Seeing Results

The house is starting to resemble a home. With paint complete, doors hung, and the final fixtures going in, the negative aspects are begining to recede into the past. Someday, this will all be a memory. Hopefully a lot sooner than later.

At the other end of the spectrum, getting this project to a point where I am proud of it has taken hard work, intestinal fortitude, and many, many sleepless nights. I really want to thank all the well wishers, the people who have patiently listened to me rant and rave, the friends who have supported me, and I want to thank Al Gore for creating the internet :-). Without this outlet, I surely would have gone mad.

Unfortunatly, not everyone is well wisher. Some people believe that in spite of the unauthorized engineering changes, the poor window install, the support post smack dab in the middle of the picture window, and the lack of heating in the bedroom and baths, that this is somehow my fault. As if I MADE the contractor do these things. As if the contractor actually informed me of these changes. To these people I say leave a comment with your opinions. Please share with us some of your insights. Or you can remain in the shadows lurking...

Re-doing the floors

I spent this weekend stripping, cleaning, and waxing the floors. What a difference. They look much better than they did before.

There are a lot of marks and from the equipment used to etch and stain them. Areas that are not that smooth or well finished. I would like to make them more uniform.

If anyone knows how to smooth out a concrete floor, let me know. The contractor who originally did the floors (Dave Exline) did them at his usual level of quality.

Check out the new section to the left. Three Little Pigs and Uncensored, and Uncut...

What do snow and contractors have in common?

There was snow at the straw bale house today. Something totally nice and totally different.
While it was snowing and 33 degrees outside, the house remained 63 degrees overnight without running the furnace and nothing but paper blinds.

Please enjoy the pics..



So what do snow and contractors have in common in California?

• You never know when they are going to show up
• They never stick around for very long
• When they leave, they usually leave a mess
• Both are made of flakes

What brings this to mind:

• The HVAC sub contractor who did not keep his appointment to come out and install filters and fix the thermostat.
• The Plumber sub contractor who likes the term 'manufacturer defect' as an excuse to why the plumbing fixtures do not work.
• The Internet Service Provider who cannot figure out why he is not getting emails and now wants to charge to remove his equipment. There is a long post about this guy in the near future.

There must be a school in San Luis Obispo County that teaches contractors how to 'treat' their customers.

Three Little Pigs Nightmare

I have remarked many times regarding my opinion of the quality of work, the timeliness of work, and the overall work ethic I observed from Three Little Pigs Construction.

Too many times have I heard 'professional' contractors say things like, "manufactures defect" blame the owner for delays and changes, not show up when they arrange to show up or show and and then have to leave right away. I found this link about contractors from hell. Funny thing is at least 10 of the 15 warning signs happened to me.


As the house takes on character,

I am in serious reflection on the emotions I have experienced. The emotions involved in planning, the emotions involved when ground was first broken, the emotions involved when the foundation was poured. Those were good feelings. To see something you had in your mind for many years taking shape was very satisfying. To go hope to despair inside of 4 months is difficult. To see what you have wanted so much, worked so hard for, sit unfinished, with no progress and no guarantee that is will ever be done is maddening. To have someone explain to you that things were done so wrong that the possibility exists that you may have to tear down the roof framing and rebuild it correctly is the ultimate nightmare come true. Fortunately, that did not happen but it was THE low moment in the building of this house.