Hello to all,
I am a first time poster long time reader.
I am a superintendent for a mid size home building/developer and recently had to take over a house when the project manager and superintendent where fired. I have been working well with the home buyers for about the last 6 weeks trying to finish there house that was a complete disaster when I took it over. Because of the house being so far behind I was not able to get the final coat of poly on the floors before the homeowner walk. The floors were to be finished a couple of days later and the homeowners were going to be out of town. My boss sugested to the homeowners that they send a friend buy to check out the floors after they were completed. Well the buyers friend came buy friday morning and was extremely critical of a floor job that I thought was at least beter than average. Most of his complaints were with swirl marks that were only visible from across the room at a long angle in direct sunlight. What is acceptable swirl marks in a new construction hardwood floor. My background is in framing. I have only been at this job for about a year and know I have a great deal to learn but I have closed about 12 houses since I have been with this company and this floor job is at least better than our average.
Jpomeroy
Replies
rule #1 --never allow a "friend" of the Owner walk in, much less dictate quality.
rule #2 --now that you broke rule #1, ignore the friend, tell the Owners you'll be glad to wait for their return and their payment.
rule #3 --get the boss to comply with rules #1 
Let the boss solve it.
A friend has had 11 grand in payments held up because, among other things, some outlets were 1/8" above or below the specified height above floor. You run into all kinds of stuff when money's at stake.
Hoo-boy, is that ever the truth. When I superintended, I used to get really ticked when shrewd clients would wait until a big payment was due, then throw a bunch of "I thought this would be included too...", or changes. I once changed the outlet heights three times on a medical office, just because the owner's wife kept changing her mind...at payment time. A few others from my archives: One guy (a lawyer) made my buddy the cabinet installer CAULK all the interior corners of all the cabinets. Another customer demanded I replace a "cracked tile" - which turned out to be a TINY "craze" mark in the glaze of one tile (you could see it real good with a microscope!). Another one complained about a "crooked outlet" that needed to be re-installed "correctly". That one was fun - I grabbed the cover plate and twisted the outlet the 1/16" to vertical. I could go on. I'm glad I'm not superintending any more, the pay just wasn't commensurate with the headaches.
I superintended for a lot of years, and this demonstrates a point you will eventually discover: One of your important tasks is to keep the boss out of the picture as much as possible. Invariably, they create problems that end up being dropped in your lap. Best if you can get the boss to leave you alone to do your job.
As the other poster mentioned, NEVER allow a "friend" to judge a job. The only motivation they have is to impress their friend by finding a fault, any fault. Generally only the buyers themselves should be allowed in the walk-thru.
BTW, the model home should be your touchstone. If they purchased the home based on a walk-thru of the model home, then that's the standard you need to measure up to. If the model home floor shows slight swirl marks with oblique sunlight, then it was acceptable to them at the time of purchase.