Do you feel like this?

Here is a link that might be useful: Communicate

ROTFFLOL, bus_driver, that clip is PERFECT! It is a sad scene but hillarious when you think about contractors while watching it.

pps7, I feel your pain. I successfully taught high school math, chemistry and physics for twenty years and then went to law school and have successfully practiced law for almost ten years. Both careers require one to communicate complex ideas clearly.

Nevertheless, it seemed like contractors and subcontractors constantly could not seem to quite comprehend what I said to them. One subcontractor with whom we were having a dispute tried to tell my husband that the reason for the dispute was that "your wife doesn't communicate what she wants very clearly." DH's response was, "I have been married to that woman for over thirty years and I can telll your for an absolute fact that she HAS NEVER once had a problem communicating what she wants or what she thinks with total clarity. If there was a communication problem between the two of you, it was because you chose not to listen to what she said." The contractor immediately capitulated... after all, now he was talking to the "man of the house." Strange how some men can't seem to hear what any woman has to say.

pps7, so sorry these things are happening. I am just sitting here wondering which of these things are going to come my way in the next few months! You did the right thing having them change the granite - too big of a thing to just let go and not like. Looking forward to seeing that hardware too - sounds nice!

Your house looks wonderful from the pictures you posted. Hopefully once it's all done and you settle in you won't even notice the "flaws" you perceive now...I know, easy for me to say!! :)

Good luck with the rest of the build. Oh, I asked on another thread, but what type of granite did you choose? I saw your beautiful white inset cabinets and wondered if you were doing marble. Love that look, but I am afraid of the issues with marble so am trying to find a granite I like.

I'm convinced small contractors are small because they have no organizational skills and can't see past payday. Organized contractors are in demand and rapidly grow into big contractors. They quickly lose institutional control with the flux of employees.

I've learned a long time ago, if something is really important to you: providing written instructions to the GC is not enough. Providing written instructions to the SC is not enough. You have to be there physically to make sure it happens, even then its not a given you'll be satisified. Unfortunately, its a common occurence and most GCs don't do a good job managing specific details.

I'm with you - I had that week two weeks ago. I have the right door hardware, but the wrong doors. I had the right countertops, but the wrong cabinet. It will get fixed. You seem like you are about two weeks ahead of me (our completion date is August 13, and now they have to meet it because we locked in), and I told my husband I haven't been this stressed since the first two weeks after my child was born. Go get a drink, wait "patiently" for the new counters, and remember this has a relatively soon end date.

to OP - sorry I don't know what to say - we were lucky our builder rarely had those moments, but we did get granite with a bullnose that was supposed to be ogee. I ended up keeping it though and I'm glad I did as it would probably have been too fussy for my liking in the end. Now If I'd only thought of square as I would have liked that even better.

bevangel - would you mind if I talked to you offline? I'm an engineer and considering going to law school and maybe go into intellectual property, but am on the older side and your comment of teaching for 20 years and then going to law school sounds like you might be just the kind of person to ask about the realities of doing this at my point in life and with a small child. All I've talked to have been going to law school straight after their BA.

Aww. I'm sorry you've run into these snags. It does get exhausting... and I've still got a "nekkid" house. No brick. No drywall.

I just came across the pics of your bathroom and your kitchen cabinets. Wow! I'm drooling. Your house is going to be stunning.

Seriously I'm with nutherokie, so long as the rock you crawl under is in your gorgeous new bathroom, go for it.

Thank you all. bus driver-love the video.

Kristinva, we are trying to close by August 2 and move in by August 15. Our lease is up and we have no choice. So I'm freakin out how are we going to close, move, do all of that when things keep getting messed up. Our appliance are going in tommorrow, I really hope that goes without a hitch.

Light fixtures went up today-mostly everything was fine. One was broken. However my kitchen pendants are missing? Will find out tommorrow when they are due in. Why didn't anyone tell me they are on backorder? I finalized our lighting order on May 14th.

Maybe I need to take a bubble bath in that claw foot tub :)

nutherookie, I've missed getting your updates-post some pics!!!

Lyfia - I'll be happy to talk with you off-line re going to law school. If you click on the "my page" link beside my screen name, you can send me an email that way.

pps7, yep you are about two weeks ahead. At least you have tile - they haven't even started mine yet and they are supposed to be done August 13. We are also still missing all of our upper cabinets. And of course all of them still have to be painted. The word "back-order" is like a curse word right now - and the GC acts so surprised when he hears it it's like nothing that has ever been ordered in the history of construction turned out to be back-ordered except my tile cap. And my interior doors. And my fireplace surrounds. And . . .

I'll share a drink with you! We are farther behind than you, but the two back doors to our house were supposed to be full glass 8 light doors (like a single french door) They came has half doors with 9 panes. When I went and complained they said I ordered that. NEVER. They want money for restocking. The door hardware was all to be antique pewter. But the guy that ordered it didn't pay attention and ordered the hinges all satin nickel and the knobs antique pewter. I didn't take the knobs and found new ones in satin nickel instead. I ordered all of the lighting on the first floor of our house months ago. They said the 3 pendants over the island were on back order as it is so popular. No problem. The rest of the lights are all in (my storage unit, haven't drywalled yet so definately not ready to install) when the lighting store called me yesterday. RAM lighting was sold to another company and they aren't filling any more orders. So all my lights match except what is over the island. Uggggggg!!!

I keep telling myself it could be SO much worse, like foundation problems etc... but it is pretty draining to have to keep dealing with issues like these.

Our small contractor had us sign off on every choice we made. That why there was no confusion. This included lights, doors, contertops, everything. It worked very well.

I feel your pain. I have lost count of the number of times things have gotten messed up because a)our builder didn't listen b)he had "never heard of such a thing" or c)he said one thing and did another.

This guy has built most of the high end houses in this area in the last 10 or so years and came highly recommended. I can't imagine if we'd gotten stuck with somebody WORSE!! LOL

Our 2 latest crises were the door guy couldn't get the 10 lite french doors I wanted without a wait of several weeks, so he subbed a 15 lite without asking; and one of the painters cut-in with the tinted primer in the living room (which was clearly labeled as such with a sharpie in GREAT BIG LETTERS). And then they wanted us to pay for the extra paint to fix their mistake. Ha! My door knobs came in today and are smaller than I thought they would be--but that's what I get for shopping online. :-P

V

Per IRS definitions, one of the things that distinguishes contractors from employees is that contractors do not work under the supervision of the customer. But getting desired results is just a crap shoot without the supervision.

Don't you love it when someone says that it must be so much FUN to build a house? (It will eventually be *satisfying* once you're living in it, but FUN?)

Your mention of 'granite' and 'square' and 'corners' made me think about how much I have appreciated having *angled* corners. They've saved me many a bruise and they add interest.

bumping for general interest.

Claire

Oh, didn't know this was old until I got to the bump. Wonder how did everyone's edgy finish go well?

I was gonna sympathize with her, and tell her - we're there too! I came here today to post & advise everyone to TAKE PHOTOS of the WALLS, CEILINGS, FLOORS, EVERYTHING before they put drywall up. We just saved the day because we did that.