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October 26, 2007
Renovation Nightmares
My husband and I bought a fixer-upper in Park Slope. We are basically gutting a small townhouse, adding an extension and adding a floor. We were very enthused about the project when we bought it, but have encountered lots of problems. The house was bought in April and now it is almost November and all that has been done is demolition.
Since this is our first fixer-upper experience. We have many questions from experienced renovators. One question is how many times does your contractor call you? Does he/she call you everytime there is a small or large problem? If so, what are the problems like typically? How often is the contractor at the site? How many projects are they working on? How involved is the contractor with the architect? Do they talk all the time? Is the architect available weekly? How many people worked at your site? How long did it take to complete a similar sized project?
We are at a loss of answers and feel helpless. If you have any experience with anything like this, please let us know. Your help and guidance is very appreciated!
Comments
Some of the answers to your questions will really vary depending upon the type of job/type of contractor you hired. Some work really closely with the architect and others not so much. But he or his staff should be there every working day - if he is not, he is wasting your time and money by taking other jobs while your job sits. Its normal for a contractor to take on multiple jobs but it only works if he has the staff to span the sites.
I think the real "advice" I can give you is that you have to be directing all of this. You should be on the job site regularily to check how progress is going, then meet with your foreman at a regular time each day/week to go over issues. If you get to the jobsite and no one is there, call the contractor and find out why. If something is not going according to plan, get on the phone and work it out. Im sure there are companies that don't require this kind of supervision but Ive never met any that dont need some oversight. Keep in mind: The only person who is going to be able to keep your best interests in the forefront is YOU.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at October 26, 2007 10:16 AM
Perhaps you should outline the problems you have with this project? contractor not working full time? over-budget? what?
Posted by: guest at October 26, 2007 10:37 AM
Did you hire a reputable contractor- the kind that emails, has detailed invoices, etc...? Do you have a site manager and construction crew or a contractor that comes every few days to check on his crew of misfits? Does your architect oversee the work? Does he/she have an assistant?
If you are ready to pull out your hair and are thinking, what the hell are these people doing? It sounds like you are. What you are seeing is the result of having hired inept people. You know this in your gut. Scrap the whole crew before you waste more money and more time. Please post your email so that I can contact you. I have done a great deal of renovation over the course of the last 15 years and am now doing a year long renovation of a new house. I have lived through it all and know the warning signs. You should not proceed with the people that you have hired.
Posted by: guest at October 26, 2007 11:12 AM
I agree with Mrs. Limestone. Just a few other thoughts.
We are currently in the middle of a gut renovation of a 3 family brownstone. We contracted with our architect for construction administration services for the duration of the project. The architect visits a minimum of once a week and frequently has the structural engineer visit too as we are in that phase. The contractor and architect speak several times per week if not per day. We were advised to always include the architect on every e-mail and review every discussion we have had with the contractor.
He is there daily and currently has a crew of about 5 or 6 guys who may all be there at the same time or it may just be 3 guys. We are living on the same block so my daily presence and oversight are unavoidable. He may call us about unanticipated structural problems revealed in the demo, deliveries that I arranged that are getting mixed up, I welcome any of his calls because it is all in the interest of completing the project quickly.
Posted by: Jane at October 26, 2007 11:28 AM
In response to your questions and more clarity on the problem....our contractor and architect, to put it simply, hate eachother. They have both requesting the firing of eachother. The architect is not very available, but in his defense the contractor has never called him for anything and requires us to make any calls requiring teh architect. The engineer we paid, we have yet to see him. Recommended by our architect. We have paid him $10,000 to expedite plans, but have yet to meet him. The contractor has involved us in every decision he needs to make. For example, there is a concrete wall on the side of the yard and needs to be taken down in order to extend the home. The contractor has called us to figure out how to tear that down. Should he not know how to do this? Additionally, we have asked him to put a tarp on our roof, since there is no roof and he has refused to do this because he can not figure out how to put a tarp down and funnel the water out of it. The contractor is in various sites and does go by the house, but is working on a couple of projects at a time. His crew at this time seems to be split up on the project. My house is sitting there with no roof and no progress because of some neighbor issues that we are working through. We are paying over $600k and feel like we are overpaying since the contractor is rarely on the project and has us involved with little decisions. I agree we should be involved in the project, but we both have full-time jobs and thought the contractor would be the person managing the project. We expected to visit weekly.
