Slater Young shares tips on how to deal with dishonest contractors

There's so many things to think of when building one's dream home, and so much money involved as well, that future homeowners might not find themselves on top of everything or know how to deal with problems like a dishonest contractor.

Those looking for a little help can tune in to Slater Young's latest YouTube video, where the YouTuber and entrepreneur shared his experience with dishonest contractors and gave a few tips on how to deal with them as well.

Slater starts his YouTube video titled “Dealing with Dishonest Contractors” by warning his viewers of contractors that provide an estimate that seems too good to be true, before talking about “tofu dreg” projects where contractors skimp on materials to gain a huge profit but resulting in dangerous projects.

While Slater assures his viewers that the country has no contractors that are that dishonest, he does say that there are contractors who are more subtle when they try to cut corners with their clients.

One instance Slater cites is with backfilling, or the process of reusing or replacing the soil removed during the excavation of foundations. Contractors may intentionally or unintentionally cut corners when it comes to backfilling by only compacting the top layer of soil, rather than doing it at every level. This can be dangerous as it can result in your house eventually moving and developing cracks. To counter this, Slater suggests hiring a proper professional to oversee the project and who can conduct a field density test to find out if the soil the house is being built on is compact.

Another aspect that Slater advises homeowners should look out for is concrete, which must be quality checked. He notes that an unethical contractor will minimize the strength of the concrete by only using little of it during the construction process, reducing the compressive strength and making it vulnerable to calamities like earthquakes or even soil movement. To find out if a contractor is shortchanging you on this, Slater suggests conducting several tests on the concrete, from temperature tests, slump tests, and compressive strength tests, which can be conducted by an engineer on the site.

Slater also touched on undersizing of steel bars, which is hard to tell unless a caliper is used. He pointed out that this is so common in the country that Slater advises asking for “standard” sizes from hardware stores to ensure that homeowners are getting the proper thickness and dimensions.

Finally, Slater also asked his viewers to always be suspicious if a contractor provides a price that is so low that it appears too good to be true.

Watch the entire video below.

The video is just the latest one of Slater's that provide his viewers with helpful tips when it comes to building their own homes. Back in May, Slater talked about dealing with leaks and water damage in a video titled “Dream House? Make Sure You Do This.”

Earlier that same month, Slater also demystified solar power for his viewers in a 13-minute video that explained the different solar set-ups people can choose from.

IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR OTHER CELEBRITIES WITH SOLAR-POWERED HOMES, CHECK OUT THE GALLERY BELOW.