I think "issues being raised" is the entire point of the criticisms. Yes, Peter is fully capable of dealing with it, but the salient point is, he shouldn't have to. Since when is the owner the quality control foreman of every detail? Suppose Peter's Mom didn't have Peter to look after this?
The 90 days goal and such have not a lot to do with it. The same mistakes would have been made in double the build time IMO. It's the people doing the work, not the 90 days. Would you, as a house builder/sub/whatever, slop stuff together and call it good because the owner is in a hurry, and be proud to put your name to it? Nobody is forcing anyone on the job to do poor work that has to be redone.
The most perfect house I know of is one of my cousin's. It was built by two very talented guys who sub out very, very little of the work, if any. It took them two years, the house is a medium size. The two years was not an issue for the cousin's situation, but suppose you could add four or six other very talented people to the project, the build time would be drastically reduced. How many people have worked on Peter's project?
Peter,
I have been away today and had a lot of pasture to mow when I got home. I missed some interesting viewpoints last night and this AM. Of course you know I agree with David 1949 in his #1896 and #1902 rebuttal. Very well written and shows the homeowners viewpoint who after all is giving these guys a job and should expect good work!
I wonder what the folks mean about all the sub contractors, since you recently explained that all but a couple of the trades are direct employees of the builder and not subcontractors on call?
My real wonder is what are all these changes and add-ons you have been making? The estimated cost sheet you published a while back covers about everything but the 6 x 6 steps down the steep hill and the terracing on the other side. It had to have been developed at the time of signing before any work was done. You showed updated changes prior to the work being done and the cost allowances.
The cost of a fancy wood open staircase from the living room to the basement was changed to concrete steps in the garage before the first nail was put in the floor joist. The contractor happily agreed to do it at no additional charge. Had he done the original fancy staircase it really would have been two builds. The first, construction steps for the workers to save using a ladder or going around to the back to get in the basement. Once the garage stairs were done, think of the time it saved for the plumbing, electrical, and other work by having quick access to the basement, rather than the no steps at all way that was going to be done. The cost of the fancy staircase with the open railing in the living room priced in the original plan would have been significant and could only be done at the end of the job to protect the fancy wood from the scuffing from all the size 10-12 work boots.
You changed from stain grade trim to extruded sawdust before any trim was started. Think of the time saved making butt joint cuts, without biscuits, versus miter joints, an no coping of even the shoe molding since putty and paint will cover the gaps. There are a number of door and window frames the same size, so once the first set was cut properly with the correct reveal, the duplicates could be chopped off rapidly using the first set as measuring sticks. Takes a lot longer to cut and fit miter joints. Staining and finishing takes a lot longer than putty and paint.
You decided to not put stone on the complete garage gable and added the extension to the right of the garage of the short wall. Probably a toss up in time and materials considering no scaffolding is now required to reach the job.
I guess you may be changing some of the paint colors but since the contractor agreed that the walls need more mud and sanding, they will have to be repainted anyway.
I wonder what the second crew did in resetting the base cabinets on Sunday besides making the peninsula at 90 degrees to the wall ? Were the opening sizes off?
I guess I better post this and check to see if you posted new pics You may have already answered some of my questions.
Ron
