Good News Bad News

The winner is something very much like this color, which is by Valspar. However, we are actually purchasing all the interior paint from Miller Paints, so we matched this chip up the best we could. Here is what it looks like against various bits of the bathroom.

Floor Tile: this is as close to perfect as you can get, I think.

These are two of the decorative tiles, and a not very good pix of the Baltic Brown vanity countertop. I had a pix of it next to the vanity finish, but it was badly blurred. Trust me, it will work.

We got a very close match to this from Miller Paints. They've been great, very helpful. Might tackle some of this after work Monday, but don't hold your breath.

In other news, I didn't get a pix yet, but the Garage ceiling and walls are about 80% done as far as priming. We did a bit yesterday and L did a lot more today. That ceiling paint is a killer. We're pretty much done with ceiling priming, and thank God, we actually did the vaulted ceiling paint a couple weeks ago. Glad we are done with THAT part.

And the loser....

L has typically requested price proposals from 5-8 subcontractors for every given trade (concrete, framing, electrical, etc.) - we give them a detailed line item description of the scope of work and invite them to walk the job. About half usually respond. This gives us a good range and a feel for what the work SHOULD cost. We don't always go with low bid, but there's no reason to pay twice what it's worth either.

This guy didn't make the cut...

Hello L, thanks for the email about your floor project. I've heard threw the vine that you're after unreasonably cheap install and finish work. We're a real company that does a good work so... we'll pass on your project. Feel free to call us to repair the floor after the $1.50 / sf company has damaged your floors with rental sanders and stolen your laptop.

Happy Holidays.....

I'm thinking that if this guy got a copy of "How to Win Friends and Influence People", he should get his money back. This guy definitely qualifies as a putz. Or, another word starting with "p".

Of course, he did actually say he didn't want the job. So, I guess everyone's a winner, eh?

It just gets better and better

First, the most entertaining bit. If you missed the beginning of the siding story, read this. Then read this. Then, get ready to laugh. The "ABC" Siding company called AGAIN today, wanting to know what they could do to get our business, and find out why their previous attempt fell flat. L said, because your price was higher than nearly everyone else's, you stood us up for an evening appointment, and you refused to present a detailed proposal. (A number on the back of a business card is not a proposal. Especially when it's a five-digit number.) We now have someone out there siding the house AS WE SPEAK. (For 25% less, even.). Thank you for playing our game, bye now.

Yes, the insulation guys started Monday. The siding guys had material delivered on Monday and started on Tuesday. They basically did most of the housewrap first day and started siding Wednesday.

This morning, the siding guys couldn't find the materials they needed for work under the eaves, then L found it, wrapped UNDERNEATH the siding and had to show them where it was. That was probably the fault of their vendor who wrapped the material and put it on the pallet.

Then the sheetrock truck came and they used a boom truck (crane?) from the street behind us, to load the sheetrock for upstairs through the 2nd floor balcony window (!!) They navigated over power lines and the garage and pissed off the lady behind us because they blocked her driveway while they were clearing away from power lines, etc.

THEN L discovered that the siders were putting the vented soffits underneath the eaves, BACKWARDS, and he had to go to the manufacturer's website and print out the official installation instructions to show them how it's done.

Finally, after dinner, Joey, who managed to sneak into addition through the "secret passage" last week, got the full tour tonight after dinner. Ever since he "accidentally" got over there last week, he's been dying to figure out what's going on over there. Everything has been officially investigated and sniffed, so I don't know if that will kill his curiosity or make it worse. In a few months, he'll have full reign, I mean, rein, in the area.

Not sure when the sheet rock crew gets here, probably next week. The sheets are 4x12, very heavy and there are dozens of them. We thought moving the tile was bad!!!

Are you KIDDING me with this?

I am about 2 weeks behind, so I'm going to do several posts at once to get caught up. This would have been a little more compelling a couple weeks ago.

So, the siding guy - L basically tells him off on Friday, the 17th. No detail, no job.

Wednesday, 5 days later, this guy calls back, "I'm no longer with ABC Siding. Now, I'm with XYZ Siding, and I'd really like to show you what this company can do for you."

Sorry, bud, we just signed the work order about 3 hours ago for a REAL contractor to do the work.

There are NOT two sidings to this question.

(or, what my boss called, Perry Mason's Case of the Clueless Contractor)

L has received about 4 bids. I don't want to "out" their pricing because we haven't decided yet, but the high bidder is about 30% higher than the low bidder. We are doing the whole house, of course, not just the addition, and the house will be 2-stories, roughly 2500 square feet, plus a 350SF integral garage when we are done, so it's a decent-sized job. One guy wrote up a detailed bid by hand and submitted it when he did the measurements. One guy came and took measurements, then submitted a professional-looking bid via email. There was a third one, early on, who has submitted information a while ago, as well.

Guy #4 wanted to make sure we were BOTH there to do the dog and pony show, possibly even with a slideshow presentation. I'm sure the other guys wanted the work too, but they just wanted to review drawings and get busy with their tape measure. When Guy #4 got there, L told him the same as the other guys. He even had a short spec sheet, detailing what we do and do not want. No slideshow. This is what we want, this is the material we want (we'd already researched what we wanted and what would work in this climate), this is how the window treatments will be done, this is how it will be painted, take your measurements and get me a price - I'll get back to you when I've reviewed all the bids. The guy was there for maybe an hour. We got busy with other contractors on the site, and left him to get his measurements. When he was done, maybe an hour later, he wrote a price on the back of his business card. L told him he'd need a detailed breakdown of the price. When L didn't get any detail in a couple days, he called the guy. He said he was having a problem with emailing it or something. At that point, I'm getting pretty reluctant to talk to him. He could print it out, fax it, throw it in an envelope or even drive it over. IF the detail info even exists (smirk). How bad do you want the work, fella?

So, he calls L a couple days after that and says, he'll come over and redo the measurements (although we have framed in the addition during Aug and September, the house has not grown since last week) and get us a lower price. He schedules it for Tuesday, 6:30pm. How he thinks he's gonna measure the house in the dark, well, I can't answer that. We delay dinner, etc. until it's clear he's not coming over. No phone call or email to explain why. Friday morning, he calls - well, this is the email I got from L while I was at work.

The --------------- Company, who was supposed to be out Tues, called to set up a new time. First today, then when I said you wouldn't be there, they went for tomorrow. Then they started giving me the song and dance that we had to take the offer then and there (basically without detail), so I blew them off - I said if they couldn't take the time to provide, in writing, what their bid covered that we couldn't do business.

We're not talking about $300. We are talking about a job in the low 5-figure range and he truly thinks we'll sign on the dotted line without any detail showing what is to be done. As L said, the fact that he said we would have to "sign today or else I can't promise you this price" raises big red flags. Big red flags on fire. Over and over through this whole remodeling experience, I keep remembering my boss's Rule #1 - when you go to court, the guy with the most paper wins. I can't believe he really thought we'd fork over that kind of money using the back of a business card. I guess, though, some people actually DO. That's scary.