A month ago we decided to renovate the house. We needed to resurface 25 years old pool, which was leaking, we needed to replace an upstairs rail, which was not to code, and we needed to put texture and new paint on the walls.
Our house started out as a builder house, constructed as the builder’s personal residence, and the first owners made an interesting decision to not texture the sheetrock. You could see nail holes under the paint, the seams, and so on. We hired a general contractor who came highly recommended. He subcontracted the painting to a respected painting firm with excellent reviews. We walked through the house with the painting company owner. We agreed: the walls needed to be floated, textured with a light orange peel, primed and painted and neutral color that would be nice to live with and would show well when we put the house on the market. It would be expensive, but worth it.
We were told to be out of the house for two weeks so the texture could be applied.
We couldn’t find any rentals on short notice, so we decided to combine being out of the house with a vacation. We couldn’t find any vacation rentals because everything was booked. We looked through three different rental sites and about 60 properties and got the only place that was available by some miracle in our time slot, even though it was expensive. We needed a vacation badly, so hey, serendipity, right?
We spent 2 weeks packing. We have shelves filled with Gordon’s action figures, our comics, etc. Everything had to be removed and packed so shelves could be moved. Every horizontal surface was cleared. It was like moving, except we were coming back to the same house. We dismantled the craft room, packed the office, etc. Everything is in boxes. My yarn is in garbage bags.
We boarded 4 dogs and 3 cats.
We went on vacation. We were assured that the house will be clean and habitable when we came back. It should’ve been a 12 hour drive. It was a 15 hour drive, because Orange, Texas. You see, there is roadwork on I-10 by Orange, Texas, and the 3 lanes of the interstate and 2 lanes of the frontage road were funneled into one lane. Two hours and change to clear the funnel.
Midway through vacation – which was lovely and relaxing and I don’t regret it at all – we got pictures of the room taken from far away. Everything looked good.
Friday we are driving home, hoping to not be stuck by Orange this time. Kid 1 calls and says, “Hey guys, the house is really bad.”
We hang up, and I am like, how bad could this be? We have pretty pictures.
We made it in 13 hours this time, because we hit Houston at 4:30 pm on a Friday. We arrive around 8:30pm. We haven’t eaten because we wanted to make good time. We walk into the house.
It is the worst paint job I have ever seen done by a professional crew. I can’t even explain it. You have to be here. Not only that, but the house is a wreck. There is a thick layer of construction dust on the floor, the counters, and walls. The TVs are unplugged and mounted back, so everything is disconnected and kind of impossible to reconnect without unmounting. We found some gross empty water bottles with some kind of black slime in it. Ugh.
I took these pictures this morning, so this paint is dry.
This next one is a particularly telling image. Floating walls requires a couple of coats of “mud,” which is a compound that bonds to the wall. It’s smoothed, and then texture is applied, followed by primer and then paint.
Single coat of paint.
They did try to patch things, and they made it so much worse. The house looks worse. It is unsellable as is.
I’m pretty good with words, but I don’t have the right ones to convey the feeling of driving for 13 hours, walking into the house, hungry and tired, and expecting it to be habitable… and it’s not. The walls are bad, but the dust and trash everywhere is worse. We couldn’t even sit down. The floor was basically white. So we cleaned, vacuumed, and mopped because you can’t breathe that powder in. It’s not good for human lungs.
We’ve been cleaning non-stop since we arrived. If we are awake, we are cleaning. I took a break to drink my afternoon cup of tea and post this. I am not handling this well. I screamed on Saturday at some point. Just a kind of guttural wordless scream. It was that or explode. I finally put together my computer set up at 10:00 pm last night because we had purged the fridge before leaving and I needed to get the necessities delivered.
We also don’t have the upstairs rail, so the upstairs is blocked off. It is unsafe. The rail is just a post-pandemic delay thing, so I am not mad about that, but I can’t clean the staircase or the upstairs floor. I can’t replace the air filter. Kid 1 moved into the tiny garage apartment, because her bedroom and computer room are inaccessible. Her boyfriend rescued her computer – which is covered in dust and stained with paint, wtf – because we have a launch on the secret project in August and she has to work on editing it.
This color is forgiving in photos so you look at the pic above, and with the right lighting and distance, it seems like it looks good. Trust me, it doesn’t.
Our general contractor was shocked. Apparently he checked this on Monday and told them it was not up to par, so they “fixed” it. He wants to make it right at no cost to us.
The problem is, we can’t take off for another 2 weeks. We have to work. We have dogs and cats. At this point, I’m giving up on texture. If they just sand the walls and make them smooth enough, I would settle for that. I just… I am tired and upset. At some point, when asked what could be done to fix this, Gordon said that we could set the house on fire. He is obviously being dramatic, but every single wall is fucked up. Every one.
I don’t know how this is going to get fixed. We had to be out of the house. That was the whole point of this.
I’ve got to go clean some more. There is paint on one of the TVs, so I need to go and see if I can scrub it off without destroying it. The dogs and cats are coming back today and it should be safe. Most of the powder is gone, and the stairs are blocked off with a sturdy gate.
I have to work on Monday. Kid 1 cleaned our office, which was so nice of her, I almost cried. On Friday around 10:00 pm, I called Kid 2. She’s been checking on us throughout the drive, and we made arrangement to have a fun lunch on Saturday. I told her that I loved her but the lunch was not happening and I showed her some of the walls and the floor. Thirty minutes later, there is a knock on the door. Kid 2 dropped everything and drove in the dark “to clean and help.”
Not all things went badly. The pool is great. I have high hopes for the rail. The renovation budget is spent, so whatever fix happens will be it. Tomorrow the maid service is coming, and we have removed enough powder so it should be safe for them to clean.
Hopefully by Monday, I will stop being a burning ball of rage. Not likely, but anything is possible.
I’m so sorry ????
I hope the fix will be minimally invasive for maximum effect!
I can’t wait to see the villain of your next novel. I can see them doing a job that involves paint… and the hero figures it out by following the paint chips left everywhere.
I was obviously being facetious. The insurance money wouldn’t be enough, in the current market, to either rebuild or find a similar place. It would be cathartic though.
Smart. That way if a fire happens now, insurance can’t refuse to pay saying it was arson cause you covered yourself -wink wink-
Sorry Mr. Insurance Man, the remaining paint fumes just spontaneously combusted…?
when i lived in NC, they called it a “warm renovation.”
Wow. Just wow. So sorry for you guys.
Oh crap, I am so sorry and sending you a virtual hug ????
Hang in there and remember you are so blessed that your kids came to help and one thing (the pool) worked out. Hang out by the pool if possible and spike your tea.
That sounds horrible. So sorry. I wonder if the painters were inexperienced and not enough supervision? Covid and the great resignation seem to be making some things less reliable, eg, doctor’s offices, etc., I think from inexperienced people. My local pharmacy, a bigger chain, lost a lot of staff and is now staffed by loaners from other local stores from the same chain. Now it’s hours are shorter, there are bags with prescriptions lying all over including bags on the floor and every surface, and I had a mistake in one of my prescriptions. Yikes.
They were definitely something…
I strongly suspect both. Our job, our home, was farmed out to a different company, whose main team was most likely busy with another job. Unskilled labor was hired and not properly, or in any way, supervised.
I have been there and done that in a full renovation. The Rockwool insulation that was supposed to be in the walls ended up under the tiled floors.
That boggles my mind. You have to try *really hard* to put rockwool underneath tile. Like, make a really diligent effort in effing up. Yikes.
They are lucky you did not put the name of the company here with a review online. I think you have enough of ways with words and follower that it can den a business.
O_O
That happened to me when I replaced my roof. I hired a company with great reviews, no problems reported with the BBB, etc. They hired inexperienced guys and they did a horrible job. All my sympathy! I wish I could help.
This happened to us with whole house interior painting, although I’ve gotta say our unskilled guys did a way better job than your unskilled guys. Painting company contracted out to an outside crew. The crew foreman was supervising the first two days, and they did a reasonably good job. The final day, the foreman went on to another worksite, and the remainder was pretty slapdash.
We are in the middle of having a new cement floor poured in our hundred year old 2 story garage. Long story short. A very unsupervised series of employees ended up jackhammering out the iron posts supporting the main girder in the garage rather than cutting next to the posts where they were to put in new footings. It has been a nightmare!!!!! The owner was so frustrated he came out & put in the footings himself.
I did a cut for much of my rant & forgot to put back that I am so sorry you are dealing with this. It is worse for you all as it is where you live & work. Ugggghhhhh.
I would report them to the Better Business Bureau at least. Maybe also to any news stations that might do an “in your corner” type story.
I wish there was something I could say to make it better, but I know that’s not possible.
BBB is a privately run business. They have zero authority. (I learned the hard way.) Small claims court is the best way to recoup, but it’s draining and wildly unpredictable.
+1 for the news report.
Sending you hugs. Sadly, your story of reno-hell isn’t unusual. I’ve read so many horror stories over the years. Even when one is present to inspect daily & ensure the work is being done or has hired someone to do that chore issues can occur. As for drywall work, there is no such thing as coming home to a clean house unless you hire a cleaning crew to clean up after each day’s work is done. Even then there are still dust particles settling out of the air post construction.
On the plus side, your general contractor has stepped up. Kudos. Yes, it means yet more work must be done to correct the issues & yes, living in a place as work takes place isn’t ideal. This too shall pass & hopefully the end result will allow you to enjoy your house for years to come.
Oh I wouldn’t have minded some powder, if the walls were good. But this is beyond.
you need to go and Kate something. that might help with the rage.
I have a big firepit out the back (its an old coal sieve so its pretty big) and some days you just had to load it with wood and watch it burn.
Maybe do that while lying in the nice pool with a lovely refreshing drink or two
There will always be some dust, but reputable firms cover things and have plastic to minimize damage.
This is just sloppiness. I am pretty sure the firm hired day laborers and yet you can bet they charge full price.
Coming from a family in the business I can tell you that all kinds of things go wrong and these are trying times, but this crap has been going on a long time. The contractor likely is happily doing a lot of jobs, but there is no excuse for this.
I am so, so sorry your should-have-been-relaxed-homecoming ended on this note. Lots of virtual hugs.
This. So so sorry, this sucks (to put it mildly).
Wow. That’s such a shock. Such a bad job. That is in no way a good professional job. I can’t believe they would leave a house like that. The painting company workers and management really fell down on the job.
I am sorry for your frustration and I hope it gets repaired, repainted and resolved quickly and easily with little aggravation. You did so much work to prep and make it an easy paint job for them.
I would say burn all the trash these supposed professionals left behind as catharsis instead but the fumes would probably be just as bad for your health as the dust by itself. But CHANGING THE AIR FILTERS in your house would probably be a really good idea if you haven’t done that. Otherwise you can still be breathing that stuff in ????
The upstairs is blocked off and the air filters inaccessible because of it ????
Oh I somehow did not read that sentence. Found it when I went back and reread the whole thing just to take in the awesomeness that is this. Maybe the contractor could replace them when they come to install the new rail? If some extra air filtration is needed in the meantime there’s always the air filter attached to the back of a box fan method, unless you have non DIY air purifiers.
We got the downstairs ones and the upstairs AC is off until we can do that one. 🙂
I found out the hard way that by my using only the upstairs thermostat and leaving the downstairs off (only one A/C unit, that serviced both levels) that the damper on the first floor broke because of the constant pressure it was under when the air was flowing to the upstairs…a $500+ repair. Just wanted to give you a heads up in case the same situation applied. Didn’t want you to possibly have to repair yet one more thing due to the sub-par (to say the least!) reno job.
