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CornHolio posted:I paid them $5700 so far so yeah I want them to do something. Do I have any recourse to get my money back if they haven't done anything yet? Everyone's trying to get you to realize that you need to cut your losses.
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Jun 4, 2021 15:38
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Anonymous Zebra posted:It must be an Indiana thing, but here in CA the deposit maxes out at $1000 for just this reason. Dang is this true? I’m in CA and my interior doors replacement (which has dragged on since late January and has made no progress of late) had a $1600 deposit for a $3200 quote.
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Jun 4, 2021 15:40
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You know, due to poorness for a long time, I always had to do my own home reno and repair work. Now that I can actually afford to pay others to do work I'm realizing the hassle of managing to not get ripped off may be higher than the hassle of just doing the work myself.
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Jun 4, 2021 16:16
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mattfl posted:How, how did you not notice the small lake that forms every time your sprinklers come on??? Like I said, it was the zone with 2 fixed spray sprinklers that hit some bushes on the side of the house. It runs in the morning on a weekday and it’s been hot, so there hasn’t been a standing puddle when I’m out piddling in the yard.
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Jun 4, 2021 16:21
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Highbrow Slick posted:Dang is this true? I’m in CA and my interior doors replacement (which has dragged on since late January and has made no progress of late) had a $1600 deposit for a $3200 quote. If you live in California then download this link and discover enlightenment. quote:Contractors cannot ask for a deposit of more than 10 percent of the total cost of the job or $1,000, whichever is less. * (This applies to any home improvement project, including swimming pools.) Stick to your schedule of payments and don't let payments get ahead of the completed work.
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Jun 4, 2021 16:34
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GEMorris posted:You know, due to poorness for a long time, I always had to do my own home reno and repair work. Now that I can actually afford to pay others to do work I'm realizing the hassle of managing to not get ripped off may be higher than the hassle of just doing the work myself. This, plus the quality of work you get. There are very few jobs I'll shop out anymore. Large concrete pours, large amount of drywall taping/mudding.....possibly even hanging...absolutely. Some septic work, definitely any kind of paving. Roofing too, but I'd be up there and watching like a hawk on prep work.
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Jun 4, 2021 16:39
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Motronic posted:This, plus the quality of work you get. That is a huge advantage you have with experience. I’d be watching and thinking “oh ok, I know nothing!” I feel like I learn how to do new stuff every day, and the internet is wonderful for learning, but much of it is scary to do or much harder than it looks to make it look nice.
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Jun 4, 2021 16:55
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DaveSauce posted:In my state anyone doing GC work has to have a license for projects over $30k. This will vary a lot state by state, though. I just asked for his license and insurance information, and he said he'll get it for me Monday (when he's back in the office), and pull the permits as needed (I really don't know what permits, if any, I even need for a bathroom remodel - I don't think the guy that did my downstairs bathroom pulled any). He's been communicative so far and I haven't seen any direct evidence that worries me - that's why I'm hesitant to just cut my losses, because he hasn't done anything good or bad other than take my money. My neighbor loved the work he was doing next door (and the contractor seemed proud of it because he wanted me to go take a look too) until they got into some kind of disagreement. I'm hoping to go over there tomorrow to check out the work.
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Jun 4, 2021 16:57
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:
I'm so anxious about getting stuff wrong that I'm hiring a taskrabbit to hang a sliding barn door and TV wall mount. Both things I'm perfectly capable of doing myself, but I have a knack for measuring something a hundred times and still getting it just slightly off level or drilling the holes just a millimeter off. It's SO frustrating but I do it every time. And the barn door is going to be covering up the stacked w/d in the kitchen so I want it to look right. As much as I dream of being a Motronic Lite someday, I don't think I'll ever be comfortable doing anything that needs to look presentable, and I'll probably never trust myself to do something that needs to be sturdy.
