Hey fellas...got a question for you. We are doing and addition and they are geting down to the trim work and such. They started today and have dome just a couple of doors, but they are using baseboard trim for everything. Doors, windows...baseboards. It looks retarded IMHO. Am I being pickey?? What would ya'll do. For the most part they are doing top notch work, but to me this is really half way done looking. I am thinking about telling the crew on Friday to hold off and bring the right stuff back on monday. Any way please post up some advice, good or bad.
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Awww forget trying to fix it!!!! Lets just drink beer
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If you're paying for it, let them know you're not happy.
EdDo you know about kickback? Ray has a good writeup here... https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...mare-explained
For a kickback demonstration video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/910584...demonstration/ -
I agree with ED62, if your not happy speak up ... no sense having something that's gonna bug you everytime you see it ...
This is actually a somewhat common practise by some builders/trimmers as it makes things easier and cheaper for them ... MIL and 2 BIL's bought 3 new $300K homes all in a row and they ended up with the same thing as you ... I too think it looks stupid.
"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn". by C.S. LewisComment
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You are the one paying for it, so you should tell them to do the job right. Don't forget that you hired them, and that what is right is right.No good deed goes unpunishedComment
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I would make them do it right and to your satisfaction. If you don't you will never be satisfied with it.Comment
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I too would let them know. Speaking to the actual workers may or may not be helpful. Sometimes the workers are just doing what they are told, and you need to speak with the boss or owner.
In running businesses I've always told people that the worst thing that happens is when a business owner never hears about problems. I know a lot of people who run businesses and think, "My customers are very happy, we do great work. They never complain." I always tell them that is a sign of big problems. Oftentimes it's a small issue that ruins a great job in a customer's mind. If the business doesn't know about it, they can't fix it. Many businesses assume things are going well, but they need to go out of their way to ask the customers what could be done better. Customers shouldn't have to work to tell you what's wrong.
So, long story short- call him and let him know. It's really not a big deal, and if he wants to do right by you, he will fix it. If it turns into a big deal, then he is the one with the issue. Either way you are helping him by giving feedback.F#$@ no good piece of S#$% piece of #$@#% #@$#% #$@#$ wood! Dang. - Me woodworkingComment
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Seems like the choice of moulding is something that should have been discussed at the start of the job so most times when details like this are'nt discussed early on then the contractor assumes that they can get by with as inexspensive material as possible and still look decent. If these details were'nt discussed when the job was priced then you the consumer shares part of the blame for being dissatisfied.Considering how most service oriented jobs of this nature are awarded based on a bidding process was your expectations communicated sufficently at the start.Not takeing sides with the contractor but haveing served the public for 30plus years in collision repair just seeing this problem from a perspective that has'nt been considered yet by any of the previous posts.
wayneComment
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Well, I'd say the contractor does additions all year long and the homeowner only does one or two in a lifetime. From my perspective, it is up to the contractor to "raise" the important issues.
IMO, if it isn't discussed by the contractor, I'm going to assume (and insist) that the trim match the rest of the house.Comment
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We're getting into a lot of grey area here and the biggest problem is the word "assume".I don't know what you do for a living but I'm going to make the same mistake you have and assume that based on your post that you don't make your living working for the public where whether you get the job or not is based a lots of times on how competitive you bid is.Those kind of assumtions would put you out of bussiness real quick in todays economy.
wayneComment
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We just finished a major remodel and expansion of the humble abode. Although generally happy with the results, we found out that the "the devil REALLY is in the details." We assumed that the contractor would check on things before going ahead and he did on some items, but not all. Fortunately we caught most of the issues in time.
Bottom line: pay VERY close attention to what is going on and insist on what YOU want, not what is convenient for the contractor or sub-contractor.
Regards, SNComment
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Which is exactly the point I was trying to make. There are too many assumtions made both by the service person and the consumer ,but there is just as much responsibilty on the consumer to convey what his expectations are as there is on the contractor to be professional and knowlegable of his profession.One of the main things 30 years of self-employment has taught me is that a lot of times what the customer expects is not always what he or she communicated.Also expectations have a tendency to change on a big job as the work progresses but they don't get communicated and if they do their expected to not affect the bottom line "cost".Comment
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Well, so far its been a great exp as far as him running stuff by us, or providing samples. The only problems have been they put sheetrock in the shower, and when I called them on it, the "foreman" told me "its all grey now..not green anymore, but it should say water resistant on it." I called BS and told him I wanted greeen greeen board. The sheetrock sub called shortly after that and apologised profusely stating that the greee board had not even got delivered, and that he personaly would corect the problem. The builder origionaly told me that he would "match the trim as close as possible" since the stuff in my current house is 60+ yrs old. The base trim is pretty close all things considered, but its still base trim. I am just in the opinion that your doors and windows should match trim wise and your floors shoud be different. It doesn't look that bad, it just bugs me is all. I will speak to the head carpenter tomorrow, and I will give the owner / foreman a call and see what we can work out. They never brought any samples by, but I just never thought they would stick the same stuff everywhere. This is kind of why I don't ike paying people to do work for me. I may not be "profesional"...but I am always happy with the work I do.Awww forget trying to fix it!!!! Lets just drink beerComment
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Unfortunately thats one of the biggest fallicies of the bid process required to get the job today,your right its wrong but happens all the time.Sometimes I think its a by-product of what we've become in todays soceity. "The customers insatiable desire for a bargain does nothing but fuel the incompetance thats out there". Just read some of the posts on this and other forums and its evident, also if you will read the OP and then read the OP's last post you'll see that basically the contractor did his job and it was the customer that did exactly what we've been talking about failed to communicate his wants and then changed his expectations in the middle of the job.I could go on and on about this subject but will leave it at this. I'll make this my last post on this so as not to offend anyone.But the reality is that people need to be more responsible and accountible for there actions when they suddenly realize that their decisions in whatever business deal that they previously made all of a sudden does'nt favor them.Comment
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