Close to completion on my second flip in the Fayetteville NC area. Of course passed the timeline set by the GC and well over the budget as planned.
Today was one of those days, dropped by in the morning and not much going on not a good start. I scheduled another home inspection to make sure all items identified in the first was taken cared of as listed in the scope of work. Called GC to see what is the plan for the day and ask when the inspections were going to get done. Was told he called them in and he was just waiting. As I was talking to the GC, home inspector showed and started. As I started asking question the first of three inspectors showed. And that’s when things got interesting.
The first inspector (building and insulation) asked me where the GC was at. As soon as my GC heard that, he said tell her I am 5 minutes out. I hung up and told the inspector he was on his way. She mentioned to me that items under the property to secure the foundation was not completed and began to tell me what was wrong. I said I have the letter on my computer to review it. While looking over the letter, my GC arrived and started talking to the inspector. As he was talking to the inspector the home inspector came up and said to me “You need to see this”.
The home inspector showed me the starting of mold in the HVAC unit. To say the least I was not happy. Back ground was that this unit was inspected, serviced and repaired as required. My GC found this unit and set it all up. But that was 3 weeks ago when this whole issue started. Three weeks it took after paying the HVAC Company to get it to the property. Yes I know, never pay up front, but my GC swore this guy was good to go. I got I the phone with this guy and of course no answer. So I text a few times and he got back to me. Cliff notes, after back and forth and me sending him pictures he started saying he was having a hard time with stuff and life and on and on. End of this story is I filed a claim
With the BBB.
Back to the first inspector... she said that if issues were not fixed as prescribed on the letter it will not pass. So my GC saw my facial expression and knew I was not happy. Then the second inspector showed.
Second inspector was the plumbing inspector. He as well found issues that required to be corrected before signing anything off. The stress is now mounting on my GC and on my face.
The third inspector showed was the tax adjustor. Not too big of an issue other than he had to adjust square footage due to an error on their end. So now my ARV could be less due to the loss of square footage.
Before all this started I spoke with one of the subs as to what if anything they needed to keep working, since they were as if today 11 days behind time line. Got the list and talked to the home inspector about what he found and paid him. I headed to Lowe’s.
Came back and GC was gone. Not happy. Was checking stuff out and noticed things I mentioned still not done. Then I started really looking at stuff. I found that they didn’t put 2 lag bolts into studs for the barn door, and found that the door was not wide enough to actually create privacy. Asked was this not noticed before, and why am I the one that has to paint this out! The sub began to make notes of all the issues found. And we began to walk the property to address what else was not done right.
I had to get a few more items so he could fix the stuff as required. Came back and the GC was there. We talked and I expressed my frustrations and concerns as to the list of issues found. He had all the materials and took to fix issues mentioned by inspectors and I gave him the list of items of things that were not done to my liking. Needless to say there was a back and forth and I calmly said, I am paying and have paid for these items to be done right. And broke out the contract and SOW. That ended the conversation with an understanding of an agreement is an agreement. I will be back in the morning with all my tools and the attitude of I have to push them to get it done.
I take full responsibility as to why this happened. I should have been more direct and reminded my GC my expectations repeatably. Even though this GC has seen me fire people off the last project, pack up their tools and warned them never to come back. I take every day as a learning experience, and grown from it. I won’t say that frustration sets in, but then I remind myself why I work at this and have my W2 job. So that I won’t have to work so hard forever unless it’s on my own terms.
Rant / short story ended!
