let the contractor pay for it. it is not your problem. as for a sloppy useless contractor leaving the door unlocked... yeah, I've been there. Send e-mails when things like this happen and keep a paper trail. the contractor needs to lock up daily after the trades leave. you need to be hounding your sloppy contractor's backside, and hold back on checks until you get the work done right.

Good gravy! I am speechless at the toilet thing...geez.

Does the builder provide clean porta potties to the jobsite?

Oh, clean facilities? Stupid idiot contractors think they deserve that dignity?

I honestly haven't noticed any porta potties in the development, certainly not on the culdesac we're on. I just had to shake my head on that one. Another thing to email the realtor about.

Treb, I am sure it was not about them using the facilities, I think it was about them using non-functioning facilities.

when we built our home, we did not put on toilet seats until after we moved in.

Haven't seen any females working so I don't think that would have deterred this idiot.

I imagine no toilet seat might be a visual clue to anyone though. Sorry for the icky incident and the damage to the cabinets. Surely they will make that right.

>> I honestly haven't noticed any porta potties in the development, certainly
>> not on the culdesac we're on. ... Another thing to email the realtor about.

Or the health department.

Porta potties? That's nuthin'.

I've been on jobs where I was expected to provide my own electricity.

I've been on jobs where I was apparently expected to build my own steps to carry the countertops into the home.

This is why the trades suck and everybody wants their daughter to marry a doctor or lawyer. Doctors and lawyers are always provided a place to pee at work. Contractors, not so much.

This post was edited by Trebruchet on Wed, Apr 30, 14 at 21:12

In my county it is code - the contractor must provide porta potties. I hated having one on the front lawn when we bumped out the back of the house a few years ago.

so sorry nhbaskets, it would make me want to cry! if the contractor doesn't step up to fix it, maybe you could lightly sand it and touch up the stain/paint? you had your own cabinet installer, right? maybe you could call them and see what they advise. in second thought, i am sure i wouldn't trust the contractor to fix it! hopefully it is done soon and you can sigh with relief:)

Absolutely make them fix it - you haven't closed on the house yet and they own it not you. If it isn't fixed by the closing date, you have two options - delay the closing or hold back money at the closing with a list of things to be fixed - make sure you hold back enough to make it worth their while to actually come back and do the work.

I'm a doctor and I'd marry a contractor in a minute.

Tall dark and handsome please, a little on the older (wiser) side, and it'd be great if he had a sense of humor.

Yeah, dh and I are both lawyers and are hoping our kids choose something else. Dh works brutal hours at a big law firm, often not having time for lunch and not getting dinner until nine or ten o'clock at night. He pulls all nighters every couple of months and routinely works 80 hour weeks. Not a cushy gig at all. Dh worked construction before college and thinks the trades might be a good fit for our oldest.

What weissman said

(p.s. Both DH and I are lawyers, too, and it doesn't have to be as grueling as it is for crl's DH -- we have a life too!)

Having been married to a family of GCs, don't get too happy about the idea of having a handy man around.

If I ever hear the phrase, "Shoemaker's kids don't have shoes" again, I'm going to throw myself off my unfinished roof. Being exhausted I understand. Being effing lazy about your own home? Oh, hell no.

OTOH, I've dated doctors, lawyers & dealmakers in my life. Worked for lawyers, which is far better than dating them. Don't think I'd do that again, either.

OH, my, off topic!
NHbaskets, I'd also recommend holding back that last 1/3rd because it'll be only a substantial sum that will have them fix that damage. I think I'd get my cabinet maker to fix it and submit a receipt with the final payment... As a matter of fact, document everything and get whomever you need to fix it. It'd sure get their attention.

A friend was having her vacant condo remodeled and the contractor had the toilet sitting smack in the middle of the bedroom. Even though you'd think it would be obvious that a toilet in a bedroom wouldn't be a WORKING toilet, one of the workers still used it (REALLY used it). I wonder why it didn't strike him as odd while he was sitting there that there were no other fixtures around that would indicate he was actually in the bathroom ...?

This post was edited by jellytoast on Wed, Apr 30, 14 at 18:31

"Tall dark and handsome please, a little on the older (wiser) side, and it'd be great if he had a sense of humor."

Well, I've got four out of the seven (contractor, tall, dark, handsome, older, wiser, and humor).

nhbaskets:

Sorry, but if you don't have a video of the electricians damaging the leg, they aren't responsible. Correlation is not causation.

I don't like your KD's replacement idea either. That sounds like more problems to me. You're entitled to a nice leg repair which should be fairly easy and inconspicuous. Remember, this isn't a very visible area, and you're going to ding these legs too.

Trebruchet - this is a new house, not a remodel. It doesn't matter whether the electrician did it or not - it's the builder's issue - he owns the house until nhbaskets agrees to close on it.

"Oh, clean facilities? Stupid idiot contractors think they deserve that dignity?"

"Doctors and lawyers are always provided a place to pee at work. Contractors, not so much."

These kind of complaints chap my hide.

Some plumbing site had a letter to the public how we should treat contractors better by letting them use our bathrooms. What a ridiculous plea!

If it's a build site or large project, the GC should be providing something for his crew, just as an office does.

I used to naively welcome workmen to use my bathroom. This is now a problem - because they think they are entitled to be slobs .

Maybe if they acted with dignity and respected the use of someone's home bathroom, people wouldn't mind letting them use their facilities. But when they pee all over your toilet and floor, they kind of lose that privilege and respect.

It's simply terribly disrespectful to homeowners and the properties they are working on. I'm sorry but I think anyone knows better. They just don't care and, honestly, I think some of these people get a kick out of it.

There's a whole discussion about it here:

Here is a link that might be useful: bathroom use

Well helloooo there Trebruchet!

If only you lived near Cleveland we could be GW's first couple ;)

And everything in my kitchen would work.

CEFreeman, let a girl dream! I'm happily coupled and my kitchen is done... So nice...

Well, EAM44, everybody's gotta have one. A dream that is....

The man part is incidental. :)

LOL!

"If it's a build site or large project, the GC should be providing something for his crew, just as an office does."

snookums2:

I agree.

Found out that there are facilities on site. They just have to walk a few minutes to get there so I'm sure having something right there is tempting.

Good new is the double ovens have been installed. Fit perfectly and our cabinet installer didn't need to be there. Why they couldn't have done this 8 days ago is beyond me.

NH that's great. I walk past my ovens daily.... yep, they're still on the floor.

This post was edited by EAM44 on Fri, May 2, 14 at 1:05