Went to a job this morning, to finish up some work on small kitchen. We got there and the front door was locked and the back door was locked, nobody home. Waited a little while, then left a note. Quarter of an hour later she rings on my cell, says sorry, she’s back now.
We go back and she apoplogises and we get to work. Later we are working in this very small kitchen, and she comes in and without so much as a word, gets some food out and makes it very clear that she is going to prepare a meal for herself and her friend! There is no way we can work around her, so we go out to the van and have an early lunch break. When we come back she is just finishing up so we wait and eventually she gets out of our way. I keep wondering if I should say something but I hold my tongue.
I’m glad I didn’t start a row with her because a couple more hours and we get finished and she’s really happy and makes a big deal of writing our phone number down so she can tell her friends about us, gets her cheque book out and pays us and we go away (relatively) happy.
I don’t suppose there’s a particular point to all this apart from saying here’s your opportunity to compare your own experiences
John
Replies
What is inappropriate about an HO wanting to fix a meal in their own kitchen?
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Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
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Just a thought Paul.
Waiting for her (after the initial show up and return) and then taking longer on the job than if she was out of the way............and figuring up the bill and her going ape because you charged her twice as much as it would have been (if a phone quote) if she had been on time and stayed out of the way.
I don't know if inappropriate is the word for it, but it does happen.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Maybe I'm too patient with most folk. I just add it on the bill. Once it was a big # added on. All summer I had an agree ment with aguy that I would start the demo on his master bedroom the day after Labour day. So I showed up promptly at 7AM and started unloading. He comes out in his robe, unshaven, "hey Paul, What's going on?"his wife had decided for him that they would be staying another three weeks up here and they hadn't bothereed to tell me. he was polite about asking how we could work around this situation..."Well, it is going to cost me three weeks of income, so I'll have to find another job and get to yours when I can fit it in...""No problem, Add it to the bill, and I'll call you a couple days before we leave."That was the year I was building my own house so I sorta had another job lined up already anyhow. Patience is a wonderful thing. There is always something good in something bad when you look for it.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
" I just add it on the bill."
might work on an hourly job ... or a longer job ... but a set bid one day job?
what's that change order fall under?
"wasted my time"?
try adding that to the end of the invoice and see just how fast ya get paid!
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I thought it was leading to some salicious story!!!
Darn!It's Never Too Late To Become
What You Might Have Been
[email protected]
In our imaginations...;)
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Salicious?
When in doubt, get a bigger hammer!
I thought it was leading to some salicious story!!!
You know, there just has to be a few out there??..??...??...............................
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WWPD
One last one from me: I have neighbors down the street I do some work for. The wife is 96 and the husband is 92. The other day the husband wanted me to refinish their dining room table, but didn't want me to power sand the old varnish because he had painted the table which had once been very dark and he had made it amber colored (don't know how with paint because the grain still showed). In fact, he wanted me to just use steel wool and re-varnish.
I hand sanded, but he insisted upon "helping" by taking out an ancient Electrolux canister vac and vacuuming while I was sanding. He kept running the brush into my hands and I kept running the sanding block into it. The brush attachment was old and left black marks, but most of the marks disappeared when I wiped the table down with Prep-sol. Still it was pretty annoying to have him in my way. The table looks crappy to me because I couldn't get all the old varnish off and there were craters that didn't blend in with the new varnish, but they are happy.
I could understand if it were a bathroom job and it was the only bathroom and she needed to drain herself but for gods sake she knew she was havoing the kitchen done. Prepare something ahead or go to the deli with your yenta friend : )
Geezzz.The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
That Golden rule thing applies to seeing it from her point of view. She is well off and pays daily for convenience. It was most convenient for her to inconvenience somebody else. She wants what she wants and she wants it now. besides, she's probably Blonde;)
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I've worked in a lot of kitchens, and always, up til now anyway, if someone needs to do some food preparation, they say something like "is it OK if I get the kids something to eat" something along those lines.
Maybe it was one of those situations where to know what I'm complaining about, you had to be there. There was just something about her attitude, like either we didn't exist or we did exist but didn't matter, or she had already decided she wasn't going to ask if it was OK in case I said no, it wasn't OK.
When we started the job, a few days ago, she was out when we arrived (she'd left the door unlocked, by arrangement) the countertops were strewn with stuff and the sink was half full of dirty dishes. I should have walked off the job then.....
