It is impossible to tell from this picture what you are trying to show.

It’s not impossible to see. I see all the bumps, lumps and uneven spots in the picture. It’s terrible. We had such a bad experience with a few trades that we’ve ended up doing the work ourselves. Then we found a handyman who was super meticulous and detail oriented and we held on to him for dear life.

The glaring light dominates the image and makes it impossible to get a true sense of the problem.

Please. Consumers are getting just exactly what they've demanded. Lower prices, lower prices, lower prices, and you're getting an illegal alien Guatamalan who's being exploited by the builder. When the guy doing the plaster work can afford to live next to you in the suburbs, the quality problems will be over.

Want your daughter to marry a plasterer? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Couple that with a mortgage loan system that doesn't effectively differentiate in "quality" and more and more large scale / national builders who are not really part of the community, it's a perfect storm of put up whatever you can, as cheaply as you can, and sadly, you'll be rewarded.

And it will only get worse. Either become a proficient DIY'er or get ready to lower your standards. Because when the kids grow up in a dozen or so years and are proficient in the language, they will be owning the trades.

The quality of the materials and the level of "craftsmanship" in a home have always varied as a function of price point. It's important to calibrate your expectations for a particular price point in a particular market.

I paid $615k and it’s a two bedroom so it wasn’t cheap.

I agree that generally you get what you for and I’m not disputing the comments above, but we’ve paid top dollar to established, reputable companies that we had properly vetted beforehand and had some horrible results, so it’s not always the case. Worst was probably a back splash job that needed to be completely ripped out. Another was the flooring installation, it was so bad that we had to end the contract with the company and get another one mid way. Mind you, this was after Hurricane Harvey and it’s my impression that some companies didn’t care about results, they just wanted to get it done as quickly as possible and move on to the next project.

Better photo but not great

Decent picture and unfortunately while not great, production builds (townhouses, condos, tract homes) will in todays age typically have some of this. I would certainly request that this be repaired but expect push back from the builder. And honestly most production build contracts are worded that you cannot even refuse to close due to this type situation. You can really do one of two things, close or walk (and lose deposits or earnest money).

Did you have this townhome built for you? I'm guessing no, since I would imagine you would have been monitoring construction through the process and had a final walkthrough where you would have had this corrected prior to closing.

So then, if not, you were not under obligation to buy it and presumably would have had an opportunity to see all of this sloppy work that you're discovering every day and/or have an inspection done? I don't mean to be rude, but I just find it odd that you chose to buy this place only to be shocked that it's not perfect. Everything in life has a price. And perfection costs that, plus. The price you chose to pay, while a lot to you (and to many) is only going to buy so much....maybe it's in an ideal neighborhood or close to where you work or has security or has great amenities -- whatever -- there must be some reason or combination of reasons that led you to buy it. So now enjoy those things and save your money and hire out the projects that need to be re-done to your specs.

More than ten years ago, we in the industry heard the average age of a tradesman ( plumber, electrician, glazier, drywaller, etc) was 57. All schools focus on “college bound” statistics and ignore work using one’s hands. We tried for thirty years to get our local school district to implement trade courses, but they focused on college prep. We begged for vocational education, but the drive for every parent was a college degree for every student. “I don’t want my kid to get his hands dirty. I want him in an office job.” Welcome to the real world.

We build a custom home almost three years ago now and are still dealing with deficiencies. I have no idea why people don’t just do it right the first time. Our exterior paint issues will be repaired for maybe the sixth time this July. A mind boggling waste of money and time. That said, there are other imperfections that irritated me initially and now we are settled and I no longer see. Yes it should be done well the first time but sometimes it isn’t and you need to decide if it’s a hill you want to die on

We also were very disappointed in the finish work of our new build. Made us really question the work we couldn't see... Electric, plumbing, framing...

The warranty was also a joke. Spent two years fighting with the builder to fix the issues. Their fixes were to cover up the problem in the cheapest way possible. They can only schedule during normal business hours so I had to take time off work to have workers come by. It was so depressing to have to deal with all that in our new home. Killed all our first time home buyer excitement.

Consumers are getting just exactly what they've demanded. Lower prices, lower prices, lower prices

While I cannot assume this is the case with the OP, I would say in general I see this a lot, especially now as the market settles into higher prices for renovations. I have a GC I recommend and who prices over 30% higher than others I work with, but their work is impeccable. Often my clients will decide to work with a lower-priced option. And they get craftsmanship like this...

They still paid a lot for this contractor, but not as much as my recommendation. There are A, B, C and D team contractors. Before you hire someone, decide what level of quality you are comfortable with. If you can handle not-so-perfect, then it may be worth it to you to pay the lower-cost option. (And you may get lucky and get a true professional who does quality work, despite the low price.)

