Windows

No, not that kind.

The lets light (ick) in the house, open them for the breeze kind of windows.

A wise Scotsman, even if he did eat the haggis, once said The best laid plains of mice and men oft gang agley ...

Boy do they.

One would expect that if one is given a date on which something (like the window installation) is to be done, the workmen would arrive on (or after) that date, correct?

My date was tomorrow.

Tonight I am in my room, typing on my computer, looking over at the newly installed windows. Or mostly installed.

None of this was my idea. The window installation is all part of the condo conversion of my apartment complex. I still do not understand why the window installation isn't a part of the full rehab and remodel of the individual units.

Apparently the workers ran out of time, and only half finished. The tradesmen will be returning tomorrow to finish installing some sort of trim package.

In the meantime, I am cleaning shards of metal, plastic and plaster from my floors, kitchen counter, and worst of all, bedclothes. I have a pile of tarps that were going to be placed on all the items I felt needed protecting. Tomorrow. I'm very glad that I decided this morning on a whim to remove the good pictures and my drums from the walls at least.

I had the duffel packed and ready to go. There are certain easily portable items that I own, that I felt were unwise to leave in their usual places while I was not in the house. There is also some medications, family jewelry, and other things I don't usually carry (credit cards and checkbook) that had packed up to take with me tomorrow morning.

I found it (and it's contents) undisturbed right where I left it. There were also a few things that I hadn't yet packed, including a pile of quatloos. All are still there.

I'm still loading it into my car in the morning because these fools are returning to finish the trim work..

In other news, I received a call today from the Social Worker at the Nursing Home. It looks like my mom will likely be coming home this weekend. Luckily, she said she doesn't care what the house looks like.

Good news about your mum!
Good news about the new windows - shame about the timing ...

Trust Wolf to be different..... most peeps whinge about tradesmen *not* turning up .... like when you take a day off work and they don't show...

Good news about your mom, Wolf.

I could live in a glass house.... I can never have enough windows. Claustrophobic? Maybe I am.

Hide your whisky before the painters get there.

Luckily, she said she doesn't care what the house looks like.

I'll bet, I'm sure she's happy to be coming home to any mess, as opposed to staying there. Congrats to you both. :thumb2:

capnhowdy wrote:

Hide your whisky before the painters get there.

No kidding. It's really good whisky. Glenmorangie, in fact.

Don't let anyone else know, but it's hidden behind the Cheerios and the saltines.

If it's any consolation I was a drywall fixer before I joined the Navy. As a matter of course I would make my team remove all rubbish and sweep out prior to leaving a job. I was very surprised to discover that I was the exception rather than the rule. Unfortunately your job will only ever be as good as the guy/gal in charge on the scene.
Commiserations.

noviceathome wrote:

As a matter of course I would make my team remove all rubbish and sweep out prior to leaving a job. I was very surprised to discover that I was the exception rather than the rule.

As a homeowner, I would like anyone working in my house to maintain a neat enough worksite to help prevent accidents, but I wouldn't expect them to spend any significant time cleaning up after themselves. I don't want to be paying $70+ per hour to somebody to sweep my floor. I can do that myself for free.

Having said that, I think it would be a great marketing tool for a contracter to have a low paid person on their crew to do a clean up. If you have a minimum wage helper anyway, that guy could be cleaning.

In wolf's case, she's not paying these guys. Part of the contract should have been for clean up, or the apartment management should have sent a cleaning person by to tidy up. She shouldn't be stuck doing any cleaning.

They don't pay the cleanup guys much. I used to work as a cleanup guy for a sheetrock company for about 7 bucks an hour. Horrible, backbreaking work. At construction sites, they would throw all the broken sheetrock outside on the ground and it would freeze into a giant pile. I broke it off in chunks, threw it on a truck and took it to the dump. I had to quit because I ruined my knees and back. It wasn't the "get in shape" kind of physical work, it was just hard.

Anyway, the customer doesn't have to pay the individual workers, just the company that's in charge of getting the work done.

Hey Wolf,
How's your mom doing?

glatt wrote:

As a homeowner, I would like anyone working in my house to maintain a neat enough worksite to help prevent accidents, but I wouldn't expect them to spend any significant time cleaning up after themselves. I don't want to be paying $70+ per hour to somebody to sweep my floor. I can do that myself for free.

We work by square metres of sheet rather than hourly and would flatly refuse to start on a messy site. Subsequently we would extend this ethic on to those following us although it would all still end up on rubble mountain out the front.

We just looked at possibly replacing some windows in the back room of our house.

HOLY CHRIST are windows expensive. The bids we got were mind-boggling. Needless to say we will not be replacing them after all.

It is true that you do not seem to see windows as a priority in general , Clodfobble .

Nothing quite like sitting the world through dirty net curtains .

The trouble is if the contractor hires a cheap laborer to clean up after the skilled help, you still pay $70 and hour. :(

Clodfobble wrote:

We just looked at possibly replacing some windows in the back room of our house.

HOLY CHRIST are windows expensive. The bids we got were mind-boggling. Needless to say we will not be replacing them after all.

There is an enormous range in quality and price. Andersen Anderson? windows are very over priced for what you get, if you ask me. We got Green Mountain Windows (they are a local company) The price for a 35x65 inch double hung, low e glass, vinyl clad exterior, primed wood interior, 11/16" insulated argon filled window was about $325. Not bad for a prehung window, but multiply that by a dozen or so windows and it smarts a bit. We're doing the last four windows next year. (there are also five very narrow bays which may never be replaced---$$$)

(an aside: am I the only one who would like to see the asshat banned?)

I try to do a modicum of clean up on my jobs, most people appreciate it. If it is a huge amount of cleaning, I'll give them the heads up about cheaper alternatives than me.

I recently spoke with two subs who, are you sitting down?, don't charge to clean up. They charge an hourly rate and clean up time is free. WTF?

In that case, can you come to my house and clean up? (In that case, I'll have the refill...)

In all the remodeling we've done on the house, I've never had a contractor charge me an hourly rate. They all gave me a flat bid on the project at hand, which we either agreed to or went with someone lower. But in all cases, they cleaned up and were very eager to make sure I was happy with the job before they left.

Clodfobble wrote:

In all the remodeling we've done on the house, I've never had a contractor charge me an hourly rate. They all gave me a flat bid on the project at hand, which we either agreed to or went with someone lower. But in all cases, they cleaned up and were very eager to make sure I was happy with the job before they left.

It's all in the presentation. You were happy. They were happy. And they charged the rates they needed to to cover their costs and make a profit. It probably worked out to something like $70 an hour for the cleaning they did, but since it wasn't broken down to show it, you were all happy.

Sure, but what I'm saying is, there was no motivation for them to work slower, or decide whether to charge for one type of work but not another (cleaning). I think an hourly rate is a bad idea for small jobs. I'm okay with the idea of paying the equivalent of $70 an hour, I just want a guarantee that they will finish all tasks in a certain amount of time.

Smart.

Nothing gets a job done faster than a flat rate.

Depends on which one, 3foot. :D