Well to further along the house sale efforts I hired a handyman to lay my kitchen laminate. He was highly recommended and has done dozens of floors.
He estimated it would take about half a day and arrived 1.5 hrs ago and the saw has been going on and off every couple of mintues for at least an hour. So I've been sitting in my office reading the forum and just went and had a look, and there is 3 whole tiles down...this is click and lock stuff. My expectation when wandering in was that at least a few tiles would be down, but 3?!
I know he is careful and being meticulous around the edges (where the tiles are that are down) but am I being unrealistic thinking we should be further along than this?
Comment Guidelines
We welcome your feedback on Houseandhome.com. H&H reserves the right to remove any unsuitable personal remarks made about the bloggers, hosts, homeowners and/or guests we feature. Please keep your comments focused on decorating, design, cooking and other lifestyle topics. Adopt a tone you would be willing to use in person and do not make slanderous remarks or use denigrating language. If you see a comment that you believe violates any of the guidelines outlined above, please click “Alert a Moderator.” Thank you.
off topic but how is that sports bar coming along....have you chosen colours yet? Good luck to sis. :)
but I'm sure you'll all appreciate this one ! My little sister was over the other day, and said her and boyfriend had a financial planner over; FP (financial planner) walked in, saw the Harley pics on the wall and said to boyfriend, "wow, nice bike you've got there !" "Not mine, hers" says boyfriend; sis went to kitchen to get coffee for them all, and heard FP say to boyfriend "oh, you're watching football, who do you think for suuperbowl??" and boyfriend had to say "I hate football, she is the big fan"... FP made no more comments after that, and got right down to business.
Well, that was several years ago, boyfriend is no more, and guess who is opening a sports bar and pool hall ????
Yes, it is a little jerky. For one, in my book, you don't get to make more than the pros when you are charging by the hour and are quite a bit slower (he's in his 70's). In cases where speed or expertise are different, so should the rate be. For a price that will probably be less than I get dinged, I would have had 2 guys here (backed by a store) and they would have been done yesterday.
I had always figured I'd do it myself, or given a retired handy person, it would be worth it to have it done, but at a price that wouldn't hurt as much as hiring a store to do it. So much for that theory.
he will be getting a cheque because the cash I have was based on his estimate and apparently that isn't going to cover it and whose fault is that?
We've already decided I will do the baseboards to save some time. The only comfort I have right now is knowing at least I won't be going to the chiro because of this floor.
What a jerk and even if he has had to drop his price so he's only making as much as the pros would have, he's still going to make more money because I bet he's not planning on declaring it on his income tax. And you've had all this aggravation on top of paying the same amount. I'd pay him with a cheque just to have a record of everything.
Wouldn't you know, two guys who were assumed to be handy and the female had to do the work and then one guy has the nerve to make a negative comment. Doesn't that drive you nuts?
When I lived in an apt, one had a landlord who was more than a little slow getting things done. One time he was supposed to do something easy like change the oven lightbulb and I finally just said I'd do it if he gave me the bulb and bang, he was right there doing it. Next time it was the drain stopper so I phoned him and asked which screw to take out first and bang he was up there. I don't know how many times similar tricks worked for me and one neighbour. She'd need something and I'd make sure he saw me in the hall with a wrench (I had a few tools around) and my how-to book and suddenly he'd be fixing whatever it was. He was so sure we'd break whatever it was (and we probably would have, not having much experience) but it was incentive enough to get him to drop his remote.
Now I just find guys who have attitude need a little demonstration and then they shut up. Mr. handiman just finished fixing the floor and announced to me that I was right about it coming up easily and he's now glad he fixed it. I also took the opportunity to have a chat about how he is finishing off under the pocket door. He had forgot about that door and making sure it didn't get blocked, so we figured that out and I got to walk away with a smug look on my face as I am pretty sure he now gets that I am no dunce when it comes to this stuff. I love that feeling but it's too bad some guys even think that way to start with and don't just assume that there are as many women around doing repairs and such as men.
I will say, I notice a huge difference in the guy staff at places like Home Depot compared to 10 years ago. Now they seem to take women seriously when they walk in asking about plumbing and electrical, etc.
I wanted to!! :D
it'll be done and over with before you know it...
amy...i would have shoved the broken door knob down the door knobs throat!!!
Thses are the things that drive me crazy why should you even have to bring it up he knew it was out so why not fix it before you see it. Why do they think that it is ok when it doesn't fit.
I would want to throttle him! I had a landlord like that. Our door knob broke off the day after we moved in, so he bought me a new one and dropped it off. He Said he'd be around after the weekend to replace it, but that my DH could do it if he wanted to. Well my DH never does these things, s o I replaced it. When the landlord came back on Monday, he said "oh I see DH replaced the knob" I told him that actually it was me. And he had the Nerve to say "Oh. Does it work?" What a jerk eh!
