The result is a mixed bag. Certainly more constant adjustment to buildings comes from all this informality, but every carpenter I’ve talked to complains that the thing they most dread in any remodeling job is shoddy prior work done on the sly and not up to code—“cob work done by some handyman.” They contract to fix a warped bathroom floor and find they have to completely redo the plumbing, wiring, walls, and floor joists because earlier slapdash work put in hazardous wiring and leaky, rot-producing pipes.
