I hate projects that rely on someone else doing the work. I realize that I procrastinate, and I complain, and I am sometimes the least-skilled person available for the job. But, I show up. I communicate with myself, and I know when I'm NOT going to get a job done when I said I would.
Skilled tradespeople?? Not so much.
Our wonderful carpenter who is supposed to hang and re-mortise the prairie-style door we found at the ReStore? He's great at telling me he'll contact me when he's in the area, but somehow that never happens and he was always in South Bend "just last week.". The drywall finisher who we contacted to give us an estimate to skimcoat the office? "I can come by tomorrow," he says. Tomorrow must have never came. The plumber who came to give us an estimate on moving the bathroom fixtures? Actually showed up, spent over an hour looking at the bathroom, discussing layouts, and checking the plumbing in the basement... He even helped us to adjust the pressure on our well. But now we can't seem to get the estimate from him.
WTF is up with these people?! Just tell me you're busy and don't want my money! Don't string me along like a love-sick teenager...
I've found a couple of exceptions to the "rule" of unreliable tradesmen. Our wood stripper did the work faster and for less than he quoted us. He's my hero. Seriously. The other exception was the guy who drywalled our garage workshop. He came when he said, and did very nice work. Well, until he got a new job and stopped coming... Hmpf.
This no-show problem didn't bother me so much before, but now that we have a 30 week deadline, it's a little more serious. I do NOT want to have a baby in a house with unfinished walls and renovation dust everywhere. I know not everything will be done by May. The kitchen and bathroom are on hold somewhat indefinitely, since they're not in terrible shape. I don't have a clue when I'll start the dining room. But I at least want the chaos of the upstairs resolved. And there are only 2 tasks that need professional help. If I could just get someone to show up...
I also hate the thought of hiring out anthing in our house. I feel like I always run into someone even when I'm asking questions or getting quotes who want to tell me why they CAN'T or WOULDN'T do things how I want them done. I'm sorry if you would carpet my wood floors, personally I wouldn't. LOL. The thought of entrusting my home and my "vision" to a stranger who wants to charge as much as possible while doing as little work as they can get away with just makes my jaw clench!
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