I’ve had terrible reno jobs, too and one ended up in a small claims court (pyrrhic) victory – you can’t get blood from stone, he was broke and couch surfing.
I am glad that the prime contractor is stepping up. He wants to know how he can make this right for you? HE can pay for all of you (plus your animals boarding!) to stay somewhere else for a couple of weeks while the work is re-done CORRECTLY! AND have a clean-up crew scheduled for after the work is completed so that you don’t have anything to clean when you return. Simple!
Also, unrelated but if you’re still using the Robot Litters (I, too, was scammed by the auto litter box product on jumpstarter). Costco (pic was too large to upload, it’s the Kirkland 10 gallon wastebasket liners, package of 500) has trash can liners that they sell that work like a charm! Helps to save money on replacement liners.
That is the worst. Honestly, I don’t think they could have done worse if they tried. I hope everything gets resolved swiftly somehow.
Oh Ilona and Gordon. This is awful. Anything that destabilizes the security of one’s dwelling is psychologically devastating (thank you Mazlov), and you two are in the thick of that. There will be a solution. It will be alright. Your house will be nice, and clean, and sellable, and you will feel good there and you will not be bankrupt. It’s not okay right now and your trust has been broken, but it will be okay. You will keep untangling this problem a little bit at a time. I am so sorry.
I’m so sorry, this sounds like a special circle of hell. Sending all the hugs and hopes it will get fixed properly.
OMG. I am so sorry. We had a similar experience with a roofing contractor and four years later the rage still boils to the surface when I think about it. I’m so, so sorry this happened to you all.
I’m sure I speak for much of the Horde when I say – I’m so grateful to Kids 1 and 2 for lending physical and emotional support.
Well said. You guys have great kids.❤️
+1
+1 Much empathy and sympathy to you.
+1 Thank goodness that Kids 1&2 are there for moral (and all other) support! At least this gives you one more reason to be proud parents.
I feel very bad for you. I had a remodeling contractor, the work to include painting was excellent. I hired him five years later, I needed an exterior door moved one foot. He had a new painter, everything else to include the exterior surface and the concrete foundation sill being cut, moved, and replaced was excellent, except for the painting. It took four days to get a two feet by eight feet patch of interior wall with an orange peel surface painted correctly.
Ugh, so sorry. Fingers crossed the fixes go smoothly.
Oye… as widow to professional dry wall finisher, I can pretty much guess the things that went wrong and that were short-cutted. Including the traditional antagonism between painters and tapers. Watering paint is fairly common with commercial paint application. Bad texture application wi poorly working compressor. But this is bad. Like really really bad.
Did they not know that you never piss-off a bard? Their misdeeds will be immortalized in song and story.
This s why I repainted my place myself with the help of friends. That way The only person to blame was myself if it turned out badly, upside is spare paint for future touch ups.
This is just ridiculous, looks like first day on the job work but no senior to teach them how it’s done.
Wow, this truly is an epic mess. I’m so sorry you’re having to deal with this, especially after a long car trip. I’m relieved to hear that the general contractor is stepping up, and that both your kids are being such a big help.
Fingers crossed that this gets fixed as quickly as possible, with minimal upheaval!
There are just no words… I would have sat down and cried.
How awful for you and yet you kept going – kudos to you and your kids.
Hoping the fixes go quickly and correctly!????
What a bummer way to end your vacation with more stress and work. Very sorry to hear it and sending good vibes to TX.
At least you both can be proud parents knowing you’ve raised really great kids.
It sounds horrible, I’m so sorry. Good luck, sending hugs and thinking of you guys.
I am so sorry. That’s terrible what happened.
I understand completely and I can say you are handling this much better than I would. At least you have help, with renovations, I have found you have to be on-site overseeing everything.
Pray for patience and forebearbance.
Sending you hugs from North Carolina. I hope things get better soon.
I am so sorry.
(There is nothing else I can or should add….)
I’m so sorry!
This sucks. I am so very sorry. If I were closer I would come help. With your permission of course. Sending love and good vibes.
I am so sorry to hear this. Lots of virtual hugs to you and family to get through this.
That’s ‘circle of hell’ event level. I’m so sorry to hear this. I hope the fix is swift and thorough – and hope springs eternal, right?
Oh, no. What an awful thing to come home to. I also would be screaming, and kinda ready to kill someone.
So sorry this happened. I wish there was some way I could help.
Hugs, and hang in there.
Thankfully I won’t have anywhere near enough to paint in my house and I have a very very reliable teenager I hired to help me. of course my budget for renovations at this moment is 0 so I have to pay as I go. That really sucks. I hope the contractor makes it right.
I have no words. What kind of professional thinks that is any form of ok. That’s possibly the worst paint job I’ve ever seen. And the mess is unacceptable. I’m glad you enjoyed the Vaca but sorry you came home to this. Ugh. On a positive note, you raised some sweet caring kids.
I am so sorry, what a crappy thing to come home to.
The contractor you hired is responsible for this mess. I am personally uninterested in how ‘horrified’ he is and doubt his sincerity since he isn’t there with a cleaning crew scrubbing to your satisfaction. I hope that you insist that he man up and have the job done properly on his own dime by someone competent, even if they have to redo the walls one at a time every day over the next month. He is also responible for the damaged property. I strongly urge you to document and to file against his insurance. Please do not give this jack-donkey a single penny or the benefit of any doubts.
Yes, this! Not sure how big of town you reside in, but if the contractor is reputable, and wants to stay that way, he needs to make this right.
I agree totally and I had family in the business. He should be more than shocked and horrified, he should be making it right, and not in 6 months.
This sounds absolutely correct. I hope they can achieve it.
Too bad you can’t talk to Kate and Curran about this. Disgusting to hear it; I’m sorry to read about it and can’t imagine living it.
I was thinking Rafael the contractor would have OPINIONS.
Rafael is a reclaimer, not a contractor
I am so sorry. It is so depressing when you make stupid effort and things are taken care of.
Ffs! That painter should be paying to have the place cleaned. I am so sorry you Guys. ???? Sending energy through the ether.
I am so sorry you have to deal with this. Been there. It’s beyond frustrating–it’s enraging. I’ve wound up (re)insulating a 3600 custom home (my own) because our insulation guy tweaked out on meth and couldn’t even put it in correctly, so I had to redo the entire home. I’ve repainted because the painters didn’t use mud–just painted on top of raw sheetrock. I know this kind of pain, but never where I had to live with that level of dirt and dangerous dust. And destruction of my electronics. I am so, so sorry. Write those bastards into a book and annihilate them, please. I will have second-hand joy reading the comeuppance.
Wow. Wow. That’s really bad. I’m so sorry. (The more I hear the more I think we were SO FREAKING LUCKY with our general contractor. The not on time was our fault because we had to reorder a cabinet. Under budget. Excellent work. Isn’t it awful that that’s lucky and not the norm? We’ve had other contractors do small projects and none of them have gone smoothly. Why isn’t competence the norm?)
To get a license you just need to apply. You don’t have to prove you know what you are doing. Painters/drywallers don’t even need a license. So sorry HA is going through this.
I am so sorry. That just really sucks. I hope everything gets worked out.
I have no words. I would be sharpening my knives if I were you. I honestly hate people.( not all but most) Animals are so much better. I hope you get it fixed without too much trouble
Wow. I’ve been through nightmare remodels, and I feel your pain. Maybe its a good time to write a major fight scene? Probably less disruptive than blowing it all up (but likely less satisfying). Hang in there. I hear whiskey in tea is a thing.
All the sympathy!! I bought a house that turned out to have had everything done the cheapest way possible. Every repair has been way complicated because it wasn’t done right the first time.
I wish I could help get your home back to rights. This sounds so awful!
I don’t know how it happens in the USA but in France, we file a complaint against the company and we bring in our insurer to have it repaired and turn against the insurance of the company at fault.
When I look at the photos, I tell myself that even completely drunk, I would have done a better job…
I’m so sorry for you
I’m so sorry. I wish I had something nice I could do for you folks; wouldn’t help fix things, but might help the feeling like the world completely sucks :-{. I hope what can be done to fix things is done with as little more stress as possible.
I am so very sorry, I just posted my story on trying replace my washer dryer this last year on Facebook. I got 60+ comments from family, friends on their nightmare of home improvement. I also screamed and I shed a tear. I need to do more improvements, I just can’t face it. As my Mom said, don’t say anything, if you can’t say anything nice. SO, your wall color is interesting-kinda Star Trekkie ❤️
We are in the same trauma space. Went thru hell getting a new front door and storm door combo – at one point I asked someone “Why is this so difficult, is it always like this!” Now I just don’t have the ability to move forward with some other house jobs. I just can’t face that crazy again yet.
I am so sorry.
Honestly, I just had 18 new windows installed and I was SHOCKED at what a great job they did. I expect contracted work to be inferior these days because every job for the last few years has had to be fixed or totally redone. I have low expectations now and am pleasantly surprised when something is done correctly.
I’m so, so, sorry for this crappy stressful experience.
Maybe build a model of the house and burn it in the fire pit? Might be cathartic.
Wishing you a decent, speedy resolution.
Oh my, that reminds me of the time my husband and I bought a garage door opener for my Mother-in-law. We came to see her the day it was supposed to be installed and it was sitting in a box on her garage floor. We asked what happened and she said the guy came out to install it. He said it was his first day and he needed to read up how to install it and she said, “no, thank you.” That was years ago, but it was the same thing with the job being farmed out to someone who didn’t know what they were doing. I can’t imagine the scope of what needs to be fixed. But seems like the general contractor or painting contractor should foot the bill to fix this!
I am so sorry this happened. Maybe the fix can be a schedule of different rooms on different days. I hope they figure something out soon for you guys
I am so sorry you had to have this happen to you after trusting in your contractor and doing so much to have a relaxing 2 week vacation while the work was being done. Since they were so disrespectful of your things, make sure that nothing is missing as well. NOTHING worse than sloppy workmanship. I should know my dishwasher plumbing was put in incorrectly, so I have to plunge the sink to make the water go down. IT WILL GET BETTER! So says the BDH!!
Dont mention dishwasher,just replaced my Bosch dishwasher bc apparently it has a major design defect ( the relay that controls the water heating is too low a current) and trying to get Bosch service where it is 160 bucks to walk in the door out,well…
Your problem is likely they did not put a loop in the drain hose just before it attaches to the trap on the sink,that is easy to fix
I’m sorry you’re going through this renovation hell.
That’s pretty shocking, I would have been flabbergasted.
Would love to see a before and after of the pool resurfacing. Mine is in bad need of refresh for tile grout etc.
glad you at least had a decent vacation.
Sweet Betty sue. That is a whole pile of awful. I’m so sorry. We redid our walls and ceilings when we moved in and opted to not use texture except lightly on the ceiling because I hate texture. So we sanded and mudded and sanded and vacuumed and painted and it’s great without texture! So they can fix it it’s just labor intensive. I hope they do fix it. Some of that looks like they put satin finish on top of a matte paint or something similar. Which is like ridiculous. I’m irate for you. ???? hugs.
I’m extremely sorry you all are going through that, what a horrible experience, I hope things get better soon
I say share the name and let the BDH leave google reviews. Hate this for y’all for real though.
Hmm, I hope your contractor is hard at work fixing these issues for you as two unhappy writers with long memories and access to thousands and thousands of potential customers via the internet should be plenty of motivation. 🙂 — well, that, and customer satisfaction.
I hope too that is much lovelier days ahead.
So sorry this has happened to you.
