Not proud- but I lost it.

Not sure what came of me today but I completely lost it on my contractor. I’m not proud of it and yes my neighbors came out to see what was going on - but wtf is wrong with people.

His crew showed up to finish some
stucco later than the nursery crew today and then asked them to move out of the way. I intervened and said nursery takes precedent as they were on time and I’ve rescheduled them two times because the other work wasn’t complete. Go stucco elsewhere but nursery gets the right away beside house now.

My spa was supposed to get plastered yesterday, then today and then I get a call from contractor that’s he’s at my house at 2:30 pm. I was inside and went out to get greeted by apologies and a plethora of excuses why they didn’t plaster.

I listened then explained how I felt and more excuses came. I @&$!ing lost it and came unglued. He told me I was wrong about the timing on the contract and they were on time. I marched into the garage and pulled said contract out of my toolbox and said let’s chat. It was unreal but when I pointed out the cameras that show when his guys show up and leave and the calendar I have kept his attitude changed quickly.

He’s supposedly showing up to plaster spa tomorrow now. I’ll believe it when I see it. Totally sucks that I blew up. I’m not proud of it but I had enough.

Gonna pour a whiskey now.

 

What’s there to be ashamed of? When you pay for one thing and get another, that’s frustrating. When this happens and then someone tries to blow smoke up your ass about it, it’s worth setting shit straight in no uncertain terms. Especially considering this sounds like some shit that costs more than a couple dollars.

 

I’m not happy that I was yelling. I usually try to keep a cool head and not lose myself.

im not ashamed of wanting to get what I expect, but rather the way I went about it.

Btw-I only posted this because the beeb is like therapy for me and it felt good to rehash what happened here so I could think through it.

I’m a pretty cerebral guy, very chill, understanding, but expect a lot of people when I sign contracts.

maybe I’m just upset I missed some beeb drama today and now have to catch up.

 

The only time I come unglued is when somebody lies to me, or steals from me. If they do both I go completely banana sandwich's.

You might not have been professional, but you sound justified.

IMO you might as well fire them, and hire a new contractor to finish that job. If they're that unprofessional about scheduling, and lying about it, they'll probably jack up the remainder of the job, and leave you with shitty work that just has to be redone anyway.

It could be they're really busy and have more work than they can reasonably finish on time. Sometimes even good tradesman over commit themselves, or shit happens to back schedules up that are our of their control. But don't lie about it and try to blow smoke up my ass, I'm not a chimney. Be honest and reasonable and we can come up with a plan b to get shit done.

 

Some folks don't think you are serious until you lose it on them.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Sometimes our emotions get the better of us when we are long frustrated.

 

Hon, you're fine. Have two. Think about it this way... you probably gave him the hipcheck that he's been needing for quite some time.... in likely a less dramatic way than you're currently experiencing it... and you, and hopefully his other clients, will benefit from that...

 

Da fug? I hate when the beeb regulars take a night off

You were wrong for going full retard on the poor man. Hopefully your neighbor caught & taped your actions and have already posted it on FB. If I were you, I’d finish half of your bottle of whiskey, maybe more, and call the contractor later this evening to discuss the details of the contract.
You missed Beeb Rule #1 - Never go full retard!

 

Sometimes you have to get in their ass .

 

So apologize for losing it but don't apologize for the reasoning and reiterate it. I've blew up at people, came back and apologized but the point was driven down damn deep in their minds.

 

You're finally speaking a language that they can understand.

Some of the worst memories that I have are dealing with lying dicks during the construction of the home. Please don't stop as I am living vicariously through your beat down.

Oh yeah, don't forget, you are red flag ripe now.

 

I don't yell, I go turbo snarky. I particularly like it when some know it all doesn't know my professional background and tries to tell me how contracting is done.

 

When your contractor has more work than
he can handle then every day some poor
prick is going to get a phone call saying
"not today". The guy who is always nice when
he gets that call will keep getting that call
while the screaming customer will get a crew
showing up to work. Nice guys finish last.

 

Hey JZ. Don't let it bother you too much. I think your' regret for losing control for a moment says alot about you and your character. I won't defend him because I don't know what the contract was or what was said, but I will say it is Extremely hard to find enough help these days and be right on time. The rain we have had probably hasn't helped him either. If he has been reputable and good to deal with up to this point, give him a break. If he has been a flake all along, he probably deserves a tongue lashing. If it was me and they show tomorrow, just offer up a "hey thanks for coming on Sunday to get it done." He should be fine. On the lighter side, he's just one more guy off the Christmas card list.

 

^thanks Karl. I hope you’re enjoying TN! Merry Christmas bud

 

Unless proven otherwise thru their actions, I assume contractors are blowing smoke up my ass and treat them the same I would used car salesman.

Dont feel bad.

Now the ones that show up when they are supposed to and keep things moving and do good work, they get treated like people.

 

Around here that might get quoted for posterity...

 

When you’re a GC this is your every day.
Imagine having 30 subcontractors that you are accountable for and half of them not showing up when planned or finishing when planned, and then the next guy does show up, but the previous guy still isn’t done. GC looks like the ahole to the timely sub, to the client, and probably even to the sub that didn’t come through on time.
When someone figure out how to make construction a Swiss watch, let us all know.

 

I was the GC when I built my house. My wife did all the purchasing and running for odds and ends. I hired a small local contractor to do many of the things during the day and I worked on the house at night. Every evening I talked over the next days plan with my sub. I hired out the drywall guy, excavator guy, septic tank guy, etc. I did most of the plumbing, all the electrical, painting , floors, etc. The number one golden rule? Buy donuts for the day crew!

 

Is this the guy you said you let his cost drive your decision to go with him?

 

Were you a GC or owner builder? I'm just curious because there is a difference. I've built a bike from the frame up, but that doesn't make me a mechanic. It sounds like you and the wife were a nicely organized team and things went well, but being a GC or sub contractor is not always like that. Much like all aspects of life, things don't always go as planned or as you'd hoped as The mentioned above quite well. Running subs and running guys in the construction industry can be like herding cats; now imagine having that going on at multiple locations like many of us do right now. It's not a science and it rarely goes perfect. One thing age and experience has taught me is to try to be understanding and reasonable (calm) when dealing with subs. What experience has also brought me is a better list of subs that don't need yelled at to get things done.

I like people who essentially say treat contractors like dirt until they give you reason otherwise or that's probably all they understand. Isn't it a better strategy to do the opposite? Treat them like you want to be treated until they give you real reason to do otherwise. Maybe you mean you go into it with your guard up. That's probably a good strategy. If they are so dumb that is all they understand, then you should be able to out smart them and get what you want done without treating them like shit. I think that is what is bothering JZ. He IS smarter than that but let his emotion get the better of him. It happens to all of us.