Friday, September 17, 2004
Some Contractors are Evil
Ok, as a departure from my normal happy detailing of the NoodleDog’s and my life, I’m going to take a different tack today and tell you all about my work.
Once upon a time, I worked at a telecommunications firm as a “Facilities Manager”, which is just a fancy way of saying I moved people around and change the office to suit their ever-changing needs. It included coordinating the moving of modular furniture, supervising the building of walls and the tearing down of walls (mostly the latter), dealing with cabling contractors/electricians and the like. All of the trades I had to deal with were reasonable – some more than others, obviously, but all certainly people I could deal with in one way or another. The job was, I’d say, even fun. And so, of course, whenever I go to a new job and they decide to redo their offices, I volunteer to help out, having been through it a million times before. My current company is moving in October, and we have secured the seventh floor of a rather nice building in the Beltline (which is just outside of downtown, but still “downtown” enough to be lacking in parking). When I started here, I was aware that this project would be coming, and volunteered enthusiastically. I did the office for the last company I was at with excellent results (except for the carpet, which I hear they cleaned with some sort of chemical treatment resulting in horrible patches of yuck everywhere, which is hardly my fault).
When I started this project, I was happy, excited and pleased to be working at something I enjoyed again rather than managing condos, which (and don’t get me wrong here, it’s really not that bad) isn’t exactly FUN stuff. However, office plans can be pretty fun, and I deal well with most of the trades, and although I try really hard to be nice, sometimes if I have to be a bitch to get stuff done, I can do that, too. Sometimes in today’s world, even though we’re in the 21st Century, construction trades, which are generally run by men, treat women as second-class citizens. I know, I know, you’re thinking “what? How can they do that in today’s day and age?”. But it happens. And the only way to get them to do what you need them to do without totally fleecing you is to either joke with them and make them WANT to help you out (and this is totally bad, but sometimes you flirt with them and make them think you might sleep with them if they finish the job in a timely fashion for 25% less than their competitors even though you probably wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole if you were blind drunk…), or you can be a total bitch to them and make them fear dealing with you. I find the former to be far more effective in most cases, although the latter is useful for the odd situation. As long as you have leverage. Never be a bitch if you don’t have leverage.
Now, for this project, my boss had sort of recommended a General Contractor, Evil Todd, stating that we’d probably just use this guy. When we met with him on-site, I asked a couple of innocent questions:
Me “So, [Evil] Todd, I’m trying to plan things out, coordinate the arrival of our furniture, stuff like that. How long do you think the walls will take?”
Evil Todd “Ha! Look now, little lady, these things take time. Best leave it to the menfolk to take care of these things and don’t you worry your pretty head about it.”
Me “Ha ha, Buster. I need to know.”
Evil Todd “Well, if you MUST know, things like this take at least ten days, ten WORKING days, mind you, and there will be other elements you probably aren’t aware of to consider. We do this sort of work all the time, so just leave it to us.”
Me ?? “Ten days?”
Evil Todd [smiling smugly]
Me “Okaaaay… Now, correct me if I’m wrong here, but I’ve done this before, a lot, and the people I have used in the past can put up steel stud drywall in about three to five days. Framing, boarding, taping, ready to paint in three to five days. And most of ‘em work the weekend if we need them to.”
Evil Todd [now frowning, and speaking directly to my boss, Dave] “That’s not gonna work for me.”
Me “Ten days is out of the question unless you can start yesterday. I need pricing by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest, and I need construction to begin by next Thursday. I need these walls done by the 20th.”
Evil Todd “I’ll get back to you on that.”
Plus, we also met with this designer chick. Now, I have nothing against her, personally, but she looked expensive (really expensive), and the price for her to put together a colour board and make useless recommendations on stuff I wouldn’t go with anyway was exorbitant (although most designers like her tend to be way overpriced, so I had kind of expected that). We will NOT be using her for our part of the project (selecting colours, “helping” place the reception station, give me a break…). As it turns out, this chick is Evil Todd’s girlfriend.
Evil Todd was evidently pissed because I’m not a vacuous bimbo he can rook, and I didn’t approve paying his expensive girlfriend’s bills (she obviously has bad taste anyway since she’s with him). He said he’d get us pricing by last Tuesday, which he did not do. I spoke to him on the phone last week, and he was even ruder than in person, and although I let it go, I was not happy about working with him. My boss kind of intimated that we’d be using this guy, so I had it in my head that I would get alternate pricing to compare to, and just deal with him. He did not provide pricing by the deadline(s) last week, which seriously set us back, causing my stress-levels to rise and the muscles in my shoulder to tense all the way up to the level of “Fuck, man, this is bad…”, although he did call my boss this week to say he’d send us something. He single-handedly delayed us by a week, and with timelines this tight, a week is not something we can really afford (although I do provide a week’s leeway in my overall plan for contingencies just like this – it’s unfortunate that it’s been used up on ONE phase of the project). I didn’t even care to SEE a bid from this asshole by that point.
