Pick Your Battles - House Contractor Rant

[roadhunter]

Another issue with many remodels is there are no drawings, specifications, architect, etc.. in many cases to spell out exactly what is required so the contractor ends up making those decisions because the average homeowner has no clue how things should be done. Contractor is almost always going to make decisions that are best for him and not for everyone else involved.

Another sign this isn't going to work is the homeowner having work done without getting a bid. Calling a plumber and asking for a hourly rate and then scheduling work is a recipe for disaster. Should have gotten a plumbing bid for all the plumbing on the project, not try to do things an hour of work at a time.

GC's have better control over contracts due to long term relationships and working together on past projects as well as plans and specifications that the contractors are to follow as well as the ability to chargeback costs incurred due to problems the contractor causes. Homeowners typically pay up front, have no plans/spec's, and no clout with the contractor to make them do thier job. The average homeowner has no business trying to be in charge of a construction project.

 

[KennyG]

Thank you, it has been 3 years of nothing but remodel and repair. I think the house had the original 1970 carpet in it.

I can identify with that. Our house was built in 1976 and seemed to be in a time capsule when we bought it. A good General Contractor, our sweat equity and a year of work brought it up to date (except the kitchen, which my wife can't quite make the decisions on.)

 

[Deere Dude]

My son had a recommended builder build a really nice house in northern Wisconsin. He made a change with the GC. I wanted the 150' driveway widened from 14' to 18' or something like that and it was okayed. The driveway was put in and when he came home he noticed something odd. The concrete driveway stopped about 6 feet from the frontage road, with gravel finishing it off. He questioned the oddity and the GC said he only paid for so many square feet, but he would be glad to finish for an additional amount. I don't know the conversation between them but the contractor should have either told him it would cost extra, whch wouldn't have been a problem or the sub screwed up. Just though it strange that could happen.

 

[kcflhrc]

I can identify with that. Our house was built in 1976 and seemed to be in a time capsule when we bought it. A good General Contractor, our sweat equity and a year of work brought it up to date (except the kitchen, which my wife can't quite make the decisions on.)

My wife spent weeks trying to decide on the kitchen cabinets, counter top and back splash. I finally got so tired of it I told her I was going to go order the stuff. She coincidentally made up her mind that day. Same thing with the appliances, I finally had to give her an ultimatum. Either get the appliances ordered or I will. How women can take so long to make up their minds is beyond me.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Another issue with many remodels is there are no drawings, specifications, architect, etc.. in many cases to spell out exactly what is required so the contractor ends up making those decisions because the average homeowner has no clue how things should be done. Contractor is almost always going to make decisions that are best for him and not for everyone else involved.

Another sign this isn't going to work is the homeowner having work done without getting a bid. Calling a plumber and asking for a hourly rate and then scheduling work is a recipe for disaster. Should have gotten a plumbing bid for all the plumbing on the project, not try to do things an hour of work at a time.

GC's have better control over contracts due to long term relationships and working together on past projects as well as plans and specifications that the contractors are to follow as well as the ability to chargeback costs incurred due to problems the contractor causes. Homeowners typically pay up front, have no plans/spec's, and no clout with the contractor to make them do thier job. The average homeowner has no business trying to be in charge of a construction project.

This thread reminds me of the calls I used to get from West Plano or North Dallas about a "wrought iron" gate repair.

"That little finger thingy has broken off my "wrought iron" gate, how much would you charge me to come and fix it?"

"Where are you located?"

"West Plano."

"$225.00 plus parts."

"Oh my GAWD!!!!! I didn't pay that much for the gate. Why so much?"

"Three hour minimum to cover driving time."

"You're only thirty minutes away."

Click, done.

They're an hour away. And I charge $75.00 per hour. I am busy and don't need or want the irritation of driving across town to help someone who was too cheap to pay to have it done right the first. Here in North Texas right now any decent contractor is at least a month out. We've had tornados, monster hail storms, and in the middle of a housing boom.

