Finally pulled the trigger on kitchen remodel and new flooring and paint for entire upstairs.

A fairly costly project, but one the wife has been working with a contractor and kitchen designer with for the better part of two years, never want to look at another kitchen cabinet, color, or floor sample again.

The problem is that the contractor who promised at most a two week project has significantly underdelivered on timelines.

Decided to take a Monday off so I could be there to talk to the contractor and his foreman. I am used to fairly direct and pointed questions given my profession, but these guys seemed shocked that I wanted to see some of the work and was not happy about the delays. There was one thing that was supposed to be done that I asked the foreman about and he said it was done, I showed him that it had not been done and he kind of went into a panic and started saying I need to talk to his boss, to which I said was fine, I will be here today and would welcome an opportunity to talk with him.

The foreman then gathered his tools and said he would not be back until I talked with his boss, I said that was fine and he could stop by or call me.
I did not get a call or visit, so I called the guy and he became very defensive and said I had intimidated his foreman and that he was scared to be at the house with me there. Seemed a bit extreme for a dude asking for proof of work. The contractor said I was too direct and his crew was physically intimidated by me and that he wanted only to talk to my wife about the project, was shocked at how fragile these guys were, expected construction guys to be much tougher.

Am I just a bad guy? Maybe some of the contractors out there can point out where I went wrong.

Was looking for accountability.

Deal with this every day where family members directly question if a particular drug was given, or have a problem with a staff member, so have pointed, direct, and sometimes heated discussions with people every day, but always working toward getting and answer, have no problem going into a medical record and looking up meds, and then calling an RN or doctor to address issues. Kinda thought that's how things get done.

The painting guy did tell me that the fact they asked for upfront money was a bad sign. I told him if I ever do this again, I will pay him to help project manage the project and use guys he trusts to do the work, just wish I had found him earlier.

Did you have pants on while questioning the foreman?

i sat and pondered the possibilities of who this thread was going to be about for a few minutes before i opened it

Was looking for accountability.

Deal with this every day where family members directly question if a particular drug was given, or have a problem with a staff member, so have pointed, direct, and sometimes heated discussions with people every day, but always working toward getting and answer, have no problem going into a medical record and looking up meds, and then calling an RN or doctor to address issues. Kinda thought that's how things get done.

The painting guy did tell me that the fact they asked for upfront money was a bad sign. I told him if I ever do this again, I will pay him to help project manage the project and use guys he trusts to do the work, just wish I had found him earlier.

The intimidation part is kind of strange but they may be concerned that you and your wife have a different opinion on what the job should be. If she was the one who was primarily telling them what she wanted and the scope of the project then they would want to talk to her. However, all of that should be documented. All the work we have done has had clearly documented expectations.

You may also be dealing with the COVID staffing issues that many businesses have dealt with. The lack of quality may be because they've had to hire people they wouldn't otherwise hire for things like this.

Nobody and I mean nobody is going to take on any remodeling job, kitchen, bath etc without a down payment.

Yeah, we had given him a down payment 9 months ago, but he asked for most of the project cost after spending a few days on the project which my wife cut him a check for, he then said it would be a bit more than he thought and asked for even more, the guy was at the house four times in the bidding process and I pointed out everything that needed to be done.

Really wanted to bid it out, but wife liked the dude because his company had done some basic handyman stuff for us in the past and he assured me the project would not be too big for his company to handle. The dudes showed up at 1030, took an hour lunch, and cut out at 230, so maybe 4-5 hours on the job site, they also did not come back for days on end leaving the house torn up.

Yeah, we had given him a down payment 9 months ago, but he asked for most of the project cost after spending a few days on the project which my wife cut him a check for, he then said it would be a bit more than he thought and asked for even more, the guy was at the house four times in the bidding process and I pointed out everything that needed to be done.

Really wanted to bid it out, but wife liked the dude because his company had done some basic handyman stuff for us in the past and he assured me the project would not be too big for his company to handle. The dudes showed up at 1030, took an hour lunch, and cut out at 230, so maybe 4-5 hours on the job site, they also did not come back for days on end leaving the house torn up.

Installing a new water line has been a sticking point, the foreman assured me it was done, and I pulled the fridge back and showed him it was not done. That seemed to throw the dude into some type of panic.

I also was asking for a firm timeline on when they would finish as I had painter and kitchen countertop guys that had already been pushed back lined up, the counter top dudes said if they didn't get there by early next week it would be quite a period of time because they were booked up.

Given the fact that the project was already 4 weeks behind schedule, I did not think those were unreasonable questions, but then again, I could just be a bad guy or apparently a scary guy from what they told my wife.

Finally pulled the trigger on kitchen remodel and new flooring and paint for entire upstairs.

A fairly costly project, but one the wife has been working with a contractor and kitchen designer with for the better part of two years, never want to look at another kitchen cabinet, color, or floor sample again.

The problem is that the contractor who promised at most a two week project has significantly underdelivered on timelines.

Decided to take a Monday off so I could be there to talk to the contractor and his foreman. I am used to fairly direct and pointed questions given my profession, but these guys seemed shocked that I wanted to see some of the work and was not happy about the delays. There was one thing that was supposed to be done that I asked the foreman about and he said it was done, I showed him that it had not been done and he kind of went into a panic and started saying I need to talk to his boss, to which I said was fine, I will be here today and would welcome an opportunity to talk with him.

The foreman then gathered his tools and said he would not be back until I talked with his boss, I said that was fine and he could stop by or call me.
I did not get a call or visit, so I called the guy and he became very defensive and said I had intimidated his foreman and that he was scared to be at the house with me there. Seemed a bit extreme for a dude asking for proof of work. The contractor said I was too direct and his crew was physically intimidated by me and that he wanted only to talk to my wife about the project, was shocked at how fragile these guys were, expected construction guys to be much tougher.

Am I just a bad guy? Maybe some of the contractors out there can point out where I went wrong.

It may be that they cannot get the material to complete your job for another month or two. Lead times of 8-10-12 weeks are not uncommon these days. It sucks, but there is nothing that can be done about it. Now if they aren't giving you honest information, thats a different story.

Has anyone returned since Monday?

They don't listen to women typically and on lots of it we don't know what we are looking for.

You are a bad guy and should feel terrible. Time to check your Rockford White Privilege.

The foreman will try to get you to change things based on issues they encounter, if they screwed something up, or what makes their work easier.

There was a solid wall that now has about 4ft of cabinets on it next to a doorway. When the wall was taken down and the doorway was framed they took out a heating duct that was in the wall and it made the doorway bigger than it should have probably by about 6-8 inches. I'm looking at it and then measured it as they were framing it and said that's not right. They ignored me and built the wall. The contractor later tried to say no that's going to be okay. Really buddy? My cabinets sticking out 6 inches into the doorway is the work you want to put your name on, sure sure. Then he asked if I could change the cabinetry. He was a dope like that and then would act as if his clients were unreasonable. His foundation guy was a boob and unprofessional, the floor guy was terrible, and I think his painter was drunk all the time.