This whole ordeal makes me think I should have a video camera present during any meetings involving large purchases. I can't believe that they still don't think it's their fault after all that. Good luck getting things figured out!

That's very black and white. I wish I lived in that world.

I'll change what I said...

If the contractor can't deliver a quality product to Rain Man's satisfaction, he/she shouldn't be a contractor.

I know you guys have to deal with buttcracks.

I'm a home owner that has done numerous projects requiring contractors. When there was a problem (shit happens) we came to a conclusion that I was satisfied with. Rain Man's getting screwed by bullshit management. I know it's been said a million times but, if I ran my business like that, I'd be out of business.

so where are the pictures of this beautiful backsplash?

We're getting close to the great unveiling. I'm thinking second week in November. Unless of course the chandelier still hasn't arrived by then.

Heh. What you're missing is that some customers are never satisfied. On top of that, there are customers out there that will change their mind 10 times on a project and want you to stick to the initial bid, nevermind the extra 50 hours of labor their revisions caused.

Two brothers currently in construction and my own time as a framer taught me that construction is quite a bit different than other service/product based businesses.

So...they called to confirm that they would be there between 3:00 and 4:00 today. My wife and our contractor foreman went there to meet them, and they never showed up and never called. I just called them, and they said, "The installers didn't show up? We haven't been able to get hold of them."

It would be hard for me to figure out a way to handle this situation worse than they're handling it. Amazing.

I think the big difference is that people are spending their own money instead of company money, so they get more stressed about it. However, construction companies could cut a lot of the stress by simply providing pricing options. "Sure, we can move that light fixture. It's be an extra $150. Sign here and we'll do it." I would welcome that approach, because it's fair and no one's getting surprised or screwed.

The bigger issue is work quality. Too many people look solely at price, and the lowest price may also be the lowest quality. I think it's important to see the work of the contractor, and then ensure that you approve of the quality and that you're getting the same quality. We've been lucky with the contractors that we've hired for major projects, in that their work is good. I don't know what we would do if they were doing shoddy work, because quality is so subjective.

I do not envy you in any way. I went through that about 10 years ago(kitchen, 2 bathrooms and a basemnt). I`m going to re-do my basement soon. Actually doing a little here and there because I hate doing that stuff. Good luck. Looking forward to more pics of the finished product.

Good luck to you. I would advise against using Granite Depot of Commerce City, Colorado, for your granite.

no granite for me. Formica is cheap, easy to install and certainly easily replaceable once you get tired of it.

Very good, there are a lot of contractors who aren't thorough with their bids, or even worse just give verbal bids. I'd like to add that the customer also should NEVER "assume" something is included in the price. I try to be very clear when I present my proposals that if something is not specifically listed that they're expecting, they need to check with me about it.

I don't want to put down any contractors, I would like to be a contractor. Changes are part of consruction. It's difficult for home owners to make decisions from drawings. Homeowners need to be informed of the costs attached to changes. If a contractor is organized enough to get costs related to changes in writing, they should be covered. I know, I know, easier said than done.

Yeah. I've obsessed over this all afternoon because I'm so ragingly angrily furiously annoyed, and there were four screwups. The first was not giving me complete pricing in the first place. The second was acting like they didn't screw up in the first place. The third was not correcting the order. The fourth was not acknowledging that they didn't correct the order. If they made a mistake and it costs me more, I can deal with that as long as I'm convinced that it was an honest mistake. The part that continues to chafe me is the fact that they still can't get the order right, and are still unapologetic about it.

Yes, changes are part of construction, but they need to be kept at an absolute minimum. There's often more cost involved in the change than just the time & materials to do the work. If you get too many they will disrupt the flow of the job and nothing gets done efficiently, which generally ends up hurting the bottom lines of other sub-contractors who aren't even involved with the actual change.