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Jun 4, 2021 17:01
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Maggie Fletcher posted:I'm so anxious about getting stuff wrong that I'm hiring a taskrabbit to hang a sliding barn door and TV wall mount. Both things I'm perfectly capable of doing myself, but I have a knack for measuring something a hundred times and still getting it just slightly off level or drilling the holes just a millimeter off. It's SO frustrating but I do it every time. And the barn door is going to be covering up the stacked w/d in the kitchen so I want it to look right. As much as I dream of being a Motronic Lite someday, I don't think I'll ever be comfortable doing anything that needs to look presentable, and I'll probably never trust myself to do something that needs to be sturdy. I absolutely resonate with this post. When I bought my house I had a whole host of things I figured I could handle and so far I've failed at all of them. Including such incredibly difficult tasks as mounting a curtain rod (I finally managed it in the living room and it's stayed up for almost 5 years now, but there are a bunch of holes in the wall as evidence of my failed attempts - so for all the rest of the windows I just used tension rods to hold curtains), attaching a new mailbox to the post, and ripping out a cabinet so my fridge would fit (I didn't even care if it looked pretty, but I couldn't even properly demolish the cabinet without help).
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Jun 4, 2021 17:16
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Anonymous Zebra posted:If you live in California then download this link and discover enlightenment. Well I’ll be dipped. Thank you kindly for the info. This also helps explain why a different contractor that is replacing my patio cover only asked for a $600 deposit on a $6k job. There are rules!
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Jun 4, 2021 17:19
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CornHolio posted:I just asked for his license and insurance information, and he said he'll get it for me Monday (when he's back in the office), and pull the permits as needed (I really don't know what permits, if any, I even need for a bathroom remodel - I don't think the guy that did my downstairs bathroom pulled any). Why not directly ask this contractor about the disagreement? Also, ask exactly what permits he will pull and then call the municipality and ask if that's enough for the scope of work you've contracted.
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Jun 4, 2021 17:20
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Maggie Fletcher posted:I'm so anxious about getting stuff wrong that I'm hiring a taskrabbit to hang a sliding barn door and TV wall mount. Both things I'm perfectly capable of doing myself, but I have a knack for measuring something a hundred times and still getting it just slightly off level or drilling the holes just a millimeter off. It's SO frustrating but I do it every time. And the barn door is going to be covering up the stacked w/d in the kitchen so I want it to look right. As much as I dream of being a Motronic Lite someday, I don't think I'll ever be comfortable doing anything that needs to look presentable, and I'll probably never trust myself to do something that needs to be sturdy. Yes exactly. I'm doing it because I'm cheap, but gently caress it's hard to do something so simple as drill three holes level and properly spaced. So many extra holes
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Jun 4, 2021 17:22
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CornHolio posted:I paid them $5700 so far so yeah I want them to do something. Do I have any recourse to get my money back if they haven't done anything yet? Cut your losses and run. I'm in a similar situation to your neighbour. Contractor who's previously done work for me (and did a good job, good experience if a little rough around the edges), came highly recommended, I wound up firing. He was hired to replace the siding, soffit, fascia where rotted, cap entire fascia with aluminum, and install evestroughs. I thought I was lucky - he was the lowest bid, and by a decent amount, and I'd had good experience with him. Turns out he just hosed himself over by underquoting. I expected, based on the price, to get nickel and dimed for every small or large item that came up, and I did. Not to the point where the next bid would have been cheaper, and I didn't mind that aspect because I expected it based on his pricing - he was very clear that anything else would add to the cost. However, given what he quoted the job for, his trades were awful. The guys demoing removed all the fascia boards rather than just what was rotted. They damaged the wooden window frames (not the frame itself, but the exterior wood trim), which I'll be able to fix but it's causing a shitload of headaches. The siding guys didn't do an *awful* job, but they didn't install the top piece of siding properly causing huge headaches for the guys we got in to fix it. In addition, they removed stairs from the side exits, and didn't properly reinstall the stairs - instead just installing siding as it wasn't within their scope to re-attach the stairs, so now I get to convert those to free standing (easily doable, but what the gently caress). Oh, they removed the siding/soffits/fascia/evestroughs in october, and the project is only finishing up now. My soffit/fascia has been open since then, so I'm dealing with racoon removal as things are closed back up. He was short on the siding order, so that was another 16 week delivery. "Finished" the siding install, and with no progress after 3 weeks (when all materials are in stock) I fired him. I should have done it sooner. Now, we're going to be paying probably $5-8K over what the 2nd lowest bid was (in total ~15K over what his quote + all the 'extras' was) to have the work completed. I am taking the contractor to small claims court here in Canada, but waiting until the period to attach a lien is up before starting proceedings. Thankfully I've confirmed that his business has at least 40-50K worth of assets so I have a chance at actually getting money out of him. Even if I don't get any money out of him, the person who recommended him in the first place had typically sent between 100-150k worth of work his way every year, and won't be anymore. Fire him, see if you can get any of the $$ back.
