Are people (contractors) really this dumb?

[TheGerman]

Have work being done on the house through a GC as it is in many areas/different projects. No big deal.

We realize that we need some outdoor flooring re-coated/stained/sealed/whatever in the backyard as well as around the pool where we had new concrete put down after a tree started moving/growing through it. GC calls the contractor he usually uses for floor coatings, they give me a bid and at one point I ask about including my driveway into the bid as well. GC says he's just going to have us deal with each other as its a small and straightforward job and nothing for him to do or put anything into.

Fast forward a few weeks and it still hasn't started due mainly to all the rain we've been getting. In the meantime I tell the flooring guy that we won't do the driveway but to do the pool (most important) and the back patio area.

Get a text from the GC this past Friday that 'sand blasters are coming' Saturday. I'm like...ok, tell them to come in the back and do their thing.

Saturday sandblasting begins on the rear patio floor and after a few hours they're gone. I walk out the side of my house later that afternoon to go somewhere and notice.....the driveway looks to be sandblasted. I look around some more and....the pool area is NOT sand blasted. Right as I am about to call someone this guy that was apparently in charge of the sandblasting hobbles around the corner. I immediately tell him something isn't right and he's like, we did what we were told. Do the back, do NOT touch the pool, do the driveway. Nope...wrong order bud. I KNOW thats wrong because the pool was the A#1 thing that needed to be done and I had mentioned it 30 times.

He immediately starts getting a little tiff'd. I tell him I'll call the guy who called him for sub work on Monday and I guess we'll figure this out. Mind you, I never started with how he's not getting paid, or he fucked up, or any of that. It was - lets just wait and figure it out, it is what it is. He starts talking about 'his invoice' and I'm like...did you not hear what I just said? Plus you're subbed out, I don't want your invoice.

Monday rolls around. I call the main flooring guy and leave a voicemail. An hour later I get a call from....the sandblaster guy again. WTF?

Apparently he went by my house at 130 and I wasn't there. Uhh...for what? He was going to drop his invoice off for me. EL O EL

Who is this stupid?

First of all, I didn't hire you. I don't know you. I didn't schedule you. I haven't signed a single fucking thing.

Second of all, did we not have a conversation Saturday about this and what I was going to fucking do to see about working it out?

Third, who in the fuck in their right mind would pay you off some random ass invoice you drop off?

I'm like, my guy, I left your 'boss' a message. Haven't heard back.

He goes straight into high pressure used car sales pitches like how he needs to be paid for the work he did; yeah, great. It wasnt the work I authorized, so yeah, no.

Again, let me just figure this out in the next day or two with the guy who hired you and we'll get it sorted ok? Jesus. I'm trying to actually work on this with you guys.

He then goes straight to 'it sounds like I'm going to get dicked around on this by you. Im going to come by again with my invoice and if you dont pay it Im adding a 25% late fee and theres going to be problems'.


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (breathe) problems? PROBLEMS? what problems you got for me? hahahHAHAHAhaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Ok so....I'm trying to figure this bullshit out and still get you paid and your response is to call and try and strong arm, scam and then threaten me? Bold strategy Cotton.

So I just ask....where in our contract does it state anything about that late fee?

I can hear the wheels in his inbred ass turning when he realizes - we never signed a single thing because I was still waiting for the flooring guy to come by, get a deposit, sign a scope of work and pick out stain colors. But he put it off because he was so far behind and it never happened.

We have absolutely ZERO fucking agreement at all, in any form at this point. And this is the route this tard wants to go with me?

Seriously? I could easily just tell everyone to lick my balls at this point and not pay anyone; there is no agreement to anything. Yet I've been the one wanting to figure this out from the get go.

The fuck?

 

[akmike47]

Yes.

 

[chevy_man]

He's huffed so much silicate he's in a constant state of oxygen depravation.



It's so hit and miss on any contractors these days. I enjoy being the one called to unfuck problems as it gives me lots of future work.

It also makes me sad I have the same license as that dickhead who's work I just had to fix and he wasn't even trying to follow code.

 

[Average guy]

Yes.

 

[rtB]

Eeesh. Get a hobby or something.

 

[TheGerman]

Eeesh. Get a hobby or something.

Like sand blasting?

 

[n2ishun]

Did a questionable border crossing come to mind ?

 

[Dough300]

Most people are.

 

[mrdrar]

Hope that your state law supports you. In some states he can bill the GC and if he doesn't get paid he can put a lien on your property.