I'm glad that your guy is fixing the problem, and that he's reducing his rate for you. Too bad that it's still much more than you had banked on.
So here we go again. We've had a little chat about his estimate vs actual and the out of line tiles. He's not happy as he seems to think 'these things just happen' until I told him that when I do an estimate for my business I can't be coming in two to three times higher as people depend on my experience to tell me what it will cost. So he got a little huffy, but I asked what point there is to an estimate if the person basing their decision on them can't count on them being somewhat close to the true cost. So he's dropped his rate by a third which will help (being as at this rate, I could have hired the pros cheaper and probably had it done faster). Even at the reduced rate it's still higher than the estimate by quite a long shot. I'd never get away with this in my business or I'd be out of business pretty quick.
It's things like this that keep reminding me why I always feel better doing it myself especially when you run into some guy who seems to think females don't have a clue or can be intimidated.
At this moment he is trying to get the misaligned tiles out. He seems to feel they'll all break and no one will notice anyway, but .5" is a bit much with the obvious 'grout' edges these have. One of my friends dropped in this morning and it was the first thing she noticed so I know it's an issue that has to be addressed.
Ha...I just peeked. He was saying all the tiles would break when removed which I wasn't buying (and besides I still have oodles in boxes) and sure enough, when I looked they all just snapped back out. I knew it wasn't a big deal (I was getting so frustrated I told him to leave it and I would do it before I put down the trim if he wasn't wanting to deal with it ). He must think he is dealing with someone who doesn't know something about this (surprise, it's my miter saw he's using so that should tell him something about my handiness quotient).
I can't wait until this is over.
Yes, it makes me nuts too when someone is so far off when giving an estimate. I guess I'll see tomorrow if he tries to charge for the total hours or closer to what he told me when I hired him. I'll be really po'd if he gets 3 times the amount out of me as I surely would have done it myself rather than pay that. Live and learn, I should have been really specific that I'd pay up to a certain amount.
So far my back is okay. Thanks for asking. With some folks helping me out the past few days I've had a good chance to rest it and even my frozen shoulder isn't hurting anymore. I think that lesson was not to paint two ceilings in two consecutive days. This live and learn stuff is not my idea of a good time and you'd think I'd know better by now but apparently not.
with the exception of the misalignment. I hope it's easy to correct. The difference between estimated time and actual is a real bummer :(
I hope it doesn't break the bank. These sorts of things can get so costly. I hope tomorrow works out better for you DBD. How's your back BTW?
This is like any other laminate and it's click and lock so no glue and it floats. It's the last 2 rows that are off (but being 18"/tile that means it's 36" into the room) and I figure all it will take is fixing the end/edge pieces and sliding the rest into postion, so not a big deal, but a set back...also the fridge is over part of it. Really unless someone is working in reverse, it shouldn't take even an hour to fix (she says trying to figure out how it all took 10 hours).
I really do think the guy was just tired (and he hadn't eaten anything but a couple of buttertarts all day which doesn't make for good nutrition in my book). When he left he thought he'd have to do the stairs in the other colour I have because there was no more grey and when I went to check, there were 4 boxes of grey left. Enough to do my stairs and half the floor again I think.
yes i can see what you mean, this is floating floor like my laminate in the living room is it not? if so he should be able to lift that and fix it...oh crap didnt look close enough, i hope its not in the middle of the floor.........ooops on the other hand the floor is very nice and looks very good with your cupboards
smiles
janetc
Well he left an hour ago...after 10 hours and still the landing and stairs to do as well as all the quarter round and baseboard under the cupboards. I don't know what to think. I guess when he said it would take about half a day, he meant that literally as we will be well past 12 hours by the time he's done instead of the 4 or 5 I anticipated.
What really got me was he was being so careful, really doing a nice job and then when he left I noticed the last two rows are off by more than .5". I just don't understand why he let it go as it certainly is plain to see. Even if he was tired (he's a retired guy), this is just a little too obvious to be left I think.
So here is how it looks at the moment. It's covered with a fine dust that the vacuum doesn't seem to want to pick up so I am hoping my damp mop will get it as I am doing a lot of coughing.
Amy, I had an appraisal done and the appraiser had the same problem the realtors did, no comparibles and too nutty a market here to get a solid number. I really won't know what my house is worth until it's finally sold. It's really unnerving as I just can't plan on what I will buy because the estimated values are so far apart on this house.
