Architecture Blog

Building houses and strip malls, grocery stores and banks is something we do in this country. It is a sign of good times, stability and economic growth. The only problem with is it has to end somewhere. We can’t just keep building forever, can we? You would think that eventually we would have enough places to live, enough places to shop and enough things to do.

Several years ago things were booming. Where you cold really see it was in the west. Places like Phoenix and Las Vegas were building subdivisions so fast it made your head hurt. And these subdivisions were huge. not the kind you’re use to if you are from the Midwest or east coast. These were ridiculously big. One subdivision running into another; creating a massive community.

In 2008, things started to change. They changed quick too. the economy started showing signs of instability. The first thing that started being affected was homes. Home sales started to plummet. People were not buying homes all of a sudden. Home builders had just gone from bragging about how they could build a home in record time, to having thousands of brand new, empty homes.

As things got even worse, more people became unemployed. The more people that became unemployed, the more people that couldn’t pay their mortgages. Folks started walking away from their homes. They made the decision that vacating the house was the only option – they simply could not afford to pay the bill anymore. Add on to that, the fact that because housing prices had dropped to all-time lows, they were never going to get their money back out of their house.

In this country, we have a tendency to be extremists. If something is big, new, popular or working for someone; we go full bore and run it straight into the ground. We do it with sports, we do it with music, with technology – and we do it with construction. Hopefully we will learn from this, and be more prepared when the economy takes a turn for the worst.

When 2011 ended, it was the third year in a row of awful single-family home construction. The 2011 year was actually the worst year ever. However, there was a glimmer of hope at the end of the year that signaled a possible recovery.

In December, home builders started building 657,000 homes across the U.S. The Commerce department said that building permits stayed the same and apartment construction, which was already dead, dropped even farther. The number of homes that single-family home builders broke ground on this year is half of what experts say is needed to be considered a healthy economy. the housing market is still many years away from a full recovery.

Single family home builders broke ground on over 428,000 homes in 2011, which is the fewest in the last 50 years. That’s pretty scary. Economists all say that the single family homes make up 70% of the market and are a key indicator of the housing market rebound. One thing that makes it hard is that new purchases are also down and are at a 50 year low. With the crackdown of the government on the lenders and banks, no one wants to give out any money. People that normally would be able to get a loan cannot because they do not have perfect credit. There is fear in the market, and there will be for a while.

Since many homeowners walked away from their homes when things became impossible to afford, there are an overload of empty homes. These are homes are much cheaper for the buyer that building a new home – experts say about 30% cheaper. So many are looking at buying existing homes, since there are so many to choose from, rather than paying too much to build new.

With the downturn of the economy, specifically the housing market, many have tried to come up with ways to get “back on track”. Unemployment is high, and its hard to find a job. Many people cannot make their mortgage payments because they are overwhelmed with debt or they are out of work. We do want to put people back to work, and we want to get this economy going strong again. But how does this help people who don’t know where the next mortgage payment is coming from? Truth is, for the right here and now, it doesn’t

For years banks have been the facilitator of mortgage loans which make it possible for people to buy houses. Part of the reason we are in a housing slump is because these same banks allowed a whole lot of loans to be processed to people that were not fit for either the amount of the loan, or any loan. Once people cannot pay their mortgage, bad things happen. First, they stop taking care of the house because they are not sure how much longer they will be living in it. This negatively affects the neighborhood just by the bad visual the house now emits. Or worse, they could abandon the house. So now the neighborhood has to deal with a unkept house with no one living in it. Makes it almost impossible to sell.

Some now, are calling for the banks to bend to help the cause. They are asking the banks to become more lenient by lowering existing mortgage payments to reflect the new real time worth of the home. As we know, most homes are not worth as much as they were when they were purchased; especially homes purchased in the last ten years or so. Now, home owners are paying high mortgages for a home in which they will never regain the original value.

So far, no banks have really stepped up to the plate backing this concept. It does make sense though. If banks could find a way to recalculate a homes real time worth when moving toward foreclosure, they could lower the payment and keep the homeowner in the house. The alternative is to continue to see people leaving their homes abandoned and run down. The banks are then stuck with a house they really do not want and is worth far less to them. The homeowner loses, the bank loses, the neighborhood loses – we all lose.

Houses aren’t cheap. And the ones that are, have a location usually on the bad side of town. What if a house could be built for a lot less – like a whole lot less. What if a house could be built for $1,000? Sound impossible? Well, MIT has created an 800 square foot house in China for less than $6,000 US money. That house has served as the prototype for a house that they want to design for $1,000.

The prototype house in called “Pinwheel House”. It can withstand an 8.0 hurricane. There are many skeptics of the $1,000 house concept. They say that house will not be equipped with the necessary items to give someone a healthy lifestyle. Apparently the house has no capacity for hot water. many believe that it is a good idea to build lower cost houses, but that this is going a little too far.