Thank you all for your responses, please continue to respond. My email is Karinab311@yahoo.com
Posted by: KarinaB at October 26, 2007 11:40 AM
Isn't that insane.
$600k to add 1500 sq ft, if that, to a house, when three times that space new construction are going for $300k elsewhere in the country.
I'm sure the materials for this $600k extension are no better than mcmansion construction material. I'm sure the labor isn't any better either. So who is taking all this extra cash?
Posted by: guest at October 26, 2007 12:34 PM
It sounds like you've very uncomfortable with your contractor. In a sense, you're lucky, since you've only done demolition.
If I were you, I'd fire the contractor and look for a new one ASAP. If you haven't even started construction yet, and you're already having problems, don't even think of keeping him on the job.
I've renovated dozens of properties. If you're contractor doesn't answer his phone or at least call you back promptly, there's no way in hell you should keep him.
Posted by: guest at October 26, 2007 1:04 PM
I agree -- fire the contractor immediately and fire the architect too. Then I would call the engineer, say thanks but no thanks, please send me my money back.
That said, you do have yourself to blame for letting this situation get out of hand. Visit weekly? I'm sorry, but that just won't cut it. Even if you are both working full time, you should try to visit every other day, if not every day. The contractor will be making decisions all the time about stuff and you need to be involved. Otherwise, you will spend alot of money for a house that was built the easiest way possible, not the way you want it.
You should have a timetable agreed to in advance with the contractor, and you should tell them that they will deal with the architect - whoever that is - on a professional basis or they will be shown the door like the first guy was. Ditto for the architect.
Basically, you need to take charge and start raising some h@ll. These people are taking advantage of you - and you are taking it lying down. Think of it this way: if someone was employing you to manage this project, would you say you were doing a good job?
Posted by: guest at October 26, 2007 1:11 PM
If your contractor and architect are not cordial (they don't have to like each other), one or the other (or both, I suppose) has to go.
The architect is supposed to be your fiduciary and advocate. If he or she has no dialog with the contractor, he or she cannot fulfill that function (this depends, of course, on the nature of the contracts you signed with the contractor and architect).
Good luck.
Posted by: an architect in Brooklyn at October 26, 2007 1:14 PM
Its a shame your contractor and architect don't like each other but that really shouldn't have any bearing upon your job. Don't let either use it as an excuse to not fufill their obligations. This is business pure and simple...they have to deal with each other as part of the job.
That said, they both sound like they are taking extreme advantage of you. If you can get rid of them. If thats not possible, light a fire under them! Even if you have to go to their offices and knock down the door - do whatever works.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at October 26, 2007 2:39 PM
You and your husband will need to get more hands on and involved in this project. Is the 600k an all-in price?
Posted by: guest at October 26, 2007 3:01 PM
Please take the advice of all these people. Fire everyone- start over. Please decide how you want things to work and have an agreement with all of the people involved. Lay out your expectations- visits, billing, emails, documentation, photos, schematics. Educate yourself first- you can post here to collect information. If you do not start over, trust me- you will be kicking yourself a year from now- and still may not have a completed home.
Posted by: guest at October 26, 2007 5:08 PM
I dont know if you caught the msnbc undercover operation on contractors this week called homewreckers(check their website) but if you didnt, you should. Sounds like things will get worse if you dont do damage control now. Winter is fast approaching and you think you have problems now? You have to decide if you want to cut your losses and start over with competent people. If you choose to continue with dumb and dumber, I would sit them down and lay down the rules.You have the power to do this because you have the checkbook.Good luck!!!!!!
Posted by: guest at October 26, 2007 10:23 PM
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