Do you know what "Oh, no" sounds like, uttered by a contractor as he punches a hole through your living-room ceiling at 8 at night?
"Oh, no," when spoken by your contractor as he makes way for the skylights he's promised will take only a few days to install--and when all the materials are bought and the contract is signed--can sound somewhat disturbing.
We hired our contractor (whom I'll call "Ray") after one initial meeting. He seemed knowledgeable and forthright and had an easy, eager manner. Ray also gave us a very reasonable estimate of the highest and lowest possible cost . . . exactly within the range of what we could afford.
"That's it?" my husband had asked warily. "Won't be any surprise extras or additional costs later? You sure?"
"Absolutely," Ray assured him.
"He's very busy," my husband told me. "But if I buy the skylights and all the materials, he can squeeze us in pretty soon. He said it'll only take a few days."
A few weeks later, Ray came by for a closer look. He brought his ladder this time, climbed on the roof, knocked on our ceiling, examined the skylights that my husband had bought, then went home to "firm up the price," saying he'd call in the morning.
Next morning, after doing a more accurate numbers crunch and consulting with his "old man," a 30-year veteran contractor, Ray informed my husband that he had been a little "off." It seemed the job required an extra man and it would take four, five days, tops. And the cost would be about 30% over the highest end of the estimate.
Despite my husband's very vocal surprise, he still deemed the price fair. And besides, he'd already bought the skylights and supplies.
The following Monday afternoon, Ray arrived with "Andy," his one-man crew, to drop off his equipment, tape the walls and seal in the living room. Then Ray was called away to another work site. Andy waited for two hours, then disappeared. Ray returned, then went to find Andy. Andy came back, then left to find Ray. By 6 they were both gone for the day.
Tuesday at noon, I called Ray to see where he was. He'd had an overnight emergency at one of the restaurants that he serviced and had been out until 7 a.m. making repairs.
He said that he didn't want to show up first thing in the morning and be no dang good. I thanked him for his consideration. He said he and Andy would be by around 4. That evening at 8, Ray was ready to punch through the ceiling and "see what we've got."
