Las Vegas Homes?

AMLConstruction

My ? is this . How are homes generaly built there? are they cinderblock exterior and wood framing inside,or are they all wood framed? The reason I'm asking is because I just got married at the venetian and the deacon who performed the ceremony said that the new home construction there was booming and that 6000 to 8000 people move there monthly. That made me curious because business in illinois (rockford) is vey slow right now and has been . I just cant seem to get a bite from new home construction companys. and is starting to really effect my wallet now. I'm sure there codes cant be that much different from ours. thx

tkle

Wood framed.As far as masonry there's probably more steel used out here.Dis I mention...Vegas sucks.

Bob Kovacs

I lived in Vegas from 94-99, building semi-custom homes. Everything is wood frame with stucco. Most of the homes use a "1-coat" stucco system which is 15# felt, 1" styrofoam, chicken wire, and a 3/8" coat of fiber-reinforced stucco. Some of the better homes get the traditional 3-coat stucco over self-furring lath.

If you're planning on being a subcontractor, plan on speaking Spanish and living with 10 other people in a 2-bedroom house- otherwise you'll never get any work, and won't be able to live on the money you'd make. With the exception of perhaps trimwork, HVAC and electric, EVERYTHING is don't with "imported" labor (I won't call them "illegal" because I can't verify that, but I'm sure a good portion of them are).

Vegas isn't the goldmine that everyone makes it out to be- I'm back in NJ now, making 3x what I was making there. The housing is more expensive here than it was in Vegas, but they've been catching up pretty quick. The schools there also suck, as the immigrants have overloaded the schools and most schools now have to teach at least part of the day in spanish because the beaner parents refuse to teach them English at home. There's a growing gang problem, and you've got to live on the outskirts of town now and suffer in nasty traffic to have a nice house (the close in areas are trashed now).

If you've got any questions, feel free to email or PM me, or ask them here.

Bob

AMLConstruction

So what you are saying is that there isn't much work left out there for a subcontractor?

joasis

I think what he is getting at is you might want to take a close look before you leap in the Vegas market....my money would be on the gulf coast if I was relocating.

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Bob Kovacs

What I'm saying is that there's plenty of work, provided you're willing to do it for McDonalds wages and always be worried that someone will come in 5 cents/SF cheaper and you'll be out of work. It's extremely difficult for anyone who wants to run a legitimate business with legal employees being paid decent wages.

Bob