2020-11-20
HAPPY RENOVATI0NS
First day:
A "Project manager" showed up accompanied by a worker. Hi, I am Allan, your Project manager, this is Danny… he looked around and said: we will have to review your contract because something…
That’s a good start! I replied: alright I will discuss it with Jay (the owner of the company). No, said Allan in an authoritative way, I am your Project manager, so you deal with me for everything. Oh, I did not know, sorry (there I should have said: F*** Y**, I will discuss with Jay. I did not). Right from the top I did not like the guy. He left.
First part of the day went well. The worker was good and fast. The plan was to rip the floor, soundproof just above the lower level ceiling, and rebuilt everything. I was aware we could face surprises because the house is old. We faced a surprise - we had to dig further down to be able to install sound proofing material. I was ready for that, and for the extra cost.
I asked the Project manager to show up next morning to reassess the situation. He refused, saying no, we cannot rip the old subfloor (2nd one) because it is structural. We did not agree, to me, it was not structural at all. After arguing, at one point he asked: what are you doing in life? Well, I am not in the construction business. See, so let me do my job. I gave up - forget the first layer of sound proofing.
Second day:
I asked Danny to check with me at any crucial moment. The plan for the day (in my mind) was to level the floor (shimming), then put the new subfloor (plywood). Two layers of soundproofing and the new floor.
In the morning I received an email from the Project manager saying: we need a money transfer for the second installment. So I did send it to the owner with the password (contract number) and sent the proof to the Project manager. Jay could not enter properly the password so the bank notified me that the transaction was cancelled. Although I noticed my bank account was debited but not credited for the amount yet. Jay asked me to resend and I said, yes but I prefer to wait until my account is credited, it should not be long.
At noon I realized that the plywood subfloor was installed, and that the leveling would be done on top! I asked Danny and he told me, that’s the way Allan told me to do it, it does not make sense but I have to do it his way. It does not make sense at all according to me! We will then need another layer of plywood on top and do not have the height we need to be flush with the adjacent rooms. I said: Ask Allan to come here right away!
The guy showed up, the situation was tensed. He asked me not to interfere with the worker anymore, that they know what they were doing. Earlier Danny agreed with me in private - it was his first day with the company (did not sign any papers yet), so he did not want to argue. I realized also that it was the first day for the Project manager too! (who was this guy???). And guess what? I realized that the Project manager envisionned the two layers of soundfroof material (compact but not structural) to act as a thick plywood board would act. Crazy. At one point he decided to add a thin layer of plywood. Not enough for sure in my mind!
Third day:
Nobody shows up for work. It turned out it was a good thing. Stick around! I enquire, Allan replied, by the end of the day only, that Danny had a family emergency and he will show up the next morning.
At this point I made a phone call to my friend Réjean who knows construction stuff. He completely agreed with me and strongly suggested to destroy what they just did and restart the proper way. He could not stay long on the phone because he was starting dinner with his wife Lise, his birthday dinner party he told me. Very seriously I added, yes that was the main reason from my call! Happy Birthday Réjean! He burst out laughing, very well knowing I was lying! (I hardly remember my own birthdate).
I decided to email Jay (the owner) detailing everything and asking him to be here first thing next morning.
Fourth day:
No replies from Jay yet. Danny showed up, not to work but to pick up his personal tools (we did not share contact info). He told me he quit the morning before because of the project manager and not being comfortable with me not happy with the job, etc. So it appears that Allan lied to me.
I liked Danny, a good personnality and a serious worker.
At this time I decided to flush the contract with the company - after I asked Danny if he would work directly for me - he agreed.
I sent a laconic mail to Jay, Allan in cc basically saying: the contract is terminated, send somebody to pick up the company tools and unwanted material. We will figure out the finances later.
Jay reacted promply this time: no, no, we will fix everything, I will assign a 30 years experienced carpenter. No, Jay, the problem was not the worker, it was the Project manager. Then Jay asked me to resend the 2nd payment.
The bank and God (if he exists) were on my side. Without Jay's error typing the password and the procedure from the bank (up to six days to credit the money), the company would have hold the bargaining power over me. The way it is now, I hold the bargaining power.
I have a good relation with Jay, we will come to an agreement. I strongly suggested to terminate the Project manager (with the Project manager in cc).
They came to pick up their stuff, Danny will start Monday, it will be done correctly with me as Project manager! Promotion! Yes!
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