Do I have unreasonable expectations?

I'm asking seriously.

I don't want crappy work(ers), but also don't want to be the one nobody wants to work for.

Examples: roofers don't remove pipe, (assume they weren't told to by boss. But after I pointed it out it was done right

Roofers tried to nail back down old flashing instead of new, because boss didn't send enough. But, after I noticed and complained it was replaced a couple days later.

Now the chimney breaking the floor.

Is it: "Stuff happens" and they'll fix it, so just keep going? Just be glad they fixed it. It's normal and & the best is gets? Is it too Slow communication if its over 24 hrs for the contractor to reply to a message?

Or am I considering for settling for truly poor work?

Or maybe I'm too picky?

Tell me the truth - I'm ready!

Thanks!

IF they make good, depending on how bad the error was, you've got two choices: yes they fixed it but it should have never happened in the first place so never use them again or yes, they fixed it, and everybody makes mistakes I'll give them another chance.

I am a landlord and contractor. When I bid to put a roof on a partnership apartment building, my bid came in at $4,500. This was for a complete tear off, #30 pound felt with 30 year 3 tab shingles. New Flashing and 3 roof turbo vents.

My partners didn't like my bid so they went with a "larger" roofing contractor without consulting me. I only owned 33% of the property.

So the roofer put #15 felt on top of the old roof with 20 year shingles. No new flashing or turbo vents. The price $5,500.

The partners said they liked the job, until 5 years later it leaked and the wind took off 50% of the roof. Then the partners said they got ripped off.

I'm getting to the point where I am happy if they just show up.

Very few people take any pride in their workmanship. If you find anyone who does a good job, cherish them and treat them well.

My son was so disgusted at the work I could have done, that he took over doing most of my repairs. He does things right but, honestly, he works long hours at his regular job, makes a ton of money, and he doesn't have the time to do anything but minor repairs for me. He sure wouldn't work handyman for anyone else. They couldn't pay him enough to make it worth his while.

DJ, Here is the truth of what you are facing.

I was a contractor and landlord for years (now retired from contracting) and dealt with the same things,

This is how it is: When a person decided to make their living and career in the construction industry in a totally serious way, they get good training (often as a union worker) and they tend to work more on large commercial jobs and on HIGH END housing as a worker. IF and when they decide to become a contractor, they STILL prefer these type jobs. WHY? Because these type jobs have the budget to pay the kind of money they want to earn and deserve to earn because they have dedicated their career to it.

They generally do not work low end jobs or for investors BECAUSE these low end jobs and investors DO NOT PAY ENOUGH!Just the way it is.

Now, every now and then, you will find a real high quality worker or contractor that works lower end jobs. Usually these people are semi retired or simply WANT TO LIVE IN THAT AREA where the low end work is located.

Those are the ones you try to find.

The rest of the workers or contractors who work low end jobs fall into several categories: lazy, slobs, alcoholics, drug users, criminals, scammers, and a few more. They will try to shortcut every job, steal materials, and a hundred other problems. Sometimes though, you must use them because there are no good ones around (good ones are busy on high end work).

So, how do you deal with these problems?

USE A DETAILED WRITTEN AGREEMENT without fail. Spell out EVERYTHING. Also, you have to watch the job constantly, for they are like bad little children. They don't care what the agreement says, they intend to do what they want anyway. You MUST, repeat MUST, supervise them like you would a 3 year old. Only after/if they prove themselves can you even relax a tiny bit. Every item you spoke of is COMMON for these types. The flashing is a perfect example. They may say they ran out or forgot, but that is 99 percent BS. Any good worker or contractor would do the right thing --notify you immediately and get good new flashing and install it correctly. In fact, any good contractor would likely have identified the need BEFORE it happened and had good new flashing there. People/contractors who do not have enough materials on the job or extras on the job for things like this are not good contractors. (They can ALWAYS take the surplus back for credit at the supplier). It is FAR more expensive for a contractor to have to go back to the supplier and get a little more. It wastes time of everyone.)

So, when you must deal with average to poor workers, lay it out in advance what you expect and will not tolerate and keep control and supervise everything.

Here's a side tip: did you know some contractors deliberately order the materials a bit short? These types then usually say about 2 to 3 o'clock that "Gee, this is going to require more material. I need to go to the supply store and get it. YES< at your expense! Then they spend 2 or 3 hours getting it and come back the next morning or a few days later. And they charge you for the time to get it plus the materials. This can happen SEVERAL times on each job. Do you notice it's always 2 or 3 o'clock when this happens? If you followed them, you'd probably see them stop at their favorite bar, have a few and then either go by the supply store after that or go to the supply store in the morning before showing up late for starting work.

Well said Richard.

It is so bad here. If you get a quality contractor - pay him and be glad he could do the work. I have waited almost 2 years to get my original contractor back to have my long drive way maintenance done. I don't trust anyone else to do the work. He installed it back in 2006 did a great job at a fair price - 1000 feet long - 10 foot wide - Virgin asphalt.

He plans to start this work.

Thanks for your comments.

I see you are also mixed on whether or not to dump or keep.

Whether to keep looking for the few good ones who do smaller, landlord jobs or keep babysitting and hoping I at least catch the major goofs & they repair them.

The key irritant is: When I'm babysitting them, I'm spending a lot of time, not being free to do other things. Just running around stomping out fires isn't fun - or freedom.

So. I'm still on the fence.

I think what I'll do is get the joists & floors repaired by the people who broke them, and get their bid for adding the other framing. Also try to get a bid from the older, good framer the engineer spoke of.

Your expectations are not unreasonable. When you get that better than good contractor, you'll never let them out of your reach.

If those issues happen only once, I'd let them slide and keep using them, but the fact that they tried to "sneak in" using an old flashing worries me.

Not sure what the chimney floor thing is...maybe I missed an earlier post about this.

I think expecting a return call within 24 hours is a bit optimistic. The better contractors are often so busy that they can't get everyone called back that fast unless they have an admin person.

One thing you could do is talk to the head of the roofing company and have a "post mortem" discussion...