The gentleman we talked with, lets call him "Joe", said he worked on a per hour basis. Which was cause for concern with hubby, who writes million dollar contracts for construction on a daily basis. He never does things by the hour on his job, as he says it is basically just "an open ended ticket." However, of the 15 people I called, only 5 said it was something they ever do, only 3 said they would show up to look at it, and only 1 did. Guess who got the job? Now, to be fair, Joe is a nice guy. I mean, he spent probably an hour with me the first time, looking at the yard, and playing with the kids, and having a good ol' time. And he came back again and spoke with hubby, in depth, about everything we wanted. Joe is a very nice, laid back, southern.... Bubba. I was pleased with his people skills and he seemed intelligent and experienced enough to do the job. He also thought we could get done what we wanted in about a days worth of work, so long as we were willing to do some of the prep work (which is what we had worked the previous 2 weekends on). So we scheduled the start date.
Joe came out on a Thursday afternoon to move some dirt and push things around. We were going to get half a days work on Thursday afternoon and half a day Friday morning, which would leave me time to seed the yard, and get the grass growing. Done! Thursday they showed up, and I was pleased. What we had worked for hours to do, they had done in about 10 minutes. They pushed some dirt, and moved the sheds, as well as loaded up the one we didn't want. I was excited! This was looking good. Remember, we were going to come out on top of this financially as well as doing less labor, and the first half of the work was going swimmingly well. I was ecstatic. They moved their big machines and hand tools over to the side of the yard and left for the night.
Friday morning dawned cool and rainy. I figured they weren't going to show up. It was raining after all, there was very little they could do. But they never called to confirm. Not a deal breaker. But, not the most professional in my opinion. It rained all day Friday and a little bit into Saturday. Sunday was dry all day, but I waited Monday morning to see if they were going to show up. My yard has drainage issues. That was the point of doing all this, right? He KNOWS this!
Monday morning I waited for a while. I wasn't exactly sure when/if they would show up.
Since their tools and machine was here, I figured they would have to at least show up to gather equipment. Around 9:30 I heard some noises. Like a shovel. I looked outside, prepared to see the truck and ready to go talk to him, but I didn't see anything. I figured it must have been from another yard, or my imagination. 30 minutes later, I still hear the same noise, so I go outside to investigate. Low and behold, one lowly worker is on the side of the house, digging up the gravel by hand. He said the rest of the crew would be along soon. I expressed my concern for the soggy ground, but knew it wouldn't do a whole lot since the big machine was there and it wasn't up to me anyway. Sometime after 10, Joe shows up. I figured I would let him work for a bit (I was inside spring cleaning with the kids for the first day of spring break... I know, I know, I am a super nice mom), and would go check on him in a while. I also called hubby to let him know Joe was here. Hubby was going to come home for an early lunch to check on the progress and make sure everything was mostly done since "half a day" would have been done around lunch time. Hubby got home at 11, and I exited the house to greet him, prepared to go around the side of the house to talk to Joe and see how things were going. I am greeted on the side of the house with a not so pleasant sight. The machine Joe was using is stick. Like, wheels deep, 18 inches in mud. And his other 4 workers are just standing around. We ask where Joe is, and were told he had gone to get a bigger truck to pull the machine out.
Since their tools and machine was here, I figured they would have to at least show up to gather equipment. Around 9:30 I heard some noises. Like a shovel. I looked outside, prepared to see the truck and ready to go talk to him, but I didn't see anything. I figured it must have been from another yard, or my imagination. 30 minutes later, I still hear the same noise, so I go outside to investigate. Low and behold, one lowly worker is on the side of the house, digging up the gravel by hand. He said the rest of the crew would be along soon. I expressed my concern for the soggy ground, but knew it wouldn't do a whole lot since the big machine was there and it wasn't up to me anyway. Sometime after 10, Joe shows up. I figured I would let him work for a bit (I was inside spring cleaning with the kids for the first day of spring break... I know, I know, I am a super nice mom), and would go check on him in a while. I also called hubby to let him know Joe was here. Hubby was going to come home for an early lunch to check on the progress and make sure everything was mostly done since "half a day" would have been done around lunch time. Hubby got home at 11, and I exited the house to greet him, prepared to go around the side of the house to talk to Joe and see how things were going. I am greeted on the side of the house with a not so pleasant sight. The machine Joe was using is stick. Like, wheels deep, 18 inches in mud. And his other 4 workers are just standing around. We ask where Joe is, and were told he had gone to get a bigger truck to pull the machine out.
Thus being the problem with hourly work.
4 cool people read this:
Oy. Not cool Joe, not cool. :/
I smell rain and disaster.
Boooo!
The saga continues!
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