The Pinwheel House is constructed from hollow brick walls, reinforced with steel bars and bamboo. The whole idea of the house is to provide a very low cost house. A $1,000 house seems a little bit of a stretch, but the idea of pushing the limits to create this house initiates brainstorming and creation of new ways of looking at doing the same old tasks. The $6,000 prototype house was located in a remote location which added to the cost of building.

The MIT students involved in the project believe that this type of low cost housing can help a great number of people. The low-cost homes would be a great help to heavily populated poor areas and displaced families from catastrophic events. The $1,000 house project is currently looking for sponsors for continue.

In the world of building every one is important. From the General Contractor all the way down to the smallest sub, everyone is vital to pulling off a project. So, how important can a bath accessory subcontractor be? Well, actually – pretty darn important. If a subcontractor wins the bid for their part of the work, they are awarded the job and are expected to show up during the project meetings and stay on track with their work.

The bath accessory sub provides quite a bit to the bathroom in a home or public restroom at a hotel or apartment complex. The small items they provide are the paper holder, towel bars or rings, shower rod and robe hooks. These items are relatively easy to install and take a minimal amount of time. The bigger items include the mirror, the medicine cabinet and the shower enclosure. In an apartment setting or public area, industrial paper towel dispensers, soap dispensers, seat cover dispensers, toilet paper holders, grab bars and bathroom partitions are also installed by the bath accessory sub.

A bath accessory company usually does not start work on a project until the very end. The only people who come in after them are the carpet subs, finish painters and cleanup crew. They do have to attend weekly meetings along with all the other subs. They also have to come in early to make sure the prep work and work around their area is done correctly so they can proceed when it is their time. Drywall subs, framers and counter subs quality of work is crucial to the bath accessory sub. Drywall cutouts need to be made for recessed medicine cabinets. If these are not done at the right time or location, delays interfere with the project timeline. Also, back splashes on counters need to be installed at the correct height as not to interfere with the mirror specifications.

A bath accessory sub can also make more money on a project by cutting their own glass for the mirrors and showers. Showers used laminated glass or “lam” for short. The lam comes in as big sheets that is then cut down to spec sizes by the sub. These pieces are then used to complete jobs depending on the size of the pieces needed for the shower. Other tempered glass which is reinforced and strengthened, is used to make the mirrors.

We are all aware that the economy is bad. It’s real bad. Some of us have jobs and continue on day to day. Some of us are out of work and are relying on savings to get us through until we can find another job. And some of us won’t be able to make the next mortgage payment. What happens when people simply cannot pay their house payment? In one area of Northeast Ohio, they are simply tearing houses down.

In the late 1990′s houses were being built all over the place. Moving into the 2000′s, the pace picked up even more. Home builders were building houses on record pace – and it wasn’t fast enough. Everyone was getting a loan, and everyone wanted a house. From first time home buyers to retirees looking for a place to settle in, homes were being bought at record pace. Because of the out of control demand, the price of the houses was being driven higher. The more people are willing to pay, the more they can sell for. Getting a loan was no problem. Even folks with mediocre credit could get loans.

And that is where the problem began. Many people were getting into loans that they really could not afford. Maybe they could afford it on paper, maybe with no income verification – maybe they could get the loan, but they probably shouldn’t have. Add on to that increasingly bad financial practice; the economy was starting to have issues. Many industries were already starting to feel the crunch and were starting to cut back. This meant layoffs. Companies that had never ever laid anyone off were now forced to.

One community in Cuyahoga County, Ohio has felt the brunt of this turmoil, and it’s not going away anytime soon. They have actually started tearing down houses in order get rid of the houses that are in such bad shape, the banks don’t even want them anymore. People who used to have well paying  jobs now struggle with the decision whether to put food on the table or to pay the mortgage. That is a tough situation to be in. City workers, nurses, business owners have all been affected by this recession in Cuyahoga County. These people would normally just write a check and pay the mortgage just like any other bill. But now the money has run out – there is no more.

So, left with no choice, they simply walk away. They walk away from their life, their home, their dreams – they have no choice. This is were the entire neighborhood and neighboring communities really suffer. Most of these homes have been vacant for six months, eight months – even over a year. Nothing has been done to them. They are deteriorating symbols of what was. As they sit vacant, real estate agencies are afraid to put up for sale signs in fear of scaring potential home buyers off. The number of vacant homes on any given street could out number those that are inhabited.

The bank doesn’t want the house, the owner can’t pay anymore, the city doesn’t want to deal with the vacant property as far as vandals and deteriorating the neighborhood. The city pays the $5,000 – $8,000 to have the house tore down, the bank takes the loss and the owner walks away homeless. This is is happening all over the United States. Not everyone is so quick to tear down property, but the scenario still exists. The only way for this cycle to end is for the banks to step up and recalculate the loan based on real-time market value, and work to keep the mortgage owner in the house.

