The Project Thread

[irish]

On 8/5/2022 at 10:53 PM, gilthorp said:

I have had a project going on 17 months...an almost full window and front door replacement in a 30 year old house.

 

We decided to use a top tier firm for this and they have subsequently screwed the pooch over and over again.

 

Ordered in March of 21'...the initial install delayed until October of 21'. 85% of the job was done...but 48% of the financial outlay was not because of mismeasured items and then it got worse.

 

We were told they would finish on March 31st and they didn't have what they needed to completely finish so I sent them home. They came back last Friday with different issues that wouldn't allow them to completely finish, so I sent them home.

 

They were here today, after a ton of communication that they had all the materials they needed, but we found out halfway through that was a lie. 

 

Still not done and no end in sight as to the mistakes, product mishaps, tools needed not available (specific bits to route internal crown molding), improper material...I could go on and on.

 

I am livid. We have paid them, financed the rest, and I am paying for a project that isn't finished. I know some good lawyers and they all say I am over a barrel. Brutal.

 

That really blows. How the hell did this happen?  I just replaced my front door and went from a single with 2 side lights to a double door, no side lights, needing new inside molding and new alarm contacts and it was literally done in 2 days. Is yours a special order?  So much for a top tier firm, which I'm sure cost top dollar too.

[gilthorp]

The project is cursed and it was/is a big nut.

[stevegrab]

13 hours ago, irish said:

 

That really blows. How the hell did this happen?  I just replaced my front door and went from a single with 2 side lights to a double door, no side lights, needing new inside molding and new alarm contacts and it was literally done in 2 days. Is yours a special order?  So much for a top tier firm, which I'm sure cost top dollar too.

 

The top tier firm probably has too many projects going on, and nobody managing them properly just sending workers out to do things without the material they need.

 

A coworker had some leaking by a window in his home, did a major project replacing the window, flooring and I believe some of the roof. Kept having similar issues, material wasn't ready, workers were not prepared etc. Even did some of it himself to keep it moving along. 

 

It should be criminal, but probably isn't. I had some body damage on my car, and while I waited a month to get in after the estimate was done, the work was done early, in 7 days instead of the 9 they estimated. 

[rajncajn]

In other news, finally got enough good weather on the weekend to start re-painting the house. I've got all the siding done and now gotta do all the trim work. I've gotten a LOT older since the last time we painted.

Once that job is done, new gutter on the front eave and building working shutters. I may end up shopping both those out though, depending on the cost because i want to make certain I get them done right the first time.

[Chief Dick]

I just had a driveway, garage floor, front steps and stoop poured.  

New fence goes in on the 23rd of this month.  In my younger years I would have done this myself, but I just don't want to do it anymore.  

Wish I still had the energy because I would love to save the money, but my body is breaking down at this point. 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Chief Dick

[gilthorp]

That's a pretty big nut CD....thinking about the driveway here, but not sure it makes fiscal sense at this exact moment. 

[rajncajn]

44 minutes ago, gilthorp said:

That's a pretty big nut CD....thinking about the driveway here, but not sure it makes fiscal sense at this exact moment. 

I'm in the same boat. A few years back I killed myself patching up a section of my driveway that got crushed from a roofing truck. Now my culvert pipe has sunk and it's getting very little water flow. Also throw in we're really in need of widening/extending the driveway and the cost just isn't in the budget.

[rajncajn]

Here's my driveway patch job. That's about a 4' diameter break,  so you can imagine how heavy those pieces were and how difficult they were to get out then back in after I releveled the soil underneath. The first pic is after I leveled it.

[Chief Dick]

21 hours ago, gilthorp said:

That's a pretty big nut CD....thinking about the driveway here, but not sure it makes fiscal sense at this exact moment. 

Yeah, it sucks. We had a guy hired last year to do it, but he could never get to it due to labor shortages.  In one year materials went up about 5k.  And I don't see that getting better anytime soon. 

Facebook is building a huge facility here apparently and has pre-bought a TON of concrete. Couple that with the new airport being built right now and concrete is hard to come by. 

All the concrete work was original to the house, which was built in 1967. There was ZERO rebar in the driveway or garage door.  I was getting bad drainage in the front of my house, so it had to be done. It's been needing it for the 12 years I've lived there. 

My college roommate's company was supposed to do it 4 years ago but it never got done. This project has been a thorn in my side, and at this point I didn't even care what it cost. It's done and now I can move on.

But yeah, this has been an expensive fall. But a new dog has speeded up the process of putting in the fence.  No way I'm taking this dog outside to crap on a leash all winter. I'm too old for that.  

[irish]

On 9/14/2022 at 2:11 PM, Chief Dick said:

I just had a driveway, garage floor, front steps and stoop poured.  

New fence goes in on the 23rd of this month.  In my younger years I would have done this myself, but I just don't want to do it anymore.  

Wish I still had the energy because I would love to save the money, but my body is breaking down at this point. 

 

Because I became part of this board at a younger age, I forget that most of you long timers are older than me and some much older. How old are you CD?  You got me thinking when you said your body is breaking down. 