Because we had been set back, I had to scramble and find new sub-trades to do this work. Getting another General Contractor would have delayed me even more, so I’m stepping up to the plate to manage this entire project myself. I’m not sure if you know this, but I’m not a construction professional. Sure, I can spot obvious errors (“hey, that wall looks like it leans a bit…” or “shouldn’t there be a door there?” or “Ouch! I’m pretty sure that switch shouldn’t spark when you touch it…”), but spotting the difference between the different weights of drywall or framing materials is not my forte. I can usually rely on my friend, Tom, to help me out, but Tom has been sick for a couple of weeks and is already way, way behind on a lot of jobs, so I can’t ask him to fly in and save the day. I will be risking it here pretty big, and hoping things turn out OK.
Luckily, as I was detailing my story of woe to the landlord, he mentioned that he has a drywaller he uses with a fair amount of success and low prices to boot. So I jumped at the opportunity and called the guy up, met with him, gave him my specs and voila! He’s starting the drywalling! As I’ve stated before, the Universe tends to want to balance everything out, and apparently has a sense of humour, so this new drywaller’s name is Good Todd.
I also went to the City and filed for a Building Permit, which (according to the landlord) practically no one does in our situation because we’re not changing much. I wanted to be covered, though, and know you should really have one even if it’s a mere formality. So now we have an application number, which is more than enough to proceed (especially since all the demolition work has already taken place!).
I secured an electrician, a mechanical contractor, flooring (it’s going to look REALLY nice) and am coordinating the furniture plan. It all sounds very exciting, doesn’t it? Well, I received a price from Evil Todd on PARTS of the work (that I have already priced out in their entirety). His pricing, which wouldn’t have included all the things that I have coordinated, was approximately 50% more than what the costs actually have come to from the sub-trades. So Evil Todd was hoping to make more than 50% on a this job? If I went with him, at the end of the project, I’d get a bill for twice what I should have? For what? Riiiight. Ok. Dear Evil Todd: Good God, NO.
His price wouldn’t even have included filing the building permit, which as far as I can tell was the most annoying part of the job (so far). I had to take my plans to the City, fill out a form, get a number and wait for a Customer Service Agent to help me. It took about a half-hour. I didn’t even get a parking ticket. I had expected at least a parking ticket for my troubles.
But so it goes. The project is back on schedule, the tension in my shoulders has diminished somewhat (although I suspect it will pick back up next week when I start to have problems with the furniture people and the installers), and I feel great that it’s finally rolling. You all have a great weekend and try to stay out of trouble.
Once upon a time, I worked at a telecommunications firm as a “Facilities Manager”, which is just a fancy way of saying I moved people around and change the office to suit their ever-changing needs. It included coordinating the moving of modular furniture, supervising the building of walls and the tearing down of walls (mostly the latter), dealing with cabling contractors/electricians and the like. All of the trades I had to deal with were reasonable – some more than others, obviously, but all certainly people I could deal with in one way or another. The job was, I’d say, even fun. And so, of course, whenever I go to a new job and they decide to redo their offices, I volunteer to help out, having been through it a million times before. My current company is moving in October, and we have secured the seventh floor of a rather nice building in the Beltline (which is just outside of downtown, but still “downtown” enough to be lacking in parking). When I started here, I was aware that this project would be coming, and volunteered enthusiastically. I did the office for the last company I was at with excellent results (except for the carpet, which I hear they cleaned with some sort of chemical treatment resulting in horrible patches of yuck everywhere, which is hardly my fault).
When I started this project, I was happy, excited and pleased to be working at something I enjoyed again rather than managing condos, which (and don’t get me wrong here, it’s really not that bad) isn’t exactly FUN stuff. However, office plans can be pretty fun, and I deal well with most of the trades, and although I try really hard to be nice, sometimes if I have to be a bitch to get stuff done, I can do that, too. Sometimes in today’s world, even though we’re in the 21st Century, construction trades, which are generally run by men, treat women as second-class citizens. I know, I know, you’re thinking “what? How can they do that in today’s day and age?”. But it happens. And the only way to get them to do what you need them to do without totally fleecing you is to either joke with them and make them WANT to help you out (and this is totally bad, but sometimes you flirt with them and make them think you might sleep with them if they finish the job in a timely fashion for 25% less than their competitors even though you probably wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole if you were blind drunk…), or you can be a total bitch to them and make them fear dealing with you. I find the former to be far more effective in most cases, although the latter is useful for the odd situation. As long as you have leverage. Never be a bitch if you don’t have leverage.
Now, for this project, my boss had sort of recommended a General Contractor, Evil Todd, stating that we’d probably just use this guy. When we met with him on-site, I asked a couple of innocent questions:
Me “So, [Evil] Todd, I’m trying to plan things out, coordinate the arrival of our furniture, stuff like that. How long do you think the walls will take?”
