04-30-2013 Day 44

I called Bill to see when the custom fire pit coping tops would be ready.  Come to find out he had not ordered them yet, after saying it would be done a week ago.  At this point, my wife and I want everything done so I made Bill an offer.  In exchange for not charging me for the changes I made to the basement, he could for go the custom coping tops and just leave it a circle.  He told me that should be doable but needed to get approval.   I then level set my expectations (also texted them to him for confirmation) of what was needed to be done:

1. Keep fire pit round and no $$$ required from me for the other changes
2. Glue / lock in round coping tops in fire pit
3. Planter wall finished glue / locking in the top
4. Extra sand for pavers / missing some that I would fill in myself
5. Grass patch master to fix where product was dumped in grass
6. Touch up pen for baseboards that were damaged when carpet was installed
7. Moving blanket that was mistaken for trash and disappeared from my garage

Bill called me back later that day to tell me that they could do that have agreed to this and would be out tomorrow to glue in the few items mentioned and would drop off the other supplies for me.

04-29-2013 Day 43

Ben was back onsite to replace the basement pocket door and the mounting hardware for it.  Apparently the reason that Bill and Kyle could not get the door off the track was because the hardware was not releasing correctly.  Ben and I had to destroy the first door to have room to get the hardware off.  At that point Ben was able to mount the new door and we were good to go.  Ben also touched up a few small areas with mud and paint that the outlet covers did not fully hide.



On the left is the new door I bought, on the right the old door.  Middle, the Trim.

04-25-2013 Day41

After several hours and several voicemails I had no clue if anyone was showing up so I went to work.  Later I got a call from Bill saying that no one would be there to fix the door until Friday.  I told him that would not work as I needed to be at the office again so we agreed on Monday.

Patio:
Kyle was out to finish the patio.  The only thing is left is the cap for the fire pit.  At this point there are still no supplies ordered to complete it.

04-24-2013 Day 40

Basement:
Bill and Kyle were here to shorten the pocket door because the carpet height was stopping it from moving.  After unsuccessful attempts of taking the door off the rails, it was believed that there was not enough room for the door to come down off the latches.  At that point Bill and Kyle pulled the bottom of the door out at a weird angle and free hand cut the bottom of the door with a circular saw.  This produced 3 items:

1. The door could open and close
2. The bottom core of the door was missing
3. A couple of uneven cut marks were visible

Bill said that he would have Ben come out tomorrow to fix all of it.  At that time I asked him if it would be quicker for the door to just be replaced.  I then explained to him I did not care for the finish on the door they supplied and would be replacing it anyway.  I offered to buy a new FINISHED door to my liking after work.  He agreed to this and said that he would have Ben out the next day to install.  I told him I would text him if / when I got the door that night so he could plan around the fact that I needed to be at work ASAP in the morning.

After work, I picked up the new door, and texted Bill with the news.  I did not hear back from him that night.

Patio:
It Rained cats and dogs so no work was completed.  However we talked about what it will take to give me the octagon top.  Basically Builders Unlimited has to buy custom 16 inch deep tops to give me the look we wanted from day 1.  I heard some grumblings about the costs, but was told that it would be done.

04-22-2013 Day 38

Basement:
Carpet was installed and it looks good.  After they left we noticed a seam was not right, as you step on it you feel a bump.  Also when they rolled the carpet over the base board corners it rubbed the finish off them.  The pocket door was not cut to the correct size to account for the carpet height.  I called Bill and he said it would be taken care of.

Ben added magnets to the access panel.  Really cool!

Patio:
Kyle continued to work on the patio.  There are still no solid plans for the fire pit as it had been planned. 

Now that the Window is done, a few minor fixes in the basement and the patio is almost dome Bill started to push me to sign off that the job was complete.  What this really means is that they can get paid from the bank load we took out for the other half of the total cost.  At one point I was asked to pay an extra $2000 because they extended the patio an extra foot both ways (North to south and East to West) and this will cover the extra material costs.  After a lengthy conversation it turned out I did not owe them any things and technically they owe me an extra foot and a half going South to North.

I expressed concern that the sand base would not hold and why they were not using the paver retaining strips that keep everything locked in.  I have seen this being used on every home improvement show and did not understand why they were not using it.  Basically I made a deal with Bill that I would sign off as long as he gets things done quickly and the retaining strips would be used.  I am praying this does not come back and bite me.

