Pick Your Battles - House Contractor Rant

[95XL883]

I've had three major projects done on my house. I played general on the largest,a major kitchen remodel because I couldn't find a general I was confident in and because a I figured out pretty quickly they wanted $15,000 for their role. The kitchen remodel was a gut to the studs, move windows, move slider,remove two walls, move plumbing and electrical type major. By being the general, I got to pick the subs and could quickly make decisions when challenges arose. The carpenter was a dream, a young man who was talented and eager to please. (He said we were probably the best to work for of all his customers and contractors.). We communicated well,listened to his concerns, made changes when he had good reasons, paid promptly, understood when he had to fix a problem for a contractor or other customer. At times at the end of a day , I could tell he was tired and I would do that day's cleanup so he could get home and rest. I didn't have to do all that I did but it got me a better quality job. Similar situations with the plumber, electrician, cabinet maker and granite guy. The big thing I saved by being general was a major fight with the cabinet maker. The designer got multiple bids and had had very good luck with them. When it came time to sign a contract the price shot up dramatically. Even worse, I looked at the final specs and realized they weren't what we wanted or discussed that they wouldn't fit and that one cabinet would most likely fail catasthropivally. (Structurally, it wasn't going to hold the weight that would be on it.) A good general would have caught it but I bet most would have missed it and lawsuits would have been filed. It was a major screw up that I had the ability to see before it happened. I got lucky and found another maker who had an unexpected opening, the ability to understand what we wanted and the structural requirements of one piece. As it was, the whole kitchen cost us $50,000 but came out beautiful. It could have been a disaster and cost us $100,000 or not get what we wanted. Understand that at no time did I yell or cuss, I was willing to pay premium price but I was going to get what my wife wanted. By staying calm and involved I avoided a lot of problems.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

.. Never hire a relative unless you are really certain the do high quality work and even then can be risky.

A friend of mine has a wife whose brother is a GC. They hired him to renovate their house. His description: "If I ever feel like having a fight with my wife I bring up the renovation."

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

A friend of mine has a wife whose brother is a GC. They hired him to renovate their house. His description: "If I ever feel like having a fight with my wife I bring up the renovation."

Heh. I often say, "If you want to keep friendships friendly, keep business businesslike." That means CONTRACTS, people. In writing. Spelled out in detail just as if you know you are dealing with a crook and you are trying to tie him down as much as possible.

When you don't do that, you get sloppy and people start assuming this and that and pretty soon you have heartache.

 

[Deere Dude]

No, a decent contractor would have said, "Your driveway will cost $$ more". No way should stopping 6' short even have been an option that ever crossed anyone's mind.

IF your son had then asked what could be done to keep the cost the same, then stopping short could have been an option.

I agree. My boy isn't the kind of guy that would have dickered with a price or with different scenarios. He would have just paid what the contractor said. I am going to ask him next Monday to go through the chain of events for my curiosity if nothing else.