Slab saga

[doodoo]

Don't take any cr**p from a contractor. I work in the housing industry and believe me when I say that the last thing you want is someone with attitude. The construction market as a whole has been on fire the past 4 years, and those that excell at what they do are polite and professional. They will tell you when they will undertake the work with an accurate quote based on sound knowledge with an addition in language based on the unknown like what is in the ground which cannot be seen. But consult you should that change to get your consent.

I would cancel the first contractor and get the other one who seems much more professional to come and do the work.  Take the extra time as the work will be much better.

I once saw a crew pour a slab without rebar and without anchoring it to the footing. when I inquired about it their answer was,

not my house
the inspector wont see it
boss is'nt here to tell us what to do
this is the way we all do our slabs (scary)

and my personal fav - who the f*** are you?
My answer, I work for the federal government and you are working on a federal building (military housing) and you are in deep s***.  

That smart mouth started shaking a little when the MP's arrived. That was for show. Public works made the contractor shake when they got together to review their work to date. That was a costly flip of the mouth for him that day. Many slabs had to be jack hammered out to be re-done.

[Drewski]

Doodoo is RIGHT on the money about contractors!

Given your time vs. money constraints, I'd consider paying some teenagers to move your dirt, finish up by leveling it off yourself, make your frame and set some wire. Then call around to concrete suppliers until you find a company that will deliver a "short" load.

If you can get the truck near the slab, a "short" load will cost between $100 and $200 (at least in my area), delivered and poured.

I've watched SO many contractors try to rip people off that I've actually got to the point where I expect them to try and cheat me.

At my last house, I wanted a 3 FT by 5 FT garage window bricked up.  I had already matched the brick at a local yard. The FATHER of a co-worker of mine, who is a professional mason, was willing to come and look at it. His son, a firefighter at my station, said his dad would "take care of me." Dad came out, looked at the window and said, "$5,000 to do the job right." When I asked how long it would take, he said "about a day and a half, I can do it myself."

Let's see now, a "day and a half," with materials costing roughly $100, that's $4,900 for 15 hours labor (assuming a 10 hour day) or $326 an hour.

YEAH RIGHT!

The window is still there. The only reason I didn't get vocal with that idiot was because he was my friend's father.

Drewski

[ebirrane]

Agreed!

Unfortunately, I don't get overtime and no one pays me to sit and watch television and eat when I come home from work, so my price/time ratio is a little different.

No one will care more about your home and the quality of work that goes into it except you and your family and friends.  When I see what some "master carpenters" did in my mom's house it makes me cringe. But that is a different rant for a different chat room.

-Ed

[JJ]

Talked to Contractor #2 today.  He said he has me scheduled for the week of 6 June, he has 3 jobs ahead of me, one he knows he has to do next, but the other two may be flexible and he will check and get back to me.

Contractor #1 has yet to initiate a call to me

Me thinks #2 is about to become #1

[Payton3485]

Customer service goes a long way. Go with the #2 guy. He seems to be meeting your needs and actually "wants" the job.

[JJ]

Contractor #1 fired  

Contractor #2 trying to move me into next week

Decided in the grand scheme, a week or two didn't make that much difference.  It's easy to get blinded by impatience with the hot tub waiting on delivery.

[doodoo]

Contractor #1 fired  

Great news. Probably felt really good too.

Contractor #2 trying to move me into next week

This has a feel of professionalism.

Decided in the grand scheme, a week or two didn't make that much difference.  It's easy to get blinded by impatience with the hot tub waiting on delivery.

You will be soaking very shortly, whereupon the little extra wait won't even be remembered.

[JJ]

Ten minutes after calling the first contractors office and cancelling, I got a phone call telling me he could be at my house tomorrow (today)

I reminded him

1.  This is the first phone call I have ever received from him.  I initiated all the others

2.  I am hiring a contractor to make it easier for me, not harder.  He was not doing that.

3.  It seemed to me that he felt like he was doing me a favor by agreeing to do work for me, and that I should feel grateful.

4.  I didn't trust what he said anymore.


I then did the same thing I did to the high pressure, competition bashing spa dealers in my area; I took my money elsewhere.

It did feel good.

[Guttboy]

WTG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JJ]

New contractor (registered PE) just came by to firm up quote (as promised, called 30 min ahead to confirm).  Gave me some options to reduce to price but might tear up my yard a little more.  Will have me a written proposal today.  Showed me his written schedule and where I was on it.  I am basically 6 good weather days from a concrete pour.

It's supposed to rain in Atlanta all week.......

[leesweet]

Now that's the way to reinforce good customer service!  If more folks treated the first one as he should be treated, he'd be the one begging for work.  

[Revlis]

Thankfully my slab contractor was great...  called in advance, showed up when he said he would, measured twice, poured once kinda deal...   all along giving great suggestions about how to proceed with things.... I'm in North Jersey if anyone needs a reco....  

Electrical?  That's an entirely different story!!!!!!   After going through literally 10 different companies, I've finally found a guy who knows what he's doing.  He even warned me in advance how expensive it might be, and then proceeded to give me the lowest quote anyway.

[JJ]

My new contractor just called

WANTED TO KNOW IF HE COULD POUR MY SLAB TOMORROW!!

Since it's a one day job, he wanted to squeeze it in during an anticipated one-day weather window.

Of course I said yes....

Of course I also told my dealer two days ago that he could sell my spa to someone else who was ready for delivery and I would take an identical one coming in two weeks. :-/

I guess my concrete will be well-cured by then.

[JJ]

The concrete looks great, very professional job!  I'm actually glad things worked out the way they did.  All things happen for a reason.

I HEARBY DECLARE THE END OF THE SLAB SAGA!

[Lori]

I'm glad to hear the slab saga is over!