What are the odds?

Do you think a finish nailer has enough power to shoot a nail through a copper pipe? I'll spare you the research.....it does. It's difficult to do, of course. Most times, the nail will glance off to one side or another. If the stars align, however, and you get it juuuuust right, though, that nail will go right on in.

You might think that, having just shot a 2 1/2" nail into a 3/4" water supply pipe, you'd know....right? Actually, no, you probably wouldn't. You see, pneumatically driven finish nails are coated with glue. That glue is solid until the nail is fired. The speed with which the nail enters the wood.....er......pipe creates friction, which creates heat, which softens the glue. Once firmly embedded in the wood....er.....pipe, the glue hardens, creating a tenacious bond.

In wood, this makes the nail very difficult to pull out....a benefit. In a copper pipe, the glue serves as a sort of sealer, if you will, which keeps said pipe from leaking......until 8 or 9 months later when the nail itself rusts away enough to permit water to spray with surprising force from such a small hole.

This, of course, occurs in a cavity which has been sealed behind drywall, and so is not immediately apparent. What is apparent is the effect of several gallons of water on an acoustic tile ceiling below. It will need to be replaced.

Luckily, my client was home when the leak started, and had the presence of mind to shut off the water to the house. The plumber was able to find the leak quickly, and repair it this morning, so all is now well.

So, what's the lesson here? Look at the picture carefully. Do you see any metal kick plates on the bottom wood plate in front of those two pipes. Nope. Why not? As happens from time to time, that part of the job was overlooked. If you look even more carefully, you can see that the studs themselves were trimmed back in width (necessary to meet code requirements for hallway width).

The pipes, which prior to the stud trimming, sat comfortably in the middle of the wall, are now closer to the edge....within range of the nail gun. The plumber, whose work occurred elsewhere in the house, made sure to kick plate all of his work, as he always does. We, on the other hand, goofed, and didn't notice the hazard.

We'll get things put right, but you can be sure that this episode will prompt closer scrutiny in the future. They say you only really learn lessons that you pay for. After twenty five years of doing this, I oughtta' have a PhD by now!

Breaking up is hard to do..

I haven't broken up with anyone since...college, I guess. I think another one's coming though. And no, don't worry, it's not my wife!

I had a long phone conversation with my tile sub the other day. It seems he's concerned that his prices are getting too high and that it might be causing me to lose jobs I would otherwise get. Assuming that was the case, he wondered whether it made sense to keep bidding work for me....kind of a waste of time if the price is going to put me out of the running.

He further mentioned that he really enjoyed working with me (one of the few contractors he can say that about...I'm so proud) but that, with only two crews in the field, he is able to get a much higher hourly rate working directly for homeowners and so, the discount he gives me is getting harder to justify. Well, he's no bargain, I can tell you that, but damn, man! his work is impeccable, and he's just really easy to work with.

Anyway, I understand where he's coming from, and I can't really fault him for being honest, but as he was talking, I couldn't help thinking of that old breakup line..."It's not you, Mike, it's ME! It's just not working anymore..." Well, I've heard that a few times in my life, and it always stings a little...even if it did make me almost chuckle on the phone!

So I don't know if we're quits yet, but I can see it coming. I could suggest counseling, but I think we both know the truth. He's got to do what he's got to do, although I might question the long term wisdom of giving up a guy who (when times are better, at least) sends a few jobs a year his way. We'll see, I guess, but right now, I kind of feel like I'm back in high school!

Anyone know a fantastic tile guy?

Mr. Smith goes to Washington...sort of

A couple of things happened recently that have made me think more about what I, as a citizen can do to further the interests of my industry....not in a bad way, mind you, but to make sure that government OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people actually listens to, well....the people.

The first happened a few days ago, when I received a call from Dave Merrick, who is in charge of NARI's Legislative Affairs Committee. Apparently, Maryland is considering enacting a tiered contractor licensing system, similar to Virginia's. The gist of it is that there would be different classes of licenses which would allow contractors to do different sized projects. Smaller contractors, with a limited amount of experience and capital, would only be able to undertake smaller projects, and so on up the line.