I have an old container of Oops. I don’t know if it’s even made anymore, but it does a really good job of removing spilled paint, or over spray, drips, that sort of thing. Goof off might also work. I have also had success with 90% rubbing alcohol.
This to shall pass.
With latex paint, I’ve also had success just using dish soap and water with one of those plastic kitchen pot scrapers. Though the other solvents (ethanol, like you mentioned, then acetone/nail polish remover) are also helpful.
Another tip for removing dried paint drips is to use Clorox or Lysol disinfecting wipes. I was amazed at how easily those take off the drips with very little scrubbing or scraping needed.
This should be the contractors job. Make sure he does a thorough clean-up and pays for any damages.
I can’t even. That’s….yeah, I have no words for you. Shocking. I hope your contractor can get it somewhat fixed for you without too much more chaos and moving so it can be done. I’m so sorry
I am so, so sorry! I wish there was something to besides express how awful that sounds and how much I feel for you guys. Life is hard on normal mode…renovation hell sounds unbearable
I am so sorry, and I think just screaming once was rather restrained.
But a huge thank you to your kids for looking after you!
I’m so sorry this happened to you guys! Hang in there! I have no words.????
Wow talk about zero pride in your own work. I think this happens a lot with painting companies. Because we had a similar issue when we hired a painter that was highly recommended.
I’m so sorry. I know that feeling. I was renovating while starting a new job and had two months to get the place ready before my allowance for temporary housing ran out so I paid a lot to people I thought I could trust.
And then paid more to fix some of what they did.
I cannot imagine anything more infuriating than to go to all the work and expense, and then come home to a house that looks worse than when you started. And, worst of all, to have little to no recourse. What the hell can you actually do at this point, because nothing is going to make up for the time and money that you’ve already spent. I’m getting pissed off just thinking about it.
That’s why you always go with a reputable contractor that is bonded and insured!
If the contractor doesn’t make it right you can tell him you’ll post his info in your blog and the BDH will descend on him with bad reviews. Not really, doxxing is bad, but picturing the hell you could bring on his business might cheer you up.
This brings back memories of when I built my home. I was lucky enough to have my Dad at the build site every day making sure all went according to plans. The general contractor didn’t want him there every day but that didn’t stop him and, thank God, because he stopped some major mistakes from happening. Dad taught me a valuable lesson – workers need to be supervised to make sure it gets done right. This wasn’t the case in my Dad’s days (he was a master carpenter). He liked to say – “people had pride in their work in those days”. Sad but unfortunately true. Miss you Dad ❤️
When your dad worked construction company hired real trained workers. These days contractors hire day laborers with no skills bc they can charge you full price while paying these guys peanuts. Have things like kitchen that is 1″ too narrow because they measured without taking into account sheet rock ( we had full architect plans) there is a slope in my kitchen floor we found out when we replaced ceramic tiles, we have a vent hood with an external blower,when they brought the vent pipe in it was not centered, they had to try in about a foot distance mate it to the hood.
They also did things like splice the main power fees between the meter box and the new breaker panel.
Geez. That’s just so crazy.
I am so so sorry.
I hope the contractor will be refunding you the 2 week residence fee and boarding costs for the animals. It is the least he can do for not paying attention to what his subs were doing.
My husband and I were so fed up with the awful work people did, we just do it all ourselves. I realize not everyone has that skill set, time, or equipment, but it was better than the boiling rage I felt when something needed to be redone. And we hold our breath when we must have someone do something for us. Our kitchen cabinets, made during the height of the pandemic, were supposed to be blue. They came blue gray. We
could have lived with it, if it was all the same color blue gray. But no, we
got, according to a color analyzer, 27 different shades of blue gray. Every surface was a different color, sheen, and quality of painting. A set of four drawers had three different blue fronts, and the side was a different color. How they allowed it to leave the factory is beyond me. (These aren’t even all the cabinets)
The fun part was they just wanted to replace the “inconsistent” pieces at first (I laughed, and asked them which color was the correct one). Then, after four people struggling with a cabinet whose hinges had been installed incorrectly and therefore broke the frame and box (it was remade at least 4 times), the rep looked over and said, “I’m going to have them replace all your fronts.”
On the bright side, our kitchen is finally done, and it only took 2 years.
My guess is that the people who did the “touch-ups” at your home used a different sheen than what was sprayed because they were in a rush. (They may have even used the paint samples). But they also used a roller which is a big no-no for spot touch ups.
Your contractor can feel as bad as he likes, but it is going to take a lot more than just fixing it to make it right. He dropped the ball here. He needs to be ready to claim on his own insurance and take a loss for this job.
Hope it is all resolved quickly for you.
Hugs. There is a special circle in hell reserved for bad contractors.
If you need to put pressure on them, you can threaten them with the Horde. If they are outed to the Horde, they cannot escape us.,Anywhere on the world.
(Is there a smilie for fletched teeth?)
Anyway, the worst thing about something like this is the broken trust, so we will send love, positive thoughts and energy to you to make you feel better!
Oh how awful! I am so sorry. Oh how frustrating.
I am glad that your contractor is appalled and wants to fix it. We have had contractors argue that it was fine, and that we were being too picky. We have never had a whole house as bad as that, but we have some pretty badly done things.
This is one reason that we now do most of our renovations ourselves. Doing it ourselves means going very slowly, and living in the house while it is being renovated.
I hope it does get fixed soon. In the meantime get waterproof computers and live in the pool.
Kidding.
Oh no ????
That is insanely frustrating.
I hope they can fix it without too much inconvenience.
Sending all the good vibes to you.
I am so sorry to hear this. You have a great family, though – including the boyfriends.
So sorry to read about your reno nightmare. All that relaxation and calm gone in an instance. Hugs from Stewart Island, New Zealand.
OMG! ???????? Was this their first time doing this type of work? Im SO SORRY for you guys! I’m so angry on your behalf, such incompetence! I really hope they will fix this!
This is terrible. I’m so sorry.
I’m so sorry. What a nightmare.
Oh Ilona and Gordon I am so sorry that happened! We remodeled our house ourselves (while living it)and that mud powder is no joke it gets everywhere and is a pain to clean up because it gets into places you wouldnt think so I completely empathize!!!!
A helpful hint with the paint rubbing alcohol is a really good way to get it off stuff you just put it on it and let it sit for a minute then you can peel it up or rub it off! The alcohol pads are great for the electronics to rub the paint off! Hope that helps.
We once came home from a Disney trip to a house that was supposed to be painted and ready to be occupied. Very similar situation. Impotent RAGE. I am so sorry y’all have to deal with this.
Ugh, I’m so sorry this happened! I hope the general contractor makes good on his promise to rectify things at no cost. How does the paint company expect to get good recommendations if they do a terrible job?! Ugh.
Maybe a plastic scraper/blade would be able to remove the paint from the tv (it worked on my bathroom mirrors at least).
Also, how sweet of your daughters to help out like that without being asked!
I’m so sorry to hear this. I will say that your kids are amazing and I’m so glad they have come to help you.
I’m so sorry to hear about your remodeling fiasco. I completely understand. We encountered the same painter/sheetrock situation after Hurricane Harvey flooded us. The gauntlet of emotions you’re experiencing is normal in a situation like this. I found screaming and crying cathartic. Praying for the best for you and your family.
I am so sorry!
One day you will use part of this experience in a book, but at the moment it is all too painful!
I hope you can work out the logistics of getting it fixed and living safely.
I am almost in tears on your behalf. It’s too painful to feel anger at this point, just despair.
I suspect that Curran and Kate will be handling an incompetent painting company in their future, much as they did with Sunshine Realty in Magic Triumphs.
They are too nice. Leave it to Hugh…
+100…..Hugh!
Crap, how aggravating!! I hope he makes good. How did he not check on it himself before you came home? Wishing that Dina could come over and help you out with her broom!
O.M.G.
I did a better job painting my house, on my own, in 18 hours, than these so call professionals.
And I did not do a good job.
(But at least it looks better than it did when I closed).
This sounds like Renovation hell. I’m sorry to hear about the abysmal results of the improvements, I keep my fingers crossed that the main contractor gets this done. My legal opinion: he owes you the agreed upon resulte and has to pay for your next two weeks in a rental on top. He has to squeeze this money later out of the subcontractors hide, it’s not your problem.
Ilona says they don’t have time to go out of town for two weeks again.
*silently screaming in sympathy* dear gosh, what a horrible situation. All the unnecessary work to make your refurbishment inhabitable. My condolences on this bad situation. Yes, your photos make everything look not as awful as they truly are in real life. ????
Currently my house situation is money, loads of money for new 2 stage furnace, last 1 died after 12 years of moderate service. Friend just called to say he’s unable to find workers to do basic handyman jobs at his place. We are all feeling the condensing of decent, reliable workforce.
Wishing you a better week. ☀️
First of all, your kids seem great. Second of all, I am so sorry. Nothing I can say will fix things, but I do hope this all gets sorted as soon as humanly possible. It really sucks the relaxation out of a vacation to come back to disaster. So so sorry.
This post is giving me anxiety about our upcoming home renovations. You went with someone recommended, did all due diligence, and this is still what happened. I’m so sorry you came home to this, especially after such a long drive. Are you able to block the upstairs well enough to keep the pets out? Cats would be fine without the rail but I’d be concerned about the dogs. Hope the contractor is able to find a fix for you soon, even if it just gets it to “good enough”
My word! I am so sorry that they treated y’all so disrespectfully. If you can, make the contractor get it properly finished.
If I could make you tea and hug you, I would.
O. M. G.
OMG! I am so sorry. We have had some bad contracting experiences but nothing as bad as this. It feels so overwhelming and upsetting especially because you pay so much for your vision to come to fruition. I hope that it gets fixed in a way you can live with. ????
I painted houses in Dallas. One of the companies we, my partner and I worked for subcontracted the Dallas Sears account. They would call us when the customer refused to pay because they were unhappy with a job. I have seen some shit, those walls are the worst texture job I have ever seen. The job isn’t done right, don’t pay. Tell the contractor you want a different crew and they need to have a big enough crew to get the job done over a weekend. Let no one else in, don’t give anyone money. They can put together enough quality painters to fix that, getting a good texture only takes minutes more than the sanding.
Finally that sounds like quality advice ????!
I live in Switzerland, so I don‘t know much about US procedures, but I would call my lawyer, too!
Hugs and all that…
COMPLETELY AGREE. They can do a whole house in a weekend with the right sized crew. There is absolutely no excuse for this level of shoddy work.
A new crew and the GC comes by EVERY DAY to update you and get YOUR directions.
They should fix it, and put you up somewhere while they do. Take some photographs of all that shit work. Then utter the magic words, lawyer and yelp review. Screw them to the wall, they have to make it right. Find a way to get in touch with the owner of the painting company and send those photos to him. I have been through a couple nasty insurance claims. I had the top half of a 300 year old oak come through my roof in October. Late November, roof still had a hole.
My adjuster called the old man who started the construction company and suddenly I had a new roof-in one day.
What I meant to say is they have a special crew to handle screwups and they need to be motivated to get them out there.
I’m so sorry! There are no words!
My heart goes out to you and I empathize and sympathize. I just went through a water leak and 4 months of no walls, no floors and so much stress and coming home every night and crying. To add my two poor kitties endure it with me and had to be locked in my bedroom because that and the guest bedroom were the only rooms that survived and were inhabitable. They just finished my house 1.5 weeks ago and this happened on Feb 11. There was dust everywhere and on everything. I had to get help because it was so overwhelming and the insurance and contractor were no help there. Between the insurance company, delays and dealing with some BS. It finally came to an end and my house is back online. So I understand and feel your pain because what is expected and what is reality are galaxies apart. Hang in there, your contractor will hopefully make it right.
