December 01st, 2022

Heh.  That Tim.  He is a funny guy :)

Ok today, my friends, I am going to tell you the story about how we got, got.  It suppose we could be embarrassed about it, but that won't solve anything.  As the old saying goes, "If I can't be a good example, at the very least I can serve as a hideous warning."

I'm sure, if you think back far enough, you will remember that at one point, we had a major reno project going on.  And it honestly started just fine.  We aren't stupid people.  We did our research and met with multiple different contractors, read their reviews, made sure they were licensed and so forth before making our decision.  The contractor we chose had actually gotten a "builder of the year" award from a nearby town.  Sounds good right?

Things went, as things always do in construction.  Which is to say, more slowly than preferred.  But while things were progressing at a snail's pace, they were indeed progressing and we tried to be patient.

Initially, we were looped in on pretty much everything, including when the workers would be on site and when the plans had changed and what to expect next.   We saw the main guy fairly often and he was pretty good about responding to emails, calls and/or texts if we had questions.

But as time went by, we seemed to be cruising past the estimated dates of certain markers.  When we questioned it,  it was explained plausibly.  There were delays in shipping. Difficulty in finding skilled workers. Manufacturing shortages.  All things that were showing up in the daily news.   Absolutely Believable and just our dumb luck to have been caught up in it.  

The estimated finish date came and went with us very unfinished and as time went on, communication became more sporadic and the excuses became less likely. Flat tires, car accidents, sick workers, family dramas,  family emergencies and sometimes  just no shows were the explanations.  We became less patient and more aggravated as time went on.  

And then came the day at the beginning of the new year where we realized it had not been mere days without any sign of workers and no response to any of our attempts to reach out but more like weeks.  Not Good.    After continued and more rigorous attempts at contact, we finally had to face the facts.  They weren't coming back.  We got, got.  They took the money and ran.  And left us with quite a mess to take care of. Dang.

As it turns out unscrewing this is a bigger thing than we ever could have imagined. It wasn't just an unfinished project, there were building materials left behind, a half full dumpster, even  a portapotty!   After having a lawyer look into this a bit, it turns out that we weren't the only people that got, got by these guys.  We were one of many.  And now, the construction guys were gone.  I mean well and truly gone. Disappeared into the cosmos.   Our lawyer advised us that not only would it cost a great deal of money and time to try to pursue them legally, but there was no money to get back from this fellow, even if he could be found.  The well had run dry.

What to do, what to do.  We had already poured a great deal of money into an unfinished project and now we were a little gun shy about even attempting to hire someone to finish  it.  And that would be assuming that someone else would be willing to try.   So Tim contacted the town to find out how to take over the project on our own.  Ambitious, yes.  Good decision?  Definitely.

First an inspector had to come out and check see where we stood.  As it turns out there was a whole lot of stuff that had to be re-done.  The inspector was very kind and went into great detail explaining how certain things should have been done. Which meant that instead of starting where we were and moving forward, first we had to go many steps backwards.   

As with all construction projects, none of it was cheap. And it is beyond frustrating to have to pay for something twice (to say nothing of the financial ouchie of it).  Especially when those things are not inexpensive to begin with.  But one does what one must.    Over the past 9 months or so, Tim has spent many a weekend first learning how to do these things (on-line tutorials!) and then the next part - learning by doing.   I have been not very helpful at all as through most of it I have been healing and recovering from various stages of surgeries. But I do what I can, where I can, when I can. Even if it's just keeping him supplied with cold water and cleaning up afterwards.

Slowly, Very Slowly, progress is being made and there is the satisfaction of the work being done by Tim.  I am certain that when it is completed, at long last, it will be gratifying for Tim to look around knowing, "I did that myself" and all of the bruises and cuts, the sore back and sun burns, the falls off the ladder and that one time he accident bonked himself in the head with a hammer (ouch), the permanently stained clothes and the sheer exhaustion will be worth while.

And on the day when we are completely finished and have put all of the furniture back where it belongs, all of the construction dust and dirt is really and truly gone and the house is fully livable once again, I will take photos of the finished project and proudly share them with you.

I think the message here is that it can happen to anyone. I mean, we did the work. We didn't walk in  blindly, we stayed on top of things and still, it happened.  But it's not what happens to you in your life that defines you, it's how you deal with it.  This is how we dealt with it.

Many thanks to Paul and Marsha Minock who loaned us their tile saw and even delivered it with a smile :)