Evil Todd “Ha! Look now, little lady, these things take time. Best leave it to the menfolk to take care of these things and don’t you worry your pretty head about it.”
Me “Ha ha, Buster. I need to know.”
Evil Todd “Well, if you MUST know, things like this take at least ten days, ten WORKING days, mind you, and there will be other elements you probably aren’t aware of to consider. We do this sort of work all the time, so just leave it to us.”
Me ?? “Ten days?”
Evil Todd [smiling smugly]
Me “Okaaaay… Now, correct me if I’m wrong here, but I’ve done this before, a lot, and the people I have used in the past can put up steel stud drywall in about three to five days. Framing, boarding, taping, ready to paint in three to five days. And most of ‘em work the weekend if we need them to.”
Evil Todd [now frowning, and speaking directly to my boss, Dave] “That’s not gonna work for me.”
Me “Ten days is out of the question unless you can start yesterday. I need pricing by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest, and I need construction to begin by next Thursday. I need these walls done by the 20th.”
Evil Todd “I’ll get back to you on that.”
Plus, we also met with this designer chick. Now, I have nothing against her, personally, but she looked expensive (really expensive), and the price for her to put together a colour board and make useless recommendations on stuff I wouldn’t go with anyway was exorbitant (although most designers like her tend to be way overpriced, so I had kind of expected that). We will NOT be using her for our part of the project (selecting colours, “helping” place the reception station, give me a break…). As it turns out, this chick is Evil Todd’s girlfriend.
Evil Todd was evidently pissed because I’m not a vacuous bimbo he can rook, and I didn’t approve paying his expensive girlfriend’s bills (she obviously has bad taste anyway since she’s with him). He said he’d get us pricing by last Tuesday, which he did not do. I spoke to him on the phone last week, and he was even ruder than in person, and although I let it go, I was not happy about working with him. My boss kind of intimated that we’d be using this guy, so I had it in my head that I would get alternate pricing to compare to, and just deal with him. He did not provide pricing by the deadline(s) last week, which seriously set us back, causing my stress-levels to rise and the muscles in my shoulder to tense all the way up to the level of “Fuck, man, this is bad…”, although he did call my boss this week to say he’d send us something. He single-handedly delayed us by a week, and with timelines this tight, a week is not something we can really afford (although I do provide a week’s leeway in my overall plan for contingencies just like this – it’s unfortunate that it’s been used up on ONE phase of the project). I didn’t even care to SEE a bid from this asshole by that point.
Because we had been set back, I had to scramble and find new sub-trades to do this work. Getting another General Contractor would have delayed me even more, so I’m stepping up to the plate to manage this entire project myself. I’m not sure if you know this, but I’m not a construction professional. Sure, I can spot obvious errors (“hey, that wall looks like it leans a bit…” or “shouldn’t there be a door there?” or “Ouch! I’m pretty sure that switch shouldn’t spark when you touch it…”), but spotting the difference between the different weights of drywall or framing materials is not my forte. I can usually rely on my friend, Tom, to help me out, but Tom has been sick for a couple of weeks and is already way, way behind on a lot of jobs, so I can’t ask him to fly in and save the day. I will be risking it here pretty big, and hoping things turn out OK.
Luckily, as I was detailing my story of woe to the landlord, he mentioned that he has a drywaller he uses with a fair amount of success and low prices to boot. So I jumped at the opportunity and called the guy up, met with him, gave him my specs and voila! He’s starting the drywalling! As I’ve stated before, the Universe tends to want to balance everything out, and apparently has a sense of humour, so this new drywaller’s name is Good Todd.
I also went to the City and filed for a Building Permit, which (according to the landlord) practically no one does in our situation because we’re not changing much. I wanted to be covered, though, and know you should really have one even if it’s a mere formality. So now we have an application number, which is more than enough to proceed (especially since all the demolition work has already taken place!).
I secured an electrician, a mechanical contractor, flooring (it’s going to look REALLY nice) and am coordinating the furniture plan. It all sounds very exciting, doesn’t it? Well, I received a price from Evil Todd on PARTS of the work (that I have already priced out in their entirety). His pricing, which wouldn’t have included all the things that I have coordinated, was approximately 50% more than what the costs actually have come to from the sub-trades. So Evil Todd was hoping to make more than 50% on a this job? If I went with him, at the end of the project, I’d get a bill for twice what I should have? For what? Riiiight. Ok. Dear Evil Todd: Good God, NO.
His price wouldn’t even have included filing the building permit, which as far as I can tell was the most annoying part of the job (so far). I had to take my plans to the City, fill out a form, get a number and wait for a Customer Service Agent to help me. It took about a half-hour. I didn’t even get a parking ticket. I had expected at least a parking ticket for my troubles.
But so it goes. The project is back on schedule, the tension in my shoulders has diminished somewhat (although I suspect it will pick back up next week when I start to have problems with the furniture people and the installers), and I feel great that it’s finally rolling. You all have a great weekend and try to stay out of trouble.