So sorry to hear about the house. Based on the photos the sub-contractor half assed the job and the general contractor wasn’t spot checking their work enough. Reminds me of the idiots who replaced my wooden deck and redid the siding at my old rental building. I was on a stay-cation when they did the first half of the deck. A month later I saw my land-lady and asked her when they were going to finish it. She looked puzzled so I took her out and showed her only half of the wooden deck had been laid. The crew showed up very quickly the next day and finished the deck and started on the wooden siding. “Joe” the guy measuring the size of the boards would measure them and call down to the guy on the saw below how long to cut them. The boards would then get cut and hauled up three storeys to my apartment. It was about halfway through the day when the crew realized that Joe didn’t know how to measure properly and most of the boards where being cut a few inches too short. They put someone else in charge of the measuring and the rest of the baords were measured correctly. Unfortunately because of Joe they had wasted too many boards to be able top complete the job. Each unit had been allocated only so much decking and cladding. So I came out that afternoon to find half of the siding still missing on one wall. Again I spoke to my land lady. The next morning I awoke to a ladder going up beside my building and then heard the heavy thud of the construction crew chief’s boots land on my deck. “You don’t have to go on that one, we finished it already.” one of the crew called from below. There came a blue streak of words from the crew chief where he defamed the parentage of his whole crew and demanded the “idiots get up here right now.” He asked them to explain why the siding wasn’t completed and why the flashing hadn’t been installed properly. Joe’s lack of measuring came out and the crew chief ordered that the additional wood was coming out of the crew’s pay and he expected everything to be completed properly by the end of the day. The chief then apologized to both my land lady and me for lying to her about everything being completed twice.
This is fantastic. You’d want that crew chief again!
I am so so sorry.
Please know that we love you.
So sorry. Cannot do anything but send virtual hugs your way.
Wow so sorry that stinks
Oh, hell! Ilona, be American: sue their asses!
Sending sympathy, hugs, strength, and hope.
I am so, so sorry! That is absolutely awful. Your GC is 100% at fault for not checking on the work. They should be licensed by the state so you can report the licensing commission. Then I would kindly request they find you a month long, pet-friendly rental so they can come in and start from scratch. If they balk, it would be time to engage an attorney. Because I’m thinking the cost of the repairs is beyond small claims court.
nope. not in Texas. no licensing required. our awesome Texas state government, or lack there of, strikes again.
This is a nightmare. I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. Driving so long, and coming home exhausted to the kind of disaster that should never have been allowed to occur, in particular is going to be hard to get over ???? I had some thing similar with just ceiling work in 3 rooms of a house 15 years ago, and it ate me up every time i saw it. Thinking of you and sending love and hugs.
Take care. I can sympathize. My living room still needs mud and paint. The contractor was supposed to be here last September. Now it looks like New Year. Well, we survived. I don’t look at it now. Good luck.
I am so sorry this happened. I can feel your rage and wtf ness. I hoped it would be the opposite. You guys deserve some great results. Man, so not cool.
If you two ever write a scene with all the renovation work the Baylors will be doing on their new compound, maybe use this and let the Dark side flow when they deal with the contractors after. Kind of like Kate & Curran with Sunshine Realty.
Keep that burning ball of rage stoked until the General and the Subs make it right. I have heard so many poor construction stories…pre and post Covid. Good luck with the fix, and I hope you can get physical meetings with the original contractors to get this fixed.
Oh my god I am so sorry for this nightmare. I just commiserate. Seriously all the best that it gets sorted out.
You are such good people and a loving family.
Virtual hugs, heaps of strong tea and resolution.. ????
I don’t understand the lack of work ethic, pride in your efforts, and an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay that has happened in this country !?!?!? More than half the time you try to hire someone to work, they do not show up, don’t call, just nothing…… How do these people stay in business ?!?!? I’m so sorry that you had to come home to this pathetic excuse. Your contractor should have someone there putting things to right for you right now. I hope this can be repaired in a short amount of time and with minimal disruption for your family.
Why don’t they pay to fix it? Sorry I’m here in New Zealand in my bed sick probably we ith mild C. Though my husband nearly cut the tip of his finger off , now he had them operate under local, to remove it past the damaged part. Why then they could of kept it, well it’s not the first time and let’s say trying to save part of a finger lead to the worst pain and removal any way . See a much better resolution better healing. So my weeks been interesting. Now if you knew my husband you would laugh then understand.
Hugs
You are absolutely justified in being a burning ball of rage.
This is completely unacceptable, and probably not even up to code.
Bless the kids for pitching in to help.
I hope the contractor is serious about fixing this at no cost, and I hope he follows through.
One possible solution for you and Gordon may be to look into office sharing spaces in your area. They’re popping up all over, especially in tech-forward spots. They’re relatively affordable, usually accessible 24/7, and many even have locked offices for your exclusive use where you can set up your computer (I know how you hate the laptop) and leave it there.
I wish that this had gone so much differently for you. {{{HUGS}}}
We put in an egress window. The company we used had put in a sump pump several years ago and had done an excellent job. The egress window not so much. They didn’t close up the rooms and construction dust got everywhere. It’s the worst. They at least sent out a cleaning crew to come and clean but they also didn’t clean everything. Here’s hoping it gets better.
Holy flaming balls of fire… Yeah, I would be beyond pissed, too!
I am so very sorry. I would absolutely give you a hug and bottle of wine…or whiskey, if I could.
You have some awesome kids, tho ????
So, so sorry you are going through this. Many virtual hugs and vats of calming tea.
I would be livid with rage at the mess alone, not even about the shoddy workmanship! Document and get those asshats.
That suck! I’m sorry for your situation. On the bright side, your kids stepped up and showed their awesomeness.
Wow so sorry. I have survived three floods and rebuilt the house from the basement up and I really feel for you both. Big mistake by the way.
When you do all the right things and it goes wrong anyway so so sorry????
So so sorry ????
Hope they figure out how to do room to room without disturbing your routines too much !
Go Kid 1 and 2 ????????
You all are so sweet !!!
I’m all for cocktails by the pool!!!
Good luck !
Also, wonder if co-working spaces would work?
That sucks, royally! You did extra work to make a professional have an easier job, go on a much needed vacation and come home to a wreck. That general contractor better do more than handstands to make it right. He should credit you the hours you spent cleaning up! You all need a massage, some alcohol and chocolate:-) I hope the fixing doesn’t add to the stress and the pool helps a little.
I’m so very sorry. Not only is something like this frustrating and rage inducing – it’s a violation. They cheated you and violated your home, your sanctuary, the core of your family.
It’s going to be hard to ever feel good about your home even once this is, hopefully, made right. Every time something reminds you of this it will bring back the feelings of rage, violation, and helplessness.
Your kids are gold.
My sympathies on your horrible experience. I wish you a speedy and easy resolution and lots of peace.
I’m so sorry your painters left you guys in such a mess, hope your contractor fixes the paint job. ::hugs::
You have all my sympathy. We’ve been going through something very similar with a new build for the last 18 months, so believe me when I say I completely understand and empathize. It will get better.
In the meantime, I’m sending prayers, happy thoughts, and good vibrations!
Also my parents just repainted the house, and the painters did a great job. House was clean afterwards and they had put sheets over everything to make sure there wouldn’t be a mess.
Honestly isn’t this worth a lawyer?? Get them to fix it for you on their dime. They should pay to put your dogs up at least.
I feel for you. I was going to tell you all the things we found and are continuing to find after the renovation of our house after Harvey. But in the end, it’s your home that has been, basically, desecrated. At least your contractor is saying all the right things. Ours decided to take on a big job while doing ours and when things went south on that project our house was left in the hands of incompetent, untrained, and unsupervised workmen. To put the icing on the cake, rather than try to make it right or even just help get things fixed, our contractor declared bankruptcy and got out of the business entirely telling us that she was done. Every time I walk into the house I just want to scream. It’s livable, but…. Good luck and I hope everything gets fixed so it looks like you want.
I am so very sorry. What an awful situation. I hope the fix goes well- my fingers are crossed for you.
I am so sorry to hear this. You and Gordon bring We the Horde so much joy through your work, it just doesn’t seem right for you to have to go through this. Y’all were a big part of keeping sanity and compassion flowing through the pandemic, via both your blog and your stories. Sending heartfelt thoughts and prayer for you all.
I am so sorry. Big, big **hugs** to y’all. I’m sure the last thing you need is to hear another commiserative remodel nightmare story, so let me just say … I feel you. So much. Another *big hug* ♡
You can always rent an RV to park on your property and semi-escape.
I’m so sorry that you’re having to deal with this. Sincerest hopes that the contractor can get the subcontractors to fix things or bring in another subcontractor to resolve this all quickly or room by room around your family, esp as you can’t take the time again leaving them a few reign
Sending hugs your way. I’m angry enough for you that if I say anything else, it’ll be lots of cuss words. Hang in there.
I’m filled with rage on your behalf. I hope they make literally everything right and they need to do that work for free as they messed up in the first place. Hell, if they damaged your other property, they should make that right, too. So angry. I hope you all can get some rest and that things will go better.
So sorry for this unwanted and undeserved homecoming, especially after a nice and well deserved vacation.
Sending best wishes for a quick, smooth, and successful resolution. Your daughters ROCK.
Oh my fucking God. I thought when I started reading this, it was going to be about you two doing renovations, because that’s the hell I’ve been in, and I was always sad that I couldn’t afford a contractor, and now I’m like – speechless. So incredibly sorry you went through this. I hope it doesn’t end up in a court battle. Just unacceptable.
Damned right the general contractor will make it right at no cost to you! It was ultimately his responsibility to select and supervise the subcontractor(s).
Oh, wow, how disappointing and infuriating! I hope the general contractor can find a way to make it right without major inconvenience. ☹️
Sending positive vibes.
I am, like everyone else here, so sorry.
This is the worst paint job I’ve seen. They left it way worse than when they started.
I would: 1) Cry lots of tears (insert racking sobs here) 2)Document (pictures of EVERYTHING) 3) Nail the contractor to a firm, immediate plan to fix this disaster and 4) Contact a lawyer.
Good luck.
I actually gasped – hand over mouth – when I saw the pictures. Hubs and I have built our own homes and painted houses for many years during the early lean years. I have never seen such a mess. Wow.
Oh god, those photos. I don’t blame you for screaming! I really, really hope the contractor sends in someone to fix it at no charge, because you should not have to pay anything for this train wreck.
As a general contractor, (39 years), I can emphatically state that the GC has no excuse. I know he’s got good reviews, but the entirety of his job was to oversee his people. After checking on them once and seeing it was wrong, it was absolutely his job to be there every day and make sure they had fixed it and it was done right.
I am looking at those walls and weeping for you.
Texture can be sprayed on with a hopper. It’s not that hard–in fact, it’s the go-to way to do the walls *because* it’s so easy to do. The only difficulty with texturing is that you have to tape everything else up that you don’t want texture on because you’re literally spraying it.
What this guy (painters) did was to try to spread the sheetrock mud, then it looks like they tried to roll it with a textured paint roller. Also, I can see the underlaying trowel marks, which meant they did zero sanding and prep.
He should have general liability insurance. This is absolutely his fault and he should not only pay to fix it, but pay to have y’all put up somewhere that y’all can live for the two weeks it would take to finish it. You would absolutely win in court. (I can be an expert witness for you if you need one.)
