I'm juggling five balls and they're all muddy
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Yesterday, my head guy tried to call off for today after seeing the forecast, and I had to play the bad guy and tell him he had to show up and be ready to set steel by 7 am (keeping in mind he lives two hours away). It's not how I would have liked things to have gone for anyone, but I've had a crane scheduled for a week and canceling would have meant a wait of a week or more to be rescheduled and that's time I just don't have to waste. Needless to say, I was not the most loved person on the job today, particularly at hour two when everyone was soaking wet, muddy and freezing cold. It really is more pleasant to work in -20 temps than the cold, wind and rain we had today. To the credit of our crew, they sucked it up, got the crane work completed in time for morning coffee and then called it a day.
They're planning to return tomorrow to finish up with setting the decking and installing and welding the joist bracing and I'm hoping for some decent weather to soothe everyone.
I had scheduled the roof slab pour tomorrow (Friday) but we've now had to delay that until Monday since the steel isn't completed. In the mean time, Vern and I have been working to get the foundation slab prep work completed so we can lay vapor barrier, insulation and PEX. Mostly, that means a lot of shoveling, wheeling and raking of sand, and yesterday we gave the wheelbarrow a flat tire which I take as a sign we're working hard. We're getting close to there, and my hope is we can have our work wrapped up and ready for concrete by Monday. The potential (and aggravating) wrench in those works is that the plumbers and the water/sewer guy STILL have not completed the under slab rough-in, despite my three requests and the fact that it's been sitting untouched and unfinished for three weeks. Apparently the problem stems from the 2" line into the house having been run slightly too short, their hammer drill being broken, and an apparent lack of communication between the water line guy and the plumbing guys. Or maybe because I can't expect decent service on a $14K bid? I'm going to have to get nasty with them tomorrow, which means everyone except the excavator is now officially on the record of unpleasant conversations. How fun.
And on another front:
There's a fair chance I've just entered internet shopping hell.
I ordered $2800 worth of fixtures from Homeclick last week, feeling reasonably confident because I've had decent experiences with them in the past. I think I may have pushed my luck.
First, I received only one of the pair of matching sinks for our MB. I am told the other is on it's way. OK.
The $75 soap dispenser I received has defective chrome, and tomorrow will mark day five of waiting for a call back I was told would be within 24-48 hours.
The rest of the order, minus three toilet seats for my Toto Nexus toilets, was shipped by ABF and a stated total of 8 boxes. Only 7 showed up (missing one toilet tank), and I'm on day three of the "will call in 24-48 hours" routine.
Here's the best part. The two kitchen faucets I ordered (to the tune of $1K) BOTH HAVE BEEN USED!!!!!!!! That's right. They've both obviously been installed and removed as evidenced by torn gaskets, silicone scraps and parts attached that are not supposed to be there. They're dirty with kitchen gunk and drywall dust and still had water in the lines. I am shocked and more than a little grossed out. Same story as above when I called.
Let me add that I got zero apology for any of these problems, and the person I got with call #3 about the used faucets didn't even sound surprised.
I think we can safely say Homeclick is now on my sh*t list. I'm not terribly optimistic that there will be a smooth resolution based on their generally horrendous online reviews, but I'll reserve judgment on that for the moment.
Are we having fun yet?
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keep on keepin on
Ive been following your house project, and I am facinated by your construction methods. Moreover, it seems you are doing an excellent job at the GC role. It seems that to hold high standards (in quality of construction and maintaining schedule integrity), nastniness is just plain inherent to the house construction process. So many contractors want to cut corners and take their time...
My wife and I just finished building a house, and I think I could just copy over you blog entries and replace a few nouns and adjectives - it is one hell of a tough process that nobody can understand who hasnt been through it. However, the good news is that the whole process is amazingly rewarding at the end...as you might imagine. So, keep up the good work and dont ever compromise quality...even if it requires undesirable conversations.
Cheers to you
That sinking feeling
It is all looking great. I cannot wait to see it finished.
We are still working out details on our project, but I went through and spec'ed all the plumbing fixtures from HomeClick. We have not ordered anything, but your experience is not confidence building. Please keep us posted on that front. They seem to have a great selection and great prices, but now I am beginning to think it is all too good to be true.
Homeclick......customer service........what?
I received order confirmation for range hood on May 13......."normally ships in one to two weeks". Latest estimate amounts to two months. My inquiries on updates are responded to without apologies and continued "estimated" shipping dates. First and last time for me!

no, but its worth it!
Designing your own home and saving architectural fees: $25,000
Acting as your own GC and ditching the mark-up: $60,000
Reading Splatgirl's blog to get a taste of it without getting your feet muddy: Priceless....