JohnIf my baby don't love me no more, I know her sister will.
Piffin, I'm surprised that you would pose that question in a serious tone. If two guys are working in my kitchen, I think I'd go to Mickey D's for breakfest.
Of course, I'm a reasonable person though.
blue
It was meant to draw out more discussion. Part of it is my reaction to so many remo hacks ( not accusing the OP here) who have no respect for the owner's property and no understanding of who's property it is.He was paid, smiling and happy at the end of the day, so what harm was there?
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The harm is in the lack of respect for the workmen. I'm not saying that I would have done much different, but I can't say for sure that I would have even returned that day without a better understanding of how valuable I thought my time on this Earth was.
I'm a lot calmer in my old age, but in my earlier days, I walked out of one of the richest guy's house in Michigan when his superintendent told me that I'd have to wait about a half hour before his plumber could get something done for me to start a job. Funny, the next morning when I showed up, everything was ready! Imagine that?!
Repect goes both ways. If someone doesn't want to show me, or my crew any, we don't need to be there. Money isn't everything.
blue
Of course, I'm a reasonable person though.
Come on buddy.....we`ve heard your views on speed squares. Lets be realistic now.
FREE NEWF
and SPHERE
and anyone else ya got in there, dammit!!
"What is inappropriate about an HO wanting to fix a meal in their own kitchen?"
uh .. that fact it is my job site from the time I start till the time I finish.
Plus the fact they weren't there to open the house as it sounds like expected ... and the fact they cut deep into the work time allotted for the job.
one day job? Time is more than money.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I git a problem with any sub who thinks that somebodies house is their jobsite. It is somebody elses home, and you are a guest in that home. Start6 thinking of it as a jobsite, and it gets filthy real quick. Think of it as a jobsite and you forget that you don't belong iin the rooms where you are not supposed to be working. you invade somebodies privacy. Think of it aas a jobsite and you start to look at the owenr - your customer - as an inconvenience who is in your way.That is not a way to have good customer relations.To some extent, I'm playing devioll's advocate here and I think most of us wioll all do the right thing and not cause waves, but I see too much on the other side of this - like the carpenter I saw who had set up his sawhorse to cut right over top of the sofa in the living room, with no drop clothes anywhere in the house.
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it's their house ...
but my jobsite.
plain and simple.
life just works better that way ... they get more for their money ...
and time isn't wasted.
just like when I was bartending ... the owner may have paid the rent ... but it was my bar when I was working.
and I just happen to run a darn clean bar and jobsite. So it never get's filthy.
and my jobsite consists of the room/rooms that I am specifically working in .. and the drop cloths that lead from there to the door.
don't become one of those "worse case/reader's into" ... U know what I mean.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Yeah, I do, 'nuff said
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
There is nothing inappropriate about a homeowner fixing a meal in their own kitchen. However, it is very inappropriate for a homeowner to fix a meal on John's jobsite, unless that homeowner has contracturally agreed to reimburse John for the inconvenience and added expense she has caused him.
Did built in cabs and bookcases for a guy and his elderly father. After a month asks if I can drill hole between the cabs so he can run some speaker wire. Go out there, and the cabs have stuff in it. No big deal, but one is filled with porn. I mean DVD's VHS, magazines... to the brim. So I quickly empty about half the collection, drill the holes, then replace. HO walks in later and sees me emptying a different cab, gets a look on his face, turns red, and leaves.
The funky part was it had to belong the old man. The son "played for the other team" and the porn was all straight. Well, some girl on girl, but I didnt look to close...
Doing service calls it is not unusual to come across all sides of human behavior. Good, bad weird and strange. In bedrooms and bathrooms we sometimes find the porn and, not as uncommonly as it might be guessed, various marital aids. At least one the size of the working end of a baseball bat will reamain in memory for along time. I discreetly moved the toy out of my way without saying anything about it. Considering the prim manner and petite size of the lady such a device was unexpected.Drugs, leather, whips and bondage paraphernalia, porn in all flavors, who knew a evangelical preacher would be into gay porn, and at least one grow room with more than a dozen large pot plants. Who am I to object. This is their home in America and so their rules apply. I'm a guest in their home not a cop, morals policeman or gossip columnist.I'm pretty easy and customers know they can call me without fear of word spreading or family secrets getting out. Generally what is done at home stays in the home. Not to say I sometimes don't share a good laugh or expression of astonishment after the job is done and we are off site. This isn't without bounds. Child or animal abuse, genuine, as opposed to play acting, non-consensual sex, serious physical or psychological abuse would still be an issue. I once reported a situation where dogs were clearly being neglected and the situation was corrected by the local authorities. The home grown herbal delight and advanced dildonics went unreported even if not unnoted. It will never come back to them but the memories and stories will remain with me for a long time. Evidence that humanity is like the proverbial iceberg. Under the clean, neat and well controlled surface there are vast quantities of deviancy and passion. Some of the most well known and respected people in any community have a seldom seen dark side. Don't we all.
