Home Quality (Tampa: home builder, living, price)

[bavariantransplant]

Hello, curious ... I have been looking at some homes, newer, and they appear stick built (wood frame).

Living here in Germany homes are exclusively concrete. I found one concrete home builder in the Tampa area, Codgill Builders, was curious if many homes are poured concrete with rebarb or wood framed? Seems the area would benefit more from concrete.

Has anyone heard of or know about Codgill Builders?

Thanks.

[rezfreak]

I havent heard of them but wood frames are pretty much near exclusively used in the US. I looked them up on bbb.org and their business is an a+ rating with no complaints, so that's good news at least.

However, wood is more readily available in the US whereas concrete materials are more available in the european region. The other issue is, that builders can put up a wood frame in the matter of a week at most, whereas with concrete they have to plan out where the pipes will go and then pour the concrete, let it cure, etc. Its more time consuming, which means more cost.

[bavariantransplant]

Yea, I built my home here in Germany and watched them plan and pour, its amazing to watch.

I swear my home can take a shot from a tank and still be okay, its like a fortress.

I would love to build a concrete home but imagine being so exclusive my price range of 400k-500k would be far lower then what would be required.

Stick built just seems so inferrior and weak, especially in Florida with bugs, weather and security.

I cant seem to find anyone that has used Cogdill builders online, nothing more then their own website and the bbb report that is many years old and no complaints which is good, I agree.

[gypsychic]

Concrete block with stucco is the preferred method for homes in Florida due to storms and wood-boring pests. I don't think you should have a problem finding a concrete home, since the overwhelming majority of homes here are built that way.

Two story homes here tend to be concrete on the first floor and frame on the second. I live in an older home, built in 1954, solid reinforced concrete block covered with stucco. The concrete continues into the gables, we don't have wood trusses like the newer cheaper homes. I don't have any recommendations for new builders, though.

Good luck to you.

[ghostrider7811]

I have been looking for a new house lately. I have found so many problems with the large pre planned communties.
These areas have small yards and every 5th house is the same. The home builder may have decent plans but the problems are with the people who put them together.
Also look at the 2nd story windows of most of these homes. the window is flush with the exterior wall. This causes black streaks down the side as if the window is crying. Also these flush windows leak super easy as the caulk dries out in the FL sun. Most dont even have gutters. The water from the roof is simply allowed to slash all over the side of the house.
I can go on and on.

[rezfreak]

Originally Posted by ghostrider7811

I have been looking for a new house lately. I have found so many problems with the large pre planned communties.
These areas have small yards and every 5th house is the same. The home builder may have decent plans but the problems are with the people who put them together.
Also look at the 2nd story windows of most of these homes. the window is flush with the exterior wall. This causes black streaks down the side as if the window is crying. Also these flush windows leak super easy as the caulk dries out in the FL sun. Most dont even have gutters. The water from the roof is simply allowed to slash all over the side of the house.
I can go on and on.

I never understood why the houses here didnt have gutters either.

[Not_liking_FL]

I'm sure there must be some builders somewhere in FL that build the type of house you are talking about. I've read that an ICF(insulated concrete form) house cost about 5-10% more than stick built, but I don't have any first hand knowledge to confirm this. There are better concrete building systems, imo, than concrete block or ICF, usually with the insulation sandwiched between the reinforced concrete. I've also heard the build time is much quicker than stick built.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by rezfreak

I never understood why the houses here didnt have gutters either.

Mainly because the ground is so porous there is no reason to have gutters. Water doesn't collect on the ground here or erode the soil like it does in places where there is ground cover with "looser" vegetation.

RM