Woulda, coulda, shoulda
What would you have done differently were you to do it over again? Me – live in our brownstone, more or less as is (get some new appliances, extra cabs from Ikea, refinish flooring) and live in it before embarking on a gut reno. My partner insisted on living in the finished product… But we…
What would you have done differently were you to do it over again?
Me – live in our brownstone, more or less as is (get some new appliances, extra cabs from Ikea, refinish flooring) and live in it before embarking on a gut reno. My partner insisted on living in the finished product… But we definitely would have done things differently and better had we done so.
The main thing I would change is hiring Richard Perri, Professional Home Inspection Corp. The guy gave me only 45 minutes, missed all kinds of things that I later found on my own, charged me $800, and later handed me a inferior report 3 page report that was junk. This guy is not worth the money, nor my time. Luckily, we received a certified report from our agent that was from a Licensed Professional Engineer, Heimer Engineering, P.C. It basically cost the same as that schmuck charged me, but was a thorough 92 page document that detailed every aspect of the house. Go to Heimer, skip schmuck I say.
Thanks for the concern, Denton. It was better for everyone involved to let it go. It’s not like I had a real axe to grind in the first place (again, the review was not even wholly negative) and it’s not like I don’t empathize 100% with how scary it is to own a small business right now. The economy’s affecting me too. I’m not so worried that I would do anything like poison a perfectly OK well about it,
(seriously, the irony is that while this was not the right contractor for my specific job, I did refer him to other people twice. Of course, that’s never going to happen again…)
but I am tense. Everyone I know is.
Sorry to hear that, vbp. It’s a shame and unfortunate you were both threatened and silenced. I would hope in that case I would call the police, but sometimes I spose it’s not worth the hassle.
Not to be a kiljoy, but I was contacted in a pretty intense way last week by a contractor that I commented about on this forum in 2007.
It wasn’t even a nasty comment–more like a thoughtful positives-and-negatives assessment of one job. And I had to get Brownstoner to delete the post so that the contractor would stop harassing me.
The economy has folks scared, people have more time to do stuff like google themselves, and there is no understating the power of the internet to churn and feed someone’s internal dialogue.
I humbly submit that I will be keeping this reality in mind when naming contractors in the future. Anyone you work with knows where you live, can get information like your bank routing or credit card numbers. Times are tough.
Wish I would have bought a 2 million dollar brownstone in Carroll Gardens with zero percent down. Rented three apartments out and gambled and spent all the rent money in vice and then go to th government and ask for assistance on not being able to make payments caue the world is so unfair to homeowners.
I wish I could make the DOB, expediters, permits, and the whole stinking system disappear. Along with Brooklyn Kitchens.
HSS, sorry to hear you had contractor problems!
I wish I would have paid my guys an extra couple thousand bucks and had them stick around a few more days to do the “easy” things it took me a year+ to get around to — hang the heavy mirrors, put up crown molding in the den, install a new medicine cabinet, put the Elfa in the closets, paint the bookcases, put new light fixtures in the closets, etc.
That’s easy–I wish everyday I could go back in time and unhire the scum that calls itself John McClellan.