I Am Looking For The Post....

Leo G

That had the client emotion chart in it.

This was a chart that showed a graph in which the emotions of the client were gaged at the time of the project. When they first signed the contract the emotion was high, in the middle of the project the mood was low and when it was finished it was back high again.

I searched a few different ways but couldn't located it, if anyone knows the thread of where the chart could be found it would be appreciated.

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SethHoldren

Here ya go.

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Cole

What are you going to use it for?

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Grumpyplumber

To explain to problem customers that they're actually s'posed to be happy once the job is done.

Leo G

Ya, that's the ticket.


Now that the project (phase I) is over I want her to see that what she went through is normal. I only saw this chart a short while ago here and thought it seemed pretty accurate. So when phase II comes up she will know that what she went through is normal. This was a 6 month $800K project. Nerves were frayed on both ends. They thought we should be working faster, we thought the decisions should have been made before the project was underway not in the middle...

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Cole

Oh I see.

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Leo G

I put pics up in the current job picture post, page 1 I think.

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Grumpyplumber

I'm just curious as to how they sneak the electrodes for the moodmeter on the customer...

Grumpyplumber

Tried to find them, nothing under your screen name as a thread starter.

- Construction Picture Post - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

Leo G

http://www.contractortalk.com/f11/post-picture-your-current-job-44440/

Posts #25 & #45 on pg 1, #106 on pg 3

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neolitic

If she ain't happy with that.....

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Cole

I agree.

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Grumpyplumber

Judging by the first picture, it looks like you painted ...that sucks, the woodwork is real nice.
Great work.

Leo G

I didn't paint, I primed. And it's Poplar so I wouldn't want to stain it anyway. It is an older house and they like the painted look. I was surprised when he wanted the Sapelle' room, it was unlike them.

It's not that The HO's weren't happy with the wood work. It was just the long process to get to completion. They thought all the work was going to be done in 3 months. Where they got this number I haven't a clue. The GC who is running the project inherited it from a framing crew who was totally clueless. Everything was wrong and had to be fixed or redone. This alone added a month and a half to the project. Even though this happened the HO expected the same time frame to be in place.

They called me slow. Even though they don't have any clue as to what goes on to make this type of woodwork. Of course they never called me slow to my face, only behind my back to the GC which in turn relayed this info to me so I would at least have a clue as to why they were in the moods that they were in. They would hold up on making important decisions to the last minute, after we had told them that the work would come to a halt without them. After the decisions were finally made they would expect instant results. They don't have a clue that ordering materials takes time, that figuring out how to implement the non-normal woodworking takes designing and planning. Those white boxes in the MB with the herringbone floor took me 15 hours of thinking just to figure out how to get everything to work, fit, look good, and be accessible for repairs down the line if something went wrong. All they said was it looks so simple, how could it take you so long to think of that. It looked simple because I did a great job of thinking out and planning the project instead of rushing into in and causing a cluster*@!#.

Bottom line is they have lots of money and think because of this that they are entitled to everything they see in their minds. That my time, family time, weekends etc are theirs for the taking as long as I was working on their project. At one point I told them I work 50-60 hours a week on your stuff and that is all you are going to get. He constantly said to the GC that I must be working on other stuff because it took me so long to do their stuff. Little do they know it does take that long to do their stuff. I am not the quickest, and I know that, but I do a great job and it looks impeccable in the end. Quality, not quantity is what I strive for, and that is what they pay for too. Now that the project is coming to an end they are realizing what a beautiful job everyone has done. I know they will be more than happy with everything. They are just not happy on how long it took. Plus it didn't help that he is being beaten up in the stock market.

Phase II is coming up. It will be run by the same GC and I will likely be doing the millwork because I have all the custom cutters and know the ins and outs of what they want. But this is going to be run completely different. The GC has told me that ALL the decisions will be made before the project gets started. This way the thousands of feet of molding that I will need to run will be done and stored away until they call for them. All I will have to do is load up and drop off. Same with most of everything else. I don't think this job is going to have as much fancy woodwork. The only room I know that will be elaborate is the Grand Dinning Area. I hope I get the job, I think

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Mike Finley

YOW! Thatza some nice work!



Yeah, that looks like a week end project.

The homeowner didn't drop the "I'd do it myself if I had time" line on you did he.

Some of these people need to learn about the great mansions and homes built at the turn of the century, especially the armies of tradesman who worked on them for years at a time.

I hope the GC had the balls to run interference for you. Sometimes our tile setters will take longer than usual on an intricate job (usual is a stupid word but I can't think of anything else) and if customers start saying things about the progress, I defend my subs and their work.

I usually give them something along the lines of -

"Two years from now when you are enjoying your new bathroom you won't remember the few extra days it took to complete it pefectly. But if we rush it today and sacrafice quality, you will live with the imperfections forever."

Awesome work Leo!

Leo G

Ya, he does. He understands what it takes to make this kind of woodwork. He has showed up at my shop unannounced to find me working on the HO stuff and reported doing so. Still the HO doesn't believe it takes that long to do it. The GC gave me a great compliment, he said to me "That the only good thing to come out of this job was the fact that we found you." I am already doing some work for him for one of his other long standing clients. We both realize the HO are full of it. They want their stuff and they want it yesterday. Just like everybody does. Except they seem to be serious about it.

I have made some wainscoting for their upstairs hallway and over the staircase. I made the panel that runs up the stairs and still need to make the panel that goes on the side of the stairs on the lower level. The lower level panel is suppose to have the center panel be an out swinging door to access the under the stairs for storage. They want it to be invisible. I keep telling them that I cannot do this with an out swinging door with a raise panel structure. If it was a recessed panel with an overlay molding it wouldn't be a problem. Needless to say I need to go up there to "discuss" this with them so they can tell me what they want me to do whether it is possible or not. They want what they want, they don't care if it can be done realistically or not. They just want it. Here is a pic of the panel that goes up the staircase in my spray room, it really looks small because of the compression effect of the wide angel lens. The dimensions are 13' 4" along the hypotenuse, 9'4" tall (left edge) and 10'2" long. It is pretty much to big for me to handle. The wainscoting took me a week to make and prime and the panel below took 2 days and a few more hours. I just hope I can get it to their house 25 miles away in my truck safely.



After it gets installed I'll have more pics.

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neolitic

Sounds kind of familiar somehow.


Leo, You've met 'em before.
You'll meet 'em again.

Why can't you just repeal the laws of physics
and why wouldn't you just devote 36 hours a day
to their project.
How dare you, you lowly tradesman!

That is the best part of this place.
Other guys who get it.



And a chance to look at some really pretty work.

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Leo G

I ordered the 32 hour days about two months ago. They're still on backorder.

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Grumpyplumber

DAM Leo...and I thought my customers were rediculous at oversimplifying.
Sucks when ya pour your heart into something to be met with negativity and a complete underestimation of the difficulty.

Screw 'em...looks like the verdict is in here.