But They Said They Were Contractors!!
It was time to start rebuilding and hire a contractor.
After we cleared everything out of our flooded home and ripped the sheetrock out halfway up the wall, we were ready to rebuild. We wanted new insulation and the drywall hung. I am lucky that my husband can do all construction work. He can hang drywall, tape, float, and texture. There was just one thing…I didn’t want him to do it. Yep, I wanted to hire a contractor to complete this part of rebuilding. You see, my mother-n-law was dying of cancer. The last thing I wanted him to worry about was our home. I wanted him to spend as much time as possible with her and he wanted that too. I wanted to take this off his plate and him not to worry about this at all.
I got two bids from contractors for the whole house. We had only gotten a small advance from our insurance comp
any, so we couldn’t knock out the whole house. Instead, I wanted just the insulation and they drywall hung. This was to include taping, floating and texture and it was just for the bedrooms, bathrooms, and hallway. That would be one side of the house. No living room, dining room, kitchen, etc. to be included. The bedrooms were to be completed first because I wanted my kids to have their rooms back. Some sort of normalcy for them was my priority. Hey, I had a kitchen in the garage; I could manage.
The first day came and one guy showed up with a hand saw. It was horrible. I could have done a better job. Who was this person the contractor hired? The contractor came back at the end of the day and I told them I didn’t want this person back and they agreed. The next day no work happened but the contractor did send someone out that owned their own drywall company. He said he had 10 guys and they could knock this out in one day. I looked this guy up on the internet and sure enough, he was experienced and had great reviews. He was going to give the contractor the bid. I was so excited for them to start and be done in one day.
The next day came and one guy shows up. I asked where was the guy that came and looked at the house and they said they were unaware of this guy. I think he was probably too expensive and the contractor would have made no profit. Instead, I get this kid that had no experience. He put on too much mud then the tape. It was awful. I said how is this going to be smooth and he said he was going to use an electric sander. What? You put so much on, on purpose and you are going to use an electric sander. The sanding never happened. That’s not how you do it so once again I told the contractor I didn’t want this guy back.
During this time, my sweet mother-in-law did leave us. She died just three weeks after we flooded. We managed to have a funeral with family and friends over to our house afterwards. Yes, with no sheetrock and a single panel curtain hung up by nails for a bathroom door with no kitchen, we had people over. The backyard looked beautiful. You would have never thought it flooded outside. It was hard work to make it look this good but it was worth it. My husband and my sisters-in-law did the most amazing job. Having family over is just what we needed, believe it or not.
I must say that during that visit, several family members are in construction and couldn’t believe what the tape and floating looked like. They had never seen such a horrible job. So, come the next work day, the contractor was fired. When you look for people with no experience just so you can make money, you have to go. Can you guess who this fell on? Yep, you guessed it, my husband.
Even though working on the house at this time is not what I wanted for my husband, it seemed to take his mind off of losing his mother, even if it was only for a little bit. Staying busy is what he needed at this time. That is my husband’s nature, he must be doing something all the time. He does not like to stay still.
My husband had to take some of the sheetrock down and re-do it and he scraped off the tape and mud and started over. He by himself got the bedrooms, bathrooms and hallway finished. He is awesome!
Until next time,
Kari
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