Hey everybody, welcome back to Thirsty on Thursday.
Recently I was painting a few areas in the house and noticed I needed to go to the store to get some painters tape. After leaving Ace Hardware and returning home. I soon remembered how much I disliked Blue Painter Tape. Why you ask? If you have ever been in a house with a lot of punch work, the blue tape will be everywhere. I was with one of our contractors a couple of weeks ago where he wanted me to look at a near completed job. He was subbed out all the work instead of doing it himself. It was a Friday late afternoon and everyone was leaving the job. We walked into the kitchen remodel area to look over a few things. I saw dust everywhere, framing nails laying all over the countertop, trash built up in the corner, extra wires and electrical stuff thrown throughout, screws spread all around the floor and even grout on some of the cabinets.
He asked me where we should start. I told him I would start by calling his subs to come back and clean up their mess. He said it had been a long day for them and he would just do it himself. We don’t have long before the homeowners show up and these clients are always picking at stuff. Every day I come in there is blue tape pointing out something wrong.
We began looking at the cabinets and then some other situations. We started discussing some problems that were noticed or could have been designed better. He then said I will yell at my subs tomorrow when they come in and tell them to make sure to use the levels and make sure everything is plumb. At this point I am speechless. The homeowner has hired him to do the job because he is supposed to be the professional that they trust to do the job right. It’s time to start acting like it. These problems or design flaws are all easy fixes but as soon as the client notices something when they get home they begin to lose trust in the contractor. The homeowner now thinks that they have to inspect everything.
The contractor is already complaining about how picky the clients are. I wonder why they are nit picky. He has brought that on himself by not inspecting the subs work thoroughly. I’m not sure if he thought the client wouldn’t notice things or if his practices are just a little to be desired. Now if for some reason this does not get fixed quickly, the homeowners will begin to put blue tape everywhere (you know what I’m talking about). This begins the never ending punch list.
The next week the contractor will come in and not only the homeowner has blue tape everywhere but there good friend the designer noticed some things too. Now because of not inspecting the subs at the end of each day, the contractor has to please not only the homeowner but also the designer friend who is giving advice.
So remember, every job you begin, the client has a friend that knows about remodeling. You have to please the homeowner and the friend whoever it is. And your client will always listen to the friend first. So remember keep everything at the jobsite top notch, every day. Don’t let your client begin to doubt you. Keep the jobsite spotless, always high quality work and always communicate with the client even if you feel like your pestering them. If not you might have a homeowner and a friend as your new inspectors. Both will have the blue tape ready for you. See you next week.
