Dennis Spencer Construction

Jan 24th, 2021

May 17th, 2020

I live in a split-level slab-foundation house built by Dennis’s company in 1999. It’s possible things have improved in the last 20 years, but as I go about trying to retrofit for energy efficiency, I’m shocked by what I’m finding. The bedroom over the garage is 11 degrees colder than the rest of the top floor of the house, and heat from the furnace doesn’t seem to reach it no matter how we play with vent grates — I called him about it years ago and he just shrugged it off saying yeah, the venting was undersized. What he didn’t mention was that there was a gaping hole in the windowframe — that’s been plugged and caulked somewhat (seriously, I was stuffing socks into that hole to plug it) but I’ll have to replace the window to get it tight. The people next door have had to replace their windows, too. Cold air also pours in around the doorframe and kitchen window despite caulking and weatherstripping, and I suspect insulation is missing in the walls; I’m having an insulation contractor come to have a look this month. I already know it’s underinsulated in the attic and that things were not hooked up properly with venting. Downstairs has been uninhabitably cold for years, which I’ve changed with an interior door, but that leaves the chilly downstairs hall downright cold as there is no heating vent there. I replaced the roofing (shingles failed) and central a/c when the house was ten years old. Also, inexplicably, there are no south-facing windows, so we get no solar gain. Same is true of all the houses on this block built by his company. It’s really very disappointing. I know the mode for builders is to hire as cheap as possible, move as fast as possible, but people use more energy heating and cooling buildings than doing anything else. It’s important to do these things well. I am hopeful that with changes to City code, new-construction inspection will include blower-door tests. I hope Spencer Construction’s quality has improved — I see they’re no longer in the homebuilding business, just foundations, looks like. The attention to detail’s important there, too.
Apr 24th, 2020