 

[thejeep]

tradesmen expect their customers to think what they do is pure fucking magic which it isn’t, I just ain’t got time to do it sometimes. When you call them out they get a little pissy.
It’s a a shame when they get locked up for embezzlement or have heart attacks and die. (Gc and site supervisor) .

 

[NH4X]

I so enjoy reading The Germans' rantsqa@A. aA££.......rubber meets the road is very satisfying

 

[theLBC]

tell him he destroyed your heirloom driveway surface, and you reckon he owes you $50k. you have an invoice for him.

 

[AHorn]

Boy it sure is nice living in small town Arkansas. GC, subs, codes, none of that shit to deal with here. Just call one of your buddy's and say, come by and fix/do x,y, and z. When your done let me know what I owe you. If he doesn't do x,y, or z you call another buddy to do that part. Simple life down here lol.

 

[n2ishun]

Boy it sure is nice living in small town Arkansas. GC, subs, codes, none of that shit to deal with here. Just call one of your buddy's and say, come by and fix/do x,y, and z. When your done let me know what I owe you. If he doesn't do x,y, or z you call another buddy to do that part. Simple life down here lol.

The only problem with that ?
It shows.
No, don't go there even though you want to.
I lived in Arkansas for quite some time and know very well how things are there.
Only time you notice a difference is when the neighbor puts another washer and dryer in the front yard....to accompany the 3 dead cars and 2 dead trucks.

 

[TheGerman]

Did a questionable border crossing come to mind ?

Actually no.

Guy was some total redneck.

His helper however had the 'I dont speak a word of fucking english' smile on him.

 

[TheGerman]

tell him he destroyed your heirloom driveway surface, and you reckon he owes you $50k. you have an invoice for him.

Someone said this to me earlier; at this point that've technically damaged my property lol

Listen, I'm not out to fuck this guy over. But if this sand blasting tard doesn't get a hint and keeps pushing, its just easier for me to tell him to eat a dick. He's his own worst outcome.

 

[MtnCreek]

He's probably not going to complete the job for the gc. If he does, he won't get paid for what he's done so far and will probably have to eat at least some of the cost of sealing the driveway. He wants to get you to pay for what he's done, then walk. If I were gc I'd try to get him to blast what he was supposed to, then backcharge driveway sealing. He's shown himself to be a crook, so fuck him.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Like sand blasting?

I recommend specializing in pressure washing fountains...

 

[Mike Casselton]

He's probably not going to complete the job for the gc. If he does, he won't get paid for what he's done so far and will probably have to eat at least some of the cost of sealing the driveway. He wants to get you to pay for what he's done, then walk. If I were gc I'd try to get him to blast what he was supposed to, then backcharge driveway sealing. He's shown himself to be a crook, so fuck him.

Or, he'll come back by and blast the pool without preventing the sand from entering the water.
That'll just fuck up the pump and clog the lines.

Then he'll say, oh hey, we finished the job for you...

 

[Rthur]

Have you ever worked with dry wallers?...

R

 

[338 Mollett]

Was in construction for 40 years ,Thank God I'm out of that racquet ! Those crossed signals are none of your problem. Being civil has proved fruitless ,time to play hard ball !

 

[redneckbmxer24]

The work he did that he wasn’t supposed to do (driveway) is him and the guy who hired hims problem to figure out, not yours. No he’s probably not going to get paid for that nor should he if you can show that you said not to do the driveway. If flooring contractor or GC won’t handle it then fire them all and find someone else

Patio you owe him for but he needs to come back and complete the job he was hired to do (written contract or not) before he gets paid for anything. You don’t get to just show up, do whatever you decide to do whatever you want to do and then get paid for it. If you had to hire another contractor to complete the quoted work and it ended up costing more to complete you could actually go after him for that.

But yes, subs are generally morons and it’s not your problem to deal with them as the customer, it’s whoever brought them there. Just explain it to the contractor and let them deal with the idiot.

 

[JMGlasgow]

Welcome to my 9 month nightmare while my house was being rebuilt/repaired after a fire, and my car was at the body shop getting repaired for 10 months (same fire). It sucks, and you have to spell it out written in crayon for them to understand, body shops, contractors, and GC's included.

 

[TexPatriot]

As a pool builder I have to deal with this new level of stupid all the time with my subs. You cannot turn your back and leave them for an hour. It's the damndest thing. They will do the opposite of what you explained to them needs to be done.

