Hello everyone,
Including the early planning phase, we have been building our house for two years now and are approaching the interior finishing stage.
Throughout all trades involved, we have had an experience that I want to share with you and ask if you have encountered the same:
Basically, our contractors, with few exceptions, do not ask any questions. They just carry out the work. Later, if a part of the trade or a work step turns out to be done incorrectly (which has happened to us several times), the response is "we didn’t know." We always think and say, "Why don’t you ask us?"
Every contractor has my mobile number, and I tell each one that I am reachable 24/7 during the construction and that they can just call me if they have any questions or uncertainties.
Whenever I happen to be at the construction site, the contractors suddenly have questions which are then asked directly to me. But if I were not there on site, they would never have asked.
Without asking, they always choose the path of least resistance, meaning the easiest option. It’s not about money. I am willing to pay more for a better method, but I am not even being asked.
Is this your experience as well, or have we just been unlucky with our partner companies?
Including the early planning phase, we have been building our house for two years now and are approaching the interior finishing stage.
Throughout all trades involved, we have had an experience that I want to share with you and ask if you have encountered the same:
Basically, our contractors, with few exceptions, do not ask any questions. They just carry out the work. Later, if a part of the trade or a work step turns out to be done incorrectly (which has happened to us several times), the response is "we didn’t know." We always think and say, "Why don’t you ask us?"
Every contractor has my mobile number, and I tell each one that I am reachable 24/7 during the construction and that they can just call me if they have any questions or uncertainties.
Whenever I happen to be at the construction site, the contractors suddenly have questions which are then asked directly to me. But if I were not there on site, they would never have asked.
Without asking, they always choose the path of least resistance, meaning the easiest option. It’s not about money. I am willing to pay more for a better method, but I am not even being asked.
Is this your experience as well, or have we just been unlucky with our partner companies?
S
Silent01027 Jan 2018 21:05HilfeHilfe schrieb:
May I guess, you are the company boss and have to take your incompetent colleagues by the handI am an employee without any personnel responsibility. Others would describe me as a very calm, kind, and gentle person. Sometimes I still have to show my ID at the checkout to buy alcohol, even though I am 30. Maybe the contractors don’t see me as a serious contact person.
I don’t know, but we are already quite far along with the house construction, and in the end, it worked out. With ups and many downs. The result so far is great for us.
What works well for us is that the craftsmen know each other. Each trade is handled by a different company. The general contractor also works with various companies. However, they all operate within the same local area and are familiar with one another.
Our house is solid wood construction, and apart from the walls, the level of prefabrication is similar to traditional masonry. Still, on every floor, there was a factory plan showing the plumbing and ventilation layouts. The electrical plan was partly adjusted on site together with the electrician.
I would not want to handle the detailed scheduling myself, as I’m too much of a layperson. For example:
Why didn’t you install the ventilation duct in the bedroom? The painter is coming tomorrow to do the paneling, and he shouldn't have to step on the ductwork. It shouldn’t happen that Hubert, who weighs about 150 kilograms (330 pounds), steps on it. He’ll also do the hallway. There, he won’t have to be careful not to trip; it’s almost impossible to walk through once I’m finished.
I would have just scheduled trade 1 first, then trade 2.
Here, it’s trade 1, then trade 2, then trade 1 again, then trade 5 for 30 minutes, because it makes sense that way.
For example, when the screed is poured, a cardboard sign is hung on the door:
Do not enter, fresh screed
Xyz
Or a barrier is placed in the doorway.
Our house is solid wood construction, and apart from the walls, the level of prefabrication is similar to traditional masonry. Still, on every floor, there was a factory plan showing the plumbing and ventilation layouts. The electrical plan was partly adjusted on site together with the electrician.
I would not want to handle the detailed scheduling myself, as I’m too much of a layperson. For example:
Why didn’t you install the ventilation duct in the bedroom? The painter is coming tomorrow to do the paneling, and he shouldn't have to step on the ductwork. It shouldn’t happen that Hubert, who weighs about 150 kilograms (330 pounds), steps on it. He’ll also do the hallway. There, he won’t have to be careful not to trip; it’s almost impossible to walk through once I’m finished.
I would have just scheduled trade 1 first, then trade 2.
Here, it’s trade 1, then trade 2, then trade 1 again, then trade 5 for 30 minutes, because it makes sense that way.
For example, when the screed is poured, a cardboard sign is hung on the door:
Do not enter, fresh screed
Xyz
Or a barrier is placed in the doorway.
Wow... some points sound REALLY familiar to me. First and foremost, the “couldn’t care less” attitude or nonsense-it-doesn’t-matter mindset—or whatever you want to call it—from some tradespeople.
We are building with an architect who also lives NEXT TO the construction site and has his office there. The workers on site would actually just need to shout, and he could hear them from his office. Overall, progress has been very slow for us (there are many reasons: tight site conditions because two buildings are being constructed simultaneously on a dead-end street, for example). We started planning two years ago, and the foundation slab was laid last March. To put it mildly, I’m getting pretty fed up 😀 After the last build (this isn’t our first time), I always said: if a build goes as smoothly as the last one did, I could do it five more times. But now I have to change my mind: NEVER AGAIN 😀
Well. Eventually, this time will pass, but until then I’ll probably get frustrated with quite a few tradespeople (right now the electricians are my favorites). Unfortunately, they really go above and beyond in the worst way. Despite the architect’s proximity, they all have our phone numbers and none of them respond when we have questions. They just end up “doing something”—but it’s far from done properly. Plus, there’s that attitude: I don’t care, it’s not my money!
But: EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE (hopefully someday 😀)
We are building with an architect who also lives NEXT TO the construction site and has his office there. The workers on site would actually just need to shout, and he could hear them from his office. Overall, progress has been very slow for us (there are many reasons: tight site conditions because two buildings are being constructed simultaneously on a dead-end street, for example). We started planning two years ago, and the foundation slab was laid last March. To put it mildly, I’m getting pretty fed up 😀 After the last build (this isn’t our first time), I always said: if a build goes as smoothly as the last one did, I could do it five more times. But now I have to change my mind: NEVER AGAIN 😀
Well. Eventually, this time will pass, but until then I’ll probably get frustrated with quite a few tradespeople (right now the electricians are my favorites). Unfortunately, they really go above and beyond in the worst way. Despite the architect’s proximity, they all have our phone numbers and none of them respond when we have questions. They just end up “doing something”—but it’s far from done properly. Plus, there’s that attitude: I don’t care, it’s not my money!
But: EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE (hopefully someday 😀)
H
HilfeHilfe28 Jan 2018 08:59Silent010 schrieb:
I am an employee without personnel responsibility. Other people would describe me as a very calm, good-natured, and kind person. Sometimes I still have to show my ID at the checkout to buy alcohol. (I am 30) Maybe the contractors don’t see me as a serious point of contact.
I don’t know, but we are already quite far along with the house construction, and in the end, it worked out. With ups and many downs. The result so far is great for us.Well, then you might be a bit more sensitive when it comes to the house... Our site manager (employee of the general contractor) pointed out things to us that we would never have noticed otherwise.
Sometimes it’s better not to know anything^^
Wickie schrieb:
We are building with an architect who also lives next to our construction site and has his office there. The guys on site would only have to shout, and he could hear them from his office. I never arrived late to school as often as I did when we lived on the same street ;-)
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