A house inspector finds seven violations in a brand-new house that is selling for $420,000.
In a TikTok with almost 5 million views, Dallas Fort Worth-based professional house inspector Randle (@inspector_randle) walks through a brand-new house and identifies some pretty glaring issues.
“Every single new build, every single one I do, they can never get the rafters connected to the ridge,” he begins, looking at a wooden construction in one part of the house.
He also mentions that one side of the house is “missing the counter flashing,” which is a roofing material that helps with water leaking.
“In the garage and no GFCI Protection even though it says it’s protected,” he says. He checks one of the garage’s outlets. Ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) Protection helps immediately turn off electrical power in the event of a ground fault. This is to prevent electric shock.
Randle then inspects the bathroom, closing in on the shower head. “That should be sealed better,” he says. He points to the shower head’s lack of sealing to the wall. He shows water coming out of the back of the shower head. “And we have a shower leak.”
In the hallway, he notices yet another issue. “This door’s supposed to be self-closing with a self-closing hinge, and there’s not one in place,” he says.
Randle also notes missing air filters, cracks in tiles, and more water leaks in the air conditioning unit outside.
Viewers Weigh In
In the comments, users are taken aback after seeing all of the issues in a brand-new house that costs so much. They also share their experiences with house inspectors.
“My husband is an inspector and gets yelled at constantly by dismissive contractors calling him a deal killer. Lots of realtors don’t want to work with him because he doesn’t look the other way,” one user noted.
“New houses are overpriced junk! I bought an older home and renovated it myself so I knew it would be solid,” another user chimed in.
“This is why you get your house inspected and stop letting realtors convince you to wave it, PLUS bid 50k above asking,” a third viewer advised.
“American building standards are shocking,” a fourth viewer put simply.
Why Are American Houses Declining in Quality?
As Dengarden puts it, many Americans have noticed that homes recently built in the U.S. are built like “a house of cards.” They suffer from “weak beams, plywood, flimsy insulation, flimsy siding, and roofing that blows off in high winds or rots away” within years. Despite the use of cheaper materials instead of classic brick or concrete, these houses are high-priced.
Senior Architect Anthony Giannini wrote in a Medium essay that part of the reason for increasing prices on housing is the growing amount of “new federal, state and local regulations,” the growing costs of materials, and an increase in labor shortages. According to a study the National Association of House Builders conducted, about 24.3% of a new home’s final selling price is directly made up of local, state, and federal regulatory costs.
As developers battle these ongoing costs and hurdles, paired with a housing shortage, it is not surprising that some are cutting corners.
As one commenter put it under Randle’s video: “That’s how they can build two houses a week.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Inspector Randle via TikTok private message for more information.
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