Reply: 1.2.1
From: The Wife
ahh ok here we go, a ramble from the wife,
Please note I am NOT the worlds best renovator, and I am NOT a hands on one when I do renovate, I cannot renovate, I have no taste.
This is what I do and have learnt.
1. It aint happening if it aint written down on paper and signed ( ie contracts)
2. Notorise EVERYTHING, 20cent hole in the wall, scratch marks on the bench, anything that is there should be noted on the contract,
so that when the builder comes and does your deck, and you go and inspect and say, HEY, where did that whopping big hole in the side of the house come from? looks like the builder backed into the house with a piece of lumbar sticking our the back of his car, the builder is gonna say,
NUH aint me. But if you have it down that house was AOK you MAY be able to bully/bluff him into fixing it for you. You sorta say, HEY, YOU, look what you did to my wall, you better fix it before you go,
Get your chippie to fix it up for me now while he is standing there doing nothing.
3. If you want a quote, you have to make it worth the guys time, yes yes I know, customer service, and all that, well theres no such thing in this business,welcome to the world of the long distance renovator,
the people who push push push and harrass get their job done first, and ...the tradies only took the job in the first place cause it was worthwhile.
TO make it worthwhile, you sometimes have to dangle a carrot, let em know you need the whole house done, but your gonna get it done slowly cause you need to save as you go, and what you would like done first is the deck thanks.
They sometimes think its a good thing cause theres more work coming and it all doesnt have to be done yesterday, most of them are reasonable to, if you say, i cannot rent this without a deck, you havent finished deck, finish deck, i can rent, and then i get money, which means next month, i may be able to get more work done, okie dokie?.
Some will ask if you want an entire house quote done, fine go ahead with this even tho you only want a deck, if THEY want to, but dont ask them to do it, quotes are labour intensive for a lot of builders, and its not fair to ask them to do it if you really dont intend on giving them more work in some way shape or form in the future.
4. Have your builders mobile phone number, his office or home number and his offsider or wifes number. ( I have spoken to wives and said, " You know, he said he would have it finished by this date, he isnt even close, i got tenants who wanna move in, the tenants got kids who are supposed to be starting school, the whole things going to the shithouse cause your hubby hasnt finished my deck" wife usually has hubby out there working by spotlight till the wee hours getting deck finished) again tis is an example, and yu shouldnt say things like that if it isnt really going effect a chain of people, if you are just impatient then wait your turn.
6. note EVERYTHING down, builder, deck ,design, colours used, wood used, brackets used, everything you possibly can, time frames, the lot, so that next time, you can say, HEY, i need a deck, it is this by this by this, this colour, this wood, and you did the last one in 3 weeks, this one needs to be done in 3 weeks or less as well.
( also good with painters, I have said to painters, remember 2 whatso st. It had wooden shutter doors and kitchen cabinets and all, just paint it like that, anything thats wood and is standing, and is mission brown, change it to white, just like the last one, ( colours in this instance are fictional ok, dont harrass me bout colours), so, create systems that your tradespeople get used to.
6. Use local talent for jobs that dont require you to have a licensed builder, Look up local paper and theres always some old guy advertising that he can paint your house for x amount of dollars, these guys are good value, they are local, they turn up on time, they work slow, but they are thorough, and they hope you will use them again, ask them what they think of the house, they will tell you its nice cept for the big pile of rubbish the builders left in the back yard 2 months ago, ( when was your property manger gonna mention this or was she?)
7. WHich brings me to property managers, If you dont have a project manager for the renovation, then a property manager will probably oversee it for you, always ask the property manager what she thought of the old guys work and the builders work, ask the builder what he thinks of the property manger and the old guy, ask the old guy what he thinks of them to, its all double ( or triple) checking, and you would be surprised the things you learn about when they all 'dob' on each other.
This all may sound tedious, but when you ask people what they think of others working on your project, you can oversee it from a distance a little bit better.
Example: Had some light reno work done on house, had property manger look over it, she said YEP, all done and in good order, the house is ready to rent! Painters did a beautiful job, and tilers have finshed doing tiling, had the local oldie take away broken tiles and excess rubbish from the house for me,and he ran a vacuum over the floor and mopped ( what a sweetie), I asked him what he thought of the job, and he said it was great, cept he didnt think tenants would like not having doors, would I like him to put some bedroom doors on? WHAT!!, The house had no bedroom doors?? how did I miss that? how did painters miss it? ( they just paint, no doors? cool, less to paint), how did property manager miss it ( not her job to tell you what is a good investment and what isnt her job to work with what she's been given), so...speak to your tradespeople.
hmmm...I think thats it, wish I could tell you something really snazzy like, use a specific drill bit and cut down your reno time in half, but I cant, sorry, I know the 'other' stuff, dont think this is helping Jacqui right now tho, she just needs a tradesman, any tradesman, hang in there Jaquie, Im on the case, lemme see who is available.
Understand working with contractors builders subbies or any tradespeople, is a battle, its survival of the fitest, patience will get you a long way, screaming at these guys only works very occasionally, cause they will just down tools and walk away.
Cheers, TW
~Life is a daring adventure, or nothing at all~