04-21-2013 Day 37

It's Sunday and we had 3 guys here working on the patio.  It is looking good!

Ben and Luke came in for a half day to finish off some touch ups.  Carpet will be installed tomorrow in the basement.

Ben also finished off all the remaining tasks in the bathroom.  That project is FINALLY done.  I am still upset that it was unusable for the amount of time it was.  The tiles were not set the way we originally agreed upon, but it should be ok.

04-20-2013 Day 36

It is Saturday and the guys are here working, this is so exciting!

Walked through the following Punch Lists:

• Basement Punch List
• Multiple Wall Paint Touch-ups
• Scuff mark on Wall
• Dimmer Switches
• Recessed Outlet behind TV
• There is plaster covering my audio single gang boxes
• Ceiling needs repainted, too many areas that do not have paint.
• The window has mud and plaster all over it.  Needs cleaned!
• There is no handle on the pocket door.
• Install light timer I purchased for the un-finished side
• Several spots of drywall need to be touched up
• Fill nail holes in trim
• (2) air vent Covers
• Areas of the paint had roller lint in it
• Bathroom Window Punch List
• Two coats of primer to be applied (we had already planned to paint the entire bathroom  so we requested just primer to be applied)
• Grout color dried an off white not bright white
• Drywall / dura bond needs sanded
• Seal gap around the window
• Window needs cleaned (grout and dura bond on it)
• Tiles around window need to be cleaned
• Angle of tile will drain to window not away from it.
• The window is hard to close all the way.

When we made this punch list up we used numbered pieces of painters tape and applied to areas that needed to be fixed.  These numbers / issues were recorded on paper and given to Bill to fix.  I got the feeling he was making his own list that did not go into the details like I had.  However I will give him the benefit of the doubt because he could be looking at it as doing one big fix instead of hitting each little item.

Paver Patio:

Kyle was onsite rocking out the patio again.

04-19-2013 Day 35

Basement:
Ben hung the pocket door and did some touch up painting.  Inspector came and passed the basement, so all that is left is creating a punch list and carpet being installed on Monday.  My wife and I will create the punch list tonight.

Bathroom Window:
No work completed today.  This was the 9th day of a 1-2 day project that we agreed would be the priority to complete.

Paver Patio:
It Rained most of the day, so no work was completed.  My wife and I took the opportunity to look over the layout and plan for furniture.  We were able to determine the final location of the fire pit.

04-18-2013 Day 34

The day started with Max dropping by to see how things were going.  I know he is concerned with some of the issues we have had.  It is good to see that the sales team is still involved after the sale.

Basement:
Ben was onsite to work on the base boards and other misc items.  He is targeting to be done tomorrow.


Bathroom Window:
No work was completed today.  I put a level on the tiles  at the bottom of the window to see if the back side of them were raised.  We (Bill, Max, Matt and myself) had discussed this point to ensure that if water got in the window area it would run back into the tub. Not sure what is going to happen with this window.

Paver Patio:

Kyle was onsite and started to lay the steps and retaining wall for the planter area.  

04-17-2013 Day 33

We were out of town for most of the day, but when we arrived home we were able to look at the patio for the first time.

Looks like they were able to get the aggregate down and compacted.

The only problem we see so far is that while backing their truck and or trailer into the back yard they ran over our landscaping stones,  Three of them were cracked and many sunk into the ground.

04-16-2013 Day 32

We were still out of town.  We are not sure what was actually completed on the patio.

04-15-2013 Day 31

I am out on a business trip so no interior work will be completed.

Paver Patio:
I am not home but my neighbor called me and said that all supplies were delivered. She even sent me a pic as she was concerned about the yard.

I knew that the yard would be damaged, but Builders Unlimited was going to make an attempt to keep it as undamaged as possible.

04-12-2013 Day 30

Basement:
Ben worked on touch up painting and started the baseboards.

Bathroom Window:
Ben put the grout on the tiles,  all that is left is some cleanup, caulk and paint.

Paver Patio:
No work was completed due to the rain.


I am going out on a business trip so no interior work will be completed.

04-11-2013 Day 29

Max and Matt (one of the owners) came out to address my concerns. First they thanked me for documenting on the daily blog. It gave them an insight into their projects and the customer's point of view.

Bill arrived and the four of us walked through all three projects. Matt and max promised to stay on top of the situation and ensure that there is clear communication.

Basement:
No work today as I had to go into the office.