In the construction and architectural world, equipment is necessary to perform tasks. Heavy items needed lifted high in the air, thousands of yards of dirt need moved and leveled and raw materials need delivered on location. There is a tremendous need for equipment on a job site – and lots of it. Most construction companies have a lot of their own equipment, but not necessarily everything they need. Other companies need quite a few pieces of equipment, especially for bigger projects. This is where the equipment rental industry comes in.

The rented equipment on job sites in the United States makes up about 30% of the equipment that you see. The rest is owned by the subcontractors or general contractor. This is actually a very low percentage based on what the Britain does. The British use rented construction equipment 70% of the time on their job sites. They find it more practical and efficient.

There are many reasons why companies rent construction equipment. The first and most cost saving reason is they don’t have to maintain the equipment. Maintenance on construction equipment is very, very expensive. Especially when you get into the bigger heavier equipment, the cost to maintain is staggering. Since routine maintenance is vital to keep construction equipment working properly, companies can avoid both the cost and downtime of having the equipment worked on. When something does eventually go mechanically wrong with a piece of big equipment, its usually out of commission for days at a time.

The second reason companies rent is to avoid the initial investment. Many of the large ticket construction equipment items can be $60,000 -$80,000 on up to well over $100,000. Taking in to consideration that a construction outfit will have to have many pieces of equipment, the decision to rent becomes easier. By avoiding the initial large payout to buy the equipment outright, companies stay away from tying up cash.

The third and final reason companies rent equipment is the convenience factor – customer service. The construction rental companies not only maintain the equipment, they replace it immediately if there is a problem. They deliver it directly to the needed site. They come to the site periodically to check it. They give discounted prices to large customers and customers who use frequently and they pick it up and get it out of the customer’s way.

Its amazing that the percentage of companies that rent construction equipment is not much higher.

It takes a lot of things to come together to build a school, senior living facility or even a hotel or apartments. Minds have to come together to plan, design, alter, change, redesign, agree and finally approve the project. There are lots of folks involved in the job from start to finish. If one thing goes wrong in the process, it could mean disaster.

Usually an idea starts with an investor and developer combination. The investor may have the money to fund the project, and the developer may already own the land, or is waiting in the wing to prep the land for use. Sometimes the developer funds their own ideas and projects.

The next step is to hire an architect to design a visual depiction of what the owner wants. The owner can be a totally separate person from the investor and developer. The architect may have some leeway in what he or she can depict, but usually the owner has certain specifications that must be met. The specifications are first bound by code. As long as they are within those guidelines, they may have additional design specs that must be shown. The architect will then come up with drawings showing each stage and part of the project.

The plans are then sent to the city for approval. This process could be lengthy. The plans may get sent back for revisions based on code violations. Once these violations are fixed, the plans are then sent back to the city for approval.

Next, a GC or general contractor will be hired to run the project. They will be responsible for all of the sub-contractors that will be doing the work. Some GC’s self-perform certain tasks, like the excavation of dirt, or even concrete. Usually separate companies are hired and act as subs for these jobs. The GC will then pass out a set of plans to all of the subs that want to bid on the project. The subs present proposals to the GC in hopes of winning the job. Subs are chosen because of their quality of workmanship and the ability, based on their price, to allow the GC to stay within budget.

As this is happening, or sometimes even before, dates are set and a master timeline for the project is created. This timeline will be followed by the GC and subs to ensure they are all staying within budget and that the project is completed on time. Finally the project starts. Sometimes projects get behind schedule. It is the GC’s responsibility to get the subs to make up the time and get the project done, within code, and on time.

If you haven’t heard, the housing market is pretty bad right now. It has been for a while. On the buyer side, it is a great time to buy a house as interest rates are around 3.75%. The slump in house building does not just affect home builders. When building houses comes to a stand still, may companies suffer. Many home builders have gone out of business in the last four or five years, but other industries suffer as well.

One industry that suffers heavily is the concrete industry. Sure they still provide concrete for retail jobs, but think of what they lose. In any given development of homes there are driveways that are not being poured. Every home needs concrete flooring for the basement or a concrete slap. Think about all the side walks that line the development that no longer need concrete. This industry takes a big hit when home builders slow down, or even worse – stop.

Another industry that takes a beating is the lumber industry. Many houses, especially homes from the same builder who is cranking them out quickly are made with wood. Even brick homes have an interior structured by wood. Wood is also used to make the roof. Wood may mean less trees to cut down, but it also means less profit for companies.

Skilled labor also suffers because of the housing collapse. Many talented laborers are forced to find work when things get tough. Many of them have seen the ups and downs of construction. If the “new job” ends up working out for them, many of them never return to full-time work in their particular industry again. They hold resentment over the fact that they have something to offer and no one seems to want their services. They have probably thought about changing careers in the past, and this last drastic halt pushed them to act.

Let’s hope the housing boom happens once again. But, until then, we must realize that there are many industries and individuals that suffer when home builders stop building.