A friend of mine was installing home alarm systems and he was in a house (N. side of Flint, can be a tough area) looking around and measuring and such for the system and there's about a kilo of white powder sitting on a table. He said nothing, just walked out and never came back.
It COULD have been boric acid, for the roaches...
Yeah. "Hey, man, why are these roaches so laid back, man. Turn on the lights and they just sit there and rub their eyes...."
In bedrooms and bathrooms we sometimes find the porn and, not as uncommonly as it might be guessed, various marital aids. At least one the size of the working end of a baseball bat will reamain in memory for along time. I discreetly moved the toy out of my way without saying anything about it. Considering the prim manner and petite size of the lady such a device was unexpected.
LOL You're just assuming it was for HER.
My father and uncle did some repair work on a badly rotted roof and interior ceiling. The drywall had long fallen down on the inside in most of the affected areas. They're on the roof cutting out the bad sections of roof and pull one up to find the homeowner sitting on the john. She wasn't too bothered about it and went about her way as if they weren't even there....
I was doing some handyman work and had to going to the attic to work on the whole house fan.Acces panel in the closet of one of the teenage daughters.Had to move lots of stuff, but on the top shelf where a bunch boxes. I think that 2 held papers. But the 3rd marked MOM'S TOYS - KEEP OUT!It was full of a bunch of small toys, I think from school carnivals.
I had a somewhat similar experience today, but it was actually kind of cute. We started framing an addition on the back of someone's house today. The homeowner's father is very old and doesn't have much to do apparently.
So he was hanging out most of the day. Real old guy. Had to watch where he put his foot on every single step. Nice guy though.... not one of those nit-picky skeptical old cranks. Of course we've got hoses and cords and what-not all over the place and are walking around with 18' joists and trying not to knock the guy into the hole.
But he was really complimentary towards us and while he was in the way, it wasn't really bugging me all that bad.
Then we're ready to put down the subfloor about the same time he decided he was getting tired. He sat down right on the pile of 3/4" Advantech. So I go over and say excuse me and grab a sheet. Then he sat right back down. I say excuse me again and grab another sheet. He sits back down again. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I should have said something the first time like, "Hey Roger, that's probably not the best place to sit right now....". But I didn't. And then I really didn't know what to do, except to keep going back and saying excuse me and grabbing another sheet! My guys were killing themselves laughing at me. He finally got the hint after about 6 or 7 sheets.
I'd love to work with you someday!Maybe when I retireI'll mosey on down and sit a spell...
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I'm still LMAO! Like a scene in a sitcom.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Yeah, it was a pretty comical scene. Glad you got a chuckle out of it. I'm so bad at stuff like that. I try to avoid an awkward social moment (however minor) and end up creating a debacle in the process.
Years ago, I was working with my dad on a kitchen remodel. The couple there were both retired, and "helped out" when they could.
Like sweeping up under us while we're on a step ladder.
I was cutting a hole in the rim joist for the Jenn-Air range vent. I'm working from outside the house. I stopped to test fit the pipe, and as I put my recip saw back into position to trim a little more, he's sticking his hand into the hole to clean out the pieces of wood. A couple of seconds difference, and there could have been serious problems. I asked him pretty nicely to just stay away until I said it was OK. He got the message.
Another day, we had gone to lunch. When we got back, he had used most of a roll of (his) electrical tape on the handle of our broom. Said it was too rough, and he didn't want us getting splinters. We just thanked him. Didn't have the heart to tell him that that handle was pretty smooth by our standards.
Oh, and we couldn't work on the lawn. He thought we might damage it.
Sorry I had to laugh too!
