Don't Do It

If you are contemplating any kind of home renovation work, I have just one piece of advice.  Don't do it.  I know, I know -- sometimes things just need to be done.  That's pretty much the situation here at Amagansett.  After a good number of years, the deck needed to be redone and the sliding window/doors were pretty beat up and needed replacement, too.  So I looked for a builder who had a good reputation and found one that seemed promising.  He said he could do the job in two weeks and that sounded even better.  Of course, since I have dealt with contractors in the past, I mentally added on a week or two to the estimate.

Well, it is now nearly six weeks and I am so ready to get these guys out of my house.  The doors, I freely admit, are done and are a great improvement.  That makes the house usable.  But not the deck.  There's enough of it there for me to walk on the finished part (if, of course, you don't consider railings part of a deck).  I can even put out a rocking chair and the view is great with none of those silly railings in the way.  Witness my meetings with my deer neighbors.

The problems are that during the day I have guys carrying decking and rails and equipment through my living room and bedroom.  Add the general noise of tools and there's still not much getting done on any given day.  Their explanation is that it's a long drive to get to my place (they knew the location before they started) and the weather has been really hot.  I pointed out that if they had finished the work anywhere near the estimated time, they wouldn't have been working in that weather.  I also pointed out that on the same day they "couldn't work", there were two guys fixing my septic tank system.  My logic may be fine, but it's not getting the project done.  So I resorted to an ultimatum.  I have family coming to visit and they have a two year old.  I can't have them come with a deck without complete railings.  They have promised to work miracles and have it done for my company.  They're out there right now sawing and hammering.

to be continued ....