THe other thing is - you seem to go far beyond just pointing out that
contractors are making a living doing what they do (living, yes, means colleges
for their kids and Expeditions should they choose). You seem to resent them for
it. To me, it's a duh - OF COURSE they're putting their kids through college
and having their friends over for a few drinks with the money I pay them. My
firm has been doing the same for me for 28 years! Jees.


No, what I resent is when they charge 3 or 4 times what it costs to
actually do the job, and that is including paying the labor and the
materials. That's just downright ridiculous. I'm happy to pay them for
their time and the materials they use. But at the rate a lot of them
charge, you are paying a day or two of work to people who don't even go
out to your job site. That just doesn't seem right to me.

I don't mind paying a high price for some work if it is done to
perfection but so far just about all the work I have hired out has been
full of mistakes or ugly work. For instance, I had my chimney resided
because it is too high for me to do. Well, they left Tyvec hanging out
from under the siding boards... the painters just painted over the
Tyvec. The caulk had all kinds of gaps in it. And I paid a lot for the
job because I expected they would do good work.

Until the quality of work goes up I will complain about it.