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And the Building-Blunders Contest Winner Is...

comments (4) November 8th, 2010 in Blogs

Official Fine Homebuilding Post, editor

Building Blunders contest winner: Another beam repair with the customary "Tail Light Guarantee"

Photo: thebeamguy

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It was a close game, but we've got our winner:

Another beam repair with the customary "Tail Light Guarantee"

Congratulations to thebeamguy from Sacramento, CA! He's the proud new owner of three of our favorite books: Graphic Guide to Frame Construction, Graphic Guide to Interior Details, and Graphic Guide to Site Construction. Plus, he also gets a one year onlline subscription to GreenBuildingAdvisor.com

And thank you to all who entered the contest, and to all who helped us pick the winner.

Help us choose a winner for our latest gallery challenge

We've narrowed things down to four finalists — now it's your turn to pick the worst construction catastrophe. The winner of this gallery challenge takes home a collection of our Graphic Guides to Site Construction, Framing, and Interior Details.

Visit each of the four finalists' gallery posts, and then vote for your favorite in the survey below.

Are you surprised by the not-so-structural beam repair? Perhaps you're placing your bet on the cabin with equal odds of burning down, falling down, and rotting away. Or, maybe you're impressed by the game of pick-up-sticks that one builder played with his new roof trusses. Of course, there's always the roofer who thinks a cricket is something you feed to your pet snake.

posted in: Blogs, remodeling, water and moisture control, safety

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What You Don't Know Can Kill You

Comments (4)

iMarc writes: This isn't the place for spam messages. If you want to advertise your products, contact the appropriate department.
Posted: 8:04 am on November 15th

thebeamguy writes: My own entry notwithstanding, I think that the collapse in "Truss Bracing? . . .", although not altogether uncommon, epitomizes the notion of "scary" in SCARY BUILDING BLUNDERS. The injuries happen in an instant, and often with little warning. This type of blunder, which can easily be avoided, creates a severe safety risk (the scary part) so obvious that it needs no explanation. Suffice it to say, the lucky ones live to tell the tale.
Posted: 1:20 pm on November 11th

inspector_gadget writes: OMG by Beam Guy seems pretty dangerous to me. How would that support roof load, let alone some poor, unsuspecting group of roofers?
Posted: 12:18 pm on November 11th

Dreamcatcher writes: I don't think any of the example photos in the poll are that bad. I voted for the "Log Cabin Nightmare" because of the photo titled "Optional Bearing Point?" which would be the worst infraction of the group. Otherwise all the other infractions, while being examples of shoddy workmanship, do indeed "work" and don't necessarily pose a substantial "health and safety risk".

When you work in remodeling like I do, you see a lot of poor workmanship and more than a few building blunders. Some look bad but work others are severe safety risks. Most of my clients couldn't feasibly afford for me to change everything to be "right" per current codes and building standards. Being able to sort though those blunders and choose the necessary infractions is my job.

Let's put it this way...... I've seen worse.

DC
Posted: 8:11 am on November 8th

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