Greetings all.
I love my GC. He is honest, talented, hardworking. He’s the best. He did an addition for me. He thought it was going to take 3 months. We are now on month 26.
Sadly, the plumber is awful. He does good work, but he refuses to come back and finish the job. He says he’s going to come, and then he doesn’t. He says he just has to get a part. Then when the box shows up, the UPS sticker says he got it weeks ago.
This has been going on for six months now.
I don’t want to go after the GC because I love my GC. But even he is sick of the plumber because the plumber won’t show up to work for him. The GC won’t do any more work with him.
So how do I get the plumber to come back?
Thanks for your hints.
jojo
Replies
HELLO - SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PLIGHT. I WOULD TRY CONTACTING THE COUNTY BUILDING DEPARTMENT AND OR LOCAL DEPT. OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS. THEY USUALLY HAVE SOME CONTROL OVER THE LICENSED PROFESSIONALS, THO' NOT ALWAYS MUCH. ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU SHOULDN'T BE DOING THIS. YOU HIRED A GENERAL CONTRACTOR. HE GETS PAID TO BRING PEOPLE IN AND MAKE SURE THE JOB GETS DONE, TIMELY AND PROPERLY. IF HIS PEOPLE DON'T DO THE JOB, IT'S UP TO HIM TO MAKE IT RIGHT - EVEN IF HE NEEDS TO HIRE ANOTHER PLUMBER WITH HIS MONEY.
DON
Agree with Hammerlaw. Can I ask why you would still love your GC after 26 months?
Please email me if you ever want to build a house in the Quad Cities of IA, ILL. I would love some customers like you.
Bill
If your general contractor was the best, you wouldn't be going through this.
I don't understand why you haven't gotten him involved long ago.
Either way if the general is good he should be more than happy to straighten things out.
The plumber works for the gc. The plumber isn't keeping the customer happy. The plumber needs tro be replaced. The gc needs to terminate him and get someone else in to finishg the job. If the new plumber needs to buy parts that shouyld have already been installed, that comes out of the gc's pocket. Be firm but polite with the gc ... tell him you want a new plumber on site Monday, not negotiable.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Your Right.
When my subs refuse to perform the work they agreed to perform I tell them ''Get it done or I will have it done for you", with a price tag.
I also retain 10% of each invoice as incentive to complete the project.
Mike
If I copuld have customers like you Id go back to customer service work.
Contractor is your man. Plumber needs fired . Another plumber is needed and has been for a few months. Withhold future payments to contractor till problems are solved or hire another contractor. Majarioty of this problem belongs to the general. Address him unless YOU hired the plumber , then in that case you need to proceed with another plumber your self. Unless in which case you made the mistake of paying this plumber and are hoping he will finish the work he has been paid to do. This sounds like that is the case. If that is the case you screwed up. If the contractor did then he screwed the pooch. Either way you move on to another plumber and end up in small claims court against the plumber . Judges dont tend to have sympathy for contractors that take advantage of home owners.
Tim Mooney
Sounds familiar. Is the plumber named Erik by chance?
I did a job last year where the plumber kept holding everything up, he kept telling me he was coming and would'nt show.
It felt good to fire that guy. He showed up one day and said "I'm here to finish up."
"Uhh....your already finished....hit the bricks"
I still owe him some money. I'll pay him eventually. Right now he's getting a lesson in waiting 101.
He thought it was going to take 3 months. We are now on month 26.
That's over two years for a 90-day project. This is not a reasonable delay.
The plumber needs to get deep-sixed; the GC needs to get scared into taking care of business. You need to wake up and smell the coffee....
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
I'm hoping that the additional 23 months is due to a lot of documented change orders. If it's cuz the gc is that slow, then there are bigger problems trhan the plumber.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Yup, does look that way....
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
Hi, this is jojo here.Thank you for your input. For the record, the GC hired the plumber.Why do I still love the GC? Good question.The job was more complicated than he thought. It's a barn attached to the house. Finished garage on first floor, studio on second. Flairs around the bottom of the building, complicated roof line, etc.There were a lot of steel beams involved in the roof on the second floor (no collar ties, no posts), and steel beams involved in the first floor (no posts).It took a lot longer to frame than the GC originally thought. That said, his framing work was totally righteous. You couldn't see sunlight between where joists met beams. It was a sin to cover the framing. He built a cupola that would make you cry. It was perfect. In fact, almost all of his work is perfect within a sixteenth of an inch. The guy is good. If you can draw it, he can build it.One of the problems was he did the job with just one other guy. So two guys framed this 32 x 24 building, covered it in sheathing, installed all windows and doors, shingled it, and roofed it. He wove all the corners and his work on the shingles was killer.His finish work inside on beadboard, chair rail, and window trim was all perfect.His karma was excellent. He showed up for work (when he was actively working on the job, not managing) at 7:00 am, took his coffee break at 10:00, his lunch at noon, and went home at 5:00 or 6:00. He got along with my wife, who is a landscape architect as well as a GC herself for a commercial builder. He got along with my dogs.In return, I would pay him earlier rather than later, and drive a check to his house if I came home to an overage bill. His tile sub was awesome.
