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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]All these people post about build quality etc etc. What are you guys comparing too?  If all builders are building almost at the same quality, what's the difference?  Some people with homes built in the early 2000s on here claiming the quality of their homes are better but who cares, this is the quality of homes being built these days.  It is what it is.  I never understood this. [/quote]

Most people are spectacularly unqualified to judge the quality of construction.

What posters here usually mean when they talk about quality is how expensive were the finish materials. Flooring can be fifty cents a square foot or it can be five hundred dollars. A sink faucet can be twenty bucks or it can be two thousand. You can spend $300 on a refrigerator or $30,000. The same is true of windows, doors, wall finishes, decks even landscaping. None of these things affect the quality of construction -- but boy do they affect the price. [/quote]

I’m a Class A contractor/custom builder.  Windows are an element  of 
quality construction.  Builder grade windows on a typical home can cost as little as $15k or
$100k, depending on mfg and product line.  Windows are not “finishes” although they may look
the same from afar.   Quality construction is all about the building infrastructure itself - from the 
foundation, insulation, framing, hvac, plumbing (copper vs cpvc), roofing, hvac,  building envelope enclosure, windows/doors, 
exterior cladding (brick, stone, hardi, vinyl, etc), sub flooring, sheathing, site grading, driveway material, septic system.  
Most everything else referred as “finishes” or the shiny stuff as we like to call it is just cosmetic and the homeowner WILL 
be replacing regardless of how much they initially spent to upgrade.  The finishes don’t extend life of the structure, make it easier to 
Maintain or reduce cost of ownership.

[/quote]

I would argue that quality is all about execution. It doesn't matter what your roof material is if it leaks. Same with plumbing. Poorly installed expensive materials are going to cause problems, and nothing on that list installs itself. You can build a high-quality house with inexpensive materials, it will function but it won't be flashy. Similarly you can build a low-quality house with expensive materials.

In the manufacturing world "quality" means doing what you set out to do. An inexpensive product can be high-quality if every unit is uniform and as-specified. I've heard brewers say that Budweiser is the highest-quality beer in the world, every bottle tastes exactly the same. [/quote]

I’m the builder above.  Quality is a function of BOTH materials and the installation practice.  I disagree that you can have a structure of high quality with excellent 
install practice but with POOR materials.   Your statement is false when you say that it’s all about the installation.  Do you consider a home classed
in the cheapest vinyl siding material (which will literally disintegrate in 5 seasons of UV exposure) vs a home cladded in brick/stone mortar?   What about roofing materials?  Are standard 20 year shingles of the same quality as a metal, slate, or cedar shingles? The market is full of bad materials, existing and new ones hitting the market all the time.   Do you know there are about 50 exterior and interior caulking/sealants on the market - ranging from $1 per tube to $10?  Do you really think the quality is identical if the same highly skilled tradesman applied both perfectly per mfg instructions?   I can go on and on but I hope you have the intelligence to get my point.  [/quote]

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