Bathroom Window:
Bill cut and set the tile. So now all that is left is grout, caulking, and painting the walls.

Paver Patio:
After the ground was cut and Kyle advised the plans were not correct, I created a new drawing with  dimensions and we figured out the original plans were misinterpreted. Between Bill, Max, Matt and myself we agreed that the new drawings were accurate.

04-10-2013 Day 28

Well today was "fun"! Note to self: Invent a method of showing sarcasm on the Internet. Without going into all of the details, basically the agreed upon priorities, time schedules for each job, and the resources doing the tasks are not being upheld. There was no communication coming from Builders Unlimited to give me a heads up that our agreed expectations were changing.

I am the type of person that gives every situation the benefit of the doubt. I know there are a million reasons that things change will change. Normally when I start getting frustrated I have an open and honest talk with my contact. This talk is to explain my point of view and reiterate my expectations. If the agreed upon expectations are then not met, I escalate.

Yesterday was the conversation with my contact and today I escalated. Not only did we start a third project without working on any of the items discussed yesterday I now cannot reach the project manager. I escalated to my sales rep Max who escalated to Matt.

After several phone calls and Bill being MIA we all agreed to meet in the morning to discuss. Max and Matt were genuinely concerned about my issues and made feel like this would not happen again.

As far as what was actually completed....

Basement:
Ben finished touch up painting and painted the ceiling.

Bathroom Window:
No work completed

Paver Patio:
Kyle arrived and started to dig out the patio area with a machine. By the end of the day the hole was dug, and they were ready for the paver base.

In the process of digging they did snag my cable tv line that was buried. Thankfully we did not suffer any outage from this.

Kyle advised me that the dimensions on the patio drawing did not look correct. I had to agree with him because looking at the hole and comparing to the drawing something did not look right. However it was 7pm and we agreed to look at it in the morning.

04-09-2013 Day 27

The day started off as usual Ben arriving at 7:30 and the two of us reviewing the plan for the day.  We figured out that Kit was supposed to be on site doing more than one task and we knew that we had a conflict.  Kit was supposed to be finishing up the bathroom window all day. However, Bill told Ben that Kit was supposed to be assisting with the ceiling texture in the basement. I called Bill to confirm what the plan was and it sounded like he was not going to work on the bathroom window at all today.  At that point I explained that the bathroom needed to be the priority as it is affecting the entire household by not having the second shower available.  This 1-2 day project was now rolling into day 5 with at least another 3 days being planned. We discussed the steps needed to be taken so the bathroom would be completed in the next 2 days.

Basement:
Kit actually never made it out today, so Kyle was pulled from another customer's project to help Ben.  Then Ben and Kyle worked all day and got the ceiling stamped out.








This is the stamp that used when the house was originally built in 2001.  If you recall from earlier posts, Builders Unlimited stated that it would be similar but not identical due to getting the same brush.

This is how the ceiling looks after Ben and Kyle stamped it out.  It is close enough to pass, but as they stated not the same.












Bathroom Window:
With the morning drama described above, Ben was tasked with getting the walls prepped for laying the tile. Originally the raw studs were going to be covered by green board and Dura bond would be used to make a seamless transition to the wall.  Because of the last minute change up, regular drywall was used and caked with two coats of Dura bond.  It was explained to me that green board was Dura bond in a sheet form.  I reiterated my concerns about having water tight seals and making sure that I will not have any water problems in the future. The last minute changes due to staff and not having products at my house worried me.  Both Bill and Ben explained to me that there would be no issues.  Ben was able to get the drywall up and both coats of Dura Bond up today before leaving.

Window after two coats of durabond

Paver Patio:
Bill had no answer yet on the paver delivery and seemed to be up in the air about who was actually was going to do the work.  He mentioned options of having a "crew" come out to do it, or just having Kyle do it.

04-08-2013 Day 26

Since I now have three projects going on I will break each of them out:

Basement:
Over the weekend my wife and I walked through the basement putting blue tape over any imperfections that we saw as Ben requested. We also decided on a ceiling texture and let Ben know of it. Ben worked all morning fixing those spots, but had to leave before noon for personal reasons. 

Notice the inside was not touched as you can see studs and tile still over the hole.

Bathroom Window:
Kit and Kyle showed up today and started working on the window. With some help from Ben the window was secured in and the outside work completed. I was told that Kit would arrive tomorrow to finish up the tile work. The bathroom is still unusable, but we are already seeing the benefits of having this window installed. The lighting and airflow is exactly what we wanted.

