Contractor Hell

A couple of days ago, early in the morning, before I ever expect to see anyone who I don’t already know or love at my door I got a knock. A young man who I did not know sheepishly said hello. I was thankful I had my cell phone in my hand in case I needed to call 911.

“Hi, I’m working at the house next door and we need to use your water?” Said the stranger.

“What are you talking about?” I said.

“I have to cut some holes in the concrete and the water is turned off at that house and I need water to run my saw blade.”

The first thought that went through my head is, this is not my problem.

“How much water are we talking about?”

“I could just run your hose to the house.”

I am a big water conservationist. I have a rain barrel that catches the water from my gutters, I refuse to water my grass figuring it is not a good use of the most precious resource we have. In drought ridden summers I have caught my shower water in buckets and used that to water my vegetable garden. I was not happy about being asked to let some stranger run my hose to the house next door. How in the world would I know he was not just running it constantly?

“You did not answer the question,” I probed. “How much water are we talking about?”

“I only need your hose for an hour. I will get the contractor to reimburse you”

Against my better judgment I agreed he could use it for an hour since I know and like the woman who bought the house.

After an hour and a half I went over and asked if they were done since I needed to go out. Just a little longer they promised. What could I do now?

I left the house and when I returned five hours later the hose was still over at the neighbors. Now I was furious. One hour my #$%^%!

“We are done,” the young man said preemptively when he saw me coming with a look that could kill a bear on my face.

“Please, have the contractor call me.”

No call. So I called the homeowner who was rightfully embarrassed. I asked her to have the contractor call me, knowing it was not her fault. No call.

Now three days later I was out walking my dog when the contractor’s site supervisor pulled up. I introduced myself to him and we had a conversation about the water. He tried to tell me it was a normal way of doing business that they would take water from neighbors. I told him it was not normal around here and quite presumptuous to assume they could show up early in the morning at my house and even ask. He said he had no idea how much water they used since they did not have a meter on it, not that he offered to pay me for it.

In the last five years contractors have surrounded our house since practically every house on my street has been redone. It has been hell to have workers who scream loudly at each other running very noisy equipment at all hours with little concern about the people who live in the neighborhood

The only exception is Robert Hallyburton whose crews were considerate, the rest have been a nightmare. If I were building a house I would throw a party for the neighbors to apologize for the trouble they have to endure from the contractors.

We are all at the mercy of the people we hire to do work for us. If you are looking for a contractor I would be happy to supply the names of the ones who were not considerate of the neighbors. I am looking forward to having my new neighbor move in who will be so much better than her contractor.