier to get. Sorry for bringing masonry into this, but it's the same w/ every trade. There's craftsmen, then there's crapsmen. If you're not qualified to do something, don't pretend you are so you can soak some poor sap out of $$:2guns:



:clap:Man I thought I was the only one, My wife won't go through the drivethrough @ Fast food joints w/ me anymore she makes me go inside to get the food, I swear the masons who lay the brick on some of these places must be paid by the square foot!!!


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## chris klee (Feb 5, 2008)

doesnt matter where i go, i am looking at things on every building like i am writing a punchlist. we went to a nice resturant a couple weeks ago. all i did was look at the putty lines in the stain grade trim at the bar.

it kind of ruins just going out when your in this biz.


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## dreamz (Apr 5, 2008)

LOL^^^

paint on hinges drives me nuts


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## Cdat (Apr 18, 2007)




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## davy crockett (Dec 19, 2007)

*1 piece crown cheap and easy to install*

Had a h/o ask me to help him finish putting crown where he couldn't reach. Seems he put 2 1/4" ranch casing flat on the wall at all ceilings instead of crown in the WHOLE house and couldn't get the stairwell. I LOANED him my 16' extension ladder for a month and told him I was way too busy ,,,sorry I couldn't help.Could have been fun and fast. BTW he didnt caulk and he painted it before the install. Otherwise the man has a nice home.:w00t:


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## pscinteriors (May 18, 2008)

extreme lippage on tile floors. 1/2"grout lines, huge gaps between casing and door frames, mitered inside corners on base, nail holes, painters painting right over a nail hole with out spackle or putty, unsanded spackle with paint, overspray on trim, huge lines of caulk around sinks and tubs, obvious DIY projects,There are so many things I see. I even have dreams about projects I am working on that include the above(Ohh wait those are nightmares.
When I am inside a friends home or an HO's home I never point these things out unless the owner does first.I just dont want to insult what they mite think is there best work of art ever!
Nick


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## The Marble Guy (May 21, 2008)

:shutup:
My biggest pet peeve is drywall corners that are not properly floated so they stick out 1/4 to 1/2 at the end of the wall.makes the whole wall look bowed. Another is foreign objects between the drywall and the wall on the floor. They are really attractive after the base is up. :blink: After spending my life in construction shoddy things just jump out at me too.


I had a moment a couple of weeks ago. Out of time and money,daughter is supposed to be at my house in 4 hours. I opened a partial gallon of oil I was going to paint the trim with, it was crap. Just a nasty mess in the can, guess I kept it too long. So I popped a 5 of semi gloss enamel,sposed to be white, I thought. I mixed it and kept thinking it was grayish looking,nah its the gray bucket and its picking up the color. I pour some into a paint can and its frikking lilac colored.  I painted a little on the door jamb and let it dry. Was considering calling a painter buddy and hitting him up for a little paint, the wife walks in and starts oohing and ahhing,"I thought you were gonna paint it white but this is greeeaaat. " Told her it was a last minute change and I hoped Caila liked it. :shutup: 

The exterior door was a challenge.My trim guy was a no show so I hung it myself. Twice. I did get it,though I pulled one piece of casing 4 times so the comment about the 39 nails was kind of applicable. Fortunately my middle daughter is into puttying caulking and painting. I used 1x4 for baseboards as I cut the first set of door casing backwards and didnt have enough to do the rest. The lilac paint was NOT going on the base period. I dug around and found some stain putty and sealer. Wasnt exactly what I had in mind but it works. The easiest part was putting in the can lights. Other than the glitch with the trim and a couple of thin spots in the paint on the ceiling it looks pretty good. Still have a ways to go to be completely thru,I didnt do too bad for a marble guy. I gathered and saved stuff for five years to do this little job. Got a whole 250.00 in it.


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## PARA1 (Jul 18, 2007)

:w00t:


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## Rockhound (Jul 12, 2007)

20 foot high curved walls (in a stairwell) that looked like spaghetti hung over a towel rack. Drywall hung backwards just because the angle was right. Oak stairs held in place by 2 barely catching nails. Renovations that the builder described as 'all new framing': 3 layers of drywall on a layer of fir strips over half rotted plaster. Entire walls framed out of shims. New ceiling fans tied into old single post wiring. Give me a while,I've been hanging drywall since 86...I'll remember more LOL

OH,,,,,how about a homeowner who set his head on fire with black powder?? Remember the old cartoon where the guy sticks his head in a powder keg? YEAH Like THAT.


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## Phenometom (Jun 10, 2008)

it is definitely a curse! I cant go anywhere without seeing DIY drywall patches that are unsanded and painted over... AAAAHHH! In new homes I see metal cieling blanks, the ones that are only as big as the cieling fan box and dont cover the hole in the drywall, at least theyre white I guess. Only 1 coat of mud on tape where cieling meets wall "because its gonna get textured anyway". On one house HO had me crown every room to cover loose tape. Posts on front porch wrapped with 1x cedar before concrete was poured... that was fun replacing. Bath GFI and switches at different heights. OK im stopping now.


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## Rockhound (Jul 12, 2007)

Phenometom said:


> it is definitely a curse! I cant go anywhere without seeing DIY drywall patches that are unsanded and painted over... AAAAHHH! In new homes I see metal cieling blanks, the ones that are only as big as the cieling fan box and dont cover the hole in the drywall, at least theyre white I guess. Only 1 coat of mud on tape where cieling meets wall "because its gonna get textured anyway". On one house HO had me crown every room to cover loose tape. Posts on front porch wrapped with 1x cedar before concrete was poured... that was fun replacing. Bath GFI and switches at different heights. OK im stopping now.


 
Oh C'MON now ya KNOW anyone with at least 1 thumb is a drywall pro!:thumbup:
Better than a drywall patch is masking tape with 4 layers of paint!


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## polishguy (Sep 1, 2009)

i was fixing a hacks work that won the job it was done in 1 day remove wallpaper ppp wall. it took him 1 day, she said it was $250. he removed the wall paper BUT did nothing with the glue the HO didn't understand y the paint was comeing off is flakes the size of my hand:laughing: when i removed the mirror and a picture he offered to put up he patched two 5'' holes w/ packing tape and painted over:wallbash: it's all good 4 me the HO said "i should have gone w u it would have saved me a alot of $"


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## Mellison (Aug 3, 2008)

So true.
The first time I'm in a new hotel rooms bathroom I automatically start looking at the tile job and start trying to figure out where he started his layout, if I would have done it a different way, looking for uniform corner tiles etc.....


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## Steve G. (Aug 27, 2009)

Unlevel and varying height switch/outlet boxes.
White outlet/switch with almond cover and vica versa 6 feet away!
EMT used on the outside of a building in direct line with rain!
Shoddy caulk work.


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## Darwin (Apr 7, 2009)

i hate to see anything that's not plumb or level!


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