Ok, it’s probably time that I address a question that I keep getting asked? I’ve received a lot of request wanting to know the name of our former GC and then some of you who know the identity have insisted that I name him, saying that it’s my duty to prevent this from happening to other people. I agree and while the thought has crossed my mind numerous times, currently I’m going to hold off doing so. Do know that when it’s appropriate I’ll make this information public as I too don’t want anyone else going through the same experience. For what it’s worth we are in the process of going after his license as well as reporting him to the various trade and business organizations but the vast majority of our energy has been geared towards trying to make this house our home.
So Saturday it was Max’s 4th birthday. Of course when we bought the house we told Max that we would be having his party in the backyard with the full range of blowup jumpy things, etc… but as we all know that couldn’t happen. Instead we hosted it at a local karate studio which actually turned out great!! His “theme” was Batman as that is his new fixation and actually what he prefers to be called most days. It amazes me how it truly seems as if only a few days ago we were bringing him home from the hospital for the first time and now he’s “fighting” an imaginary Joker and Penguin. It really is going by way too fast.
Late yesterday we received the last of the bids to complete our renovation/remodeling project. We ended up meeting a lot of very experienced builders that we feel certain could handle and complete our project however we’re just going to focus on our Top 3 going forward. We’ve met with one of them this past weekend and our plan is to meet with the other 2 over the long Labor Day weekend. Hopefully we’ll get a better sense of their abilities, character, experience and dependability when we meet and as we’re contacting their references, but our other main goal is to discuss the plan in more detail and see if there are areas or ways to reduce the overall expense of the project to make it more justifiable.
Also, our last contract was a fixed price contract however we’re starting to think that “cost-plus” might be more advantageous. I’m planning on researching which is best before we commit, “cost-plus vs fixed price”, thoughts or advice?
Speaking of research, you can imagine that I’ve been trying to become better informed and/or more educated with hiring a contractor this time around. Not really sure what we could have done different last time however I did read a ton of articles giving tips and advice when for hiring a general contractor. See below some of the better ones:
After you’ve completed your homework and have implemented all of the necessary steps, asked all of the right questions and have covered all of your bases remember the most important one – Pray. Pray that you’ll make the correct decision and if for some reason you find yourself stuck in an ugly situation, that eventually the best will become of it.
I think Sir Winston once said “Never, Never, Never Give Up” but then I quickly remember the definition of insanity – extreme foolishness or irrationality. As you can tell a clear decision has yet to be made…unfortunately.
We’ve decided to speak with various builders which have been referred to us (thanks to many of you) and see where we stand when comparing what it will actually cost to complete our home versus what is remaining in our budget. (I think we’ll need a magician)
I know we both fell in love with this ugly house when we first saw it and emotionally we fell even further as we envisioned the memories that would be made and the future it would hold for us, but we’ve come to realize that it just may be unachievable now thanks to all that has transpired.
It’s depressing and it’s extremely tough for me not to feel defeated in numerous ways and levels. There have certainly been high’s but the low’s have been numerous and more constant. This place which use to bring me so much excitement has unfortunately become such a source of negative energy and feelings for me that unless we come up with a solution fairly quickly it will probably be best to just abandon this dream and try to eventually start a new one.
I also need to clean up after our former GC as he’s left everything in quite a mess,but for a place that I once would make any excuse just to go over there and spend time splitting wood, moving dirt or just sitting there envisioning “one day”, I now find myself actually trying to avoid it.
“When you feel like giving up remember why you held on for so long in the first place”
And now to exhaust every potential avenue…initially the biggest challenge will be summoning the energy to explore them.
As we head down to Florida there are numerous questions rolling through our heads. Aside from the LAST stunt our GC pulled, the big question is what do we do? Sell it or keep it?
He’s already taken a significant portion of our allotted construction funds and has also basically put us in quite a predicament due to the alterations and modifications that will need to be made because of his numerous mistakes and omissions. At this time I’m not really sure how we can overcome this position if we decide to continue forward?
If we sell it, the “improvements” he’s made will have little value and will very possibly detract from the value of our house. Plus, we still have the cost of cleaning up the mess that he’s left behind as well as repairing the existing house due to some of the damage (direct & indirect) that his crews have caused.
I’m just not sure of any answers, it’s a lose lose situation either way. The thing is, we aren’t one of those couples that bit off more than they could afford. We work hard, save money, budget and watch our expenses. We’ve been looking for several years and finally found our potential dream and POOF!!! Not only does it feel as if it’s gone but it possibly will also cost us even more money with either route we choose.