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Jun 4, 2021 17:27
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We cut our losses on working with an architect for an addition to our last house. He was incredibly slow to respond and it was clear by the work he was sending our way that he wasn’t putting much into it. Did it suck to be out the design fee? Absolutely, but in retrospect it worked out well because we moved down the street to a significantly bigger house instead.
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Jun 4, 2021 17:33
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CornHolio posted:I just asked for his license and insurance information, and he said he'll get it for me Monday (when he's back in the office), and pull the permits as needed (I really don't know what permits, if any, I even need for a bathroom remodel - I don't think the guy that did my downstairs bathroom pulled any). Just as a point of caution, one of the initial contractors we had for remodel told my wife he would take care of any required permits, and it turns out they just decided no permits were really required (he was incorrect). If you're up for it, the permit offices/inspectors are usually very helpful and accommodating if you want to ask them questions on what might need a permit (along with anything else you want to ask). You don't need to give them your address or anything and just mention you're doing some planning and research. PageMaster fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Jun 4, 2021 |
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Jun 4, 2021 17:34
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CornHolio posted:I just asked for his license and insurance information, and he said he'll get it for me Monday (when he's back in the office), and pull the permits as needed (I really don't know what permits, if any, I even need for a bathroom remodel - I don't think the guy that did my downstairs bathroom pulled any). So I assumed that they did poo poo work, but re-reading your post it's not really clear. Miscommunications take two parties, so you can't really blame the contractor unless something was crystal clear in writing. If some tiles were crooked, maybe the contractor offered to fix it but the neighbor went Karen and demanded a bunch of unreasonable stuff. Push to get license and insurance information. If he's sketchy, he's going to "forget" or procrastinate, and when you follow up he'll try to convince you you don't need it. Or you'll get something on Monday and everything will be fine. This is standard procedure, they should be more than happy to provide you this info upon request. You're not the first to ask, and they should not be offended unless they're trying to hide something. For permits, what does/does not require a permit will depend on your city/county/state. Local permit office should be of help if you describe what you're doing. But I would generally assume that moving walls around will require a permit. If not for structural reasons, then for electrical or plumbing reasons.
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Jun 4, 2021 18:52
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CornHolio posted:I paid them $5700 so far so yeah I want them to do something. Do I have any recourse to get my money back if they haven't done anything yet? If you decide to abort, you should ask for some of that back. If he's already spending hours he might be right to keep some, but hopefully you could reach an agreeable refund percentage. You don't have to say it's because of your neighbor's review, or internet people think he's sketchy. You can just say plans changed, and what sort of refund you might expect
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Jun 4, 2021 19:10
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Yes exactly. I'm doing it because I'm cheap, but gently caress it's hard to do something so simple as drill three holes level and properly spaced. My perspective is, bite the bullet and learn do it now. If you gently caress it up, you learn to fix it, and learn how to avoid loving it up next time. Whenever I DIY I learn something new about landscaping, plumbing, finishing, whatever, that I can use to look at things with a critical eye when I buy my next house or when I hire out a contractor. You’re investing in yourself. Teach a man to fish he’ll eat for the rest of his life, etc.
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Jun 4, 2021 19:41
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QuarkJets posted:Our hoa with all single family homes is $50/mo to upkeep some common grass areas plus a pointless rock wall sign welcoming you to the neighborhood, and to pay someone to drive around to be nosy and send rude letters to people. Sunflowers are banned from my entire massive community... anywhere. The workers probably just assumed it was banned because it's commonly banned. Never asked why but they're big and attract bugs I guess.
