How long does it take to build a house?

[Fred Heller]

So this will go under the heading of "nosy neighbor."

I bought my house in 2003. At the time there was a house directly across the street that appeared to be vacant. No one has lived in that house in all these years, but someone has been tending it.

Several years after buying my house, my curiosity got to me and I checked the other house on the taxpayer database. I discovered it was owned by the City of Houston Housing Department.

About three years ago a sign for a contractor showed up in the yard. Since my neighborhood is a hotbed for builders tearing down the 50's ranches and building McMansions, I assumed that would happen to the house across the street. But that was not the case.

There has been months of no activity at all interspersed with some activity. They finally seemed to get busy about a year ago. Instead of tearing down the house as I expected, they stripped it down to its frame, and then started to rebuild the house in its original configuration.

So my question is what the hell is going on here? How can they spend three years rebuilding a house and still not be done? My brother-in-law owns a construction company, and I asked him how long it takes to build a house. He said three to six months.

What is going on here? How can a contractor spend 3 years+ to rebuild a house?