Why can't builders build houses?

Never buy a house from a builder. Never rent one from a builder either. I know that sounds strange (how do houses get built, if not by builders), but from what I have seen so far, they couldn’t build their way out of a paper bag.

We are currently renting a place that is owned by a builder. Let me list the “idiosycracies” for you:

The laundry is only half built. There are no bare wires poking out of the walls, but it is only one step down from that. He has put up stud walls, slapped on the outer cladding and then forgotten to complete the interior. Well, I’ll give him credit for doing one internal wall – except that the cladding is only nailed down in about 4 places. Lean on it, and the whole thing buckles.

Then there is the laundry tub. He put the taps for the washing machine under the tub – ie, you have to open the cupboard door under the tub and lie on the floor to screw on the hoses. Why couldn’t he put them up at chest level like every other house in the country? The thing that cracks me up is that he installed one tap in such a way that it bumps into the laundry tub. The only way to turn the tap on or off is to lift the tub a few inches (which is possible as it is not fixed in) and then turn the tap.

When we looked at the place, the backyard was a mess and a promise was made to lay paving stones over part of it. Yes, the stones are now in place, but I don’t think he levelled and tamped the dirt underneath properly first. The stones are about a foot on each side – I am waiting to stand on one and have it flip over completely. It is the dodgiest paving job ever.

The kitchen floor has new lino – it just hasn’t been glued down yet, and I doubt it ever will be. All the windows have locks, except for one that he forgot about. Some rooms are recently painted, but you can’t open the windows as they are now painted shut.

The rest of the house is the same – dodgy, half completed gimcrack. If his own place is like this, I’d hate to be a client.

And is the rent any less? Ha ha ha.