OK, don't start commenting and E-mailing me because your daddy or your brother or your husband is a contractor, because I--your lovely and talented blogger--
Like I said...MOST Contractors SUCK.
That's right, in any given trade, specialty or area of operation, there is generally more work than there are competent, conscientious companies and more importantly--PEOPLE--to do said work, and so most construction, remodeling, and repair jobs are a serious study in insanity and human ineptitude and owner/customer patience.
Take our present home re roofing project, for example.
We found out on Saturday that our landlord had taken my advice and gotten some quotes on doing a new roof here at our new island home. Instead of getting the work done BEFORE we moved in, the late departure of the previous tenant and various other factors like procrastination caused her to wait until NOW to execute the project.
They were supposed to start work Monday at 9 AM.
Hurray...a new roof...we ran around in circles celebrating and made the necessary preparations like moving all of the plants into the garage and sun porch, moving my Suburban around the corner to a retail parking lot, and battening down the hatches and scaring off all the animals and small children in anticipation.
Then Monday came and went...and at the end of the day we still had the same old roof and the plants were undisturbed.
NO CONTRACTOR.
Yesterday morning at 7:10 AM we were rousted out of bed by the doorbell and guess what?
Our Contractor had arrived, with five pickup trucks, a flatbed truck, a dumpster, and a fork lift.
"Sir...can you please move your VEhickle?"
I complied, and for the next four hours they banged and pounded and scraped and generally raised a dust storm.
Then about 11 AM they left, presumably to go to lunch.
We haven't seen any sign of them since, except that a guy came back a couple of times to steal a piece of aluminum flashing out of a box laying on the driveway.
You guessed it.
Our CONTRACTOR JUST CAME BY TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE.
Our contractor is doing two or more jobs at once with the same crew.
Our contractor is going to force us to endure what should be a one and one half day job for two or more days, and not clean up when he suddenly leaves the job site each day, and make us enjoy having a ten cubic yard dumpster sitting two feet in front of our garage door.
I spent a half hour cursing and sweeping the back patio, front sidewalk, and driveway off to ensure that our contractor didn't injure a human foot, dog toe, or car tire with his hastily created debris.
I have just one question.
Why didn't this rocket scientist just admit to the owner and/or the residents that he was running behind, and start the job when he could finish it in a single mobilization?
THAT would have been too easy.
THAT would have made sense.
THAT would have been considerate to the people that have to live on the construction site.
But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. can't do THAT.
Damn Contractors...
.
2 comments:
I absolutely agree with everything you said! Amen! I too have had my fair share of incompetent contractors and work crews who claim they would meet every measure of professionalism and quality work. One contractor was supposed to fix the shoddy job his tile guy did to my floors. Long story short, neither of them ever came back with the work nor with my money.
Right now I am dealing with a true swindler disguised as a kitchen contractor. From lack of punctuality to poor attention to detail, I am nearing my loss of sanity. It has been a week and a half since I last saw him and I am embarassed to say that he got me. My kitchen is far from ready and now I've got to pick up where he left off. What was supposed to be a five-day job has turned into a three-week nightmare.
My question is "why can't such people honor an agreement and actually pull through for once on an actual project?" Do they have any business sense or work ethic? Why can't they just be realistic about their project timeline? Does this dizzy dance we all so spin in so often ever stop? I try not to generalize people, but it is certainly most trying when (what seemingly is a majority) [of] contractors lack the integrity and the honor that their craft once celebrated. In short, [most] contractor DO SUCK!
I absolutely agree with everything you said! Amen! I too have had my fair share of incompetent contractors and work crews who claim they would meet every measure of professionalism and quality work. One contractor was supposed to fix the shoddy job his tile guy did to my floors. Long story short, neither of them ever came back with the work nor with my money.
Right now I am dealing with a true swindler disguised as a kitchen contractor. From lack of punctuality to poor attention to detail, I am nearing my loss of sanity. It has been a week and a half since I last saw him and I am embarassed to say that he got me. My kitchen is far from ready and now I've got to pick up where he left off. What was supposed to be a five-day job has turned into a three-week nightmare.
My question is "why can't such people honor an agreement and actually pull through for once on an actual project?" Do they have any business sense or work ethic? Why can't they just be realistic about their project timeline? Does this dizzy dance we all so spin in so often ever stop? I try not to generalize people, but it is certainly most trying when (what seemingly is a majority) [of] contractors lack the integrity and the honor that their craft once celebrated. In short, [most] contractor DO SUCK!
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