So...my home is basically ruined.

He's done this type of work before, right?

 

He says he has and honestly...I don't doubt his abilities. I just think this is one of the same sort of pain in the ass jobs that I have to deal with from time to time. But you just have to get on it and get them done. You have to take the first step. I think he can do it but I don't know if he really wants to do it at this point. Too late for that. Get your ass in gear and move forward. I hope I don't have to have a tough conversation with him but I will if I have to. I actually like the guy a lot.

 

Thanks for the update. Hoping things improve.

 

It's been a while but I was pretty much right about the general contractor. I think he's good but was a chickenshit about cutting the second floor joists. I did it myself. Things went really well early on but lately we're having issues with scheduling. We're really under the gun and my wife made her opinion clear today. She isn't someone who minces words. It's kind of like "good cop/bad cop". I try to be pretty decent bit she doesn't give a shit about their feelings past as certain point. She's a professional/executive type of mind who wants to see results. Frankly, this should have been done a couple of months ago. I'm to the point of....either you get it done in my time frame or I will pay people who will and we can litigate the finer points. I'm mostly happy with the work being done but not the amount of time it's taken and all the excuses.

 

I can't imagine the kind of patience it would take to go through all of this...I also can easily imagine how your wife feels.

In dealing with tree-cutters and roof people last summer, I found that I was nice only to a point. When someone tells you they will do something and you are paying them money, it is only reasonable to expect whatever done!

I also found it easier and easier to tell whomever that if they didn't like what they were paid or what I said or ANYTHING about our business dealings, they should feel free to take me (and my mother, the home owner) to court...and lets just see how that works out for ya. I'm serious though...I really did tell more than one jackass just that.

Nobody was ever interested in taking me up on that offer.

 

I really think we need to hang out. Your wife and I are so much alike. My husband and I were having the good cop/bad cop conversation yesterday. I'm definitely the bad cop that can be a huge bitch when needed.

 

Been wondering about this project... Glad things are working out.

 

Well...we'll see how things are working out in the next few days. It really is crunch time. My wife and I are both experienced business managers but we have different styles (I only note that because this is something that has to be managed). I guess that's the only way I can say it. She's more likely to say "This is what you're being paid for. This is your problem. You figure it out by this date because this is your part of the plan." I am more likely to say "Ok....this is the problem. What has to happen for this problem to be solved?" I am probably much more diplomatic than she is and the contractors naturally want to work with me more than her but....when I do eventually get pissed off....it is much more ugly than it would ever be with her. I won't make that ultimate move until I'm absolutely sure I have to and sure I will win. Then I will suffocate you. I don't want it to come to that. I really do like these guys and I hope it goes the way it should.

On that note....I'm having a problem with electrical contractors and I'm not in a very good position there. I know that so I have a guy who will step in to do part of the work and....just to speed things up...I am going to help him out. He will do what he can during the day and show me what I need to do it the evenings. It's not rocket science. I'm going to knock most of this electrical shit out myself in a few days. Plus....I will be gaining some knowledge for future use.

 

We made some decent gains today! My other electrical guy (someone I know from the music scene) showed up today and we got most of the second floor knocked out. He showed me how to do a lot of the work and I'm almost sure we will have the inside (non-service related) part of the work done by the end of the week. I will finish up the second floor tomorrow and that is over half the battle. The first floor will be easy....in fact...none of this electrical stuff is hard. You just have to know what the code is and where/how things need to be installed.

Again...it's crunch time and my wife is stressed but this is the pressure I kind of appreciate. I thrive on chaos. I'd rather not have it this way but it is what it is and we will get things done. I keep telling her...."just relax...everything is fine". But then...I have to make damn sure I'm right. It's a game of ups and downs and there are lots of moving pieces. My gut feeling is that we will be cutting it close but we are still fine. As long as we can get the drywall guys in immediately after our electrical inspection. If I'm seeing a problem on the horizon...it might be with the sub-contractors schedules. I've made my general contractor aware of the timeline so those guys should be ready to move as long as he's on his game.

 

Oh, boy. I thought I would update this thread since I've been posting more in the Random Thoughts thread.

Since my last update....I had a guy contracted to do all of the electrical, plumbing and duct work. He has the electrical service about half done and I had to get on his ass to get the water lines run. The water is still not hooked up on either end. A friend and I did all of the electrical in the entire house besides the service. This particular contractor is pure shit. He tried to bail yesterday and it got ugly so he came and ran some water lines (big fucking deal). None are hooked up.

I took the day off work and got all of the duct work done. As soon as I got done framing some stuff in (at 3 pm) some subcontractors for the drywall guy showed up. I thought they where there to just look it over (at that time of day). I was wrong. They were there to start and get the job done. They worked until after 9 pm and did the entire house. So all of the drywall is ready to be taped and mudded.

I can't say enough how impressed I was with those guys today. They meant business and I bought them beer, gave them food and tipped them $50 each. That's how you take care of a crew. They did a great job.