 

[PJSprog]

My wife spent weeks trying to decide on the kitchen cabinets, counter top and back splash. I finally got so tired of it I told her I was going to go order the stuff. She coincidentally made up her mind that day. Same thing with the appliances, I finally had to give her an ultimatum. Either get the appliances ordered or I will. How women can take so long to make up their minds is beyond me.

Just had this conversation with my Wife about 1/2 hour ago. Waited and waited and waited to decide on cabinets and countertop. She finally decided and ordered today. 8-10 weeks for delivery ... did I mention that construction begins the week after Xmas? :banghead:

 

[kcflhrc]

8-10 weeks for delivery ...

Ouch, we went with what they call semi custom cabinets, what ever that means, But everything was in stock and only took about 2 weeks for installation. These guys were good. 3 chinese guys did the cabinets, 3 hispanics did the counter tops and sink, and a black guy that was about 6' 5" 275 pounds did the tile back splash. They did it in a successive 3 day period. I was impressed with their work. We also did an island too which I ran power to. I did the flooring, paint and trim. Our kitchen backs up to our large attached garage so I recessed the refrigerator out into the garage. It turned out really nice. On another note, make sure you get soft close drawers and doors, makes a ton of difference.

 

[Deere Dude]

I have had problems with getting timely estimates and then the prices being nuts. I found I could do anything a contractor could or would do with a lot less aggravation if I would just do it myself and be done with it. Although times require a certain skill set that I couldn't just pick up and do it, then you just pay what they want.

For example, I wanted KalCore throughout my house, basement and first level. That is basically two thin coats of plaster with a troweled finish or design. I wouldn't try that but I wanted it so I got three estimates and all were very close, 47 cents a sq.ft. It was high but I went with it.

I installed the special sheetrock it needed and gave them a call to start. A week or two later the owner and a helper came out and really started throwing the mud up. The next day the owner stayed home and the worker came and worked all day. This kept up for about 3 weeks, which wasn't a problem because I am patient and he was doing a good job. On the last day both came out and both started trowling the finish on. I told the owner I only wanted the helper to finish because he had a certain design and I didn't want them to be mixed. It was okay to him. They cleaned up and he came marching in with the bill and asked who gets the damaged. I said I do. I looked at the bill and saw it was much higher than I expected, although I had no idea of what it should be..

I asked why the perceived discrepancy. He said he used 6 bags mud more than he planned. I said so what? He said that would have covered about a dozen sheets of drywall, and he figured at $.47 per foot on 12 4x12' drywall would come out to $500 plus the cost of the mud. I asked how much the mud cost a bad and he said $6.00.

I told him to lump it. It don't work that way. He said somebody has to pay for it so I told him I would pay for the 6 bags of extra mud he used. He squawked about that.

I told him, okay I have a ruler and will go around and measure every square inch of drywall they covered and he said, no that is fine and they up and left in a huff. I really think I would have owed him much less if I did measure it all, but I was happy with the work being done and think they came out all right. He was just trying to tap that well a little bit extra.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I asked him to come back and finish skimming 10 of tape left undone he explained they never mudded tape that would be behind the shower surround.

There are 6 levels of joint finishing ranging from 0 (just hang the sheetrock) to 5 (pretty much perfect). Level 1 is to embed the tape in joint compound. It is used in areas where nobody will see it and there are no other functional considerations. The trade spec details for all 6 levels are interesting to read. Search "joint finishing levels".

 

[Beltzington]

Interesting range of comments, I'm curious why the low expectations for construction supervision and craftsmanship are so readily accepted, put in another venue and they are very humorous.

Excuse me miss but the menu says the smoked salmon is $25 dollars and you charged me $65. Well sir the meal is only $25 but we had to overnight ship the fish and that is the extra $40. If you don't like it we are not interested in your business. Cheapskate!

Why yes sir we did charge you $500 dollars to change your radiator and yes there are several leaks but you should have known to hire a master mechanic to oversee our work to insure it was done satisfactorily. LOL!

Mister I do not know why you are so upset your accounting software is not working as intended. Had you learned C++ programming you would have found the bug and been able to tell us how to fix it we can't be expected to dumb down our communications to the lowest level. IDIOT!