Day 36 - Disappointment to Anger

I had a very bad feeling yesterday when the contractor left after one hour. He also took his trailer he used to store our fixtures. I told myself I was just being silly. The bathroom is only half completed. He began work on July 2. It was only supposed to take 3 weeks to complete. 4 tops with problems. Since he was to finish up today, he has been paid on full. But he would be back to finish. It's always a gamble when a homeowner hires a contractor. Unless you know the ins and outs of the trades, you have to trust these people.

This morning we waited. We waited until 9:15am, an hour after his normal start time. Himself called the contractor's cellphone, got the voice mail and left a message. Was the call returned? You guessed it in the cheap seats! No! This is the third time he's pulled a no show and didn't bother to call or return our calls. No excuse! It wouldn't have taken more than a minute to call to say he wasn't coming to work today. We have been more than patient and more than fair! So the old adage holds. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.

Fortunately, the state I live in has an arbitration process for homeowners to lodge a complaint against contractors. I have printed out the required form. Taken photographs which will be burned to a CD to be submitted with the form. I have his license number. There's no guarantee we will recoup any of our loss, but at least the process will make me feel better and maybe teach the contractor a valuable lesson.

Since word of mouth is the best advertising, I am now his worse nightmare. I would never recommend him to do any work. We had other work to be done down the road. This contractor won't even be considered.

Also fortunate is a back up plan. The major portions of the bathroom are installed and work. Lambie's husband is a contractor, and was the original person we wanted to do the work. But because he had taken a full time job, he didn't want to hold us up and take 6 mos. for the remodel, especially since we only have the one bathroom in the dollhouse. I'll call to see if he is available to work some weekends to finish the job. If he can't or doesn't want to, I hope he can recommend a reliable person to help us out.

Caveat emptor.

Still left to be done:

The wall under and over the window has to be tiled.
The 3 walls above the shower have to be tiled.
The wall between the shower and the laundry area needs to be tiled.
The hole for the dryer vent has to be cut.
The dryer vent has to be installed and run up through the crawl space and vented out the roof.
The shower fan has to be vented out the roof.
Tile in the laundry area needs to be finished.
All wall tile needs to be grouted.
All wall tile grout needs to be sealed
Under floor heating has to be installed.
Washer and dryer to be brought upstairs.
Medicine and storage cabinets need to be installed.
Laundry cabinets need to be installed.
Ceiling needs scraped, textured and to be painted.
Window clamshell and stool needs to be installed.
Window clamshell and stoll needs to be painted.
Bathroom door needs to be taken down.
New door needs mortises cut for locks and hinge and the door hung to swing from the opposite side.
New door knob to be installed.
Mermaid hooks need to be installed
Toilet paper holder needs to be installed
Join between floor and door wall needs to be tiled/grouted
Missing tile in corner where door will swing in needs to be installed
Outside wall in hallway needs new baseboard.
Construction debris needs to be removed from the driveway.
Wall sconces by medicine cabinet need to be installed and connected.