[Big John]

1 hour ago, irish said:

 

Because I became part of this board at a younger age, I forget that most of you long timers are older than me and some much older. How old are you CD?  You got me thinking when you said your body is breaking down. 

born in 1969

[irish]

1 hour ago, Big John said:

born in 1969

Gotcha, thx. So not as old as others like Beach Bum but has almost a decade on me. 

[stevegrab]

You're only as old as you feel. Sometimes I feel about 30, other times about 70, but in reality much closer to the latter. In some groups I'm the old guy (at work with many under 40) and in others I'm the young guy (my riding group is mostly my age or older with quite a few around 70).

[rajncajn]

I’m old. I know I don’t look it but I’m beginning to feel it in my heart. I feel thin… sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. I need a holiday. A very long holiday.

[irish]

3 hours ago, rajncajn said:

I’m old. I know I don’t look it but I’m beginning to feel it in my heart. I feel thin… sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. I need a holiday. A very long holiday.

Reading that text was hysterical. Don't you look like Ralph Macchio?  Old Mystery Huddler days coming into memory here. 

Edited September 20, 2022 by irish

[Big John]

2 minutes ago, irish said:

Reading that text was hysterical. Don't you look like Ralph Macchio?  Old Mystery Huddler days coming into memory here. 

 MH photo does not show it.  Picture from Skylive tour got Az to make that accusation.

[rajncajn]

27 minutes ago, irish said:

Reading that text was hysterical. Don't you look like Ralph Macchio?  Old Mystery Huddler days coming into memory here. 

😅 I really don't.

[rajncajn]

Got these when I helped my FIL clear out his mom's house after she passed. I asked him if he wanted to keep them and I'd help him refurbish them and he told me I could just have them since he was just going to leave them with the house.

Just going to knock the rust and loose paint off with an angle grinder with a wire brush then hit them with some naval jelly to remove the rest of the rust. Paint them up and put some new slats on them.

[rajncajn]

After looking into it a little, I think I'm going to tackle the gutters myself. There's pretty detailed instructions online and the material costs are way lower than what I thought they'd be. I don't think I'll be able to get to it this weekend because my youngest has a competition all day Saturday. Hopefully next weekend. I'm planning on doing aluminum. The section I have to do is not all that long.

[Chief Dick]

34 minutes ago, rajncajn said:

After looking into it a little, I think I'm going to tackle the gutters myself. There's pretty detailed instructions online and the material costs are way lower than what I thought they'd be. I don't think I'll be able to get to it this weekend because my youngest has a competition all day Saturday. Hopefully next weekend. I'm planning on doing aluminum. The section I have to do is not all that long.

Good luck. You have way more energy than me.  

Our fence is getting finished today. It just pains me to pay what we have to pay. But before we agreed to the job I priced out all the lumber to see if I wanted to do it myself. Basically I'm paying about 2k for the labor and the expertise and the speed to get it done. 

[gilthorp]

It's an exciting day today. Aerating the yard!

[rajncajn]

5 minutes ago, Chief Dick said:

Good luck. You have way more energy than me.  

Our fence is getting finished today. It just pains me to pay what we have to pay. But before we agreed to the job I priced out all the lumber to see if I wanted to do it myself. Basically I'm paying about 2k for the labor and the expertise and the speed to get it done. 

I hear you. Our fence is on our list to get done as well. One neighbor redid their side & I split the cost with him. The other neighbor couldn't care less about a fence, so I'm going to end up footing the bill for that whole side plus redoing my big gate. Priorities, though. I want to get the house 100% done with the painting, gutters & shutters first. All I have left on the painting is the white trim on the sides & rear. I pressure washed last weekend, so I'll probably spend my Sunday again painting & hopefully get that part finished.

Next on the list is getting the landscaping cleaned up in the front. We have a patch in front of the porch that we've never been able to get anything to grow but dirt & moss. Part of the reason we want to put the gutter in. Also, our azaleas & ligustrum are pretty overgrown. They're getting a massive pruning this fall.

Further down the list I want to re-pour the driveway into a brick-lined double drive that wraps through my big gate and around the side of the house. That's a big ticket item though because with the trees I have I'll need some heavy equipment to come in to remove roots. Speaking of trees, I need to thin out several that are getting choked out by the others. Again, that'll need a pro with equipment because there's no way to fell them safely. Next on that big ticket list is a retaining wall for my ditch so that my yard will quit washing away.

[rajncajn]

I hesitate to post it because everything is not "done" but here's a shot of the front of the house. You can see the dirt/moss patch I referred to and the overgrown azaleas. You can also see where the gutter will go over the porch. The windows will have black, working shutters and the bench I'm working on is going to be centered between the windows. We'll redo the landscaping in spring.

Edited October 4, 2022 by rajncajn

[rajncajn]

Oh, btw, the new mower finally came in and picked it up yesterday. Hoping to give it it's first run tomorrow. 

 

[rajncajn]

Ugh, oven went out last night. Got a code on it that says it could be the temperature sensor. You can set it at a temp and it acts like it's already at that temp, but the element never comes on. The cook top works fine, but I still have to turn it off at the breaker because the oven vent just continually runs.

 

The oven is 16 years old, bought after Katrina. We've already replaced the dishwasher & range hood microwave. Maybe it's time to do the oven as well. I didn't install the last one. I just had the Sears people do it, so this would be a new one for me if we decide to replace rather than repair.