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Jun 4, 2021 19:48
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Do gutter guards work at all? I just got up on the roof of the new house last week and the gutters were packed. Looked like they've never been cleaned in a year or two. I've got an 80' Douglas fir in the front and 100' cotton woods in the back and sides, plus a 30' Japanese maple in the side yard which overhangs the house a bit. All are relatively close to the new house and just leave my roof covered in debris. It's a low angle epdm rubber roof. I'll probably be calling an arborist to look at the surrounding trees as a few of them are problems. One small cotton wood is leaning against the roof of the garage.  
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Jun 4, 2021 20:48
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They definitely work, but can be somewhat finicky. The biggest issue is them allowing water to roll over (or worse, back towards the fascia) in heavy downpours. That said, I think they're well worth it, especially for hard to access gutters. The inside of my gutters is practically clean with guards on. Mine are just a basic, aluminum like these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Amerimax-Home-Products-Titan-5-in-x-3-ft-Aluminum-K-Style-Gutter-Guard-85520S/312698149
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Jun 4, 2021 20:57
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Shammypants posted:Sunflowers are banned from my entire massive community... anywhere. The workers probably just assumed it was banned because it's commonly banned. Never asked why but they're big and attract bugs I guess. They're very polarizing. Some love them and some hate them. I don't know if you can have a neutral position on sunflowers. They do attract birds, though, when they seed. Does your community ban bird feeders too? It could also be the height. I've seen sunflowers that can peek over fences and reach the second floor of a house. I would be irritated living next to that.
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Jun 4, 2021 21:00
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With gutters you can also get an extension for a leaf blower to hook over the gutters and blow everything out. Makes a mess but easier than crawling up there to clean them out by hand.
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Jun 4, 2021 21:06
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Sunflowers rule. I planted a bunch of seeds this year and I always get a couple of volunteers that I think the Squirrels give me.
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Jun 4, 2021 21:11
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BigPaddy posted:With gutters you can also get an extension for a leaf blower to hook over the gutters and blow everything out. Makes a mess but easier than crawling up there to clean them out by hand. I've got similar for a pressure washer. I've got gutter guards, but they still need to be cleaned on occasion.
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Jun 4, 2021 21:18
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Can anyone recommend a ladder that I don’t have to spend to much on? I’ve got a two story that I’ll likely need to reach to clean gutters and such. Im unfortunately restricted in that I don’t really have a good storage place, so I think I need something that compacts. I’ve got a small shed that’s built up like a project space. Everywhere else is pretty exposed to the elements. No garage or anything. An open air covered car port but it’s quite small.
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Jun 4, 2021 21:36
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Can anyone recommend a ladder that I don’t have to spend to much on? Just get a basic aluminum 2-section extension ladder and hang it on the outside of your shed or similar. They will be fine in the elements. The only thing likely to need replacing every few years would be the rope.
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Jun 4, 2021 21:40
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We got LeafFilter gutter guards after seeing their demo at the home and garden show a couple years ago. We have a very tall house with very high gutters (like 29') so getting up to them to clean them is either dangerous or expensive. We are happy with them. LeafFilter in particular completely covers the top of the gutter so it prevents intrusion by pine needles and the like. Our roofer guy noted that it was one of the good ones. Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Can anyone recommend a ladder that I don’t have to spend to much on? Little Giant, hands down. We got the huge 26' foot one (still won't reach our gutters though) and it is extremely handy and versatile. Folds down pretty small. Not the cheapest by any means, but holy crap we love it.
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Jun 4, 2021 21:44
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Costco has a deal on the 17' little giant right now. Replaced my older janky folding ladder with it
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Jun 4, 2021 21:54
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Queen Victorian posted:Little Giant, hands down. We got the huge 26' foot one (still won't reach our gutters though) and it is extremely handy and versatile. Folds down pretty small. Not the cheapest by any means, but holy crap we love it. The other problem with a little giant, besides cost, is they are VERY HEAVY. Much heavier than an aluminum double fly. They are also a lot jankier. Don't get me wrong, they have their place. Hell, we keep on on each fire truck. But they are not exactly a joy to operate.
