Stupid reality check

[Nellisir]

Yeah, contractors can really, really rip you off sometimes.

As homeowners, you have to be careful, and you have to be smart. I work as a general contractor, and believe me, you should never hire someone without a) references, b) a written estimate, c) a schedule, and d) a contract.

It varies who covers losses on a job. Once material is received on site, it's no longer the responsibility of the manufacturer or shipping company. Our contract states that the -homeowner- is responsible for carrying insurance to cover theft, but it's really our responsibility to make sure materials arrive & are secured properly. (In the case of the missing windows, the homeowner had decided to cut costs by only buying insurance for 90 days. Guess what happened a few weeks later?)

 

[Scotley]

Yeah, you have to educate yourself and always ask around. Get recommendations from people you know and keep a solid paper trail. I don't want to paint too bleak a picture, because there are a lot of good contractors out there, you just have to take 20 on your sense motive checks to find them.

 

[adwyn]

Construction site theft is nothing new, but it is bad every where. Several times I have been offered "left over" stock that still has the address it was stolen from written on it. To combat this I've done a couple of things;

1) Permanently label everything! Doesn't really do much good but I spray paint all materials that I can with a special color. Twice I've had city inspectors catch the materials being used elsewhere and give me a heads up. The word has gotten around and it helps keep the subs from walking off with too much.

2) Even small residential projects should have a security system in place before the first sub shows. I include cameras and time/ID log entry devices. Not only does this cut down on materials walking off, but it cuts the subs time significantly. Being billed for time when people were not working far outways any theft of materials.

It still sucks, and you're probably right that it was a neighbor, an even more frustrating situation.

 

[Harmon]

Sorry to hear about your materials lose, it sucks that people can't get a clue about "what's mine is not yours."

Funny story- when I was an apprentice I was working for HEE on a doctor's office, I lowered my Skil saw off the roof at the end of the day with the cord, then went down the ladder to the second floor, down the stairs, outside and- my saw was gone? What the hell?

Couple weeks later I am working on another job- same company, when a guy walks up to me and offers to sell me a Skil saw for twenty five bucks (normally about 150 at the time). "Nah, thanks I don't buy stolen tools," I told him, but looked at the saw aways and noticed that it was my skill saw all cleaned up with the company's name scratched off. "Hay, that's my Skil, you stole that off our job on Romie Lane," I informed him. He quickly set down the saw saying- "you know I have another tool you might be interested in, its in my truck." He was so gone.

I have seen plumbers put in copper pipe all week and come back on Monday to find that someone has gone through and cut it all out, taking all the wire too.

My favorite theft was one one where they used our fork lift to load a half dozen Knack boxes. The boxes were found a few miles away cut open with all the tools missing.

That sort of stuff happens all the time.

 

[Xath]

Someone stole four 36' rolls of R-25, unfaced, 23" insulation out of my driveway. I had 10 rolls delivered, plus some strapping, so I could insulate some of my basement ceiling. I didn't even think about leaving it in the driveway for a night or two -- I mean, who's stupid enough to steal out of my driveway in a densely populated neighborhood in the middle of the day? And it's certainly not the most expensive stuff sitting around in the driveway (that'd be the tablesaw & compressor under the tarp).

It's one of my neighbors. I'll guarantee it. No one with a car is going to pull up and take 4 rolls and leave 6. And now I've got to hassle with making sure my tools and my workshop are always locked.

Stupid reality.

Just look for whichever of your neighbors is really itchy. I fell into some insulation once. I showered right after, and I was still itching for days.

 

[wingsandsword]

I have seen plumbers put in copper pipe all week and come back on Monday to find that someone has gone through and cut it all out, taking all the wire too.

That reminds me of something funny I saw on the bus a while back.

I was at the main public transit station downtown, catching the bus over to a friends place. It was a crowded bus, and onto that bus two guys get on the bus. The first guy has big coils of copper piping draped around his neck and shoulders, and is holding a pair of bolt cutters in his hands, the other guy has a dozen or so ~3 foot lengths of copper pipe (with ends visibly crimped as if they'd been cut by those bolt cutters) all wrapped up in a garbage bag.

They moved to the back of the bus, sat down, and kept looking around. Everybody on the bus started quietly gossiping, it looked suspicious as all heck, and we even started commenting how suspicous it looked and how it looked like they'd just stolen some pipe and had to use the bus for a getaway. They got off the bus in a bad neighborhood, and went into a run-down house. I noted the address of the house, and when I got off the bus I called the police, told them what I saw, the address of the house, and noted what bus it was (the bus has a very visible security camera at the front of the bus). I don't know what happened, but that looked so incredibly suspicious I had to say something.

 

[diaglo]

Just look for whichever of your neighbors is really itchy. I fell into some insulation once. I showered right after, and I was still itching for days.

i'm gonna start using that catch phrase instead of toting the pumpkin...


diaglo "i fell into some insulation last night" Ooi

 

[Harmon]

That reminds me of something funny I saw on the bus a while back.

I see stuff like this all the time. Most of the time its really funny, sometimes it is just sad.

Guys sometimes have Side Jobs- jobs they do on the weekends and after work (building fences, putting on additions, etc), they come to work, load their bags with nails and at the end of the day they load their bags with nails.

We had some blocks cut at the lumber yard 14 3/8" standard blocks, the lumber yard delivers them on Friday. A nieghbor to the job site wants some fire place lumber, the boss charges him $50 to clean up our site, whats the guy do? Takes from the pallet of 14 3/8 blocks, couple hundred bucks worth. Call the yard, we need more blocks.