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 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.