Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Will you walk into my parlour?

I don't know what species of spider builds this ground nest and web. It doesn't look like much to our eyes, but imagine what it must seem like to a flying insect. A comfortable landing strip? A rest stop for a drink from dew drops?

I'd be leery about this if I were a flying insect.

The guys working in the attic made some progress on Monday, but then informed us that they'll be off doing something else for two days and that we'd hear from the boss about when they'd be back, likely by Thursday. As for the progress, all but one of the closet doors are installed. The baseboard is installed, and three quarters of the last exposed wall has been drywalled.

We had an issue with mitering. That's where two pieces of wood are joined at an angle. Usually a mitered joint is cut at a forty-five degree angle. But in the case of the trim around the stairway, which was done with quarter-round strips, the ends were simply butted together. Very unattractive and unprofessional.

We pointed this out to many folks who insisted we should make the contractors make it right. So Ken talked to the guys about it and they re-did it. And, they said, they would be mitering the baseboards in and around all the corners.

Alas, yesterday's inspection revealed that only the most visible of corners were mitered. Several of them were done the lazy way. I'm sure we will never see them as they'll likely be behind something and even if they're not, it's not going to be very noticeable. But still, it makes me wonder what other corners they're cutting. Or in this case, not cutting.

I should say that these are the young guys who are likely not all that experienced. If Coco, who is off the job due to injury, were here to direct and supervise, I suspect these things would have been done differently.

6 comments:

  1. Ah, the reality of "good enough" when one is aiming for perfection. I agree that Coco being there would have had helped.

    Whenever we have had remodeling done, I end up feeling like a taskmaster, asking for too much and I'm not that picky really.
    Mitering matters! I'm glad that Ken spoke up and got the visible corners fixed.

    I'm looking forward to seeing your sunflowers! I have two little eggplant in my garden already- my first ones ever!

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  2. I'm with Evelyn. One of the most tedious things about having workers in your house is making sure they actually do what you hired them to do. Outlet covers are supposed to be straight! Is that so hard?

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  3. One of the most annoying things about having work done (and there are gazillions of annoying things) is that you have to do the project management and quality control as well. Why should one have to compromise when paying for a job to be done properly. On the other hand, it's so grindingly exhausting and stressful that I too would be inclined to say it will do so long as the bits that show look right.

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  4. We frequently would find a similar kind of spider web in our yard when I was growing up. I'd drop ants onto the web to see the spider come out to grab them.

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  5. I don't think it matters whether or not the joints will be noticeable. They should have done the job correctly without needing to be told. What happened to pride in your craft?

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  6. evelyn, ain't it the truth! Cool about the eggplant!

    chris, right? I remember in our SF kitchen I had to have some outlet covers re-done, then I actually had to ask for a baseboard between the kitchen island and the living room floor. I guess they thought the wide open joint was attractive...

    jean, not only that, but we have to do it in French.

    doug, I might have guessed that about you!

    starman, I think these guys are too young to have developed the pride part. Or the craft, for that matter.

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