Construction

    This might just go all over the place but it's my Blog and is rarely read by others so I'll use it as intended.....release.

    I have a rather romanticized view of my profession. I consider those that I deal with in my trade as fair minded, honest & reliable people. But reality bites ones butt occasionally.

    I've been trying to get a job off the ground for over four months now. Just getting prices has been a nightmare. Excavator contractors promising to give bids but never calling back was the first hurdle. Then after a set of figures were presented Deed issues that had to be clarified caused a time issue that called for the excavator to pull out of the project. While scurrying around to find a replacement my customer agreed to a 'Ball Park Bid' that allowed me to hire a tree removal company to proceed with clearing the area that the addition would occupy.

    And then true agony and frustration sets in. The tree removal contractor I hired, he was paid half of the $2,000 bid and was supposed to finish 3 days after starting, started the job & j u s t l e t i t d r a g o n. OMG! after three weeks, with repeated phone calls and unanswered messages I hired someone else to complete his job. I had lined up an excavator to start digging the week after the tree guy started. He backed out of the project because he couldn't stay idle waiting for the tree guy to finish.

    It was one of the hardest things I'd done. One of the reasons I'm a good carpenter but not a very good General Contractor is I see the other guy as honest and therefore in trouble if he doesn't perform on schedule.

    So I hire an excavator that agrees to remove the trees & dig the hole. He starts working the next day, a Friday & returns on Saturday to work more. On Monday while he's digging away the tree removal guy shows up. Not with a crew to finish the job but with a bill for $750. He claims that removing the trees he'd cut down was only worth $250. This guy has Balls! Hang me out for three weeks leave me wondering when I might get to bring in an excavator and then tell me what it cost to finish his job! ARGH!! I told him the balance of his estimate had been paid to someone else to finish the job. Well that seemed to upset him something terrible. He was using language that I'll not even attempt to describe with #!@*'s. He also be came physical to the point that I thought I was going to have to dial 911.

    So he rants off with threats of suit and liens, neither of which he can persue because there was no contract, and I now have concrete blocks being laid for my crawlspace foundation.

    Three days ago I get a letter from his daughter-in-law who's a lawyer in Delaware claiming dire legal consequences if I don't pay the $750 to this Butthead. Now I get real upset when threatened. Especially when I was wronged and there is no grounds to back up the threat. In PA if there's no contract there is no legal recourse. You can't sue, you can't put a lien on the property you can't nothing. So I'm ready to tear this little snotty lawyer a new one when my customer calls. Seems he also received the letter and wants me to settle even after I explain that the Butthead has no legal or moral ground to his claim. So customers are always right and I had to write a counter offer to Buttheads daughter-in-law lawyer. Took seven versions to get all of the inflammatory stuff out of my first draft ;~)

    So now I wait to see if the offer of $400, the customers suggested amount, is accepted. Knowing lawyers & this Butthead they'll come back with something higher at which time my offer drops to $350. And so on and on and on.

    At least my foundation was started and only lacks one day to complete. It's raining today & will be tomorrow which means Monday ............