I loathe this. I’m remodeling a historic building in the Quarter and even as the GC, of my own project, I have to stay on top of the guys because they’ll cut corners if they think they can get away with it.
If there is anything at all I can help with, *please* do not hesitate to contact me. I have resources in Texas.
I feel your burning ball of rage. We had a family room extension put on, along with a new kitchen, remade a bathroom and added an ensuite. Took them a year to complete it. Unfortunately the roof on the family room apparently didn’t have enough slant on it so when it snowed we had flooding in the walls and on the floor inside the room. Another 6 months to fix it. I am done. Both financially and emotionally.
I’m so sorry. What a way to revoke all the benefits of a great vacation.
Yeah, this is almost the worst part. All that relaxation, gone in an instant, and not coming back.
Terrible ☹️. I hope you get your money back
That’s awful!!! Best wishes on a resolution!!!
Well crap. I want the painter’s name so my relatives in the area don’t make the mistake of hiring them.
This is so disgusting…and one of the reasons I keep putting off projects around the house.
My second thought was “too bad Curran wasn’t there to put their heads in his mouth!”
Peace and hope to you and yours.
What a terrible situation that I hear happening way too often to so many people these days. I’m so sorry this happened to your home and family.
Unfortunately finding good or even just half decent contractors these days is just about impossible. People used to be proud of their work, with the present climate and so much business in the housing market these days people are just hiring anyone, not properly training them and then just trying to pound jobs out as fast as possible. My small concierge AV company has been in business for 15 years. In that time we have a tiny group of contractors that we recommend to clients and we still don’t have a decent plumber or cabinet maker that we can recommend. It’s terrible out there. Many of our clients are shocked beyond belief when we show up on time or call if we are going to be even 5 minutes late. SMH
The same thing happened to me but I had to move back in. I asked the painter to come fix the drips, gaps, etc. And he did… But I just keep finding more. It took three mops to clean the floor and then we realized the floor was painted and stained with grout. We honestly felt the contractors would only make it worse so two months later we are still scrubbing the floors with goofoff. I should have asked for a discount but didn’t. It’s so frustrating. I will have to repaint the entire home again myself but I’m over it. Maybe in a few years I’ll fix it. The only reason I didn’t do it myself was so I could focus on unpacking instead of painting.
There should be ripper cushions for this atrocity. Severe ripper cushions. My sympathies for the situation and hopes that it is resolved quickly and satisfactorily.
I am so sorry to hear how badly this came out. Speaking as someone with a family who were in the industry, the general contractor is not being a nice guy, when they hire sub contractors he is responsible for making it right, period and if he doesn’t you have every right to sue him it is his job to make it right.
GCs are supposed to supervise the work, it is obvious they never checked on what was going on.
Want to know what the painting place did? They likely didn’t use their own crews, they hired day laborers off the street bc they likely have a lot of jobs and they have a shortage of labor
Don’t let the GC snow you with being a nice guy. Make sure to document all the damage and if you need to replace stuff the GCs insurance should cover it . And dont let him give you the song and dance about the pandemic, etc.
The other thing is if the contractor drags his feet or is not giving you satisfaction, I highly encourage getting a lawyer, it can make a disaster easier to deal with.
You have leverage, even though Texas has pretty bad consumer laws the contractor is licensed and could lose it if you file a complaint. He should be shocked and should have his lawyer going after the painting place. A good contractor would get another painting firm in and not pay the other one.
Been through this, 25 years after the fact I still am funding things the contractor screwed up.
Honestly the contractor should be paying for the cleanup too
With trying to get paint off of tvs and computers, I would try isopropyl alcohol on a rag. Soak the rag abd use it to gently try and remove it. If that doesn’t work goo gone works.
If it is the screen alcohol is prob the best thing, again on a rag. Try 70 %< if that doesn't work 90.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. What a way to ruin a vacation. I completely sympathize. I hired a “professional” painter last year to repaint much of my dad’s house before I bought it and moved in. I would have done a better job myself and knew it from the beginning but just didn’t have the time. Could not believe the lack of quality in the work. Had to “touch up” quite a bit. But at least I didn’t have to do the whole thing…? Hmmm. ????
I’m so sorry. There’s just something about your home being messed up that really gets to a person. Even after it’s fixed, it takes a while for home to be “home” again. Hopefully having the pets back helps.
im so sorry you had to come home to that. that is just horrible. i hope the contractor will be able to fix it though although he kinda dropped the ball by not checking the work for the past 2 weeks. thats one of his jobs after all if not, the main job.
it will work out in the end though. if i had the money, i would totally buy it with just your autograph on a huge wall and every book you ever wrote. ????
I am so sorry to hear this. Hopefully it will be covered by insurance?? It makes me realise how lucky we have been with out plumber/general contractor.
Two perfect bathrooms and when I emailed him to get the name of the contractor he used for outside drainage work (we had nearly a year’s rain in a week and our house is on a slope and the water just runs down and sits up against the house rising damp 🙁 ) he not only emailed me the number but also phoned him and told him to get over to see us to see what the problem was. So while everyone else was looking for contractors etc we had Ray here to smooth out, recontour and add more drainage. What a blessing.
I’m so sorry this happened and it shouldn’t have. I wish I was close enough to come help clean, but hopefully, the walls can be salvaged. I pray it gets better soon. Take care.
OMG, I am so sorry. This is just awful. Best wishes for a speedy and painless-as-possible remediation.
Gah… I have been there also. We have an historic home in California. The exterior painters we hired and were recommended to us… and…
Failed.
The paint is chipping, peeling. The wood portions they had to replace are warping. It took 3 times longer than it should have. And it looks like the nephew of the owner and his friends who worked on it double billed us and we didn’t catch it in time.
You have my heart. My complete sympathy. There is no greater pain than having your home violated by bad trust and bad faith. There is no greater pain than feeling you’ve been taken advantage of by someone you thought you could trust with something you love.
All I can suggest is… deep breaths. There is nothing broken that can’t be fixed. And I love your that your Kids came over to help. We didn’t have anyone to help us.
Big hugs. Big kisses. Homes are transient. Family is everything.
And you are so rich for having a loving family.
You will get through this. Strength.
Also.. double check your contract and figure out if there’s a warranty or clause you can invoke to get payback.
I’m so sorry to hear this. Part of “making it right at no cost” ought to be paying to house you in a hotel (or whatever similar thing is nearby) with adequate space to bring your necessary work computer stuff (if at all possible), since the work that was done incorrectly and now must be redone requires you to leave.
I am so so very sorry. What a freaking MESS. I cannot imagine.
House Andrews is strong and you will get thru this but ….
So very sorry you have experienced this. I hope the GC makes it all right.
We thankfully had no problems with our whole house reno inside and out, redoing 2 decks and landscaping the entire yard…We did all the work ourselves over the last 5 years. Learned as we went in some cases– google and you tube became our besties!!
Oh my God, I’m so sorry you received such shoddy work and a huge mess on top of it.
I can’t imagine having to be there while this is being fixed. IDK, a tent? RV rental? (Contractor pays if possible)
I hope in the end it still comes out vastly improved.
I’m angry and frustrated on your behalf, and can only send all the hugs. Sorry this happened. Please watch lots of zoo cams this week, and I absolutely recommend finding mushrooms that might help forget some of this. But seriously, like everyone here, hoping it all works out well. Fingers crossed ????
Holy crap, I’d be raging at high volume too. That is appalling. Did the sub haul in his unwilling teen kids and let them lose unsupervised? Because that’s what it looks like. I hope the one who DID the work makes you whole, because that is not….. I’m glad your general contractor is horrified, because he has leverage to get it taken care of. How anybody could look at that garbage paint job, messy splatters and general FAILURE and call it acceptable is beyond me.
I feel SO bad for you!
Maybe you set up a Go Fund Me or something like that to raise some funds to fix the situation? I would contribute! I love your books and was lucky enough to read many of them for free from the library. So for me it would be kind of like buying your books but you would get a higher percentage of the sale!
Oy!! I am so sorry!! Sending you hugs!!
Kid #1 and Kid #2 – you rock!!
Blimey,! You’d have heard me screaming from here [ I’m in Australia ], not only should your contractor make good , you also should get compensation from him for the disruption to your lives this is going to cause. So sorry for you.
I’m so sad this ruined the end of your vacation but agree with everyone that the general contractor is ultimately at fault regardless of how good his/her reviews and nice they seemed. This needs to be remedied and compensated and although legal action is tiring and preferably a last resort people need to be held accountable when they do this type of thing. If he/she don’t provide an adequate solution sue them. Possibly providing you with an onsite caravan to stay in while it’s fixed and a courtesy deep clean after would be the least they can do just off the top of my head.
Meanwhile I hope you can try and de-stress somehow, play a game and drink some tea.
I’m surprised your contractor was not making daily visits for the kind of money y’all spent, especially as so many things needed done
What a nightmare. How awful. I don’t even know how you are keeping it together.
Oh my god I am so sorry to read this. It is so sad that this happens in this day and age. I wish you all the best with getting this fixed and hope it all goes as smoothly as possibly. Will be thinking of you
WTAF?! Who did they send, the crew that drinks on their lunch hour?
The only other thing I can say is that sucks.
Your contractor must be livid, too.
So, so sorry this happened to you.
And it’s a shame Barabas practices in Atlanta…I suspect his eyes turning red would motivate the contractor just fine. Or maybe he and Raphael could go looking for the work crew for some corrective discipline involving knives…
I am so sorry. This is in the top 5 of bad things to happen. Been there, am very careful in contracting workers and prefer to do everything possible myself. As a former Soviet Union citizen, I did not imagine that this kind of work is possible in the USA. How come?!?
Wish You endless patience and if a woman has to sceam, she has to scream!
Love
Capitalism works with buyer beware. You will find every permutation of “I take pride in my work/business/product/service” to “I only do adequate enough work to not get sued and make as much $ as possible”.
That is, without a doubt, the worst paint job I’ve ever seen.
I’m so sorry you are having to deal with this.
Kid 1 and 2 are awesome… you raised great kids.
I rarely reply twice so I hope you can forgive me. I started reading the kate Daniel’s series before e books were a “thing”. I read most of them of them in book form. I had to stop reading fo a while to take care of some addiction issues-I was really in a dark place. As I just finished the innkeeper chronicles ( I loved maid’s story best as I was a young widow myself- I think it was because of the fierceness of her little flower. I don’t have a little flower of my own). I am imagining if Sean, Garland and little flower were people in real life that their would be a lot of rampaging and missing limbs over this contractor situation. I hope there are more inkeepee series coming.
Hey Gretchen,
You can comment as much as you need, please don’t be self conscious!
As to more Innkeeper, a free Innkeeper weekly serial is being published for free on the blog right now- here for the link to all the chapters, we are up to chapter 18 as of last week.
All Innkeeper books start life on the blog as serials and then they go through edits and released as books ☺️
Wow… just, wow… Can you sue them? Because I would take them to court for the chance to understand what was in their mind when they THOUGHT this was a how they could do a job.
Hope your Monday is looking up… Take a deep breath
Sending virtual hugs…
I’m so, so sorry.
I am so sorry. I can understand your rage: you did everything “right”… you did your research, found a highly recommended G.C., relied upon those representations, did everything the G.C. told you to do… and the G.C. failed in the worst way. There are many reasons WHY the G.C. could have failed– lack of competent subs, too many jobs to supervise properly, whatever– but the Bottom Line is that the G.C. failed, not you. Whenever these type of things happen to me I spend a lot of time beating myself up for the “coulda.. shoulda.. woulda” type of things, I hope you are not doing that. As a lawyer I can tell you that you are justified in relying on the G.C.’s “reasonable representations” and there is no way you are at fault in this fiasco. I wish you peace and serenity and I hope you find a solution to your satisfaction (whatever that is for you) quickly. Sending you hugs!