So sorry my FIL wandered onto your jobsite today.....I`ll try and keep him outta your hair from now on.
FREE NEWF
and SPHERE
and anyone else ya got in there, dammit!!
About a year ago I showed up to tile a laundry room. I had called the day before to confirm the time and date. I got there on time, and she had just started a full load in both the washer and dryer.
This is the same woman who knew I was going to also tile the entry foyer, and made no effort to move the dainty knick knacks and crapola off the little tables. I didn't mind moving the tables, but the other stuff ...
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Man I rushed in here for a good nookie story and all you have to offer me is this? Blah! taint nuttin.
OK, maybe this will satisfy your needs. This morning (a beautiful, warm fall day), I show up to start trimming out a previously installed but unfinished (by someone else) south-facing PVC deck. The husband leaves for work, and 10 minutes later, the well endowed wife and 6 mos. old baby mosey out for their morning feeding. This was not the discrete, stick the babies head under a blanket thing. Mom just sat down in a plastic chair (about 10 feet from my toolbelt), dropped her top as if to say to the baby, "take your pick, I'll just get some sun while you eat". Maybe the sound of stainless steel screws slipping into PVC was soothing for the baby, I dunno, weird but not entirely unpleasant.
It's their house and life must go on, even when the carpenter is there. I usually like being the fly-on-the-wall, I could write a book on some of the things I've seen and heard, but that's another thread perhaps.
Red
In reading these stories, it occurs to me that remodeling is 51% social graces and 49% construction graces. I'm talking about owner-occupied homes where there is a lot of contact between the owner and the tradesmen.So much of what we do is predicated upon trust. The customer wants to feel comfortable that we will do the job well, but even more importantly they need to feel that we will respect their home, their family, and their privacy. I like what 4Lorn said about maintaining confidentiality about what we witness. This is an integral aspect of our professional bearing, and essential to building the right reputation.I also understand a remodeler being uncomfortable when the homeowner disregards his humanity. Such an attitude is indicative of other, potentially more sinister problems. Also, Piffin's story of the customer who forgot to change the start date is telling. By remaining calm and professional, he was able to turn what started out awkwardly into a win-win situation.My own experience is that the Golden Rule really does work. You have to be consistent and give it time, but acting out of genuine concern for the customer's needs, without being a doormat, will eventually draw you an excellent type of customer base. Diesel may feel awkward about how he handled the old guy on his Advantek pile, but his kindness to the gent will be remembered long after the inconvenience is forgotten.I'll get off my soapbox now!Bill
Not really a "nookie story" but fun anyway. A few years a go I got a call from a small business owner that asked if I could do some work for him and remain discrete about what I might see around his place. Well, its a small town and it was an open secret what kind of joint he ran. Sort of "what goes on here, stays here" It wasn't the nature of the business, it was the local luminaries that I spotted going in and out. I must say it was a real eye-opener. If anyone is looking to get the dirt on someone all they would have to do is bribe me. Well, I have to live here too and some of these guys (and lady) might be sitting across from me in an official capacity some day. What a country!
Terence
Man I rushed in here for a good nookie story
I have something "close" in it's own way, kinda quite funny.
I'm doing a kitchen job. The female of the house is, let's just say she's one beautiful woman, a distraction albeit a pleasant one. They have this big dalmation dog, an old dog, lays around a lot but sometimes gets up and moseys about. Anyway, she came home today and the dog got up to greet her. I'm up on a ladder putting up DW when I hear her say to the dog, "how you doing today boy, oh boy, whatchyu sniffin, oh you smell the kitty, smell the kitty? You smell my kitty?" I was descending the ladder to see the dog was sniffing around her "private" area, sorta superficially but in that area. Her words "smell the kitty?" and the sight of the dog sniffing her in that vicinity....man if you only knew. Iwent back up the ladder because I was starting to crack up. My face would've been hidden by the soffit. A few minutes later she was relating how a coworker brought their cat in to show the others and the cat was rambling all over her. I"m sure she never made the connection that I did, maybe I"m a pig (aren't all us guys?) but....at least here at home I can crack up remembering it. If at first you don't succeed, try using a hammer next time...everything needs some extra persuasion from time to time. -ME
I would have fallen off the ladder
Thats funny-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WWPD
That's a good one. LOL Sometimes people don't have a clue how funny something looks from another angle.