I met with an excavator and his crew out on a pool dig and told them we were next to a very environmentally sensitive aquifer recharge zone and the city was watching. Under no circumstances were they to push excavated material down below the dig site.

I go back out and WTF did they do? It looked like they had dumped 18 wheelers down off the contour toward the canyon below. I called the owner a white guy from up north and told him to meet me out there. I met with him and his white excavator plus his two Hispanic excavators and told them they needed to get that sh*t back up the hill asap before the city inspector saw it. I even brought a topo map and showed everybody, "We're standing here. Do not let any more material go down below here. Spread it laterally here in the same elevation we're on."

I go back next day to check and the fill was moved from below and it looked better. Then I got a call from the owner who said we had a problem. The dumbfucks hadn't moved the material back up the hill, they had taken it and dumped it on the next door neighbors property on the same lower elevation! I couldn't believe it. I called their boss and raised hell and he said. "They didn't know." I said "Why didn't they know, weren't y'all listening when I gave you a class with the topo?" Luckily the neighbors were out of the country and we went over with skidsteers and got most of the fill off their property and dressed the land up as best we could.

The stupid yankee called me not long ago asking if I had any work for him. I told him Uh, no.

 

[MtnCreek]

As a pool builder I have to deal with this new level of stupid all the time with my subs. You cannot turn your back and leave them for an hour. It's the damndest thing. They will do the opposite of what you explained to them needs to be done.

I met with an excavator and his crew out on a pool dig and told them we were next to a very environmentally sensitive aquifer recharge zone and the city was watching. Under no circumstances were they to push excavated material down below the dig site.

I go back out and WTF did they do? It looked like they had dumped 18 wheelers down off the contour toward the canyon below. I called the owner a white guy from up north and told him to meet me out there. I met with him and his white excavator plus his two Hispanic excavators and told them they needed to get that sh*t back up the hill asap before the city inspector saw it. I even brought a topo map and showed everybody, "We're standing here. Do not let any more material go down below here. Spread it laterally here in the same elevation we're on."

I go back next day to check and the fill was moved from below and it looked better. Then I got a call from the owner who said we had a problem. The dumbfucks hadn't moved the material back up the hill, they had taken it and dumped it on the next door neighbors property on the same lower elevation! I couldn't believe it. I called their boss and raised hell and he said. "They didn't know." I said "Why didn't they know, weren't y'all listening when I gave you a class with the topo?" Luckily the neighbors were out of the country and we went over with skidsteers and got most of the fill off their property and dressed the land up as best we could.

The stupid yankee called me not long ago asking if I had any work for him. I told him Uh, no.

Not that some dumbasses won't knock it over, but it helps.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Yes, they are.

 

[The D]

Welcome to my 9 month nightmare while my house was being rebuilt/repaired after a fire, and my car was at the body shop getting repaired for 10 months (same fire). It sucks, and you have to spell it out written in crayon for them to understand, body shops, contractors, and GC's included.

Try not to use crayon, it just gets licked off the paperwork. Use black sharpie and hope whoever is trying to interpret it isn’t one of these fucking swamp creatures that like black licorice

 

[OREGUN]

Hired GC for big remodel project. I could probably do 90% of the job but I just dont have time or interest at this point and I’m happy to pay for things like having a custom cabinet guy make my wife her kitchen. . At least 1/2 of all the subs who showed up would have done the wrong things had I not been there to supervise. Strangely, the plumber and the drywallers were the least confused/best. The electricians and the HVAC, on the other hand, still have shit fucked up that was either done wrong or not completed. A: why am I paying the GC if I have to babysit all the subs and B: why do subs think that “do something” is as good as doing the actual job? The time they wasted and profit they lose by redoing stuff on their own dime is mind boggling.

 

[pmclaine]

Tacos

 

[The D]

Tacos

I think we all understand that @TheGerman knows tacos. He doesn’t need a gc to build him any kind of Mexican food

 

[Trigger Monkey]

Welcome to my world....I can literally give my installers, whether it's our guys or subs, a numbered list of things I need done in black and white and there's a 50/50 chance they'll follow the list, but more than likely no. Like I told my lead installer to put down 3/4" substrate before setting our millwork benches and this is me telling him face to face. Go back out to the job, one bench has 3/4" substrate under it, the other has it on one side but by the time it gets over to the opposite wall there is none so that side is 3/4" of lower than the other.

