Wanna see my kitchen?

[Rain Man]

And my attic, too. Photos attached.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by plbrdude

your story reminds me of one i heard earlier this year. one of my customers was having a surgery and his daughter came back for a while. she lives outside indianapolis. she told me last year that they had done an add-on and some remodeling. thought all was good happy with job, knew there were some xtras.then the final bill came, xtras totalled purty near 50g. guess thy're spending some time in court now with their friendly contractor.

That's exactly my fear. I'm getting no information. All of our changes have been relatively small, but I'd like to know if they're averaging $100 each or if he's charging me $1,000 each. He's just telling me "cheap" and then doing the work.

[Rain Man]

I think I'm starting to feel sick.

[trndobrd]

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[trndobrd]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

That's exactly my fear. I'm getting no information. All of our changes have been relatively small, but I'd like to know if they're averaging $100 each or if he's charging me $1,000 each. He's just telling me "cheap" and then doing the work.

If you are already 15 weeks into an 8 week project, just call and tell him all work and payment stops TODAY until he has a complete cost sheet worked up for you.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

It's only natural that some things will change. I think that's no problem if they're neutral and addressed before the "point of no return". And if I change something after the fact, then I'll pay for it.

The gray area is the stuff like my refrigerator not being able to open all the way. It's clearly a design problem, and the cabinet subcontractor was following the design. However, I was a little disappointed that they didn't notice it when they were putting it in, or didn't know from experience that you shouldn't have a refrigerator within 12 inches of a 90 degree cabinet turn.

So who pays for pulling the cabinet back out and fixing the problem? The architect, whose design was stupid in the first place? The homeowner, who made the problem worse by trying to fix another architect problem? The cabinet subcontractor, for not knowing that you shouldn't have a fridge that close to the corner? Or the general contractor, who is supposed to be on site managing the project?

Heh, that's the best part of construction. There's so many people involved, everyone always has someone to point the finger at. IMO it all comes down to the architect. The cabinet installer probably had no idea what type of refrigerator you had coming or what direction the doors opened. The architect should have.

[plbrdude]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

That's exactly my fear. I'm getting no information. All of our changes have been relatively small, but I'd like to know if they're averaging $100 each or if he's charging me $1,000 each. He's just telling me "cheap" and then doing the work.

hopefully you're nowhere near that. i do know how frustrating remodeling can be. i got remarried 4.5 yr ago and we immediately tore into the house. main part put up in 1890's. then added onto couple of times. it was right at a year before we had someting other than lawn chairs or the kitchen table to set at. even w/all we did, we could concievably sink another 30 or 40 into it.

[plbrdude]

here's some after pics of our house.we were in the holiday homes tour.

[plbrdude]

and our kitchen

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

That's exactly my fear. I'm getting no information. All of our changes have been relatively small, but I'd like to know if they're averaging $100 each or if he's charging me $1,000 each. He's just telling me "cheap" and then doing the work.

oooh... find out how much. I'm never afraid to talk money with a client, in fact, i think they appreciate it...I used to be afraid to charge for sample boards, never again.

Best thing to do is get it on paper.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by stevieray

oooh... find out how much. I'm never afraid to talk money with a client, in fact, i think they appreciate it...I used to be afraid to charge for sample boards, never again.

Best thing to do is get it on paper.

We keep trying, but our only option is to stop the project until they provide numbers, and I don't want to do that. Plus, it's rather combative to do that, I think.

[Rain Man]

Nice work, plbrdude, but don't you think it's about time that you updated that telephone?

A lot of your door trim is very similar to ours.

[bogie]

Originally Posted by cdcox

Then they are not qualified to own the home in the first place, or at least not qualified to have it remodeled.

[bogie]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Eh, that's true to a point. But often it's because the homeowner doesn't think through exactly what they want, and go into it with the idea that changing things later isn't a big deal.

Every contractor I've worked with makes it very clear that changes cost time and money. I'm sure there are virgin home owners out there that don't have a clue. It's the contractors job to clue them in.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

We are indeed in the bedroom now, and it's fabulous. There are just a couple of little finish-up items that we're waiting on: a door that hasn't come in yet, and hooking up the swamp cooler to a water supply. I'll post photos when the whole thing is done.

Overall, the project has gone pretty well. We're in about the 15th week of an 8-week schedule, but I've been around long enough to know that construction schedules are always underestimated. I can live with that. My big worry is getting the final invoice and seeing where we stand on price. The contractor has been good to work with, but has been very laissez-faire on the change orders. We've had very few, but when we would talk about something he would say, "Oh, the cost is trivial. We'll get it to you" and then we never get a price. I don't think they're dishonest at all, but rather they're just too busy right now and their finance person is way behind. (They've never even sent us the final contract to sign, so this whole project has been done without a contract. I think that's to our advantage, so I've let it ride.) He's also had to work around at least two major design flaws by our incompetent architect, and I don't know who's expected to absorb any extra costs there. If nothing weird happens with the pricing, I'd certainly recommend the contractor to others.

I find it a little odd to be so ticked off about the backsplash on a kitchen counter, but you get that way on these projects, especially toward the end. "WHITE? WE HAVE WHITE OUTLET COVERS!?!?! I SPECIFICALLY ASKED FOR BISCUIT!"

I don't think it's odd at all, given the scenario you've described. I'd be pretty darned pissed if I were in the same boat. You can't do much more than you did to get things to work out right from your end.

It's good to hear that the big picture is going better than the backsplash picture.

[New Yorker]

Excellent job. Did you do all of the work(excluding any plumbing, electric, stuff you can`t really see)? I do all the cosmetic work stuff like installing cabinets, tiles, sheetroc, spackling, painting, etc..). I leave all the technical stuff to the plumber and electricians.

Nice job again. Cheers! You`re probably exhausted and aren`t looking to do it again. Have a beer! :GUINNESS: