writes:

Tell him to do it himself.

That would be my response. Since the wives are such good friends, the way
to ensure they remain such good friends is for him to hire a door
specialist to do this, or take the doors back and purchase the right size.

This is like moving a piano . . . don't ask friends to do it, hire the
pros and always keep the friends.

The best that can happen is that all goes well; the worst that can happen
is the wives will become not good friends and you will get the cold
shoulder from yours for a while. It just isn't worth it. Doors are cheap
compared to friendships and a lot easier to come by.

I cannot imagine asking someone to do such a favor and then telling him
how to do it. He thinks he knows how to do it, loan him the tools and
tell him you'd feel more comfortable with him doing it since he knows how
he wants it to be done. Tell him nicely, but do it and do it firmly.

Just my opinion.

Glenna

(Glenna Rose) wrote in
news:fc.003d094101e156223b9aca00dd573615.1e15630@p mug.org:

snip
This is like moving a piano . . . don't ask friends to do it, hire the
pros and always keep the friends.


Evidence that even the pros screw up is available down at the door shop.
In their bone pile. At $15/door. Or less.

Patriarch

Glenna Rose wrote:

This is like moving a piano . . . don't ask friends to do it, hire the
pros and always keep the friends.

Wise words. Friends don't help friends move pianos. I don't feel like
telling the tale for the umpteenth time, but Google remembers how my
friend's piano wound up road pizza.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/

writes:
(Glenna Rose) wrote in
news:fc.003d094101e156223b9aca00dd573615.1e15630@ pmug.org:

snip
This is like moving a piano . . . don't ask friends to do it, hire the
pros and always keep the friends.


Evidence that even the pros screw up is available down at the door shop.
In their bone pile. At $15/door. Or less.

Patriarch

Oh, I know the pros can also screw up. (Boy do I know it! It's how I
came to remodel my kitchen myself, can't trust them to build a base
cabinet 34 inches wide because stock 36 inches won't fit, so the b*****d
built it 36 inches wide, "because it's standard" which left my very
expensive wood I had bought worthless to me! If a pro cannot get *one*
cabinet right, what would they do to an entire kitchen?! It's been 20+
years and I still burn when I think about his arrogance, at my expense.
Why in the he** would I have paid that kind of money for wood and pay him
to build it if I could buy it at the store for much less than his fee, not
counting my wood cost? grrrr I was *very* specific in telling him the
maximum width was 34 inches because it had to fit into a space 34-1/4
inches wide. The result was a couple of years later, I remodeled my
kitchen and had absolutely beautiful select white birch cabinets with
formica covered shelves, and which fit the space with no shimming in a
90-year-old house. So the guy actually did me a favor in the long-term. I
learned to tear out lathe and plaster, install fire stops, insulate, hang
sheetrock, mud, tear off linoleum, use a commercial floor sander, lay
vinyl, string wire, all of it, most of which I'd never have learned if he
had done the job right. Sadly, I didn't take any photos of the kitchen
when it was done, something that still astounds me. The house, home of 23
years, was a casualty of the separation and someone else benefits from
those fine cabinets, never being able to appreciate the way it was before.)

However, back to the doors, if the pro screws up, it doesn't cause hard
feelings between friends. It's just not a job that is wise to do with
friends, especially more than one door.

If the pros damage them, they replace them and you get to bitch to your
friends who empathize rather than become not friends. My point was the
friendship is more important than the doors.

Glenna

(Glenna Rose) wrote in
news:fc.003d094101e17a0f3b9aca00dd573615.1e17a3f@p mug.org:

This is like moving a piano . . . don't ask friends to do it, hire
the pros and always keep the friends.


Evidence that even the pros screw up is available down at the door
shop. In their bone pile. At $15/door. Or less.

Patriarch

snip

If the pros damage them, they replace them and you get to bitch to
your friends who empathize rather than become not friends. My point
was the friendship is more important than the doors.


I was agreeing with you. Still do. Nice kitchen story, though.

Patriarch

"Glenna Rose" wrote in message
news:fc.003d094101e17a0f3b9aca00dd573615.1e17a3f@p mug.org...
writes:

Oh, I know the pros can also screw up. (Boy do I know it! It's how I
came to remodel my kitchen myself, can't trust them to build a base
cabinet 34 inches wide because stock 36 inches won't fit, so the b*****d
built it 36 inches wide, "because it's standard" which left my very
expensive wood I had bought worthless to me! If a pro cannot get *one*
cabinet right, what would they do to an entire kitchen?!

I think my response to him would have been you did a fantastic job on the 36
inch cabinet, but as I ordered a 34 inch cabinet I need to know when it will
be ready?

