mrB said:
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The designer committed suicide??!! They refused to pay other contractors 20k bills . . And you went back to work for them?? Jesus Peter you must have needed work.
I was wrong about the date - it was late summer 2018. I am not too proud to say that there have been several times during the twenty-one years I worked for myself that I was on the brink and did do work despite the distaste so that I could pay my bills.
Another VERY LONG example from exactly 10 years ago:
Although carpentry was my primary occupation I also had a second company that managed planned communities, condos, and townhomes. It was set up originally as a company to employ my wife but turned out to be something I eventually ran entirely. I managed one community for twenty years and also did carpentry contracting work there where it was feasible after we worked out all potential conflict of interest issues. I also did some work for the individual owners at their decision.
In 2014 I was not feeling well and things again were financially rough. One of the Owners (let's call him X) approached me about replacing the wooden walking surfaces going up to his second floor condo. He wanted to switch from pressure treated 1.5" thick lumber to 1" thick synthetic. He needed me to do it while his family was staying there and that was their only means of ingress/egress. There were two sets of steps - both more than 7 feet wide at the shortest width. And because of the use of a thinner decking material every piece of framing had to be shimmed 1/2" taller to make up for the reduce decking board thickness. And the steps needed to have stringers or supporting framing every 9 inches per the decking manufacturer's requirements.
He would supply the decking material and the hidden fasteners and I would supply the remainder as well as the labor. he would reimburse for the materials I purchased up front and then I would be allowed one partial labor payment draw. Any extras would be charged at my hourly rate for labor and actual cost for materials. A detailed proposal was draw up and I luckily required a signature. That was unusual for me because I worked on a handshake and only got screwed over twice in the twenty-one years.
So X ordered the Trex decking from Lowes but couldn't get I everything I needed. He also got the wrong fasteners that would have voided the warranty. He expected me to then go pick it all up. Nope. I made him pay to have it delivered and placed in his garage . I had to order the remainder, the special router bit and the correct hidden fasteners. He paid me for the materials that I had purchased although he groused about paying for the Trex router bit needed for some of the boards.I was all ready to get started although I was feeling terrible and had lost about 20% of my body weight (and anyone who has met me could tell you I never was a big guy with a lot to spare.)
Then I was diagnosed with an odd form of testicular cancer that had formed a huge tumor in my back. I tried to schedule the medical stuff for after the work was done but it was explained to me in very clear terms that I had two weeks before I would be untreatable. The tumor was growing around my heart at a rate of about 10% per week per the imaging and I was now stage 3 including bone cancer of the spine. I explained all this to X and started to bust ass betting things done before I headed off for treatment. Got the first landing done and in doing so realized that productivity was down to about 25% physically and then the conditions I was working under - especially allowing constant access to his home was not helping. Always looking over your shoulder, wasn't able to wear a tool belt, tools always out of the way and not where you needed them.
X had full knowledge of what was going on but certainly didn't make my life any easier by altering their schedule. They did have another home about 12 miles away but they were now in my hair on a daily basis. I ended up going in for surgery to remove one testicle - the source of the cancer - and after a few days of recovery went back to work. Upon getting to the job there was a note to call X. X had examined the work that I had done while I was away (note that he was always looking at it every single day while I was working also) and questioned why I had not painted the framing under the deck surface black. And why were the boards spaced so far apart. I explained that he had never told me he wanted the framing painted black, it wasn't in the proposal that he signed, and the deck board spacing was dictated by the hidden fasteners he wanted. He demanded black, so I tore up all I had done except for all the additional framing I had installed and grabbed some spray cans of black paint and went to town knowing all too well that the paint would fail due to the wet pressure treated lumber. Then I reinstalled the decking. And went off to chemo.
Chemo was full hospitalization out of town for 5 days in a row 10 hours a day. Then I would be home for two weeks before another round. Four rounds were expected. I came back from the first round feeling like I was going to have an easy time of all this and went back to work within a couple of days. My hair had already all fallen out. It was obvious to hose who knew me what was going on. I forged forward making progress as quickly as I was able but that wasn't saying a lot. Seems I spent more time being unproductive setting up and putting stuff away. And I was having to reframe the stairs one step at a time using a method my architect brother and I came up with. I couldn't tear out everything and install new stringers due to them coming and going throughout the day. They weren't so bad but the teenage grandchildren were in and out all the time - even jumping over me while I was working.
Friends I had in the community asked me why I was killing myself and I explained that if work did not progress he could claim that I abandoned the job and then take action including screwing me out of anything already owed. I pushed on one step at a time even taking some time off for the urgent care visit when I attached a piece of wood to my thumb using a nail gun. My first experience of doing THAT. I got 3/4 of the way thru the job and asked for a partial payment of 1/2 what the total job labor would be. A couple of days after the request X came up to me when no one was around to witness the conversation and told me that I looked like crap and that he was going to hold back all funds as an incentive for me to finish. Then he turned away and went inside. Just like that. I was already losing my butt but now this was just an insult to injury. I was shaking uncontrollably and managed to walk back to my truck and cry.
I finished up my chemo the day after Thanksgiving that year and still managed to finish his project before Christmas even though I was so bad off that the decision was made to discontinue chemo early due to my health. I needed to go back to Maryland for blood transfusions twice between end of chemo and Christmas. Yet, somehow I finished. I presented my invoice for the agreed upon labor please extras for materials needed for unforeseen damage discovered (but not for any oops I made in estimating or not measuring twice before cutting while operating under chemo fog) and also for damaged boards that he had supplied. I asked for a punchlist by January 15th (after the holidays) and spent the best and worst Christmas at home with MacGyver, Goldie Hawn, and Shadow who experienced the really bad times with me at home away from other people.
After numerous requests for a punchlist over the next few months and then arguments about the final bill I was finally paid in May 2015 - basically 5 months following completion. I came out of that experience changed due to my renewed lease on life but with a bad taste only because of that job. I count my blessings everyday and this year will enjoy a sip of champagne with my wife this year on the day after Thanksgiving.
oh, you might wonder what X did as a profession. He was a retired personal injury attorney who then became a mad of the cloth and evangelist. Strangely I have worked for two customers who had that exact career path and politely I hope that both have their own special place in the afterlife if there is one.
Peter
P.S. I warned you in advance that it would be long... [big grin]