Sometimes people don't have a clue how funny something looks from another angle.
Or a dogs angle for that matter If at first you don't succeed, try using a hammer next time...everything needs some extra persuasion from time to time. -ME
Buddy of mine is in the excavating business, does alot of septic repairs and installs. Anyway their getting the tank pumped, and apparently the whole top is floating with condoms. The lady of the house is a real young hotty, the man a older guy. The crew starts busting up and the man of the house, strolls over to have a looksee. Old guy gets a real discerning look on his face, slowly walks back into the house and buddy says the fireworks started.
Oh geez.If at first you don't succeed, try using a hammer next time...everything needs some extra persuasion from time to time. -ME
I empathise...but look, it's her house and she's feeling that there's a 'foreigner' in it. All her nesting instincts are up front, and she's claiming her territory. We have our jobsto do, to us it's another gig...to her it's her space.
All the best...
To those who know - this may be obvious. To those who don't - I hope I've helped.
I haven't had owners in the way too much (except where they have stood behind me while I painted and pointed out spots they thought I missed). What I hate though is getting to a job, like replacing kitchen cabinets and having to remove everything from the old cabinets. Had to do that on a bath remodeling job--feel sort of strange moving personal items. One lady said, "Well, I guess we've got no secrets from you now!" Don't know why they can box the stuff up and move it before we get there.
On one job everything was in the bathroom including a nice waste basket that was used for personal items. The guy I work with was removing the lav, grabs the wastebasket, dumps the items in it on the floor and uses it to catch the water from the drain! I think he used one of her nice towels to wipe up spilled water, too.
That's the kind of disrespectfull slob I was talking about - like the painters who cleaned their brushes in the kitchen sink, or the carps who used the whole house vac system to collect all their shavings until the thing was totall jamb packed and needed rebuild.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I agree with you. But the guy hires me, so I'm not in a position to tell him what to do and usually he's done something like that before I even know what he's up to. And he doesn't do it maliciously and does such stuff when working on his own projects at home. Often he'll take a sweatshirt he was wearing and use it as a rag. Uses his wood chisels on concrete and so on.
"What I hate, though, is getting to a job, like replacing kitchen cabinets, and having to remove everything from the old cabinets."
Danno,
That's not a situation I enjoy either. That's why I discuss those kinds of eventualities in advance these days, adding a clause to the contract, when I feel it's needed, that describes what kinds of conditions both the HO and I expect: the cost of this job is predicated on the following terms and conditions... ...in the event additional labor must be expended to address unforseen conditions, continuation of work will require change order(s) delineating the cost of extra work and materials...
I'm lucky that I don't have that sinking feeling in the pit of my gut that warns me to add these kinds of details to contracts very often nowadays. Experience tells me the 80/20 rule is still in effect: the client pool is the typical bell-shaped curve with 80% of the customers clumped together in the middle. Of the remaining 20%, 10% are potential nightmares, and 10% are the kinds of people who become friends and die-hard supporters.
Among the bottom 10%, there are some prospects for whom I politely decline to work; and some that I will work with only if I can take steps to make reasonably certain I'll have recourse if something goes wrong.
I tried to anticipated strange times and interesting demographics when I wrote my original business plan, but I'm learning new stuff every day!
Sawdust in your shoes,-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
I saw your post below the one to me about dissatisfied customers telling more people about you than satisfied customers do.
I had a satisfied customer who said she recommended me, but when she told me how she did it, I knew I'd never be called by her friend. She said stuff like, "Well, he really does do pretty good work, but he sort of comes and goes as he pleases...." This is becasue I fit her job into a lull in work with a guy I work for a lot on a more or less permanent basis. I hate to leave him hang when he has something where he needs me, because he uses me all the time. I thought when I started her job that he might need me soon and told her. Then she added stuff to her job and so I was in a bind. I finally told her that I would go ahead and finish her job and tell the guy I couldn't help him for another week. I hate those situations and then she tells her friend I just come and go on my own schedule! Thanks! I thought, "Why don't you just have you friends look at what I did for you, and if they like it, give them my number and I'll speak for myself!"
John,
Good for you and your crew. You did the right thing for sure. You realized that she is the customer first off. She made a mistake by locking up and leaving. And then later she did have the right to use her kitchen but should have at least said excuse me.