His electrician was good, but kind of a dick.
The tile guy was a god but I had to wait six months for him.
His plumber did good work when he came, but he's hard to wrestle down.
I brought my own painter to the job who is the best in the universe.In hindsight, my GC is better with his hands than he is with his clipboard. I did interview another guy who was better with a clipboard, but he was a bit of a BS artist. Given the choice between the craftsman or the BS artist, I'll take the craftsman, and the inevitable delays, every time. I have worked with shoddy builders before. Never again.I thank you for all of your input. I hope to work out my issues with the plumber through the GC. And if any of you live near Hull, Massachusetts, do good work and can finish it on time and on budget, I'll kiss your buttocks until it's white as a cracker, pay you on time, and give you enough referrals to keep you busy for a good long while.Be well,jojo
I would open the phone book & find a new plumber. Whats left to do, the plumbing trim out?
How about some pictures of the project. We all like pictures around here!
Welcome to Breaktime!
Sounds like you hired a carpenter to do a contractors job.
Bet he`ll act more like a contractor if you stop making payments until he makes good on the plumbing.
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"And if any of you live near Hull, Massachusetts, do good work and can finish it on time and on budget, I'll kiss your buttocks until it's white as a cracker, pay you on time, and give you enough referrals to keep you busy for a good long while."
ROAR! One of the funniest lines I've heard in a long while!
You hit the nail on the head with your clipboard assesment. Many tradespeople are excellent in skill but are lousy at business and visa-versa. It doesn't sound like your GC can get the plumber to work for him. Have you tried threatening the plumber with legal action? Are there costs to recover that are prohibiting you from finding another plumber? Guess it all comes down to how PO'd you can get.
Look, mate. Nobody appreciates craftsmanship more than I do. I am renowned for being slow but the best at what I do. I charge by the hour, not by the job, and people still line up to get on my schedule, slow as I am.
That said, I single-handedly built my first house in just a tad under six months, from first bucket of dirt to last coat of paint. That was a 3-storey 20x30 maison d'habitant with a flared gambrel roof, hand-finished wood floors throughout, exposed joists and beams, and hand-made French windows. I did all framing, plumbing, electric, and finishing alone, and I had figured 3 months, just like your GC, so I screwed up on that. But after all, it was my first house. And I am slow, as I said...
Somebody else remarked that you hired a carp to be a GC. That sounds like it's the case. But this carp seems to have been working elsewhere at the same time. Either that or he spent a hell of a lot of time surfing the net or whatever....
Being late is a fact of life; it happens to all of us from time to time. But being 1¾ years late on a 90-day project is out of line. It really looks from here as if your GC is overloading his schedule, and the reason it's taken him so long to finish your job is that you haven't been pushing him in the a$$ as hard as his other customers. You know, the squeaky wheel gets the grease...?
If you want this finished, you're gonna have to squeak a little. Either that, or send me a deposit and I'll put you on my schedule, LOL. As soon as I get my truck fixed (again!) I can come down for a week and get your water running....
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
I think you're a better client than your carpenter is a GC. I also think he's got you in the palm of his hand and he's squeezin' you like silly putty. It does'nt sound like a project that should be anywhere near one year never mind two years
Its his responsibility to get the plumbing done but as long as you are willing to keep this guy on the gravy train he's gonna hang around.
I dont buy this crap "the job was more complicated than he thought". so what if it was, by 21 months? It does'nt sound to me like a very big project to begin with and there are lot of guys around here that would complete it 3 times over in the course of 2 years. And get along with your wife and dog.
"and give you enough referrals to keep you busy for a good long while."!!!??Thats something you could give your guy if he ever gets out of your house!
I like the quote, but who?
I like the quote, but who?
Aragorn. As the armies of men stand before the Black Gate and they open to reveal every orc, troll, and evil creature Sauron ever created coming towards them, Aragorn rides the front line of his troops and sees panic in their eyes.
I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
A day may come when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...but it is not this day.
...an hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down...but it is not this day.
This day we fight!
By all that your hold dear, by this good earth! I bid you stand, men of the West!
Now, my memory of the book isn't perfect, but I'm pretty sure those are not the words as Tolkein originally wrote them. Hollywood must have its way with things.... Still, the sentiment is appropriate to desperate situations.
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
Thanks for the feedback.
tThe gc is the one that is responsible, I don't care how much you like him, but if the plumber is a sub-contractor its his responsibility to make sure that all subs comply with the agreement. The delay can't be blamed on the plumber, there has to be other things that caused it.
Edited 5/20/2005 5:22 pm ET by shacko
A 90 day job that runs over 2 years and the HO is still happy with the G/C.
I don't think we have the whole picture. Maybe the plumber has some legitimate reasons for not following through.
This whole thing smells, to me.
It goes back to the general contractor. The plumber is a sub. of him. Why would someone wait this time before they bitch?