According to Dave, the Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC) had contacted NARI; requesting its input into the proposed changes. As the chair of the relevant committee, Dave thought it would be a good idea to solicit input from the big guys, the middle guys, and guys like me....the little guys. He thought I probably had an opinion and that I was articulate enough to express it well. I do and I am, and I, along with the big and middle guys will be meeting next week with a representative from the MHIC, to talk about things.

I'm looking forward to it, and I have to say I am impressed that MD would think to do such a thing, considering how often rules and regulations appear and get rammed down everyone's throat. Which leads to the 2nd thing.......

Today, for the first time in my adult life, I wrote a letter to my Senator (Cardin, in this case), asking him if he wouldn't mind looking into how the EPA has gone about enacting and modifying the recent Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting law (more information here: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm) Unlike the MHIC, the EPA has, in my opinion, presented our industry with a fait accompli; a law whose expressed goal is the protection of customers and workers from the hazards of lead dust, but which, in practice, will increase costs greatly and, in the end, fail to have the desired effect.

I'm not setting out here to debate the law, really. It is what it is, and I and my colleagues in the industry are trying as best we can to obey it. We do have some issues with it, though; issues which could have been addressed prior to its enactment, had the EPA done as the MHIC is doing.....consulted those whom the law will affect most heavily. And so today I wrote my Senator, and asked for his help. Oddly enough, I've had some positive experiences with "the man" recently, so I hope I'm not being too naive.

I feel like Mr. Smith, though!

Good Karma

An interesting thing happened today. The other day, I was doing some long overdue job costing, and noticed that, on an addition I had completed early last fall, my actual costs for the electrician's work were 1/3 less than I had budgeted. After digging around a little bit more, it became apparent that he had never sent me a bill for the final third.

Now, I'm never one to chase someone down to give them money, but it was clear that I owed him for the work, so the ethical thing to do was pay the man. So I cut a check and put it in an envelope with a note apologizing for the very late payment, and asking to PLEASE! bill me promptly!

So today, he dropped by one of my jobs to do a bit of work, and I let him know that he should be expecting a check shortly, and why. He looked a little chagrined and told me that he had forgotten to bill me for so long that, by the time he remembered....several months later....he decided not to send the bill, for fear that I'd be pissed. He also mentioned another job...long since completed....that he had opted not to bill me for for the same reason. Lastly, he mentioned that, on my last payment to him, he thought maybe I had overpaid him.

My electrician is a GREAT guy. He does excellent work, is prompt, easy to get hold of, keeps the job clean, is unfailingly honest and is an all around professional. What he is NOT, though, is very diligent about paperwork.

Anyway, after I told him I'd look into that other job, and the possible overpayment, I reamed him for not billing me quickly, when I still had the money hot in my hands. It's not that I couldn't pay him, but that it puts an unanticipated hit on the ol' cash flow. I reminded him that, as nice a guy as I am, I seldom chase people down to pay them and that, unless I have a bill in my hands, the odds are better than even that I'll forget all about it.

Lastly, though, I thanked him and he thanked me in turn for being honest and above board. I've said before how much I appreciate those I work with. We look out for one another and none of us would ever knowingly take advantage.

And that, in the end, is one of the reasons I love where I am and what I do. I am, daily, in the company of quality people, and money just can't buy that.

By the way, if you're looking for an outstanding electrician, give Anthony Pizzino of Live Electric Design a call at 301-802-4762, or at anthony.pizzino@yahoo.com

A Modest Proposal

OK, so you’re finally so sick of that old bathroom that you decide to actually do something about it. Smart consumer that you are, you ask friends for referrals, maybe check Angie’s List or, my favorite, go to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry’s local chapter website: www.narimetrodc.org and start your search for reputable folks to come in and make everything shiny and new.