Paver Patio:
Bill advised me that the pavers should be delivered any day now.

04-06-2013 Day 25

No call and no show from anyone from Builders Unlimited as promised for today at 9:00am. After they were an hour late, I contacted Bill around 10:00 and left a voicemail. At 11:00 (two hours late) I called Bill again and left another voicemail. After no response from either of my voicemails I called Bill again around 12:00 (three hours late). Still no answer and I left another voicemail. Finally, Kit calls me sometime after 12:00 saying that Bill gave him my number. Kit's jeep broke down and he was having trouble getting out here. Kit told me that he would try to get the Jeep up and going so he could still make it out today. I told him since it was so late in the day already, not to bother trying to come out because I had other plans, and we had no guarantee as to when he could actually make it out.

We were upset because we called Bill three times and left three separate voicemails and he never got back to us.

This is how my bathroom was left all weekend making it unusable.

04-05-2013 Day 24

The day started off with Bill calling to let me know that he could not find the correct brush to do the texture on ceiling that I want. He asked me if going with a plain flat painted ceiling would be ok, explaining the benefits of keeping it un-textured. I told him that I was not sold on this idea and I would have to talk it over with my wife. However, I did let him know if we would just be painting the ceiling, I would expect some type of credit back.

I called Max today to discuss a few things with him, one of which being the texture issue. He re-iterated that it would not be identical but similar, however this time he added because getting the same brush could be impossible. The perception I had going into this was that it was going to be slightly different because of these reasons : the technique the original guy used is not the same anyone else would use; Materials have changed since I bought the house 12 years ago; And techniques for mixing the mud are different every time.  Not the reason that "We may not be able to find the same brush." If I would have known that, I would of had a lengthier conversation about this in the very beginning.

I also asked Max about the use of sub contractors. As pointed out before, we were told that all of the workers would be from Builders Unlimited, and later found out that they do in fact use sub contractors. Max explained that they are not truly "sub contractors," they are 1099 associates that are under a non-compete contract with Builders Unlimited. This is common practice in my computer profession, so this eased my mind some.

So with Max's comments and it being Friday, I asked the crew to use some of the spare drywall and mock up options with the brushes they had. My wife and I would make a decision over the weekend.

Ben started to paint the walls with our color selection.

The Bathroom window guy did not show up as promised. Bill asked Kit to come out to start on the Window late morning. There were a few trips to the hardware store, but Kit started working on it by drilling pilot holes through the side of my house.  This led to roughing out the inside of the wall.  Around 2:00 PM Kit and Bill decided that it was getting too late in the day to cut the outside of the wall, and scheduled to be out tomorrow (Saturday) with two guys.

04-04-2013 Day 23

The ceiling texture expert could not be scheduled so Ben and Kit spent most of the day practicing and testing their skills on my new ceiling.  Everything was scraped off when they could not get the right texture. It came down to not having the correct brush to stamp on the right texture. I spent some of my time researching it, and came up with what I thought was the correct brush. It turns out that I was wrong. Ben advised Bill, and he was going to get the correct brush for the next day.

Ben and Kit applied the second coat of primer and fixed minor imperfections in the paint.

Bathroom window was delivered today. Bill said he was going to have a guy come out tomorrow that could get the window installed in one day.

04-03-2013 Day 22

Ben finished all of mudding and sanding that needed to be done today. A discussion about how the ceiling was to be textured was raised today. I told them what I was sold on was for the texture to be as close as possible to the rest of the house. They were pushing trying to do a knockdown style and this is no where close to what the rest of my house is. Ben relayed this to Bill and he is going to get a guy scheduled to assist Ben that can do textured ceilings.

First coat of Primer was applied to the walls today.

Bathroom window should be in tomorrow.

04-02-2013 Day 21

Ben and Bill were both here today. The basement window issue was taken care of by ripping out the surrounding 1/2 inch drywall and replacing with 1/4 inch pieces. Every corner of the drywall got the third coat of mud applied.

Sanding started today and precautions were taken to prevent dust from getting to the rest of the house.

Talked with Bill and he is going to schedule the carpet vendor to come out for us to select a product.

Also, we were asked today to pick out a paint color for the walls.

04-01-2013 Day 20

No work done today as I had to be in the office. But here are some current photos.