ajaxlepinski wrote:........When an area become a popular location to build homes, dozens of new contractors pop up and go out of business as soon as the construction slows down. Five, ten or twenty years later, when someone finally tears down a wall, exposing a lack of insulation or illegal wiring, there is no one to sue and the home owner is stuck with the cost of repairs.
and this is why there are inspections required before concrete slabs are poured, and before sheetrock goes up.
Of course - this doesn't stop payoffs that sidestep the inspection process..........
In Rockledge, PA (suburb of Philly) - there were around (175) homes built starting in the 1920's in a development named Hollywood by a contractor from California.
He built all the homes just as they were built in Cali - same SW styling, and with no insulation in the walls.
from wikipedia:
Hollywood is an unincorporated community in the southern portion of Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is well known for its collection of Southern California-style homes.
The 174-home neighborhood got its start when a builder from California, Gustav Weber, filed plans to build a small subdivision in 1928. The homes were built in pastel colors with flat roofs, similar to Spanish-style homes in the Los Angeles area. Streets were named Los Angeles, San Diego, Pasadena and San Gabriel.
However, one of Weber's problems was that the neighborhood landscaping and hardscaping features were not built to cope with the Northeastern winters. Plants native to Southern California and Moravian tile sidewalks were included in his plans. The plants died in the cold. The tile cracked and was replaced by concrete. As a result, modifications were made to the area after it was built.
The neighborhood was never finished according to Weber's plans. Possible reasons ranged from the 1929 stock market crash to an unfaithful wife. A local developer finished the development in the 1940s. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has listed the area as eligible for national registry. As a result, residents can apply for federal grants to maintain the historical character of the neighborhood.
all of those homes are still there as an intact development - but most (all?) have been modernized/insulated - but it is still a Cali-looking area.
