I agree. Several friends that are Architectes and in construction say to 'avoid stick and stucco in Arizona". On their advice I only looked at brick or slump block homes built before 1980. Two of the 'stick and stucco' homes I owned here became money pits when they turned 5 years old. One Architecte told me Arizona building code is like they never expect weather.
My guys ask me why I get so ticked off. I know what I had to do to get my license. I missed 3 out of 80 questions, they were on brick and block, I’m no bricklayer. Took me 25 minutes, they allow 3 hours. I see very little that conforms to what they require, showing on the actual job. Back home, I knew the inspectors and they knew me, no problem from either side. They knew how I did things and I knew what they expected, in every town I worked in. Here, I don’t comprehend the lackadaisical attitude from both sides.
I owned a home here (stick and stucco) built in 1993. By 2003 I had spent 30 grand on that home repairing the shortcuts that the builder had escaped from the codes/permits. Plumbing that failed and soaked ceilings, roof jack vents installed incorrectly, connection to the sewer incorrect, constant air hammers at 3AM, sinks that never drained, blinking lights throughout the house. I sold that place at a major loss. I will never buy a stick and stucco home ever again, nor will I buy I home built after 1980 after that nightmare.
My home was built in 2000. It is a stick and stucco build. It’s a Shay home, I will say, after working on this and several others in my area, they are decent. Not what I would have built, but better than most I’ve worked on elsewhere. The only things I’ve done on this or the others have been remods, except a couple roof leaks and couple small plumbing issues. I’ve asked about issues through the years (most are original owners). I was happy to hear, nothing major with any.
I hate to see anyone taken or mislead. I’m from Illinois, the very northeast corner, right on Lake Michigan. I know there’s crap there, it’s everywhere. Not near the extent there is here, the lack of pride here is confusing to me. Lack of proper training, supervision, greed and just plain old lazy, is what I figure.
The # 2 house is still quite nice. It needs some paintwork and the floor tile replacement. Aside from that, it has a few extras...
I've lived in places ranging from 600 - 1750 sqft and have looked at homes around the 2500 sqft size. I agree, the sweet spot for me for a couple with a kid or two is 2000-2500 sqft, but I also prefer a separate small guest house as an add-on (ADU around 500-800 sqft) as well as a 2-5 car garage, but have never lived with that setup yet. Although, could it be that with houses, it's kind of like cars - if you go say from 300hp to 450hp, after 6mo it feels like 600hp would be nice, then once you taste that - hey, 750hp doesn't sound so bad. Have others had the same experience with square footage? Going from like 1500 to 2500 to 4000 sqft and realizing - wow, whatever space you have you'll eventually fill and then it starts to feel small. Maybe not. The upkeep of a larger sqft without 3rd party maids seems daunting.
My current home, built in 1988, I purchased in 2000. It was the model home for the development, and the developer lived across the street while it was being built. He kept a close eye throughout construction, and I've had minimal maintenance issues. The house behind me was built six years later, after the developer moved from the neighborhood. First two owners had major problems linked to initial construction. Like my Mopars, I bought my house largely because of the history.
I built a home for a couple in 93. They owned the 5 acres for a few years prior to. They knew there was a sulfur water issue in the area but, hoped to get lucky like the people on the corner, just hard water with a shallow well. No such luck, the well was at 135’. I had priced a water system at $7,500. The sulfur content was double the average for the area. My guy said, I’ve got nothing that will take care of it and if anyone says they do, they’re lying. 800’ and $28,000 later they were in the Superior stream it’s called. Great water, a little on the expensive side. That was the only area in the county that allowed plastic water pipes. Something I wouldn’t do except for repair back then.What do you do for water in out of town places. Here you can hit water at 100' to 300' drilling. Thing is to know the area, heard of 1,000ft wells. In Wolcott a town next to me guy built 3 houses before digging wells OOPs. Drills several dry holes. He should have known area had a reputation for deep wells. Town 6 years later ran city water in his area. Wonder what the evaporation rate of the poolis, or is it a storage tank.
