Home Renovations - Home Improvements
Home Repairs - Home Contractors

Welcome to the latest edition of Home Improvement Scope^TM Newsletter (previously known as GET CONNECTED!) ReliableConnections.com's monthly newsletter that brings you timely home improvement tips, news, and links to web sites of special interest to homeowners.

1. The pitfalls of sharing work with a contractor. A case study.
2. Tip of the Month - Principal Rule of project management.

The pitfalls of sharing work with a contractor. A case study.

Many homeowners try to save money by doing some of their home renovation work tasks themselves and hiring trades to do the remaining tasks. There is nothing inherently wrong with this approach, but some complications may occur and cause great deal of grief for the homeowner.

In this article I will describe real case that, despite the small size and simplicity of the project, leads to some problems for both the homeowner and the contractor.

In this true case, a homeowner, Chris, hired a handyman George, (names and some details are changed to protect the privacy of the parties) to modify an existing powder room on the main floor of a house and also build connections for washer and dryer in the same powder room. This was a relatively small project; George gave a fixed price estimate of $2500 and promised to finish the job in one week. This price was the final result of haggling by Chris, he promised to do some work items himself to keep the cost down. Chris was to supply all materials at his cost.

Chris did simultaneously some other work in the house. He himself was to remove the existing washer and dryer in the kitchen to make it available for installation in the new location. He also hired another contractor to install laminate flooring throughout the main floor of the house.

The following table describes the job tasks as the homeowner, Chris, described them, as the contractor, George, understood the request, and how it was built.

When the job was essentially completed, Chris was very unhappy; here are some of his reasons:

• The floor was not exactly leveled. The left side, near the wall was out of level by about 2/3 of an inch.
• The toilet was too far (6 inches) from the wall behind it.
• The pedestal sink did not sit properly.
• The washroom was only primed by George; Chris himself had to do the final painting.
• The job took three weeks, not just one week as promised.
• There was too much dust in his living room, all over his possessions, including a vintage stereo system.

Chris refused to pay George the final installment of $600. Additionally, Chris demanded that the toilet be moved 6 inches closer to the wall, that the pedestal sink be repaired and the dust in his living room be cleaned up. He also suggested that the floor should be made level.

Chris no longer trusted George to do this remedial work in a reasonable time and requested that ReliableConnections.com get him another contractor to repair the damage left by George. ReliableConnections.com arbitrator got involved. After talking to the homeowner, asked George, the contractor, to explain what happened. George outlined the following points:

• Chris, the homeowner, could not decide how to layout the washroom, delaying the start of the project.
• Chris did not have drywall compound available when George needed it, delaying the construction of the wall that George was to replace for free. This wall was not part of the original estimate and Chris agreed to do the final paint himself to partially offset for the extra work that George had to do.
• The new floor was slightly out of level, because the original subfloor was that way. The job estimate did not include re-leveling the floor.
• The toilet flange was installed before Chris moved the ducts and pipes in the original wall. George could not wait for Chris to make up his mind about moving the wall.
• Sink and pedestal supplied by Chris did not match; George installed it as well as possible.
• The dust in the living room was created by the people who installed the new laminate floor in the living room, and by Chris demolishing the wall in the washroom, not by George.
• Chris refused to pay him $600 that he owes and therefore George would not do any more work there. Besides, he is losing money, because the job took much longer than planned and he bought some material at his expense, namely tile adhesive.

The arbitrator refused to get involved in the details of the dispute. Most of the points in disagreement were not documented in the original job contract. He recommended that Chris should allow George to repair some of the problems in exchange for his promise to pay the $600 balance when George completes the following items:

• Rip out part of the new floor, move the toilet flange to relocate the toilet closer to the new wall. Repair the ceramic floor. Additional ceramic tiles required for the repair will be provided by Chris.
• Improve the installation of the pedestal sink.

Both parties to the dispute reluctantly agreed to the arbitrator's recommendations. However, neither the homeowner, nor the contractor were happy with the project.

What is the lesson of this situation? This project violated many principles of sound project management. It is really beyond the scope of this article to cover all details of good project management process. However here are some of the main points:

• The project plan was not properly documented, drawings were not made.
• The job proposal was not detailed enough and was not signed by both parties.
• The contractor failed to survey the site properly prior the start of the project. He did not check if the subfloor is level, for example.
• The parties did not clearly discuss and document the cost and schedule impact of project changes.
• The division of responsibility between the homeowner doing some of the work himself and the hired contractor was not clearly documented. For example responsibility for cleanup was left open.

This project is just a small example of issues that can arise when a project is not properly managed. ReliableConnections.com offers project management advice service free of charge to homeowners that have work done by contractors referred by ReliableConnections.com. This service is also available for a fee to anyone else.

Terms and conditions of our unique project management advice service that is available to all users of ReliableConnections.com are shown in this page in our website: Reliable Project Management Advice Service If you wish to take advantage of our project management assistance service, mention it in your project description when requesting your free estimate.

Related articles published in previous newsletters:

Project Management for Home Renovations
Pitfalls to avoid when looking for a competent contractor.
How can a homeowner find a contractor?

Good general reference:

Ontario Government Advice - Home Repairs and Renovations

Tip of the Month - Principal Rule of project management.

The principal rule is: Write it down! If you follow this rule and write down everything associated with your project, you will avoid 80% of all common problems. Write down your requirements and budget. Insist the contractor prepares detailed written estimate, project proposal, payment schedule. All changes in work items and schedule must be written down.

Credits:
This newsletter is written by:
Ivan Koval, President
ReliableConnections.com
Your Link to Dependable Home Contractors
Telephone: (416) 259-1400

To access any previously published newsletter, visit Homeowner Resources.

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