Contractors: Prepare your self-satisfied smirks. The rest of you, say you told me so. If my husband and I had hired a general contractor to oversee our basement remodel, we’d be done by now. And I wouldn’t be down 50 IQ points and have this facial tic.
But then again, we wouldn’t have learned our lessons.
The basement bar alone makes the case for hiring a contractor. The sequence of steps to finish the bar seemed simple. We just needed to line up five tradespeople, get them (and their materials) to show up, and do their job in this order:
1. Install stone floor
2. Set cabinets
3. Install granite counters
4. Put in wood bar top
5. Apply the stone veneer to the wall, which meets the granite counters.
It would have been easier to ask penguins to build Notre Dame. We figured five weeks. To date we’re into week 10 and only halfway through step two. So go ahead. Laugh till your sides split.
First the slate for the floor came in the wrong size and had to go back. When the right slate arrived, the tile guy was on another job.
Add two weeks.
Next, the cabinets, which we thought would take three weeks, arrived in five, and only after I lied and told the company representative my husband was an IRS auditor, after which they “rushed” the order.
Add two weeks.
When the cabinets arrived, 20 percent of the pieces were missing, including the side panels.
Side panels are key to the next step, the granite counter, because they make the cabinet sides thicker. We place another order with the cabinet company.
Add three weeks.
Turns out the cabinet delay didn’t matter because the granite guy stood me up. (See last week’s column.).
Add two weeks, while I cool off.
Looking ahead, I call Mark, a highly recommended wood guy, for an estimate on the wood bar top, which goes in after granite, but before stonewall veneering.
Mark comes by, measures and seems actually excited. (Wood guys are very excitable if you get them on their subject, like, say, Australian cypress.) He says he knows some great sources for distressed wood. I raise my hand and say I know a great source for distressed homeowners. He promises to call in two days, then never calls. Not even after two weeks. Not even after I leave several messages, including one where I breathed the word “mahogany” heavily into the voice-mail box.
Add, I don’t know. Pick a number.
Marni Jameson is a nationally syndicated columnist who lives in the Denver area. You may contact her through marnijameson.com
What contractors know and you don’t
When Dan and I chose to be our own contractors for the basement buildout, we expected to make mistakes and learn some lessons about managing construction. Here are just a few things real contractors know that we amateurs need to learn:
Sequencing. First thing an amateur needs to know is the order of tasks. Most trades need to come by twice. For instance, the plumber needs to put in rough plumbing before drywall, and finished plumbing after. Same with the electrician. You need tile floors in before baseboard trim, but window and door trim in before wall tile. So that’s two stops for the trimmer and tiler. Stuff like that. Because many subcontractors are men and therefore nearly non-verbal, you need to interrogate them extensively to figure this out.
Timing. The next hard part is coordinating. Established contractors know whom to call and when, so can keep projects flowing. Amateurs can help move jobs along by creating a flow sheet and lining up subcontractors early. Call them periodically to tell them how you’re progressing, and when you’ll need them. They’ll laugh, but at least you’ll keep in touch. You’ll be fine if you understand this concept: A real week is to a construction week what a real minute is to a basketball minute.
Retention. Just because a worker shows up, don’t assume he’ll stay till his job is finished. He’s apt to disappear for weeks, holding up the next guy in line. Professional contractors have more leverage and know how to get the right workers on site, at the right time and keep them there. We amateurs need to employ other arsenal; consider a steady stream of homemade cookies, cases of beer and cash bribes.
Lingo. You won’t hear a contractor say, “And when does this thingamajiggy go on that doodleybop?” They use construction speak, words like bullnose and joist, and understand building code, construction specs and permit jargon.
Bottom line: Paying a general contractor to oversee and coordinate your construction makes good sense. But if you’d rather tackle the learning curve you can do like us: Waste a lot of time and save a lot of money. But hey, who can put a price on education? Or brain damage?