Taking all this in stride and being understanding lead to having the a delighted customer. She will now recommend you to all her friends. If you had made a big stink she would have also, for years to come, to all her friends about your professionalism.
Let's all remember who the customer is. The phone might not ring as often in the future.
Stu
i have a tenant whose old awning over the back porch was damaged by katrina. i had to threaten eviction to get her to clean the junk off the porch, which was so full she couldnt use it. after the awning came off, and before putting the roof on, i painted the rafter tails and the back wall. so i put visqueen down on the porch and started spraying. i looked up, and here came the tenant, so i told her it wasnt safe to be back here with the overspray and slippery visqueen. sunday morning, i got up and started masking the windows to paint the wall. naturally it rained the night before and the visqueen was wet. here she comes again, and again, i told her, it's really not safe, you should not come back here until i am finished. and i stopped what i was doing and masked the back door with visqueen. yep, it will stay masked as long as needed.
"If you had made a big stink she would have also, for years to come, to all her friends about your professionalism." Hi Stu,
In the hotel business (my first career), statistics showed that a dissatisfied guest will tell ten times as many people about a negative experience than a customer who's had a positive experience.
It's similar to the average home owner's appreciation for the kind of "perfect" work artisans and craftsmen stake their reputations on: most customers wouldn't know perfection if it walked up and shook their hand, but virtually every customer can spot imperfections with ease.
Improving my knowledge and skills is my inner quest; my outer quest is managing customer expectations - that's what's important in the marketplace that determines my rates and annual revenue, and what every single day revolves around.
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Boy Jazz, you said a mouthful right there.
One of the things that I used to preach when I represented architects and engineers as a lawyer was exactly that - Don't tell the client you are going to be on top of their job when you are going to be doing occasional site visits! I can't tell you how many times I heard it from their clients - after there was a problem with the contractors work and everything hit the fan - "They said they were going to supervise the job." Sure, that was when they were trying to get someone to agree to pay them the extra 5%. But, then you have to earn it and all of a sudden, you are responsible for every nail that gets driven and every thing that gets installed (or left out) on the site.
Builders can be just as guilty. They, or the salesmen, make all these promises to customers and raise their expectations so high that they can only come down once the project starts. (The "why" part is pretty obvious.) Most of us are guilty of it to some extent, but some people overdo it.
If you give the customer reasonable expectations at the outset, you might surpass them. If you sit yourself at the right hand of God to get the contract signed, you better be real, real good.
Don K.
Friends of ours are torturing their contractor daily during an addition. They go through the whole site every day with their 20 month old who gets into everything, and is always about to fall to his death. We cringe just hearing about it. Everyone offers (simple?) suggestions like go in one parent at a time or pick up the kid.
“Well we like to discuss the progress and right now the kid doesn’t like being held”.
Gimme a break.
Is the kid going to like being dead if he get's himself killed ???Or maimed, if that is all that happens ???
I laughed when I read that. There are so many people who are simply incapable of seeing anything from any point of view other than their own. New parents are often typical of this attitude. If you say anything to them it just bounces right off them.
JohnIf my baby don't love me no more, I know her sister will.
On the lighter side:
Guy comes to clean the heating ducts. Goes to his van and flips on the power. Huge noise. Cat number one has already climbed into his van and streaks out again, right past his head at about eye level moving about 150 miles per hour. Scares the living bejezzus out of the guy.
<!----><!----> <!---->
Several minutes later, he’s working in the back bedroom making a terrible racket pounding and blasting. Cat number two breaks out of his hiding place. Cat flies out of the room past the guy’s head at about eye level moving 150 miles per hour. Scares the bejezzus out of him.
<!----> <!---->
The chap drops his tools and come to me on the back deck, working. “Sorry to interrupt. One quick question. How many more cats?”
simple solution.
we build an addition for you, kids and pets are simply not allowed in.
This is somewhat related, as it has to do with HOs sometimes being forgetful (who isn't).
Plumbing a new branch line in a crawlspace. I warn the HO not to use the sink, which drains into the line I'll be cutting into. Made my cuts, got the cement on, and sure enough someone runs water just then. Good thing the water ran when it did, not a few seconds later. Managed to wipe the cement off the wye, dried everything up, and got her in. I hope they didn't hear the cursing...
In retrospect, since this has happened before, I should have shut the water off to the fixture, to be absolutely safe.
costofwar.com/