Once your paid, block her number. She is way over the top!
Totally agree. Lien if you haven’t been paid.
Get paid.
Block her from all contact.
She owns this place now…she should be calling her own vendors (and wasting their time and her money). If she had called a plumber about her shower, it would have cost her a fortune just to have them come to the house.
This one needs the boot ASAP.
The PITA lady might be in for a rough awakening if she somehow (miraculously!) is able to switch to instant hot water heater. Let me guess, it is not going to be a very powerful one… given her apartment type electrical panel (100 amp?), so long showers and laundry together might still be problematic. Plus, if you get a boiler… not sure if CA regulations require it, but here in my neck of the woods, you have to have a backflow valve and have it tested annually. It can be a hassle.
Finally… Who in earth takes 30 minute showers?! Is her water bill included in the HOA dues?! If so, she is ripping off the other residents. Pfft.
I thought folks in CA were very conscientious about water usage. A 30 minute shower? Really?
We have instant hot water and I can tell you…even with that, a 30 minute hot shower wouldn’t be a happening. Especially if some other hot water usage was taking place like washer, dishwasher or even running water in the sink. Instant hot water doesn’t mean it’s a bottomless pit of hot water.
We have what is very close to unlimited hot water for our house, but it is provided by a powerful natural gas combiboiler, and there is a buffer 50 gallon tank. Two people can take showers simultaneously while both dishwasher and washer are running without any issues and the house is being heated (the boiler also sends hot water through the coils inside our forced air unit). Let’s just say this is not something that can be done in a small condo and definitely not something needed in San Diego!
Right @BunsenBurner . We don’t have a 50 gallon storage for hot water. If we are doing something like washing the dishes in the sink, or taking a normal shower, it does seem like we have an endless supply of hot water…as we should given the set up.
But in a condo? Nope…where would that even go?
This client is quite unrealistic in her expectations of what she can do when a HOA is involved, and it’s not a free standing house to boot.
@coralbrook sending you some virtual ???
I only have one week’s worth of receipts and labor to collect. It’s my fault I haven’t submitted for payment because I am still running around with a bunch of loose returns. I want to make sure I have tied up all the loose ends before submitting final invoice.
Get this…after paying extra for pieces of backsplash, she made us take them off in bathroom and then decided she didn’t want to use the pieces in the kitchen. She expects me to try to figure out a way to load 9ft delicate stone pieces into my truck and return them an hour away for a refund. Uggghhh
We still have to install the stair railing. We haven’t installed it yet because a) still carrying large heavy stuff up the staircase, including her Move In and b) she couldnt make up her mind what she wanted until last week. We are installing black posts, stainless cable railing with a beautiful Ipe handrail. I can guarantee she’ll hate it as soon as we get it installed??
After that railing gets installed I need to call for final inspection as soon as possible because I really want to cut all ties. She already has decided she hates 2 of her bedroom lights and wants to know if my carpenter will install a new light next week. I know he does not want to drive 2 hrs round trip for 1 hr of pay
You’re not her permanent maintenance people. I’d quit answering the darn phone. Install the railing, get it inspected, walk away. If she wants to change lights and other work you’ve already done, let her hire someone else.
I forget if you have any other projects coming up, so that you can honestly say your crew is committed elsewhere, although I wouldn’t even mention the stupid bedroom lights to your carpenter. Unless you want him to declare that he has to visit his grandmother for a month or something!
(I just checked with my husband and we have nothing for your crew at the moment ;). I would love to redo the kitchen but am certain it would end in divorce.)
There was your friend’s kitchen, and weren’t you going to do something for the La Jolla condo HOA?
It’s just such a shame that both the client and the boss will most likely complain forever. But you wouldn’t want referrals in their circle anyway!
Time to get back to your own house so we can all discuss your kitchen remodel.
If she moans and groans about that final bill…stand your ground. You deserve to be paid. A lien on her condo would be appropriate if she refuses to pay you.
With regards to returning the stuff…frankly…it was her choice not to use it and I think she has a lot of nerve asking you to return it for her.
Hoping you can install the stair rail, and get out of dodge with payment!
I didn’t realize your crew was so far away! Is it typical in some areas to travel so far?
For our last Reno, our contractor lived in town and most of the subs were within 5 miles. The furthest away is the electrician but all his clients are in our neck of the woods.
Our last house, the lead guys lived in our development and all subs were local. I just figured that was the norm.