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Jun 4, 2021 21:56
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Idk how cheap a used ladder is, but every new ladder I’ve seen in retail home stores is way more expensive than I would have previously imagined.
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Jun 4, 2021 21:58
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Kind of the problem when you pack a lot of features in to something... adds a ton of weight. We bought a 26' little giant soon after we got the house, for the very same reason... 2 story house, so need to access things high up periodically. Used it only a handful of times because it's so goddamn heavy. Most things I can get away with my 8' fiberglass, which is a billion times easier to lug around. That said, can't say I would give it up. The sheer versatility of it is indispensable.
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Jun 4, 2021 22:00
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Yeah the weight is a significant downside, but our other option is having multiple ladders. Still though, thinking of picking up a taller lightweight stepladder because our three-step one is not tall enough to allow me to change lightbulbs in ceiling fixtures, and I don't want to drag out the Little Giant to change lightbulbs. But one thing that's nice about the Little Giant's heft is that it feels more solid when you're higher up - if a featherweight aluminum ladder is taller than like 8' I really don't like the feeling of being high up on them.
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Jun 4, 2021 22:11
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I heard good things about Gorilla Ladders, and am thinking that's what I'll buy soon after I close on my house. I was going to originally go with just an 18', but I may need to rethink that cause the second story gutters are probably out of reach with that one.
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Jun 4, 2021 22:15
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Cool, in my research I've seen a lot of opposing opinions on gutter guards. Thankfully my gutters are easy to access, only like 8' off the ground and a very walkable low angle roof so getting up there isn't difficult but I feel like keeping them clean will mean doing it every other month or so. We're in Seattle so summers are dry but come Sept/Oct they'll need to be clean until May as that's our wet season. For ladders, I picked up a 6' werner fiberglass step ladder for $60 at home depot and it's great. Light, really stable etc. 8' would have been annoyingly tall for my interior. I just bought a used 16' Werner fiberglass extension ladder for $50 and it's in great shape. These were easily $150+ in stores. I made sure to check it over for cracks etc but it's super stable for an extension ladder. I've been on some sketchy aluminum ladders that you could feel flexing, not that I wouldn't buy one, this one just came up and was a deal.
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Jun 4, 2021 22:22
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Huh, I thought gutter guards were a gimmick that made it harder to clean, but didn't actually work. I threw out the ones that were here, guess I should have taken them to restore
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Jun 4, 2021 23:43
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Verman posted:Cool, in my research I've seen a lot of opposing opinions on gutter guards. Thankfully my gutters are easy to access, only like 8' off the ground and a very walkable low angle roof so getting up there isn't difficult but I feel like keeping them clean will mean doing it every other month or so. We're in Seattle so summers are dry but come Sept/Oct they'll need to be clean until May as that's our wet season. I too bought a 6' Werner fiberglass ladder from LowesDepot and it's lovely for my ~ 8.5' ceilings. Real stable and light. Nothing else I need in a light duty ladder. Could've been a little cheaper but it's still a decent value. I'm in a condo not SFH so I don't need anything for exterior maintenance. Inner Light fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Jun 5, 2021 |
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Jun 5, 2021 00:02
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Epitope posted:Huh, I thought gutter guards were a gimmick that made it harder to clean, but didn't actually work. I threw out the ones that were here, guess I should have taken them to restore I do'nt think there is one "best kind". There are definitely some that seem to suck no matter what, but there are good ones that need to be selected for what you're actually dealing with. The big divide seems to be pine needles (hardest, most maintenance) vs. leaves. This is the style I have:  I don't know what they are specifically, they came with the house. But for my primarily tulip poplar, black walnut, japanese maple and (formerly) ash leaves they work great. Never a clog. You can see they get nasty around the drip edge so I've hit them with the pressure washer last year and they cleaned up nicely. Still need to do that this year.
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Jun 5, 2021 00:03
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Oh, those are way different. These were just thick gauge mesh dipped in plastic. I had to take them off to dig out the inch of mud and moss, and definitely didn't want to put them back on. Maybe they belonged in the dumpster after all.
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Jun 5, 2021 00:07
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