+1
Omg sorry to hear it turned into a cluster. “The pool is good” probably done by different contractors.
Oh no so sorry this happened to you
I’m so sorry for the damage to home and resulting stress to you and your family due to the shear incompetence of that painting company. If th3y don’t make it right soon you should definitely sue and report them. What was done to your house was a crime not a service that should be rewarded with pay.
I could have done a terrible job for you for free! With less mess!
I bought a house a year and a half ago and one of the main things still on my to do list is the walls. We have plaster walls and ceilings and they crack and peel or just have some bubble spots and I am not confident about repairing plaster so I’d want to plaster and paint done by professionals. This is not an encouraging post because I really couldn’t afford to do the job twice. I do hope you get yours to some semblance of finished so you can sell it for a decent price. They say paint is one of the cheapest fixes to upsell a house but not when you don’t have the right people.
Sending hugs, lots of hugs ????.
Your general contractor is the one on the line here. They need to fix this. We had something similar happen with our kitchen countertops. The countertop folks installed granite counters with “patches” all over. They were not able to handle the type of granite we chose, even though we cleared it with them first. Our general contractor gave us the choice of keeping it, having these guys re-do with different granite, or getting our money back and hiring a different countertop fabricator. We chose to get our money back and hire someone else. The 2nd company was perfect! And they did not need us to be without a kitchen nearly as long as the first idiots.
Ask your GC for a refund, it is their job to refund you. Then it is his business to get the money from the painters and whether he gets that or not is not your concern. Then have it fixed and re-done by someone else altogether.
I feel your pain, it is horrible. It may not seem like it, but it will be better–it will get fixed.
Oh I feel you. We had a similar experience with “professionals” after we bought our house. We had a month to move in because our houses (we were combining households) were closing and we thought we had enough time to have someone come in, paint and then the movers would move us into a freshly painted beautiful house. Instead, it took them 2 weeks to do the first job TERRIBLY (basically your photos were our house), then it took them another week to “fix it” (which was less terrible but still bad), and then another week to “fix” the last job. Then we had to rush to clean and then have professional cleaners come help us clean the rest. There was paint everywhere, they didn’t use any covers on what we had moved in “early” to get ahead of the move. We ended up having to move 2 houses (his and mine) in a weekend. It was exhausting, and the coldest, wettest weekend of the year, all thanks to the “professional” painters.
A big hug to you guys! <3
Ilona,
Better Business Bureau may have some advice and the best course of action to take.
Not sure about Texas, but at this point I’d contact a lawyer and let them do your worrying. This is devaluing your house and needs to be made right. As in, your contractor may not be at fault but the subcontractor is and because of that association he/she needs to be there on site when fixes are made. I would suggest to him/her that a team of people need to be sent out to do this job right in a weekend. And when I say TEAM I mean 30 to 40 people from the contractor and subcontractor working for free to make this right. I know that means they’ll take a hit, as in to replace the drywall and do the texturing right from scratch but that’s what their Business Insurance is for.
Next time maybe they’ll pay attention.
I’m sorry your going through this, but also maybe your next steps will prevent anyone else going through this same stress. Also, also, take a breath, the house is still standing, you have lovely and helpful kids, AND you are for the moment not ill or dying. This too shall pass. BIG HUG and hope this is fixed quickly.
just an idea, some people rent a big RV and park it the yard if it fits, while the house is being renovated. that way you are there and can supervise as well.
They should be able to do a room by room fix for you. In our area, there is a plastic zip in and out foyer that can be attached to the room door, keeps all the dust inside. They primarily use for abestsos removal, but it also works for sanding/spraying.
Depending on how your open spaces are set up, they might be able to section off and work on them or you might end up a couple days out of the house.
Good luck!
Absolutely appalling! As someone commented earlier, contacting corporate headquarters (if applicable) can yield amazing results. Years ago my parents had trouble with a national carpet company. Multiple calls to the local store yielded nada. I worked at a major university library, went to the reference desk and consulted a Janes business directory. Found a phone number for the parent company. My dad called it and lo’, it rang in the office of the president and CEO of the company. Very nice person. The local store resolved the problems the very next day. Hehe.
All university/college libraries will have Janes directories. Large public libraries might as well.
In resolving problems skip the middle man whenever possible. People at the top don’t like complaints from unhappy customers. That said, I am so sorry this has happened to you. The resolution won’t be painless, but hopefully will be of short duration.
BTW, you have great kids!
Cannot put this into words but I totally sympathize, to read your post makes screaming sound very tame a reaction. I only had ominous white dust in the house for a couple of days and the cleaning felt like a total waste since the dust would reappear as it settled.
Sending virtual hugs and hope the contractor can work something out to fix at least the house. Having all this happening after a well deserved vacation is really the worst kind of bad timing.
Virtual hugs to Kid1 and Kid2 as well, you are a truly amazing family.
Hoping for the best possible resolution and some peaceful moments heading your way.
Where was your paint purchased? If a local retailer, they most likely have a bulletin board. Take pictures of your paint job and post them on the retail bulletin board with contractor’s name. Sure to get a response,
You deserve every bit of that rage….you have to feel it so that it can eventually dissipate naturally. But I don’t have enough clean words to say how I empathize and sympathize with you all. Like how did the WORKERS think this would be acceptable?? I’m talking about the people who actually did the work?
This is work that is only fit for the outside of a temporary latrine.
I’m so sorry, that sounds really frustrating.
Now I know why my Mom always looked over the shoulder of any craftsperson who came to do a job at my parents house. I always thought that she’s being dramatic but oh god when I see your pictures she definitely wasn’t.
Also, what i find hard to understand is that they knew that they were doing a s*** job and didn’t care. I mean paint splatters, dirty bottlles and dust everywhere is just screaming this.
Ok, hear me out. Crisis averted. The headline had me thinking they regretted that most wonderful Kate clip Mod R released a few days ago. I was legit about to cry. Please don’t go back! Now I see my fear was baseless, I can go back to reading the actual post ????
OMG. I am so sorry. We renovated two bathrooms last Sept-Nov. it is so stressful.
Hopefully this can be made right in the immediate future. Whoever was overseeing need a big reprimand and 30 lashes.
Good luck. ????????????
Totally understand. This happened to us. I just don’t even know. So sorry!!!!!
Bottom line: your general contractor was NOT there. He’s not stepping up. It’s too late for him to do that. He’s not doing you any favors. He’s just doing damage control. Hold his feet to the fire. Walk with him through every detail. Give him lists. Check them. He failed you in too many ways to count. Get what you want and need from this person. He OWES it to you. Quite literally.
I think, as a cathartic exercise, you should write out how characters from each of your worlds would deal with the contractors and their job performance. And I’m not suggesting that as a member of the Horde who would love to read it. I would not turn away from that post, mind you, but since we don’t want you landing in prison for murder or maiming, then perhaps writing it out might help.
With paint splatter I’ve used a straight edge razor, gently applied on hard surfaces and painted wood with good results
Silver lining – yes, you knew that your girls are wonderful, but they proved it yet again.
So sorry! Make sure the contractor reimburses you for time and effort of doing the cleaning yourselves as well as the help from the kids. Also, if the animals had to be kept longer. He better be fixing it all for free!!! Some financial help from the contractor can help the sting of the issues. Good luck!
This^^^
I share this story, hoping it will bring a laugh in your time of Woe.
Our story begins much the same as yours. Returning home, tired, hungry, weary from a long drive after a delightful yet (as vacations some often are) exhausting two weeks away. Emphasis on tired and hungry. We open our door and and it smells… strangely… like a barn? Huh. That’s odd. And why is there birdseed everywhere? And what are those brown seeds? Oh. OH. NOT SEEDS. Squirrel poo. EVERYWHERE. And little yellow puddles on all the window ledges. And paper towel nests. And “muddy” footprints along the sinks and toilets. NOWHERE WAS SAFE.
We spent the first 20 minutes trying to chase our intruder out of the house. The next hour, shellshocked as we took in the destruction. By midnight, we’d sanitized a circle of safety in the living room, and huddled in it eating takeout. For the next week, we swept, scrubbed, carpet cleaned and laundered. For a month, we trapped squirrels and and released them far, far away.
So, all that is to say– your story brought me right back to that feeling of initial horror. I truly feel for you, that feeling of complete and utter awe and exhaustion and frustration and rage, when the final arrival home doesn’t feel like home at all. No safety and comfort in the familiar.
Wishing you the quickest and easiest path to when this can just be a story on the blog and not your current reality.
I feel for you. Had laminate flooring put in once. The post-clean up activities included swiffering the walls twice to get rid of the dust. Yes, turns out you can use a swiffer on a wall.
I am so sorry that this has happened to you both. I am really grateful for your relationship with your kids and that they both came over to help. I am grateful that the contractor understood immediately that this was wrong and that you didn’t have to fight with them.
And I hope that you weren’t exposed to too high of a level of the toxic crap.
Know that I would hug you both and make you meals if I lived close enough.
Thank you for sharing. Sending you calming waves. Know that your upsettance is justified.
Oh, my dears, so sorry this happened to you!
If there ever needed to be proof that life isn’t fair – this is it.
I am sure that there is no point in seeking legal recompense. The cost would almost certainly be more than you’d get back.
I wish I could do more than offer sympathy. Unfortunately, I can’t. Even if I lived close enough, I couldn’t physically do much. But I would try…
Your kids are really great. You two did a lot of things right there.
You are doing all you can right now. Deal with your priorities and don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise.
I hope your contractor gave you the name of their sub so you can review the hell out of them. We are in the middle of building our next house and I’m constantly terrified of walking into a disaster just like this. I really hope your main contractor makes it right.
That so sucks, I had a similar experience before I moved into my house. And yeah they screwed it up as badly as you described in your experience. I hope your able to move on and everything gets better for you. Sending prayers and good vibes.
Sorry about the bad contracting.
BDH, you know the best way to cheer up House Andrews? Pre-order Ruby Fever. It’s a win-win. 😉
OMG! ???? That is horrible! I’m so sorry you are going through all that. Wish I could send you my painter. He was awesome.
Oh Lordy! I am soooooooo sorry! ????
I will not complain about my own renovation woes ever again.
I can’t even imagine. The mind boggles!
Oh no
Cant help wondering if this
is an omen.
Have been living without kitchen for four weeks, very few glitches so far in the projekt -the pinetree-floor was delivered with wrong treatment but that got solved in the second try.
And now i have a pretty room and all the kitchen parts delivered and it should be put in place thursday -we will be away in Berlin.
Is there a Saint for renovations ? Should one offer up a prayer?
Or 50 for House (!) Andrews
I hope you will get a break as good as my breaks with innkeeper -so you have the energy to fix this horrible mess.
Best wishes
In the next Innkeeper installment, perhaps Kosandion will blow up a planet named for the contractor. We won’t expect anything on Friday. Don’t overdo. If you decide to do a GoFundMe so that you can move out again, I’m sure the BDH can cover it.
Sounds awful. It’s so frustrating when you hire experts to do a decent job and they just….don’t.
I hate hiring tradespeople as I’m usually underwhelmed their efforts and am left thinking ‘I could have bloody done that’.
I hope you get resolution from your main contractor. Can’t believe you had to do all the cleaning!!