When I took this job last October I didn’t see anything else available to keep the crew busy. I knew it was going to be a PIA job for many reasons. But I needed to keep the guys employed.
I do have another job lined up. It will be an easy job. A retiring couple just moved into a new house and want to sell their view townhome in Tierrasanta. This is a referral from my agent who has the listing to sell the townhouse. I have given them an estimate for several alternatives for cosmetic changes to improve their asking price. Their asking price is ridiculous but that is none of my business.
They are all deciding what they should or should not do. Their tenants move out about March 6 and we start March 9
The reason it takes so long to get to the project is heavy traffic and waiting around trying to get into the gate and up to the house. Without traffic it would be about 35 minutes.
Today was final inspection. I have endured so many panicked phone calls this week. She’s mostly upset that we keep losing power to the washer. We got that fixed (loose wire inside outlet) and many small things to get ready for inspection.
We didn’t pass:slightly_frowning_face:
Two things I told her we had to do but she didn’t want them so we hoped for the best. And 1 thing that is brand new code in January that I didn’t know about (need arc fault breakers on smoke detector circuit) and one thing I missed because I didn’t crawl into water heater closet and double check everything closely. Oh well, more work before I can gracefully exit the bldg.
Last night took the cake. She starts calling me because cable company was there trying to install Internet. Why the cable company is there at 7pm I have no idea?? The guy kept telling her that we must have buried the cable panel somewhere behind drywall. This goes on forever and I finally convince him there is no ‘panel’ because it’s a condo and there’s an equipment room at bottom of building.
Then he finds that and is all upset because half the boxes aren’t labeled and he cannot find the box for her unit. I’m pretty sure it’s the cable company’s responsibility to maintain those boxes. Then I start getting calls that there must be a ‘splitter’ hidden somewhere in the wall that is diminishing the signal. I have to call electrician and look through all my photos to figure out how the cable is routed after pulling everything out of the raised floor. Nope, I can see cable comes into house from back wall adjoining neighbor and goes straight to where we have it in den wall. No break in the line.
Yes, the cables downstairs in bedrooms may have gotten cut, messed up, whatever. But nowadays you just need that one point of entry to set up wifi router and each TV has a wireless box thing. She turns her wrath to Cox Cable because they have a very weak signal coming into the house. They are going to run new lines from equipment room to her house!! No longer my problem. ThankGod
Sorry about the inspection; glad the internet issue was punted.
cb, when can you fix those things and get re-inspected? I’m holding my breath until you’re done with this bi – uh, woman.
Trying to line up 3 different guys needed for Monday afternoon for a Tuesday re inspection. Unfortunately there’s 3 trades involved for minor fix each. They aren’t happy about having to scramble for a one hour task. But, luckily they are loyal and care about doing a good job.
I’m waiting for the
WE ARE DONE!!
post.
WE ARE DONE!!!
I had to postpone the final inspection until the owner was available because the inspector comes early in the morning. We are located across the street from City Hall so he starts his day with our inspection.
Done, Finito, Never going back!!!
I hugged her, told her I was really sorry it was a tough expensive project and explained that it is not cost efficient for my guys to drive 1 1/2 hrs round trip for a 30 minute task. She still has some mirrors to hang and a couple of lights she wants changed out. We have done absolutely every other little change she wanted.
And, of course, she wanted to point out some very small details that she is not happy with and I told her that ‘it is what it is’. For example, one of the bath vanity side back splashes sticks out about 1/8" past the vanity. She notices when she is on the powder room toilet. She’s not happy with a little bit of paint on the side of the attic door trim. Honestly, these kinds of things can go on forever. Nothing is perfect and I made that clear before we even started!
I loaded some last photos, including photos of the horrendous stair/gate situation trying to get up into the house.
Just this morning I had to lurk around the drive gate and run through when someone was exiting just so I could get up to the unit for the inspection. For every inspection I had to meet the inspector down on the street and lead him up all the stairs. I’m hoping that I got some good exercise for my legs on this project!!
Starting a new project on Monday which should be interesting for some of you. Retiring couple has already moved into another house and are selling their family home. My agent has the listing and we are going to do a quick 3 week project to freshen up the house to get top dollar on the sale. Right now there is a huge debate on whether to just replace kitchen countertop/sink/paint or put in a whole new kitchen. My opinion is that we are just putting lipstick on the kitchen and a new kitchen will really help sell the house
It came out great, some people are just never satisfied. And after a week you never notice all the little imperfections any more.
Do you remember who made the cable railing system you used?