On finding the right expert

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Q. In your column, you mentioned using a construction adviser. Is there really such a person? I have a lot of problems with my house, now that the contractor is gone. He says he’ll come back, but we keep having scheduling conflicts. It seems like he just wants the problems to fix themselves or go away. I could really sympathize with the couple with roof leaks and the generator problem. Help!

A. There is such a person, who changes into tights and a cape in telephone booths, leaps tall buildings … but the telephone booths are gone, so look for a guy running around in tights with a cell phone. But then, you have to wonder who would listen to that guy.

The field of construction management is usually geared toward commercial construction, not much residential, and it has taken me many years to gather enough experience to know the many ways buildings and their systems fail. I’ve looked for other sticklers, and over the years found a few who would make a competent investigative team.

In college, I collected articles about building disasters. I wanted to know all the details of why something so strongly built could come apart so rapidly, and with such force. What I discovered, and what I see all the time, is that buildings don’t just come apart rapidly. They slowly show signs on the surface of what’s happening inside. At a family gathering when I was a teen, a doctor told me how he just wanted to enjoy the party, not have to “talk shop,” answering everyone’s health questions. Then he amazed me by pointing to an old man and saying, “You see that guy? He has liver spots on his face and hands. It will soon kill him!” He told me he could tell by the white areas on people’s fingernails whether they had respiratory issues, and so on.

I started thinking of buildings as being like the human body, breathing, with a skeletal structure, an electrical nervous system, plumbing, etc. Sounds quirky, but that’s the kind of person who can solve the building problems you’re experiencing, with one caveat: That person must also know when to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find someone who does.”

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