Also agree that you should not evaluate drywall by shining a direct high-intensity beam on it. Look at it in normal lighting, day and night. If it's still problematic, then I would expect the contractor to fix it.

Very typical experience, Elizabeth, and I hate that it happens.

It was a miserable job for me because I was the first point of contact for homeowners with issues, and trying to get a super to fix something was extremely frustrating. It was a feat just getting them to call me back. I had an understandably angry and discouraged homeowner on one side and a ”Stop bothering me, deal with it somehow” super on the other. The ones at the top are 100% not interested in anyone returning to a sold house. That cuts into profit. And is why they make it very challenging for you to get any results (can only come during limited hours, only if the crow flies south and there won’t be an eclipse in the next 18 months, etc).

DH and I did all finish work in our home over five years of weekends. I mudded the ceilings that aren't wood clad.

In the photo, above, avoiding the patch with the indent and adjacent "pile" does not take incredible amounts of skill, vocational training or English. It takes attention, which often requires time.

The cost analysis of that as explained well by many posters is why there are so many textured ceilings.

@Kristin Petro Interiors, Inc.,

Well said. The challenge is aligning the client's expectations with the capabilities and service level provided by whichever contractor they select. Friction results when the client wants "Chuck-in-a-truck" to produce the same quality results as a high-end contractor. In my experience, this is often the case with projects that "won" on a competitively-bid basis.

"Friction results when the client wants "Chuck-in-a-truck" to produce the same quality results as a high-end contractor. In my experience, this is often the case with projects that "won" on a competitively-bid basis."

We call it the race to the bottom. And that applies to both price and quality.

30% of ALL our job applicants for a construction industry job FAILED the drug test. Many more walked out the door when they found out our help wanted ad was serious about drug free workplace. Even after the initial drug test, men who had passed a drug test would fail a random test.

After mudding ceilings, I began to regret my sobriety.

remodeling1840:

Any residential remodeler who has drug testing as a requirement for employment is going out of business. Not my opinion; Remodeling Magazine had a testimonial from a successful remodler. It was drop the drug test or shut 'er down, because the guys who could pass the tests were all working union commercial.

If you can keep 'em from smellin' like weed in the customer's house, you're good to go.

"I have no idea why people don’t just do it right the first time."

Because they're not making any money. The single best advice I can give consumers is not getting the lowest price, but making sure your GC and his subs are making money on your job.

I remember a remodeling job where the owner of the home next door was performing rot repairs on their three-year old home.. Their builder installed wood windows in a home in our coastal Virginia climate. The owners didn't save any money compared with doing it right the first time; they'll just pay out the price difference over time.

Joe, in commercial construction in Florida, Drug-Free Workplace was a requirement for any commercial contractor with whom we dealt. We also received a discount for Workman's Comp insurance. The real bonus was the lower job injury rate, not to mention fewer call backs for improperly installed jobs.

Well Joseph since the builder and painter keep coming back and buying new materials they are the ones who are wasting their money. We aren’t paying them anything as this is deficiency work. Yes they are wasting our time but they’ve spent so much time on this and money it’s stupid.

In general it appears craftsmanship has gone down over the past few decades as illustrated in most of the above comments. However, there are plenty of fantastic craftsman around. I researched and read reviews and interviewed many specialized craftsman over the past 2 years to renovate just about all of my home. I had a craftsman who only does stairs, who did a superb job on my new oak staircase and bannister installation. He spent a lot of time matching the wood stain to my porcelain wood look floor tiles. I found an experienced tiler who did a beautiful job on my porcelain wood look tile floor installation. I had a great electrician ( a family friend) who installed all new lights and smoke detectors. I had an artistic kitchen designer as well as an experienced carpenter who installed my new kitchen, with great attention to detail. My cabinets were made by" Plain & Fancy", a Pennsylvania based company, who fabricated beautiful custom cabinetry. I had another excellent dedicated carpenter who installed my new front door. I recently had new wall to carpet installed by a local carpet store who called both days of my carpet installation to make sure I was a happy customer, and boy was I happy. The carpet store uses only experienced select carpet installers. My husband and I fixed all wall and ceiling nail pops and cosmetic cracks, I then washed and rinsed all walls and ceilings, sanded all molding and doors prior to painting the entire inside of our home. My husband is retired and I am semi retired, so we had the luxury to paint the home ourselves; we are pretty good painters, slow but sure. I chose these wonderful craftsman who all took pride in their work; and I would recommend them in a heartbeat. People who have seen my home comment on the great craftsmanship too. Yes, there are some good talented and dedicated craftsmen out there who take pride in their work; you just have to do your research, take your time, and find them.