Some days I feel like telling the construction world it can go fuck itself...

 

[shields shtr]

I have been in this business my whole life, and like many have mentioned above, shit just keeps getting worse. While I despise most designers as well, I have always been a big fan of a set of drawings, and a very detailed scope of work written into a contract. I also have directly bonded subs and gc's depending on the scopes of work. I work on projects both large and small, from 500k to 150M, and I go through the same general steps on every project. Not sure what the laws are in your state, but I would say without a contract and a written scope of work the guy may be fucked.

The fact that you tried to work it out with him and he was still being an obstinate prick would incline me to call his bluff and tell him to go fuck himself. If he is trying to do this to you, odds are he has done it before to someone else. Also, a 25% surcharge without any backup for why the charge is incurred is horseshit and would likely be a red flag if you had to go to court. Fuck that guy.

 

[GreenGO Juan]

Ever play that game were you whisper something into someones ear, it goes around the circle and by the time it gets back its not the same? Same shit.

Never let anyone, especially a third party touch shit with out some one who knows whats up, directing the work.

I worked for a company doing water and air intrusion testing on doors, roofs walls and windows, building in general. We would test, find the issue take a pic/video write a report. We would give the report to the foreman, supervisor owners, who would give it to the general contractor, who would tell the subs, who would tell the actual renta drunk or migrant worker doing the actual hands on work and in that chain the message would be lost.

You have to be engaged with the actual person doing the work or its a crap shoot. Period!!

Don’t just let a crew show up and do what ever... its likely not going to be done right!!!

Take pictures of everything, just incase it goes legal.

 

[Jethro21]

I own a kitchen remodeling/cabinetry business. I do nothing, ever, until I have a signed contract, and individually signed CAD drawings. The contract states exactly the work to be done and the drawings they sign shows exactly what the job will look like when complete. Any changes made mid-job gets an amended contract and drawing. I’ve done jobs for church friends who look at me funny when I break out a contract, but it is there so everyone is in the same page and there are no misunderstandings.

That sub shot himself in the foot. In my opinion, without having a contract with everything perfectly spelled out, he shouldn’t have started work. Maybe he misunderstood the job or was drunk when he took the call, either way there was an essential step missing that every business owner should be well aware of.

Sucks that you now get a second helping of a hassle. Hopefully the work he did do was of good quality at least.

 

[acudaowner]

people voted for joe biden , they also want to hand over there rights and freedom for communism and you ask are people dumb oh hell yes they are I shocked there has not been a rash of people walking into volcano's or into oncoming traffic or better yet into the path of a oncoming high speed train , yes people are just that stupid .

 

[DocRDS]

I told my supposedly "bright" students in class (adults for masters degrees). DON'T DO THIS

50% of them did anyway.

"MARK IT ZERO"

 

[JR_77]

Hope that your state law supports you. In some states he can bill the GC and if he doesn't get paid he can put a lien on your property.

This

 

[Dirty D]

Quit being poor and pay the man you cheap bastard!

 

[Kein Mitleid]

On jobs I always speak to the owner myself when I acquire a project, and/or submit and require approval on drawings. If someone decides to call an audible then I can return to that drawing to show that my product is as shown on the drawing.

Sub would have been wise to have a 5min conversation with you prior to performing the job rather then doing it wrong and begging his hours afterward.

 

[TheGerman]

On jobs I always speak to the owner myself when I acquire a project, and/or submit and require approval on drawings. If someone decides to call an audible then I can return to that drawing to show that my product is as shown on the drawing.

Sub would have been wise to have a 5min conversation with you prior to performing the job rather then doing it wrong and begging is hours afterward.

Yeah if he would have had an actual agreement in place, this would have been avoided. I would have seen the agreement ahead of time and would never have included the driveway in it.

Instead, he just randomly appears, sand blasts shit and then plays wanna be gangster with me when I'm like, uh, no.

From talking to the flooring guy and GC, nowhere did I say drive way so no one is looking at me. At this point I will pay the guy 100% of the work he did that was authorized and am about to call and negotiate the rest as we're both in the same lose/lose argument. I don't want to be a shitbird, but also, why is this my problem? He also has ZERO agreements/contracts, so the leverage is all on my side.

 

[MtnCreek]

Yeah if he would have had an actual agreement in place, this would have been avoided. I would have seen the agreement ahead of time and would never have included the driveway in it.

