Are ALL Contractor's Late
can I poll some of you? i have some interior work being done, cabinets, moldings, doors, and built-ins. I’ve used three different contractors in three years and they are always late with things. Sometimes they are late with the entire project. Other times it is a piece here a piece there. this morning, it was…
can I poll some of you? i have some interior work being done, cabinets, moldings, doors, and built-ins. I’ve used three different contractors in three years and they are always late with things. Sometimes they are late with the entire project. Other times it is a piece here a piece there. this morning, it was a piece of wood that he said dykes usually stocks but did not have. Why don’t these people make the calls a week or so in advance or pick it up then? i asked him the same and he told me he was too busy and does not go to the suppliers for one item. Is this the way this industry survives and am I being unrealistic to expect things to be done without delay?
It’s been noted above but I have to repeat it. I learned with my first contract replacing all mechanical systems along with 2 new kitchens and 2 new baths along with a whole lot of misc stuff – take the original estimate, double the money and triple the time and that will be close to the real time/money cost.
After a number of renovation contracts over the years, a few years ago I was the GC for a 2 story addition to the back of my brownstone. Even with me dedicated to it full time, there are DOB inspection delays, sub scheduling delays, material delivery delays, the lying architect, manufacturer production delays, etc – and I can vouch for Dykes being out of a piece of molding for which I had called and verified in stock. I brought the job in well under budget and with upgraded finishes that no other GC was going to deliver. The time still stretched far out.
Bklyn Fire Alarm Guy: Most contractors do three kinds of jobs: good, quick, and cheap. You can pick any two.
Very funny, Fire alarm guy. And true. I think my guy was good and cheap. Sometimes, he drove me crazy though and Rick, I don’t hold pissedoff’s user name against him/her.
I feel their pain.
There are two caveats to remember here:
Most jobs take twice as long and cost three times more than you anticipated.
Most contractors do three kinds of jobs: good, quick, and cheap. You can pick any two.
One more thing……… I don’t think I would want to work for someone with “pissedoff” as a user name.
I agree with the above posts, all of those factors make the time line longer. I wish renovations could be an exact science, but it just isn’t. Changes are often made, clients often add to their job. There are so many steps to a good renovation often, it’s difficult to project when a job will be truly finished. Small details often suck up more time than you would think. Bottom line, work with contractors that have good communication skills, someone you feel you can trust.
Oh and invisible, you are RIGHT. While I was doing the renovation I was on it 24/7 and the loss of my time and the wear and tear on my nerves had a payoff in terms of getting what I wanted (or thought I wanted) but was NOT compensated in terms of the price of my house.
Things always took longer for me. Some of it was due to things that were not anticipated – my guy was relatively organized. But we were always trying to find the RIGHT things. We were always discussing WHAT he was buying; often it was not right for a historic house and I wound up doing massive amounts of running around myself. Another less sympathetic reason was that he layered my big job with other jobs. The guy showed most days but not whole days. That part was a pain. I was there every day to check on the work and spent too much time supervising his workers as he ran around giving estimates and getting other jobs. You live and learn, but if you don’t relax, you will blow a gasket.
I started contracting by being disgusted with chasing contractors.
Even making mistakes and learning every lesson the hard way takes less time than chasing and waiing for contractors.
Just by chance I have never been slowed by DOB or an architect.
now you know why people buy “move-in-ready”, as “awaiting your custom renovation” should usually read: “no economic incentive for potential 90% ruin of your personal life”