After you’ve talked with a few people, you’ll begin to get some pricing back. Some are higher and some lower. Some are pretty detailed, and others might be handwritten on a one page NEBS form. You might even get a number scrawled on the back of a business card.

What do you make of these different approaches? Do you have questions after reading through them all? Are you satisfied that the contractor understood what you wanted, and that he or she has put together a proposal that reflects what you actually would like built? How do you know?

I believe in more information, not less. When a potential client reads one of my proposals, I want them to say “Wow! This guy is DETAILED! He must really know what he’s doing!” Judging from the reaction of many people to whom I’ve given proposals, this IS what they think. That pleases me, because that is how I want to be perceived.

For as much as I might be seen as detailed and knowledgeable though, it doesn’t always follow that I’ll get the job. Price is important, and looking into projects as closely as I like to means that I’m not always the least expensive guy out there. Shocker, I know, but I don’t actually end up working for most of the people whose projects I look at. That doesn’t cause me to question what I do though, since I don’t want EVERYONE to buy what I’m offering.

My ideal client (personality traits aside!) is someone who has good taste, a sufficient budget for the work and, most importantly, values the detail I put into not only the proposal I give, but the work that comes after. So, what does a detailed proposal mean?

A detailed proposal means that your potential contractor has taken the time to look at your project, go back to his or her office and actually THINK about it. This thinking, before the first spade of earth has been turned, means that your contractor won’t have to reinvent the wheel on the fly while the job is underway. He or she will know how things are going to go, because that’s the way they’ve planned them. Put another way, thought beforehand pays dividends later on.

In the end, I believe the goal of a thorough proposal is to leave little doubt as to what will be done, how long it will take, what materials will be used, what it will cost and what it will look like. Have a look at a typical proposal of ours, and I think you’ll see what I mean.

Sample Proposal

The meaning of .33

Last week, I ran into an architect for whom I have bid a few jobs over the last several years. I haven’t gotten any of those jobs, but that’s another story, I suppose. Anyway, we chatted briefly, and I asked him what had ever happened to the most recent project I had bid for him, a year and a half or so ago.

The project, a pretty substantial interior remodeling, had been bid out to two established firms; mine and another. When the prices had come in, we were both pretty close to one another; mine being a little bit higher, but both in the neighborhood of $375k. The client, however, was unhappy, as both prices were well north of what he wanted to spend.

When we last communicated, the client told me that, since the numbers just weren’t working for him, he would likely sell the house, and buy something that worked as it was. In any event, he said, I was unlikely to do the work if it went forward, as mine was the higher of the two bids. So, there I left it, and moved on.

Maybe that was just a sop to me, but, apparently, after a little more thought, the homeowner decided that HE could act as the general contractor, hire out the various skilled labor sets, oversee and schedule their work, provide the materials, and save himself a goodly sum of money. Apparently he did save some money (at least up front) and, according to the architect, managed to contract nearly the same scope of work for something like 2/3 of what I and the other bidder had proposed.

So I asked the architect how the project had turned out in the end, and he said not so well. He said further that it looked like a lawsuit was in the works….not against him, but by the homeowner against some or various of those whom he had hired to build his project….many of whom, evidently, were not at the top of their respective crafts, but a lot less expensive.

It‘s not surprising to me that things turned out as they did. The knowledge that an experienced general contractor brings to the management of a project of that size is considerable. Also considerable is the temptation to believe that all of that knowledge is not worth nearly what is being charged and that with a little homework, any reasonably intelligent person should be able to do that job.

I’m not here to toot my own horn; only to say that it just ain’t so. There was a guest on NPR not long ago, who was talking about super memory, and who used as examples, people who are so proficient at what they do, that they are able to bypass certain portions of their brain, and do what they do almost intuitively.

We’ve all seen people like that, right? People like Tiger Woods bouncing a golf ball on the end of a club, or in a more mundane way, the accountant who can figure out your taxes in a few minutes, while you would be stumped for hours. It’s not effortless on their part, but they’ve done it enough that they no longer have to think about the basics. It's automatic.

