The calm before the storm Pt. II

Well, perhaps calm would not be the word for it. The work site has been anything but calm, but only now there is this inkling that the final push is on, and we just need to really get our heads around everything that needs to be done before sheetrock. Sure, you can cut open sheetrock after it is up, but it would be a shame to be constantly in a state of doing and re-doing something and potentially screwing it up big time. Some of the miscellaneous details that need to be addressed are:

-Venting- bathroom fans, clothes dryer, cooktop, etc.
-Installing a few more light fixture roughs.
-Pipe placement.
-Installation of tankless water heaters.

PADDING THE BOTTOM LINE


Despite the threat of rain, the concrete pads were poured in various spots around the house...



...and admittedly I think it turned out better than I hoped it would. And I thought I was getting a good deal on the job- we found a mason who was willing to work for $25/hour. I would just have to supply the concrete.

Well, not so fast! I was quite taken aback when I got the bill for the labor - $2200!!! So let's break this down... if I were to get a flat-price proposal for the work, including labor and materials, the going rate would have been approximately $250 per yard. On this particular job, we used 8 yards of concrete, which would have meant that it should have cost no more than $2000- INCLUDING THE CONCRETE!! So why was the labor so high? A lot of it had to do with all of the time he spent correcting the stupid mistakes that I pointed out to him (in a nice way, of course). He easily spent two days (with a helper) fixing them. I can only surmize that, although he did a good job, it was only after much trial and error. So this is one of those live-and-learn lessons- if you enter into a time and materials agreement with any contractor, you should benchmark the costs against a fully comprehensive agreement and then set a ceiling clause for labor cost. If the contractor refuses to accept this, then walk away as fast as you can.

Suffice it to say, this mason is not doing the driveway!