Meanwhile, in the Hamptons

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
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Hamptons couple tears down house after construction error



It’s like playing with Legos — only it’s a real house.

When they found out their house was built too far from the curb, a well-heeled Hamptons husband and wife had it torn down and rebuilt from scratch.

Eric and Margaret Friedberg had returned from vacation expecting to see their new home near the water in ritzy Southampton Village taking shape.

And it was — except the house was built in the wrong spot, leaving them no room for a back yard or pool, the builders said.
“There was no back yard and no pool,” one worker said. “You’ve got to have the pool. This is why you measure twice and cut once.



“The framing for the first floor was completed, and they had started the framing for the second floor and — oops — they found out about the mistake and had to take it all down,’’ the worker added.

Another worker said construction crews are working double time to fix the error, which will add six weeks to the project.
“It’s a $100,000 to $150,000 mistake,” the worker said.

Not only did the new wood structure have to be dismantled, but the newly poured 45-by-45-foot foundation — made of tons of 10-inch-thick concrete and steel rebar — also had to be smashed and carted away, workers said.

It was the second time the Friedbergs used the wrecking ball since they bought the Huntting Street property for $2.478 million.

That price included a 1,674-square-foot house that included cathedral ceilings, a fireplace, pool and a brick terrace.

But that house was torn down to make room for the one that was torn down like a toy-brick tower.

Margaret Friedberg, a former government prosecutor, said she’s not making a federal case out of the blunder.

“Mistakes happen. I love my architect and my builder. This was a surveyor’s problem,” she said, without elaborating.
Even the Friedbergs’ builder seemed to brush it off.

“This doesn’t even move the needle as strange in the Hamptons,” Peter Cardel said. “We have a wonderful team. There is no friction. It’s just something that has to be done.”

Not everyone is as calm.

Weary neighbors complain they’ll have to live through a second round of racket and debris at the start of the summer season.

“It’s noisy,’’ one Huntting Street neighbor groused over the din of earth-moving equipment.

“I hear the noise of construction. It’s especially annoying in the summer, and it starts early in the morning.’’

The plot is considered a prime location. It is south of Montauk Highway, and an old listing boasts that residents can “hear the ocean” from the terrace — not, of course, during construction hours.

Nearby, at the site of another teardown on the same street, stands a new home under construction that is almost complete.

It’s a 5,400-square-foot house with six bedrooms and 7 1/2 bathrooms on the market for $5.695 million.




Hamptons couple tears down house after construction error - NYPOST.com


 

taxslave

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 25, 2008
36,362
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Vancouver Island
Not that uncommon. Usually it is because someone measured wrong and the house is too close to a line or even over the property line.
 

Liberalman

Senate Member
Mar 18, 2007
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Toronto
The new Toronto Condo glass is falling down because of poor design and quick building. Concrete panels are falling off of office building towers in down town buildings in Toronto. Where is the plum bob?