Is it only me

[Sleep profit]

So it’s leaf season.  Called a guy he said I clean gutters that’s what I do. That’s my job. Ok we agreed on time and price he shows up first thing he says do you have a. Ladder. WTF.  Is it to much to ask people show up with tools to do the job sent him down the road ok rant over feel better now 

[Rob112o]

Well, if it’s your ladder and he falls you are responsible for the injury. 

[Sleep profit]

If he does this for a living he should have his own ladder. When I take car in for service they don’t ask me if I brought wrenches  

[Gnarlytoes]

People don't think meth heads be like they is, but they do.

[Sleep profit]

6 minutes ago, Gnarlytoes said:

People don't think meth heads be like they is, but they do.

Exactly what I was thinking  

[DJTC45]

He could have asked you to climb up your ladder and clean them yourself while he held it for you. Seriously I can't stand when you ask for a person to do some work for you, like you I've had to tell a few to hit the road, had a guy come out when we bought our house, my wife and I discussed having a brick mailbox and planter built so I sketched one up and even made a hand drawn 3d of what we were wanting to have built. I called six different contractors that did that kind of work, only two called and only one showed up. I showed him the sketch of what I had in mind and he said that's no problem at, he showed me a photo album of the ones he built and were he did the jobs at so I could call for references. Not bad, as we discussed and he measured where I wanted it built at he gave me an estimate, $1200 now that may seem expensive but for what I wanted and the time involved to level out an build it wasn't bad, so I thought. We were about to close the deal and settle on a deposit when he asked me where the bricks were at so he could see what he was going to work with. I politely explained that I figured that the $1200 he quoted me included them well he chuckled and said that would cost another $900 for him to purchase and haul them, I did my best to hold back but when he started laughing and told me the extra cost, well I lost it. Cops came and what a scene for the first week in the neighborhood. Oh well everything worked out, he left and the Cops and I got a good laugh out of the situation after he left.

[derf]

It ain’t just you. There are few true craftsman left. I turned wrenches or thought mechanics how to turn wrenches for over 30 years. If any of them had shown up to work without their own tools, we just sent them packing. We used to be the strongest nation in the world but we are becoming a worldwide joke. 

[10-Ring]

I'm glad that I can do most everything around the house that I need to and aim to teach my son these things so he can when I can no longer do those things.  It's rare these days to find a serviceman that does a quality job.  I do have an HVAC guy that I've been using who shows up on time, does good work and charges a fair price, but people like that are the exception rather than the rule anymore. 

We recently hired out a bathroom reno and it was pretty bad.  I didn't want to do it myself on count of my wife picks apart everything that I do.  The contractor she hired was a tile guy by trade and he either did all of the work or subbed it out to other contractors.  We now have a tile shower that's looks like something out of a magazine.  However, the dual lights above the vanity are crooked, the crown molding looks like a team effort between Stevie Wonder and a kindergarten, and if you wave at the drywall it waves back.  These contractors today live by the moto of "looks good from my house" and it shows. But at least my wife isn't griping at me about the trim job.  

Same guy reglazed the grout in my FIL's bathroom and the toilet started leaking a few months later, like it was a bad wax ring.  I went to take a look and it may have not been the tile guys fault but the flange is about 1/4" closer to the wall than it should be, causing the rear of the toilet to lift up a bit.  IMO he should have at least said something.  

I worked for a friend doing finish carpentry 15 years ago.  His words of advice to me were "you don't have to be good at what you do in construction (he was though, he was one of the most talented craftsmen I've ever worked with) just show up when you say you will, do the work, and clean up the work area before you leave for the day" I've enjoyed watching him grow his business, he now charges a premium for his work and picks his clientele.  

[peejman]

1 hour ago, 10-Ring said:

the crown molding looks like a team effort between Stevie Wonder and a kindergarten, and if you wave at the drywall it waves back.

Sounds like my house. I'm convinced the drywall guy and electrician decided to switch roles when they did my house. 

[10-Ring]

22 minutes ago, peejman said:

Sounds like my house. I'm convinced the drywall guy and electrician decided to switch roles when they did my house. 

Don't get me started on the wiring in this house.  Several quirky things, but the one that sticks out the most is that there are 3 switches for the overhead kitchen light, 2 of which are on the same panel.  So sometimes you flip a switch and nothing happens, then you flip another and nothing happens, then you go to the third switch and the light finally goes off.  About drove me crazy around 1am one morning shortly after we moved in and I couldn't get the light turned off.  Then there is the exterior motion detector light that can't be reached and we have no idea what switch controls it. 

Edited October 25, 2022 by 10-Ring

[DJTC45]

When we moved in here about 13yrs ago, I went into the garage and found the water heater sprung a leak. Well I drained it the best I could. When I went to start removing it I pulled the insulation off and well lets just say I cut all the copper off to the valves that was attached to the water heater. And spent two day's re-running it the way it should've been done the first time. I had to cut it to get the water heater out, they didn't put any unions on top and piped it directly to the heater. Once I got done cussing and thwoing the pipe wrench out the garage door, I just tore it all out. What a fiasco, and I'm sure my neighbors thought I was " Touched" from the cussing and well......

[peejman]

23 hours ago, 10-Ring said:

Don't get me started on the wiring in this house.  Several quirky things, but the one that sticks out the most is that there are 3 switches for the overhead kitchen light, 2 of which are on the same panel.  So sometimes you flip a switch and nothing happens, then you flip another and nothing happens, then you go to the third switch and the light finally goes off.  About drove me crazy around 1am one morning shortly after we moved in and I couldn't get the light turned off.  Then there is the exterior motion detector light that can't be reached and we have no idea what switch controls it. 