We’ve been in a situation like this. Contractor subcontracts and on and on until you have people lacking practical experience and supervision. It’s a nightmare that I am sorry you are dealing with. There was a time when there was pride in what you did, you did your utmost best and if you had someone else do it, you made sure they represented you to the fullest. Your walls now look like old plastered walls that have had a hundred or more years to slowly degrade with all the rolling, humps and what almost looks like cracks poorly plastered. *Hugs* Your children are wonderful loving support, that’s a bright and shiny thing to hold close.
I hope you documented everything with pictures. What I see in the post is a good start. Just the fact that you had to clean when you returned tells me how unprofessionally this was done.
You already did your part in good faith. It is up to the contractor to fix this without inconveniencing you any more.
Hugs to you for the emotional distress this has caused you after having a nice vacation.
I am so sorry for yall. No one should have to put up with that, the Contractor should refund the cost of what is going to cost to redo what those idiot painter already screwed up. I worked in the construction industry for 30 years and that behavior is unacceptable when I was working back then. By all that’s right an proper your general contractor should cover any further work out of His own pocket, it’s what I would have done when I was doing said job. Sadly all things being as they are today your likely looking at eating the costs yourself, because most people today don’t have the same work ethic we had back in the day.
Oh my gosh guys I’m so sorry that happened! That is beyond frustrating! I hope everything works out for the best and problems are resolved quickly and as stress free as possible!
Rest while you can. Tomorrow is always a new day full of amazing possibilities.
Ugh, that’s so frustrating and terrible, I’m so sorry! I hope you are able to get it resolved in a manner you are satisfied with.
Really feel for you guys. I know it wont help reduce the stress or righteous rafe but a big hug from the UK.
Oh no….I am so sorry to read this. I’m glad your general contractor is on your side, so at least no worries there. What an awful thing to come home to, though, especially when you had high hopes. I know it won’t help much by saying it, but take a deep breath and hang in there….it will get better. ????????????
Deepest sympathies- we had a company that fitted our bathroom. They asked how close to the wall I wanted the bath ????????♀️ So I said as close as possible. Foolishly, I didn’t say we wanted to be able to turn the taps. Apparently, there are people who pay a lot of money to buy and fit baths with no running water. It’s soul destroying.
That is a seriously AWFUL job of painting! Good grief!! Not only should it get fixed for free, some, if not all, of your money should be refunded! Hoping it gets made right.
What a major pain in the tushie. Good mojo sent, fingers crossed and hoping the contractor resolves every issue to your complete satisfaction.
To remove dried paint from surfaces that should not have them (light fixtures spring to mind for me), rubbing alcohol or Krud Kutter works really well. I’m sorry this happened to you. Kind of negates the vacation relaxation.
PLEASE consult your lawyer before giving up on having it done right! Your contractor is accepting responsibility for fixing it—let him do so.
If that means having him pay to board your animals for another two weeks and having him pay for a rental for you for another two weeks and having him pay for the cleaners to come a second time after the work is done properly, so be it.
Of course you need to begin working again and you need a place to do so, but paying for that place is not your problem.
I agree, so much. He should have cleaned for you too, so I would ask for compensation for that. I won’t give you any more unsolicited advice, Ilona, but I hope your contractor gets his #$%# together, and makes it right.
Holy crap.
There aren’t enough voodoo dolls in the world to cover this one.
Burning a few effigies can help after a fashion?
We had a similar issue when we had to have our roof replaced due to storm damage. An enterprising young man in the roofing company attempted to defraud us, and got caught trying to pocket our insurance payment for the roof. He had conned his way into a reputable roofing company specifically to do this to people. Luckily I knew the roofing people well and was on excellent terms with the insurance company. The idiot threatened me for the money, and that was it, He got fired, the roofers were paid, and it turned out okay.
Hubby and I were not surprised when he was caught doing it again with a different company and ended up behind bars.
oh no! what a terrible end to a vacation! I hope you get it fixed without too many issues. sending good vibes your way! please don’t kill off anyone in the next chapter, unless they deserve it of course!
I am so sorry. There are no words.
I have no words…. That is so bad.
I’m so sorry.
I am so sorry for all of you. What great kids you have to drop everything and help take care of the issues with you. Thank goodness you have a good general contractor. I hope they are able to fix it to your satisfaction – not what you can settle for. Good Luck.
Hugs and I hope the GC makes good on his promise. Previous suggestions about getting a crew in over the weekend to get it fixed sounds like a good idea (having boarding etc covered since you have to undergo the inconvenience). Honestly professional painters should know how to cover existing furniture and tape up doorways and mounted furniture before they paint. Ugh. Curses on them painters!
I am very sorry for you guys, makes our insullation job (forget to do one side of the attic, how do forget something like that??? )seem very minor. Good luck on the repairs and cleaning.
I lost sleep over this. I can’t fathom what you all are going through.
I am so sorry the two of you came home to such a mess! I think I would have walked out and stayed in a hotel if I saw that and I would not have handled it as well as you have.
You have made me really appreciate our contractor who has OCD I think, is very particular, takes forever, does an awesome job and cleans up after himself every day. He would flip out if anyone on one of his jobs left a house like that.
I am impressed with the unity and teamwork of your family. I am hoping and praying you get a miracle for your house. ❤️
Damn! I know that you said that your renovation budget it has been spent. However shouldn’t the contractor that you hired originally who was responsible for a Contracting out all these other folks be paying to have everything cleaned and redone? I mean it was his responsibility as the general contractor to keep on top of all of these subcontractors. That is their freaking job! God knows I hope none of them expect to get a good report and reviews on any site where they can be checked on. I hope that you report them everywhere including the Better Business bureau.
Oh, I am so, so sorry for all this construction woe. It is real, and it is devastating.
We have done major, total house remodel twice. We added 1,000sq.ft. to our house the first time, and completely renovated the interior the second time (30 years apart). My husband will divorce me if I ever suggest another renovation.
In both cases, we did not leave the house during the renovation. The builders hated it and argued with me because it would slow them down. It cost me more, but we were onsite for all decisions and checked all the work (and we had the same kind of agreements about the work in place).
We closed ourselves off in a small part of the place and sometimes had to move about. We required they clean up every day, which they hated but did. We cleaned up after them every day as well.
Everyday there was something wrong that if we hadn’t been there would have been a problem. Maybe other people have smooth sailing on these projects, we never have. No vacation, lots of extra cost, but not the all at once screaming misery at the end.
It is a trade off. You were probably always going to come home to some level of crazy. At least you had some vacation time.
All the best getting it sorted. This is why people pay extra for move in ready houses.
Good luck! My limited experience is once paint is on, sanding isn’t an option. I’d make them redo it and one part at a time so you don’t have to leave again. What a mess. I’m so sorry.
Sending all love, hugs, prayers and lashing of hot tea!
Do not torch the house. 🙁
( I’m a Brit, its hot tea!!)
What a catastrophically dreadful experience!!!
Especially since your home is your nest, your safe place, both your R&R and busy, productive zone…and it was gorgeous when you left it.
And they promised it would be even more gorgeous when you got home.
What a load of you-know what.
Since you both are creative geniuses, I bet you can come up with something original and unforgettable to adequately express your ire to the dorks who trashed your lovely place.
Get ’em!!!
I am not as good with words as you are, so I will simpl say take lots of pictures, save all correspondence and call your lawyer.
At least the general contractor is aware and willing to do something. Doesn’t help your living conditions, but it’s a start. Our daughter and son in law were having a reno done and they had to pour a subfloor due to below grade living area. Only two companies in the entire metro area did this stuff and it was as expensive as Hades. The workers arrived 2 hours late, swore, smoked, left the butts lying around, and were screaming at each other because neither of them knew how to mix or pour the stuff. They did it and the floor was not even remotely level. After more weeks of trying to live and do business in two rooms (neither of them a kitchen) the contractor got the floor re-done and the job was able to begin again. The gen. contractor was a good guy, but was at the mercy of the supposed “expert” subcontractor. I hope you are struck by a sudden run of excellent luck, and this all turns out extremely well. Yes, I know this is unlikely, but may as well wish for the best.Possibly a small sacrifice of some sort? Like an inept painter?
Just a thought, get a 5th wheel while your General Contractor makes it right. If the house is empty, that is the time to do it; otherwise, you live in a place that will forever remind you how much work still needs to be done. So sorry that this happened to you.
The other advantage is that you live on your property and can keep an eye on the daily progress. I have had several friends build their homes while living in 5th wheels…
I’m sorry this happened to you. Its a common theme that gets repeated every time the building industry speeds up. Everyone is so busy the subs are subbing out their work to inexperienced people. Its practically impossible to not get caught in it. I was at my house every single day while it was being built and still have issues I’m fixing a year later (I’m an architect). You can have this fixed while you live there. Its done all the time in commercial renovations. They just said you had to leave because its a PITA and more expensive this way. It takes time, a lot of plastic and tape to seal off each area, and a room filter should be used while work is happening. I don’t know the codes in Texas, especially for residential so the filter might not be required. I’d ask the GC to make sure they use one. It sounds like he will agree. If you need to use your upstairs, you can ask the GC to put up a temporary guard rail. It will look terrible, but keep you from falling.
Oh my, I will definitely be praying that there is a quick, easy, and inexpensive fix for you and your family.
I am so so sorry. Do you have room on the street or driveway where you could rent an RV to live in while it gets fixed? Not ideal, but at least you’d be close to the house while it is fixed. So awful, very sorry!
Oh shite!! So sorry you came back to this – wish we, the BDH could turn up for a working bee to help fix it 🙁 sending hugs, good thoughts and vibes and hopefully the contractor gets things fixed for you in record time to a good standard
I think the “fire” suggestion should get a bit more consideration 🙂
Why is everything so hard in the post pandemic world? It’s not just the USA. We were just in Italy for 12 days and they are struggling too. Not enough workers, the ones who show are quality disasters, everything is so much harder than it needs to be.
Sorry about your house, it’s horrible.
oh no. oh no. i am so sorry.
you have a lawyer already for work stuff, don’t you? state laws vary and texas so you may be screwed, but here, the general contractor would be responsible for housing you and your animals while the repairs happened. no additional cost to you.
after the tornado hit the house last year, we had to have the roof replaced along with some of the trusses, the floors replaced, some of the walls… all i can say at this point is that it’s done. the painters (2 guys, both named Juan, neither of whom were painters) ran out of the satin paint, bought the same color in matte, and then finished off with a can or 2 of semi-gloss. my walls are a patchwork. they did – after i raised all hell – clean the paint off the light fixtures. i really believe i have ptsd at this point, because the guttural rage came coursing back when i read your post.
again, i am so sorry.
pick a wall. go to goodwill. buy cheap china. (i especially like bad porcelain figurines.) throw cheap china into the wall. i personally find destruction to be very therapeutic. do NOT try with good stoneware. i almost gave myself an aneurism once trying to break a stoneware plate.
bright spots:
vacation! yay!
you have further proof that you have great kids, and did an incredible job as parents.
*virtual hugs*
also, your gc may be nice but he isn’t competent. there is no excuse for YOU being the one to discover those problems.
1. if he’d been paying attention, they wouldn’t have happened.
2. no one can be everywhere at once, but he absolutely should have done a final walk-thru when his guys told him they were “done.”
so he either knew and didn’t tell you or he didn’t have any idea before you did. neither speaks well of his efforts.
maybe it’s time for sergeant gordon to visit…
I learned Ax Throwing and Break/Rage Rooms are now popular in my area. Perhaps the housing constraints, formerly low interest, and all cash offers in my area have contributed to this line of business. I’m sure appliance delivery (or lack thereof) and home reno efforts also contributing.
