On Sat, 12 Nov 2005 20:47:46 GMT, Norminn wrote:

:clipped
: :It was the luck of the draw. You got the less experienced sub. I hope
: :the contractor makes this right, but you may have small problems that
: :show up from time to time, for years to come.
:
: Luck of the draw is right, I guess. The estimator called me 4 days
: before the job was to start and told me when the crew would arrive and
: told me the name of the project manager and volunteered that he was very
: good. But when the day of the job came, it turned out to be a different
: project manager. I asked the estimator why this was and he said that
: there was a last minute problem - "a wedding" and the first guy couldn't
:
:The company got a big commercial job and didn't want their worst crew
:doing it ) What did the job cost you? High bid? Low bid?

I got 4 bids:

Company 1: $18,500 + time and materials to repair the rather extensive
dry rot damage. Time = $85/man/hour

Company 2: $16,200 + T&M etc. Time = $65/man/hour

Company 3: $16,500 + T&M etc. Time = $85/hour. Usually two men, so
presumably cheaper for T&M, however this guy only wanted to apply 15lb
paper, not the 30lb the other guys bid and also he didn't want to tear
out the bottom 8 inches of stucco for flashing and restucco, present in
bid 1 & 2. This guy is a small independent guy who oversees a working
crew of maybe 4 guys.

Company 4: $19,500 and I need to get somebody else to do the T&M stuff.


I went with Company 2 for a few reasons. Not just the low bid, which it
was, but the estimator (who is the company owner, I'm told) had some
ideas for fixing some problems that the other guys didn't. They didn't
seem to know what to do about some sagging beams that needed knee
braces. This guy had a plan and it made sense, and indeed it worked out
pretty well. He also had a cost effective plan to repair the gable
rafter tails, which were badly dryrotted in 3 cases. The other bidders
wanted to replace the entire gable rafters, a much more expensive means
of fixing the problem.


Upshot of this at the present hour is that the project manager refused
to tear off the ~500 square foot north dormer, which is 3/12 sloped
and requires double underlayment according to the manufacturer's spec.
However, he had a change of heart and called me back a couple of hours
later and said they would do the tearoff and double underlayment and all
new shingling on that section of roof. I doubt I will ever feel as good
about this as I did last week at this time. My confidence is shaken what
with all the exposed nails, however I guess I'll feel better than I have
the last day or so.

The project manager tells me that he has about 5-6 crews working under
him, and he visits each site daily to check things out. He's hispanic
and he says the other PM is Korean. The company owner (who was my
estimator) has a hand in some projects, was his intimation.

Thanks to all for the moral support and information.