[McNab2000]

For over a month I've had a construction company working on my bathrooms. I had three small baths. They took the two baths upstairs and turned them into one. The one downstairs, with double shower was also stripped to the studs, frame sistered, all new pipes. Tile on floors and surrounds. My question is this: This is the second day they have had a man mudding. He just did the seams and nail holes. This took him from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. He is here again at 8 am, its now 1:45, and I don't see he has done anything new. How long does it take an experianced mudder to do the seams and plaster the walls in a 10 x 7 room (and ceiling)? As I said this has gone on for over a month and there have been many days when I had to be gone while they worked and I don't think they did a darn thing. How can I tell? And what do I do. I'm beginning to feel I'm buying his contractor a trip to Hawaii for this winter with the wasted hours. We should have been done two weeks ago.

 

[poolecw]

Are you paying by the hour or by the job? If its by the hour, you are probably being taken for a ride. There is no way that your remodel job should take that long....not if they are working everyday on it.

I'd light a fire under someone's behind!

 

[adpanko]

Yeah, I really hope you're not paying by the hour. To my knowledge, I don't think any legit contractor would charge by the hour for a bathroom redo, or if he did, it would be capped to some maximum charge when you did the contract. If it is hourly, you're almost certainly getting screwed. If you are just paying by the job, then you're not getting ripped off per se, but they are taking longer than they should.

I've done drywall and mudding in about 10 rooms in my own houses, so I'm pretty experienced, but no pro. I could do a coat on all screwheads, seams and corners in a 10x7 room in less than half a day. Probably between 2-3 hours. There is no way it would take more than a day to do the entire room. Granted, it is a multi-day job due to drying time and the need for multiple coats, but there is no reason why a single person couldn't coat the entire room in under a day.

 

[McNab2000]

We have no contract, per se. We have an agreement, that he would demolish the two baths upstairs and down, and proceed accordingly on what need to be done and that the job would try to be done as close to our budget as possible.

I've already had a discussion with guy and what I considered a waste of time and energy. I gave him a sizeable check and he tells me he will order the supplies from our local mega hardware and have it delivered... never happened. No one came out for two days because it was his work that we were waiting on, and he was having his truck fixed.

The door frame in the upstairs needs fixed, frame is split and won't close. He has the carpenter "fix" it, by putting a nail in it to make it tighter. That we felt was not fixing it. Sooo, he takes out a door that went into a bedroom, closed that off, and used that door, so now the door covers the light switch, opposite of how it did open. Just time wasters.

I like the guy, but how do I keep the job going, keep from ticking him off and not having the job sabotaged.

 

[Gary in WA]

Is it a Licensed construction company? Did you get a referral or references? Did you call any of them?
That is a long time...... The door is ridiculous. This is not a professional. He is using up your budget in time wasted to get it all. You should have a written contract. Demand to see the supplier's no-lien statement from each before any further payments, or at least final payment. Hold enough to make it worth his effort to get them, otherwise you are liable for supplies charged to your address, and name. They will legally put a construction lien on your property until they are paid in full. Go to this sister site "Contractor talk" and enter "construction lien" in the search box at the top. Get ready for some sorry stories. Be safe, G

 

[jogr]

... there have been many days when I had to be gone while they worked and I don't think they did a darn thing. How can I tell?

Maybe they are watching **** on pay-per-view while you are out. Have you checked your cable bill (and phone bill) for surprises?

Never hire anyone without a contract or with an open ended cost unless you are willing to pay whatever bill they hand you.

Your best step now is to ask the guy if the job is still coming in at $xxx (the cost you agreed on). That will tell you a lot.

 

[McNab2000]

Is it a Licensed construction company? Did you get a referral or references? Did you call any of them?
That is a long time...... The door is ridiculous. This is not a professional. He is using up your budget in time wasted to get it all. You should have a written contract. Demand to see the supplier's no-lien statement from each before any further payments, or at least final payment. Hold enough to make it worth his effort to get them, otherwise you are liable for supplies charged to your address, and name. They will legally put a construction lien on your property until they are paid in full. Go to this sister site "Contractor talk" and enter "construction lien" in the search box at the top. Get ready for some sorry stories. Be safe, G

This contractor is lisenced in everything. He had a good rep from the Building/Home and Contractors associations. I could find nothing on him on Better Business. In my talk with him I asked for a complete accounting with reciepts of everything he has done, that this was not a "blank check" job. He told me he'd have it by Monday. I'll check the phones, thanks for mentioning it (and the cable!).

 

[bjbatlanta]

Bear in mind it's hard to say for sure -"sight unseen", but the drywall finishing could have been completed in a 3 day time frame UNDER THE RIGHT CONDITIONS. If the HVAC is running and there is no problem with the compound drying, that is to say. It might be a bit longer for someone who isn't a pro. I would tape all of the joints with setting type compound (90 minute) and first coat any corner bead. After that dried, I would apply a "bed coat" with regular ready-mix. Allow to dry overnight and come back the following day, probably around lunch time, and skim coat. Again, overnight to dry, and come back the next afternoon to sand. I'd probably leave a fan running to help drying. Again, this is under ideal conditions with a good hanging job. Naturally if it's a crew member who doesn't finish much or the mud isn't drying for some reason, it would take longer.....

 

[McNab2000]

Thank you for your time line, I really did not know. This is all new to me as we've never had such an extensive remodel before. Today was another drama. Contractor shows up 30 minutes early (7:30 a.m) and goes downstairs and proceeds to remove the tile they put in yesterday around the bathroom tile. I saw nothing wrong with it at all. He didn't like it. After spending 30 minutes with the two men, one for tile, one for mudding, he leaves (after telling someone on the phone he had to be at "this" job for two and a half more hours). The tile man says he also wants to take tile out in the upstairs bathroom. Its already been grouted. The tile man doesn't work but two hours and sits outside waiting for someone to bring supplies, the mudder joins him soon after. The supplies don't arrive till almost 3 p.m. then they go home. The guy that works part time in the evening on tiles goes home upset because the contractor says his work is no good. It looked great, we all thought so, didn't know what he was on about. (I would not let him take the tile upstairs apart btw) Contractor calls later and apologizes for "his men" upsetting me, but I'm upset because nothing got done and he wants to undo what we have gotten done. I'll be so glad when this is finished.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Where are you located?
Humidty here has been a pain for painting & mudding

 

[McNab2000]

On Thursday it was horribly humid, but yesterday was perfect, only mid 70s and dry. The mudding I now see is what it is. I guess I had thought they come in and slap the stuff all over the walls, not just seams and joints, so my ignorance of construction was unjust to the mudder. I've been told this will be done soon, all of it, by next week, Lord I hope so.

 

[Bobdbuilder13]

For over a month I've had a construction company working on my bathrooms. I had three small baths. They took the two baths upstairs and turned them into one. The one downstairs, with double shower was also stripped to the studs, frame sistered, all new pipes. Tile on floors and surrounds. My question is this: This is the second day they have had a man mudding. He just did the seams and nail holes. This took him from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. He is here again at 8 am, its now 1:45, and I don't see he has done anything new. How long does it take an experianced mudder to do the seams and plaster the walls in a 10 x 7 room (and ceiling)? As I said this has gone on for over a month and there have been many days when I had to be gone while they worked and I don't think they did a darn thing. How can I tell? And what do I do. I'm beginning to feel I'm buying his contractor a trip to Hawaii for this winter with the wasted hours. We should have been done two weeks ago.

They are robbing you , fire them

 

[Gymschu]

Post is 12 years old. Job is still going on? 😂

They are robbing you , fire them