I’m so sad for you. All of your lovely vacation dampened by this. I hope you can laugh about it someday.
*mega hugs* I am so sorry this happened to House Andrews.
It appears you had the misfortune to be stuck between a bad contractor not taking due care with a worse sub-contractor doing the work. I’m sure they are 100% responsible for remedying this work and probably should reimburse you as well.
My Dad & I recently re-plastered and painted my entire home, he’s 80 and I’m in my 50’s yet everyone who visits thinks professionals did it. We just worked hard and took pride in it.
It’s so sad to think someone didnt with your lovely home. Good luck with the tv’s and have you also double checked you pc’s and other electricals are all working ok after being in a dust/powder environment.
*huge hugs* again as I hate to think of you in a ball of angry rage
Oh my Goodness!! What a mess. I so feel for you. I’ve been doing my own home remodel projects for years and never made anything look this bad. I will tell you I ran out of money on one project and didn’t texture the walls. Nail heads and mudlines cleanly visible. I got one of those decorator painting kits that allows you to put to colors on at once and the rollers are patterned. When it was done, the walls looked like warm parchment paper. Mudlines and nail heads gone. Best paint job I have ever done. Please don’t despair. One last thought: Goo Gone. It took stain off my watch band! That stuff is the bomb!!!
Why would your contractor not clean up the mess and cover the damages?
Have you taken pictures to show in court when you sue them for property damaged loss of professional work time? Surly they are bonded and insured just for this purpose.There is just no excuse.
Sorry you had to go through this.
Also, the contractor should be covering accommodations for the people and pets. Your contractor should be bonded.
The frustration, even reading this makes me exhausted and I’m so sorry this happened ☹️
The kids sound awesome though, and I hope this gets resolved soon!
That’s completely ridiculous, and I’m sorry you’re having to deal with it. What’s the point of having a general contractor if they aren’t regularly checking in and seeking things before they get to this point?
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I am so sorry this happened to you all. Brings back horrible memories of the “repair” done to our house in Gulfport MS post Katrina. 17 years and a million moves later and I still see paint drips on my furniture.
I also can’t believe I 10 is still under construction in Orange! I lived there in 2013 and it was a mess then!
This is beyond horrible and I am so sorry this happened!!!
Sending good vibes to you all that the fix isn’t long in coming!
I am so very sorry that this has happened to you. I am also touched that your kids came through, above and beyond. Deep breaths, cups of tea, and at least nobody died.( however, I would be mentally plotting the painters’ torture and death.) I do hope that your contractor makes it right.
I’m so sorry you’re going thru this, however I’m glad to hear your GC is stepping up to solve the issues. HA has brought so much joy to so many, I wish you all a speedy conclusion to this journey thru the Hell of Renovation.
I’ve family who are builders, and they constantly lived in the houses as they were built or remodeled. “Tent camping in the yard” was the norm come summer; garages & A/C units were used when the weather was too hot, or space heaters when too cold (in Mich, you can get both in the same week).
In my own house rebuild, the painters made no mistakes (cuz, it was me & my sister), but the “U” shaped kitchen counter was cut 1″ too narrow. The installer offered to add, at no cost to me, 1″ oak molding to the edge of the counters throughout … cheaper for him, and resulted in a much nicer look. sometimes, those mistakes are serindipity.
Frustrating though this is, over the course of time, this, too, shall pass, and become funny (if you let it be) stories to pass on. If it gets overwhelming, you might try my solution in similar circumstances … I compare my life w/ those of the folk on the front pages of the news (local or international), and find that suddenly, it is not all that bad.
Sounds like you have great kids – congrats to both you, and to them.
Sounds like attorney time! They should pay to relocate you for however long it takes. He should pay people to clean, etc. Your contractor has insurance, light him up and make him fix it! We had a similar situation and everything was handled after some big threats from us.
So, so sad this happened to you. I had a similar experience and ended up camping in a ten in my backyard with 3 kids, 3 dogs, multiple cats and a cockatoo. It was summer, we showered with the garden house. A two week clean up after first crews disaster ended took 4 weeks in the backyard.
I was a monster with the repair crew! Fortunately they were good hearted, brought me coffee and chocolate, doughnuts for the kids and treats for the dogs. The cats got their own treats and the cockatoo learned some new socially unacceptable vocabulary. They took my inspections several times a day with good cheer. The job ended with great results. In another month the house was almost in order. Best wishes on your recovery.
Had something similar with every contractor we ever hired. Every.single.one. The word ‘contractor’ is a very bad word in our house and basicaly the subject of nightmares and things best forgotten.
So sorry to hear this. Similar situation for me. I left the house on a vacation. Just needed a railing set up between sunken living room because my elderly parents were moving in with us. When I returned, the entire downstairs was covered with drywall dust mixed with sawdust.
The guy had actually Brought His Table Saw into MY Living room to work, rather than cutting outside or in the garage. Because “it was easier.” He didn’t bother to put the bag on the saw to collect the dust. Because “too much trouble.”
What I saw was After his Boss told him to vacuum the house. I would hate to see his home.
Good luck to you all!!
OMG I’m so sorry this happened to you and your family. Finding a contractor that is worth his salt is so hard. I hope the one you got follows through with his promise to fix things to perfect. And work around your schedule. He should be responsible for the clean up not you. You should get a refund or something that equals all that hard work.
Oh wow. That is awful. I’m sorry you are all having to deal with that. I will say you’ve got some awesome kids. I hope there’s a silver lining somewhere soon for you.
You did nothing wrong and everything right–now you have to let the process run its course and let the general contractor fix it.
We renovated and I can tell you that we had to be onsite, checking things every day. In your case it isn’t even a “shortcut” that was taken. I’m with Gordon. No, no. This too will get fixed and it will be okay. The structure of the house is fine. You have a roof over your head, food on your dusty plate and it’s going to be okay.
????
Probably not useful advice anymore but get them to pay u back the fee for the paintwork as a minimum. Or cash in a post august 2 week rental in your local location paid by contractor. Obviously get them to give it written up. Not sure about states but in Europe there are consumer rights depending on country. U should excise them here as the service provided was not as listed, that’s assuming u got it somewhere in contract. And u can always be very nice and give very shitty feedback on various feedback sites.
Shit! I’m so sorry for you guys. I understand the urge to burn. I feel rage for you. That this should happen to ANYone is just so wrong. Wishing the best possible resolution for you folks. (And you surely did the best in “brungin’ yur kids up right” as my pop used to say. They seem to be such wonderful, kind, human, people.)
I am so sorry this kind of thing should not happen but is all too common. Again I am so sorry consider them hated from afar. Can u name a bad guy in a book after the company and have them die violently? I picture them screwing up on a property owned by Mad Rogan. And he just collapses it on them and rebuilds from scratch.
Ooooo! I like that idea!
I am so sorry. I wish I could do something to help you.
Pure Evil. No one should be cavalier with your home. It’s heart, life, family. No one, for any reason, should disregard that. I know this sounds overdramatic, but it’s the truth plain and simple. What are we without our homes? Homeless, and we all know what kind of images that brings to mind.
Shocked? He should be shocked at himself. He should have been checking in regularly to make sure everything was going well and on schedule. I am so very sorry that this happened to you.
Please don’t let him get away with it. If you don’t want him working on it – I wouldn’t – I’d get a complete refund including the cost of your stay somewhere else. He had one job which was to make sure that the project was doing well.
I wish I could I understand help.
I am so sorry to hear you had this issue, and its got to be depressing as you followed the plan, and now back at …less than zero. It does not help the future time and stress thats going to occur, but at least your contractor owned up to the mistake. Your walls look very similar to our wall issues on our new addition AND the onsite contractor manager didnt see an issue with all the walls. Plus the handicap grab bar supports in the bathroom were nailed in VERTICALLY by a flimsy nail in the interior wall board behind the studs verses mounted in between the studs. We discovered that debacle by having to cut out that portion of the walls to confirm the SHODDY workmanship. The first time mom would have used those grab bars in the bathroom she probably would have had a bad fall. We had to call the owner of the company before they would fix everything. I don’t know how people can feel proud of their workmanship when its subpar! Good luck and Hugs! By the way YOUR DAUGHTERS ROCK!
Tell you GC now that they will have to do the repairs in stages. One floor completed before they do the other floor. That way you will be there while work is being done. Maybe setup garage if possible for office while they do first stage of work.
I am so so sorry for you. You pay good money and people have no professional pride in their work. And to come home tired hungry and angry is the worst. Please do something nice for yourself. Your kids are awesome to step up to the plate like this. I’ve lived through a horror reno. It takes a while to get to the other side but you can make it. At least your toilets flush!
Don’t worry about getting the INNKEEPER out until you handle this. We will gladly wait.
I’m so sorry you and your family are experiencing this. I truly hope the contractor makes good on this because this is ultimately his fault/problem. Hoping everything goes smoothly from here on.
I’m so sorry! That’s the worst paint job I’ve ever ever seen. I know you said your contractor was shocked, but did he never actually go and check on those incompetent idiots? WTH???
This just sucks, for your household.
Your kids sound terrific, though. Clearly you did a great job raising them into such caring human beings.
May it all work out for the absolute best.
Ooooh NOOOOO!! I’m SO sorry this happened to you! I feel your pain. When we were moving into our NEWLY BUILT house that no one had ever lived in before, we had floors put down before we moved in. The idiots who put the floor down cut all the wood…IN THE HOUSE. Every square inch was covered in sawdust and we had to move in four days later. Two years later, and we still get sawdust deposits on random surfaces. I’m so sorry your house has turned into a nightmare. *giant hugs from a random stranger*
In combination, a hand held vacuum
and a hard plastic scraper (like you would use to remove ice from the car windshield) should help with the paint on the computer.
Goof Off brand cleaner will help with the drips on the floors and stairs.
Remembering to post with pictures on Yelp about the painters, and being a tiny bit grateful that your experience is actually better than that of a family I knew in Kentucky.
They bought the lovely house, contracted to have it painted before they moved in and were waiting for the work to be done when the police raided the house. The “painting crew” were cooking methamphetamine in the beautiful brand new kitchen . The house was literally ruined and poisonous.
WOW!!!!!! I’m so sorry that this happened to you. Unfortunately it seems to be the way things are going these days. I’m not sure if it’s connected to the lay offs due to the pandemic or before that. People being laid off & then taking jobs their not qualified for/ not having ANY idea how to perform. Not having any pride in their work any more. Or respect for themselves or the people they work for. Would they want somebody to do a job for them & leave their house like that? Of course not!!
I know here in the U.K. we would report them to Trading Standards so I advise you to do the equivalent ( when you’ve calmed down & can do so coherently).
You have great kids by the way ❤️❤️❤️
What a nightmare!! I am so sorry.
So so sorry. Take any help the general contractor offers.
I’m so sorry. I wish I could give hugs. Sometimes life just so much worse than it should be and that makes it very hard to figure out.
Just last night, I said to a friend “Nobody told me life was going to be like this.” I think that applies here.
I am SO SO SOOOO sorry you guys. I would literally be catatonic in a state of impotent rage. I 1,000% feel for you. Sanding the walls makes sooooooo much dust. I think i would make them retexture. Although jesus, some look like they’d have to re-sand just to retexture anyway! Again, ????????????
Your general contractor better fix it without cost to you and figure out how to do it with minimal disruption to you. The buck stops there! I’m so sorry. You ‘all didn’t need this. Remember we all love you. Virtual loving hug.