I like watching some of these home improvement shows.  Every time I've done anything electrical in my house I have a "damn you Mike Holmes!" moment where I find some bigger problem I now have to fix....   Light fixtures without junction boxes ( and cellulose insulation), ceiling fan over master bed held in with one drywall screw, sink disposal switch in same panel as overhead light but they're on different circuits...

 

16 hours ago, DJTC45 said:

When we moved in here about 13yrs ago, I went into the garage and found the water heater sprung a leak. Well I drained it the best I could. When I went to start removing it I pulled the insulation off and well lets just say I cut all the copper off to the valves that was attached to the water heater. And spent two day's re-running it the way it should've been done the first time. I had to cut it to get the water heater out, they didn't put any unions on top and piped it directly to the heater. Once I got done cussing and thwoing the pipe wrench out the garage door, I just tore it all out. What a fiasco, and I'm sure my neighbors thought I was " Touched" from the cussing and well......

Been there, done that.  

[Gnarlytoes]

1 hour ago, peejman said:

I like watching some of these home improvement shows.  Every time I've done anything electrical in my house I have a "damn you Mike Holmes!" moment where I find some bigger problem I now have to fix....   Light fixtures without junction boxes ( and cellulose insulation), ceiling fan over master bed held in with one drywall screw, sink disposal switch in same panel as overhead light but they're on different circuits...

 

Been there, done that.  

Bought my 80+ year old house in 2005. It was originally built without electricity or plumbing, which was added later.  Old cloth covered wiring, no junction boxes, wires just twisted together with no tape, wire nuts, or anything, only 4 circuits. I don't know how it did not burn down. I replaced the old 60 amp fuse box with a new 200 amp breaker box, pulled new wire, added receptacles, switches, etc. Plumbing was cast iron and black pipe (not even galvanized), which I also replaced.

Two thirds of the crawl space it less than a foot from dirt to joists. Added central heat & air and had to dig trench for trunk ducts. The old gas floor furnace I removed was actually in a hole about 1.5' deep.

Nothing is square, level, or plumb. I don't think the builders even knew what a tape or rule was, much less how to use them. Joists and studs may be 1' apart or 2.5' apart. Framing is all rough cut full dimension lumber. All interior walls, floors, and ceilings are 1" tongue and groove, so I guess that is what makes the structure so solid. Support beams all run to base of chimney in center of house which has settled over 1" over time. If you drop a marble anywhere, it will roll to center of house.

Doors and windows are nowhere close to a standard size. Any replacement means either framing in or cutting out opening. Any project that would normally take an hour or two turns into a day or more ordeal. And of course maintenance is a constant chore.

My wife loves it, but I'm getting too old for this crap.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Gnarlytoes

[Erik88]

Last year I paid a guy to replace my gutters. It seemed like his helper must have been new-ish. The entire day, the guy screamed at his employee. It was so bad it made me uncomfortable to the point where I was close to saying something. I was halfway expecting the guy to quit, or beat his boss to death. I have no idea why anyone would work under that sort of abuse. 

Not really relevant to your story but just shows you never know what sort of person will show up to work on your house. I never let my wife deal with these projects when I'm not home. Too many creeps out there. 

 

 

 

[Smith]

On 10/24/2022 at 6:05 PM, Gnarlytoes said:

People don't think meth heads be like they is, but they do.

Best drywall guy I ever found was a pothead. He was an artist. Looked like he had just walked out of jail that morning and first thing he did was light up. 

He was able to float a major water damaged ceiling (6x8 ft) area that didn't match up with any current drywall (old house). We're talking 1/2"+ mismatches Did it all by hand with no sanding and it was level and flawless. Never seen anything like it.

[monkeylizard]

Do you still have THAT guy's number? I can never find a good drywall guy.

[MacGyver]

2 hours ago, monkeylizard said:

Do you still have THAT guy's number? I can never find a good drywall guy.

Right?

[Smith]

2 hours ago, monkeylizard said:

Do you still have THAT guy's number? I can never find a good drywall guy.

I never could find him again. I found him in a Lowes parking lot. Didn't have a phone number and I paid cash. Haha!

[Sleep profit]

Here they only want to work on days there out of cigarettes and beer  I had one guy to cut hedges  I looked out to check on him he had left. After 20 minutes did not tell me or even ask for pay just left 

[Shayno]

A few years ago i called all summer and fall i tried finding an outfit to install gutters. It was a decent sized job, 3000²ft house. Not one si gle person ever showed up to even do an estimate.

Later that year in the dead of winter, snow cover of 2', i saw a guy putting gutters on a snow covered house. I pulled over and got his info. I figured if he was hungry enough to hang gutters after shoveling a roof off in the freezing cold, he'd be happy for work. And he actually showed up and did the work.

To the original post, no, it aint just you!

[Jeb48]

I lucked into a having a great contractor recommended to me when we first moved to the area. What he couldn't do he had contacts with other service people that could. I sometimes had to wait for the contractor, good ones are busy but he connected me with gutter people, and septic services and gravel suppliers, and painters, etc. He often would just call them and setup a time for them to come out. Because he hired them for lots of jobs they knew that they better show up and do a good job. Unfortunately he is semi retired now so is available even less of the time and he has lost the leverage on other service people or they are retiring also.