Crown Heights Reno

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October 24, 2007

saving grace

After what basically amounted to 2 (painful) months of inactivity,
we are back on track again

preparing furring strips for the new installation of the siding

we feel extremely fortunate that the person under whose umbrella said "contractor" was working
has stepped up to the plate to remedy the problems that we are facing.
we feel extremely fortunate that this person is organized, skilled and genuinely trying to help.
we have lost time and money,
he is losing money,
said "contractor" has put a sum of money in his pocket,
(or at least into his own house)
but hopefully without a company behind him,
he will not be working again anytime soon.

obviously there is more to this than can be disclosed here,
yes we had heard all the horror stories,
yes we (mistakenly) believed we were "on top" of things,
yes we were dealing with someone who has the gift of gab,
yes we had both personal (from someone in real estate)
and professional recommendations
and yes, being on the receiving end of the peter principle we got kicked in the proverbial ass.

it's true
sometimes when you are in the middle of something,
you can't see the forest for the trees
in hindsight, i believe we cut our losses just in time.

moving forward,
it is clear that when someone who is skilled takes on a job,
even one with which they had not originally signed up for
even one with which they have had no prior experience
the results can be excellent:

NB: this blog has had a policy against "naming names" (see faq #7)
before a job is completed. Given the sensitive nature of the situation and that we are not fully out of the water, i am going to uphold that.

but i would like to mention that the company that supplied the cement board: CBF really worked with us on replacing the boards that had been damaged by the previous installation

we have decided to treat this project in two sections:
rough work | finished work
once the heating system is in and we have had our rough plumbing inspection,
phase I will be complete

we are still deciding how we will procede with phase II.

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Comments

please elaborate the role of your project architect in this 'snafu' and how effective his/her/their impact was in helping you resolve the situation.

the clapboards look really nice.

Posted by: guest at October 24, 2007 9:59 AM

the architect had submitted detailed drawings for the installation and was available to answer questions. he was out of town when the siding started going up and unfortunately, for once, we were not as present as we could have been (having been "scolded" by said "contractor" for micro-managing)

when after 2 days of installation, with one wall complete, the flaws in the job became obvious we stopped the work.

when we all reassembled the architect was proactive in finding solutions to correct the situation. unfortunately (or fortunately) said "contractor" refused to rectify the situation saying that it was a material he was unfamiliar with and therefore could not guarantee it.

we found someone else who had installed the product locally and we all met together. the architect went back to the drawing board and produced more plans for a new installation and when we commenced work again he was available for many on site visits to insure things were proceeding properly.

we do feel feel that the material that was speced was problematic and that this caused a loss of time and money, but we are happy with the end result and feel the architect took responsibility for a portion of this by giving his time to insure it was redone correctly.

Posted by: neene at October 24, 2007 11:53 AM

Did you have to access your neighbor's property to do any of this work, and if so what sort of accomodations did you make with them. I'd be interested to know.

Posted by: guest at October 24, 2007 3:27 PM

we were given access
we will restore everything to its former state

Posted by: neene at October 24, 2007 7:22 PM

I am sorry that you had to go through that ordeal--we have had more than our fair share of contractor woes as well so have a great empathy for your situation--but the clapboard looks fantastic and its great that you didn't have to compromise the end result.

Posted by: HomeSweetstuy at October 26, 2007 9:08 AM

Pleased to see that the problems have been rectified. The results look fantastic; you must be proud!

Posted by: guest at October 30, 2007 7:16 PM

I know the architect's house on St. Marks Ave that uses this same material. You said the boards are pre drilled. Do they have color matching screws? It looks like the extension is built out to the lot line. So your side facade will become your neighbors garden wall. How does this stuff hold up... say if your neighbors kids bounce balls off it or throw rocks? Will it compromise its weather tightness if it cracks?

Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 9:37 PM

if you frame with wood, you can get screws that are powder coated in the same color as the board (the boards don't come predrilled, btw but they need to be)

it is cement board, hopefully it holds up, hopefully we won't have rock throwing neighbors but since the board used in this manner acts as a weather screen not a barrier, a crack shouldn't compromise it.

Posted by: neene at November 25, 2007 9:55 AM