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.


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.

May your tribe increase, ojala