So here we are; heading down to Florida with some pretty massive thoughts going through our minds. And I’m resentful, very resentful!!! Not only will all of this take away some of our focus on the boys but the true purpose behind going to Florida isn’t so much for the beach or a vacation but more so to be closer to Julie’s dad. I won’t go into too much detail but after his accident, a year ago tomorrow, the beach is now a place where Julie feels the closest to him. Outside of this “renovation” catastrophe it’s been a hard year for all of us and especially Julie. Douglas, Julie’s dad, was such a big part of our lives and their father/daughter relationship was one beyond anything that I have ever seen. If one day I can achieve even half of that relationship with my boys then I will feel as if I have been successful as a father and dad. There have been so many times throughout this project where I have wanted to call him for advice on what to do, how do we handle something, what do you recommend, etc…which at times has only made the reality and pain seem close to unbearable.
Tomorrow will be about Douglas, Douglas and Julie.
Well, they drilled the foundation slab today to check for grade beams and guess what? Yep, no grade beams!! It mustn’t matter that they were in the construction plans and highly important, they just didn’t pour them. Okay, now we’re getting past serious, he’s basically building a structure that could put my family and/or our friends in danger. Forget for a moment the fact that 5-10 years down the road we would have all sorts of issues with a foundation that’s crumbling and walls collapsing, this mistake could seriously put my family at risk of injury or worse. These were designed to support the family room above the kids play room, family room with a FIREPLACE. Apologies for ranting but how do you miss these? And you want more? He wants to charge us for it – said that for him to change anything it would be considered a “change order“. All of this is because he wouldn’t remove his original mistake. QUESTION, is there a word for someone who is beyond incompetent?
It only gets worse, the carport foundation (supposed to be retaining) wall which has already been poured twice isn’t deep enough, meaning that we will need to adjust the slab in the carport as well as the framing plan for the deck and outdoor room. We asked the GC if he would remove it and pour a new one at the correct depth and as a retaining wall and of course he said no.
And, we also found out on our own today that we will need a new water-line as well as sewer line due to roots.
Our Structural Engineer is still trying to reach our GC to discuss the framing options but once again he said that he would have time to meet with her and every time she brings it up when they’re meeting about other items he always says that he has to go. She’s basically doing this by herself, I guess he meant it the other day when responding to one of his subs he said ” I don’t know, she’s the one in charge”, referring to our Structural Engineer.
And of course our GC and architect didn’t respond to my email asking for them to work with our Structural Engineer to design a framing plan to utilize all of the mis-ordered lumber that is sitting on our property and basically going to waste. I would just hate for all of this to be taken to a landfill. As for our architect, I was a huge fan but that is starting to fade, I’m not sure what’s going on but from what I’ve been gathering there is absolutely no coordination or communication between him and our GC.
Absolute last statement, it has always bugged me why our GC would work 2-3 days on our project and then move to another. After talking with a few people in the industry it was their opinion that he is basically banking one job on another. Working on a job and collecting a check once a certain phase is completed and then using that money to pay for the next job – similar to kiting a check. Not sure if this is the case but it sure would make sense.
Enough for today, I’m done, worn out mentally and emotionally.
It was 90+ degrees but that didn’t stop Max from wanting to spend the morning with me picking up bricks that we’re hoping to salvage and reuse in our renovation. We’ve asked our GC to try to save any bricks that weren’t broken however we soon discovered that didn’t happen so the two of us spent a few hours collecting wheelbarrow loads of bricks which had been scattered around the property as well as buried in the dirt which was excavated for the new foundation walls.
Not sure if it will last being that Max isn’t quite 4 yet, however currently he’s quite the worker – no slowing down, wants to stay busy and you have to make him take a break. Half expected that the majority of the time I would be telling him “don’t do that”, “get back over here”, “put that down”, “get off of that” – never once, just a father and son picking up bricks while talking about all that goes through a 3 1/2 year old’s mind. Three hours of work and sweat that I wouldn’t give back for anything. I love being a dad!
He responds, our GC let us know that the footings will be poured on Monday, foundation walls on Tuesday, plumber will be there on Wednesday and the slab will be poured on Thursday. He has no idea on when they will drill to make sure that they poured the necessary grade beams. Isn’t this pretty close to the same schedule as last week? I just looked, it is – seriously? What kind of Mickey Mouse crap is this? Aaauugh, I hate this feeling of being trapped and under the mercy of someone who we feel doesn’t even care, but we basically have no choice as he has our money and he’s told us that he doesn’t have the money to refund the difference. Also, I’m really getting a very strong feeling that our GC and his concrete sub are doing everything they can to delay drilling for the grade beams, maybe they know that they didn’t include them when they poured the slab.
The form walls were poured today and our GC says that they will pour the new carport slab when they re-pour the portions of the basement slab. I’m not holding my breath but that sounds good to me.
Morningside Renovation 