On 2/4/16 11:34 AM, Swingman wrote:
On 2/4/2016 11:18 AM, dadiOH wrote:
Swingman wrote:
Example of the shoddy work I'm talking about these days. The
above was in a 6 year old, $2.1m home, the trim on these cabinets
fell off when the painters were re-staining, and they simply
could not have been used, "as built" for what the client wanted
to do.
OK, customers (almost all) wouldn't be able to tell good from bad,
most go only by general appearance, but the GC would. As would
whatever sub made the cabinets. So why such crummy work in a
rather high end home? Were they (GC and sub) just greedy thieves?
Incompetent?
In many cases, ALL the above.
Plus many builder's simply do not do the level of supervision
necessary to get an acceptable job out of the semi-skilled labor pool
available in many locations, and particularly during times of great
demand.
And, no secret that many "tract" and "spec" home builders prefer not
to put money where it can't be seen.
The cabinets throughout that house looked great ... and functioned
just long enough to sell.
I've already told the stories of the $650k+ homes around here with
horrible, particleboard, lowest-end cabinets throughout the home.
Yesterday I was in the home of a new client, on the way out I was
presented with a "if you have a sec, could you look at this?"
In the master suite of this $1.3million home there is a his & hers
walk-in closet that I swear is bigger than my first apartment, which was
outfitted floor to ceiling with nooks, crannies, drawers, cubbies,
racks, and hanging bars, by California Closets. All particleboard
laminated with Formica and wood-grain stickers. All the drawer fronts
are falling off one-by-one, not because of the inherent flaws in the
building materials, but because the "skilled laborer" used drywall
screws to attach them to the drawer boxes.
I have an idea what California Closets charges for a behemoth install
like that and they were to cheap or too lazy to buy some good drawer
front screws designed for particleboard.
We live in a Walmart/Ikea/Wayfair age in which sheep are sold in wolves'
clothing and most people don't know or even care about the difference
between a California Closet installation and what one of us would do.
Until we are brought in to fix it all at a much higher rate. :-)
It does point up a problem that most - including me - have in
finding knowledgable, competent contractors at a fair price. IME,
admittedly not great, probably at least 50% are either looking to
buy a yacht courtesy of me, or don't know up from down. It can be
tough finding a good one. Yes, one can check referrals; trouble is,
those past customers really aren't qualified to judge good from
bad...unless there was a major screwup, they probably will say that
all is fine. Which is why when one DOES find a good one - such as
you or Leon or others here - one should treasure them.
Amen, brother!
Neither Leon, Robert (nor Mike, as he is finding out) really need to
advertise, and likely have to constantly turn work away ... all
attributable mostly to a single trait:
We care about doing the job properly, even to point of losing money
if necessary to so, and we must be able to walk away at the finish
knowing we've provided a first class job.
That's how simple it is. 
Since putting some effort into sustaining this handyman thing, I'm
starting to build up a stable of loyal clients who see the value in that
and appreciate, respect, and even covet the aspects and performance we
bring to a job.
--
-MIKE-
"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com
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