They say that no news is good news, but when it comes to building a house, that isn’t always the case.
We have been waiting for the framer to start work for about a month. First he had some small jobs and would be available sometime in late summer. Then he said around the first part of September. When I called on September 10, he said since he hadn’t heard from me, he took another job. My impression from our previous conversation was not that he would wait for my call, but that he would show up and start working. Since then I have been looking for another framer without any luck. The original framer might be ready to start before I can find someone else, but I would really prefer not to use him.
So now we have a well, a septic system, basement and garage slabs and poured concrete foundation walls. The next step – the only possible step – is to start framing. But we can’t.
I had hoped that the framing would be completed by the end of the summer. Silly me. Now I think we’re going to be lucky if we can get someone to start by the end of September. That means we are going to be at least two months behind schedule.
If I thought I could do it, I would start the damned thing myself.
What a BUMMER. I can’t believe how incompetent that framer is. Damn. I’m so sorry that his thoughtless way of handling his business has put you two months behind. Hoping for much better news and things to start rolling smoothly for you.
At my preserve, we had a contract with a contractor to do some major renovations on an historic bridge. The completion deadline of May 1 passed and the contractor hadn’t even completed 1/3 of the work. OK, the winter was brutal, but spring was decent. The masons only worked on the weekends (obviously, they had other jobs during the week) and work dragged on and on. The work finally got done in August, and the work was done well. There was no penalty for late completion, but we won’t work with this contractor again. Good luck with your framer.
Robin — The good news is that I heard from two possible framers Tuesday and Wednesday. Both seem like more reliable possibilities.
Scott — I don’t understand why some contractors act the way they do. If they are being paid by the job rather than by the hour, you would think they would want to finish the job as quickly as possible. But I’m apparently not thinking the same way they do.