Instead, he just randomly appears, sand blasts shit and then plays wanna be gangster with me when I'm like, uh, no.

From talking to the flooring guy and GC, nowhere did I say drive way so no one is looking at me. At this point I will pay the guy 100% of the work he did that was authorized and am about to call and negotiate the rest as we're both in the same lose/lose argument. I don't want to be a shitbird, but also, why is this my problem? He also has ZERO agreements/contracts, so the leverage is all on my side.

Do you not have to reseal driveway now?

 

[Im2bent]

Have work being done on the house through a GC as it is in many areas/different projects. No big deal.

We realize that we need some outdoor flooring re-coated/stained/sealed/whatever in the backyard as well as around the pool where we had new concrete put down after a tree started moving/growing through it. GC calls the contractor he usually uses for floor coatings, they give me a bid and at one point I ask about including my driveway into the bid as well. GC says he's just going to have us deal with each other as its a small and straightforward job and nothing for him to do or put anything into.

Ah this looks like the gc is not involving himself and its you and the sandblaster dude so have you heard from the gc?

 

[Carlos Danger]

Have you ever worked with dry wallers?...

R

Drywallwrs buried the cooktop outlet behind the cook top cabinet I installed. I didn't see it there so no cutout. Sparky showed up and realized what happened. He finally figured out where the box was and says to me "you gonna cut this box hole?" I just looked at him and said "nope". Has a pissy look on his face. Not my monkey, not my circus.

 

[alamo5000]

If you need to ask, "Are _________ really this dumb" (or any variation of that question) the answer is always yes.

 

[Tchitcherine]

Old joke from the post-sov roaring '90s:

Moscow police pulls over a car for speeding. Walks up with his ticket book out and... observes an AK-47 on the front seat. Nervous & agitated officer points at the AK and demands of the driver, "What is THAT?" Driver calmly replies, "That, is calculator." Officer reaches into his shirt pocket and produces an Elektronika B3-34. "This! Is calculator!" Driver replies, "That is calculator for start of contract; this is calculator for end of contract."

 

[n2ishun]

Old joke from the post-sov roaring '90s:

Moscow police pulls over a car for speeding. Walks up with his ticket book out and... observes an AK-47 on the front seat. Nervous & agitated officer points at the AK and demands of the driver, "What is THAT?" Driver calmly replies, "That, is calculator." Officer reaches into his shirt pocket and produces an Elektronika B3-34. "This! Is calculator!" Driver replies, "That is calculator for start of contract; this is calculator for end of contract."

Hate to say it...
Probably sounds better in Russian ?

 

[Kein Mitleid]

Yeah if he would have had an actual agreement in place, this would have been avoided. I would have seen the agreement ahead of time and would never have included the driveway in it.

Instead, he just randomly appears, sand blasts shit and then plays wanna be gangster with me when I'm like, uh, no.

From talking to the flooring guy and GC, nowhere did I say drive way so no one is looking at me. At this point I will pay the guy 100% of the work he did that was authorized and am about to call and negotiate the rest as we're both in the same lose/lose argument. I don't want to be a shitbird, but also, why is this my problem? He also has ZERO agreements/contracts, so the leverage is all on my side.

I should have been more specific, first part is how I generally do things and has little to do with this interaction and the second is just simply what would have saved all involved a few headaches.

I can’t understand why so many contractors operate like this without spending a few minutes talking to the person writing checks to make sure they are happy.

 

[Aftermath]

He's probably not going to complete the job for the gc. If he does, he won't get paid for what he's done so far and will probably have to eat at least some of the cost of sealing the driveway. He wants to get you to pay for what he's done, then walk. If I were gc I'd try to get him to blast what he was supposed to, then backcharge driveway sealing. He's shown himself to be a crook, so fuck him.

This will be the more legal and contractual path to take. GC (or flooring guy who contacted the sandblaster) should not mention the backcharge for sealing the driveway until the rest is done to satisfaction. THEN, when the sub submits the invoice, the negotiating and arguing begins. This is the point where your most crooked, scum of the earth, best lawyer steps in and takes over.

 

[Aftermath]

Welcome to my 9 month nightmare while my house was being rebuilt/repaired after a fire, and my car was at the body shop getting repaired for 10 months (same fire). It sucks, and you have to spell it out written in crayon for them to understand, body shops, contractors, and GC's included.

CRAYONS! Where?

 

[hlee]

Hate to say it...
Probably sounds better in Russian ?