Five years ago I visited a business acquaintance who had just built a new home for a little over one million dollars. I had been in homes in that area costing substantially more that did not have the crystal chandeliers, fine woodwork, and Italian marble that his home did. The morning sun streaming through the stained glass windows on the eastern wall of the house was beautiful. I complimented him on his apparent negotiating skills and his ability to get a real bargain.
This year I visited the same house and noticed a few flaws beginning to show up in the once grandiose structure. I think it is important at this point for you to realize that I go to places to see people—not things. For me to notice whether things are good or bad, they have to be unusual. You couldn’t help but notice these problems. The doors no longer swung freely. They bound when opened or closed. The ceiling had several cracks, and it was obvious that several areas had been patched. The stained glass window had been removed.
I commented to my host about missing the beauty of his stained glass windows, and that’s when he began to tell me his tale of woe. It seems that the house’s foundation was not what it should have been. It was now settling unevenly and wreaking havoc upon the rest of the house. The stained glass had been removed because the warp of the window frame was so bad it threatened to destroy the pane. I soon learned that all of the problems I had noticed earlier were a direct result of this substandard foundation.
Who do we blame for this condition—the builder, the architect, or maybe the building inspectors? In this instance, we have to blame the homeowner. My client, against the advice of his architect, his builder, and even the building inspector, decided to skimp on the foundation. He met only the minimum requirement of the building code. He reasoned that if you couldn’t see it, it didn’t matter. Boy, was he wrong! And he is paying a severe price for his foolishness now. He would gladly trade all of the woodwork, tile, and stained glass for a firmer foundation. In fact, he might have to. The cost of shoring up the foundation of an existing house is almost out of reach. But if he doesn’t make the correction, the house will continue to deteriorate and lose even more of its value.
The moral of this story is that whether it is houses or lives, it is imperative that we make sure we have a firm foundation. We must not skimp. A few dollars spent on such things as a college class or technical training now will serve much better than buying a new car that will rust out in a couple of years. Once we build a solid base, we can, as time and resources permit, add all the extras we wish. You are the architect, builder, and building inspector of your life. How good is your foundation?