If he tried to argue that 36 inches was a standard, then I would have said
but 34 inches is the standard I specified.

If he didn't buy more wood at his own expense and re-do the cabinet promptly
I would perhaps ask him if he had a preference of another cabinet maker that
would deliver the requested product as he will be the one asked to pay the
bill.

What was the final outcome of the dispute?

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.

writes:
I think my response to him would have been you did a fantastic job on the
36
inch cabinet, but as I ordered a 34 inch cabinet I need to know when it
will
be ready?

If he tried to argue that 36 inches was a standard, then I would have said
but 34 inches is the standard I specified.

Trust me, he knew I was furious about it. (And he *didn't* do a fantastic
job past it being the wrong size.)


If he didn't buy more wood at his own expense and re-do the cabinet
promptly
I would perhaps ask him if he had a preference of another cabinet maker
that
would deliver the requested product as he will be the one asked to pay the
bill.

I don't think he was capable of doing it right, quite frankly. He put the
doors on cross-grain. What kind of idiot does that?! (and the prettiest
grain on the inside when I had specified which was to be the outside *and*
marked the edge of the wood with a pencil so stating "outside")


What was the final outcome of the dispute?

Unfortunately, he was my boss' brother-in-law so that went nowhere. They
merged companies shortly thereafter and I was without a job. Neither was
a great loss. Working for a remodeler was a good fit for me, but not that
remodeler! (My boss of 20+ years would have made him do it right, family
or not, difference in people.)

As I said, if he'd done it right, I'd never have learned all that I
learned. As you know, there is no greater satisfaction than doing such a
project as remodeling a kitchen and being totally satisfied with it. A lot
of my male acquaintances were laughing about "a woman" doing such a thing.
Those who saw the finished project told the others they were fools for
laughing at me. Life does have its own rewards sometimes.

Prior to that project, all I'd made was a few bookshelves, a sewing
supplies cabinet, and one overhead cabinet, so this was a major deal.

Eventually, I'll remodel my current kitchen, but it is very workable now.
It's still the mid-forties kitchen originally built, but lots of counter
space (compared to the other one) and all in one room! The other one was
not, sink was in a separate room, no lie, like a pantry and just as small,
hence the 34-1/4" opening for the sink base. Living 13 years with that
kitchen made knocking out that wall a pleasure beyond description. :-)

It had a turn-of-the-century (19th to 20th) sink, the old -time sink, low
rim, high back, with two holes for water faucets (and outdoor type
faucets). The kind that they sell in antique stores now. LOL Some people
might want to pay big bucks for them, but that one was so cheerfully sent
to the dump. Of course now, it might be nice to put in the garden for
washing veggies before bringing them in, lots of spill factor with those
low sides.g Maybe it could have become some yuppie garden art. (See, I
may not be a yuppie housewife, but I can joke about it, though I'd never,
ever bring that sink back. Taking care of a family of five and all the
dishes generated to be washed there was not fun. I tried to be grateful
at least I had running water and a drain, but 13 years was 15 years too
long. And that was a house we bought that we planned to live in only two
years at the most, yeah, about 21 years understated. But there's something
to be said about actually owning, as in no mortgage, your own home.)

Right now, my biggest problem is having too much to do and too many
interests to pursue. And I have a male friend who wants me to meet his
neighbor who is widowed three years and "a nice guy." I asked, "Does he
do yard work and home repairs?" Like I have time for a guy in my life
right now. It's actually great to be at this point now since the first
few years after my son's death, not only did I not look to the future, I
didn't even want there to be one. It's a world that has come almost back
to normal. It's not so very long ago that I would have bet the saws would
never have been used again and almost gave the power tools to my middle
son. The only reason he didn't get them was he lived in a duplex and no
place to use them. He now has a house and workshop area, but no time to
do it and a mom who is selfishly keeping her tools. They do, however,
love the bookshelves I made them for Christmas and are looking forward to
more. He has even asked for a wardrobe for the girls to supplement their
bedroom furniture (and 6-foot long closets!). Joat posted a web page that
has what looks like exactly what he has in mind. He'll thank Joat for not
having to draw the plans himself.

Glenna

writes:

Bottom line: It went fine. I crosscut the bottoms using the old "slab
of foam insulation on the floor" technique. For the rips I used a
roller stand on the infeed and my router table as an outfeed table. I
built the router table at just the right height to serve as an outfeed
table. I fed the pine doors standing in front of and to the right of
the fence, with a constant force in toward the fence. My friend guided
them at the outfeed end.

Before we cut the doors we practiced with an old hollow-core door that
I had around.

"If you don't practice on scrap, you're practicing on your project," as
they say.

Congrats on a job well done. I'm very happy for you (and athe wives) that
it went well!

Glenna