My profession is no different. Over almost 25 years of doing what I do, I can see a job schedule before the job starts. I can see problems that will arise when one material is used improperly with another. I can look at finished work and know, almost instantly, whether it was done properly, and how it was done. I can listen to a sub or a vendor (or even a client or architect) feed me some line and know whether it’s BS or not. I can see the finished job in my head, before it’s built.

Do these abilities make me superhuman, you might be tempted to ask? Uh…..no, sadly. They do, however, make me experienced and so, by extension, valuable. When you hire me or another experienced contractor to coordinate, build and oversee your project, you are NOT just hiring the individual components of what we bring to the job….the carpenters, the masons, the drywallers, the tile setters, the painters and so on. What you ARE hiring is a team, of which the general contractor is the leader.

This high functioning team did not just spring into being. It was built over many years of working with the same people, over and over; adding and culling members until what is left is a group of people who do what they do quite well, who work happily together and who look out for one another; producing high quality projects in a timely and efficient manner….a team that minds the details from the first shovelful of dirt to tightening the last screw (aligned vertically, by the way….a little OCD, I know) on a switch plate.

Is THAT worth 1/3 of $375k? I’m not the homeowner, so I’d leave him to answer that question. Living in a screwed up house with not a straight wall in sight, an HVAC system that doesn’t properly heat or cool and moving forward with a lawsuit that is bound to cost another good bit of money though, I’d have to think his answer might be different now than it was a year and a half ago.

I can poke out my eye with a stick….but I wouldn’t call it surgery.

What does your team look like?

About two years ago, my company designed and built a master bathroom renovation for a terrific client. In the end, the job came out looking wonderful, and I’m sure I could win an award with it….if I ever get around to taking some professional photos of the job…or even some decent ones myself.

A few weeks ago, my client called to let me know that there seemed to be a bit of a leak at the shower, and could I pop by and have a look? Water being my mortal enemy, I went straight out. It seemed to me that the plastic stripping on the shower door had become a little out of whack, and that water was getting through and pooling on the floor. I put in a call to the folks that installed the door, and they said they’d be happy to come out and make sure everything was in order.

Well, wouldn’t you know, before they had a chance to come out, I got another call from the client saying that there was A LOT of water coming out now…more than you would expect from a misaligned plastic strip. Uh oh.

I called my tile setter, since this now seemed to be a potential problem with the waterproofing membrane. Turns out he has his crew take digital photos as their work progresses. He threw them onto his laptop and met me out at the site this morning.

By looking at what was now buried under finished work, examining carefully what was there now, and water testing the shower (I even brought a swim suit and a towel…just in case!) we were able (I think!) to figure out just what was going on, and how best to fix it.

In the end, he agreed to send a couple of his guys out next week to take care of the problem at no charge. The job is out of warranty for both of us, but since it was a problem with the initial detail, neither of us could, in good conscience, bill for the work. It just needed to be made right.

As I left the job, I thought to myself how fortunate I was that my tile setter had those photos. Musing some more, I thought how fortunate I am to work with subcontractors who have that kind of forethought, first of all, but who are also smart and solid professionals who stand behind what they do. It’s not just my tile setter that acts this way, it’s most of the people I work with.

These people make my job easier. They do what they say they will, WHEN they say they will. They are experts at what they do, and they own their work, whether it’s two months or two years later. Together, we are an excellent team; a team of which I am proud to be the captain.

Are we the least expensive team you can hire? We’re not, but ask yourself this: The people you hire to work on your home or car, the doctors whom you entrust with your health, even the friends you rely on to help you along in life….are they “A” players? What about those that surround THEM? What about THEIR team? What do YOU value most?

There’s a fine line between cost and value, to be sure, but if pressed, I think I come down on the side of quality first. It’s why I surround myself with those sorts of people and companies. I pay them well, when I’m sure I could find someone to do the job for less. In the end though, I am rewarded by a guy who has pictures I need to see and who knows how and is eager to fix the problem right away. I’ll take that deal any day of the week.