for the wonderful advice....im in a small area, so you pretty much know what houses go for...most on our street have gone around the same within a few thousand of each other, unless they are real run down, so i pretty much have a idea what it would sell for.........but will keep your advice in mind, ecspecially if not happy with what real estate has to say, and you do know the ones that are priced too high as they will sit for a long time, which has been unusual lately
smiles
janetc
If you want your homes to sell within 3 months, I suggest you have it appraised, rather than having a realtor do a market evaluation. We had our house appraised in November, it cost us around $300.00. The appraiser told me that
realtors tell you what you could/should list it at. The appraisal is how much it will sell for, given the recent sales in your area- and the differences between those houses and yours. I mean you could always mark it up a bit, if the market in your area is good. The difference in listing price could make the difference between a quick sale and a long drawn out ordeal :D
oh for sure i will get more than one in...we did have a lady whom we dealt with for years but i think she may have retired on me...i would completely trust her, but some others that i dont know we certainly would get more than one. If they feel that we dont really need to repaint the whole house and its not going to make much difference than like hubby said, why bother...most people change it anyway....the walls are not in bad shape or outrageous colors at all and we do have touch up paint...the one room i would do for sure is our bedroom, its boring and is in need of some tlc. Everyone tells me to relax, that our house is not all as bad as i feel it is to put on the market....but when you live in it everyday you feel there is so much to be done....i do know its far from being run down as we have always did our best to keep up the maintenance...since we have been here, it has had all new windows, new roof, new eaves and that is a bundle for someone to save there...well time will tell lol
smiles
janetc
Janet...it never hurts to get a couple of realtors in from different companies for their opinions. Also ask them to be totally honest with telling you what changes could be made. Many do not want to be brutally honest for fear of you not listing with them.
Good luck...
DBD...i bet it will also be a hugh relief to get that sign on the yard and get things moving, holy im glad our market isnt that crazy here, although last year there was some bidding wars going on....myself and my girls were cleaning out some closets and such tonight, just in case i decide to have realestate come in to give us an evaluation....at this point im not going to worry too much about painting and such, just getting the home presentable for the real estate agent and they can always tell us what they feel should be done for better value....so we will take it from there
smiles
janetc
Well I guess about 2/3rds is done now, 6 hours with a couple of steps and landing still on top of that so I bet it'll be 8 - 9 hours before finished. He is just approaching the very easiest part of the room now. Turns out the type of floor I bought (being squares rather than strips) takes a little longer and he is doing a very precise job of it. This is the first time he has laid this type of flooring so that's probably why he estimated a little short of what he really needs.
I just hope he works until finished as there is a real dust mess going on and I think one day of constant intermitent sawing is my limit right now. The real game is keeping the computer from getting dust clogged.
Meanwhile on the realtor scene (remember I've had 5 realtors who weren't even close to each other), the second new realtor came today. Yesterday's matched one of the former, this one did too but was $40,000 higher than the other. So that's 7 realtors, 5 different amounts varying by $100,000 with 2 of those getting matches. Yup, this is a silly market alright. I think I've decided who I will go with now and am shooting to have the sign up on the lawn by next Thursday.
So things are moving along so to speak. My friend who was helping me pack didn't come today as the kitchen is just too key to moving boxes around but she is on her way over with more boxes as I type. This house is seeing a lot of progress this week and I can't wait until next week when it's simply a matter of keeping it clean and vanishing while they show the house.
dustbunny is it done and do we see pics
smiles
janetc
well then back to the floor...how's it coming....i know just how hard it is to have patience when you are getting work done...usually my patience wears thin...and i'm the one doing the work... :D
I did not read the post like that at all. I think you have come down pretty hard on an innocent comment by newbygirl.
and here we go again... misunderstanding the written word. sigh
Well that seemed a little snarky to me Newbiegirl. All I asked is whether my expectations were realistic or not as I have not had laminate laid before, I didn't slam or badmouth the fellow in any way nor have I hassled or did I say I hassled him. so I'm feeling you came down a little hard on me without cause.
sounds like things are moving along better DBD....it is scarey because even people that come with the highest merits, isnt always a guarantee....hubby did our floor himself and getting started was the slow part, but from start to finish took about 5 hours and this was the first time he had done this....so i dont blame you, i would have panicked at first too....and the point of paying someone else is so you dont have to do it yourself, which is unlikely with your back troubles...let us know how it goes!
smiles
janetc
DBD is probably busy doing a hundred and one other things getting her house ready to sell. I'm sure if she had the time to do it, she would -- she's a handy lady :)
He's probably doing a lot of thinking and measuring -- once he gets things sorted out, he'll probably whiz through it. And if not, maybe this is a new episode of Holmes on Homes in the making!! ;)
Good luck!! Can we see pics when the floor is done??
DBD. And promise yourself you won't look for 2 hours. You will be pleasantly surprised.
Yes, I think I will try and be patient. Now there are at least a dozen down and he is fiddling with trying to do around a door jam so I know that takes a while.
I do hope he does stick with his estimate as I am paying by the hour. I'd hoped the floor would be done with enough time left over to tackle a few other things and then I'd just pay him for the day. We'll see as he is definitly doing the harder part of the room first.
meanwhile, silly me dusted yesterday. I completely forgot about the saw being in play today and there are clouds of dust around here now.
argh...I just realized I forgot to take a before picture. Nuts!
I agree BJDec....I mean do you want a job WELL done or do you just want the job done? Give the guy a break or do it yourself.