Home Contractors, Part II

[Flack]

I'm having a shop build in my backyard. The guy building the shop says before he can lay down the foundation, I have to move my in ground sprinkler system.

We called the people who originally installed the system. (It came with the house.) Lopez says he'll come out and take a look around 7 a.m. Lopez arrives 12 1/2 hours late, around 7:30 p.m. He spends fifteen minutes walking around my yard muttering how much this is going to cost me. When he's done, he says it's the day before his vacation and he'll call me when he gets back. He also says he's going to do me a favor and not charge me. I say that's good, because I'm not in the business of paying people who are twelve hours late. The minute the words come out my mouth, I can feel the price going up.

Yesterday, unannounced, Lopez and his assistant arrive around 8 a.m. The hourly rate we were quoted was $85, but that turns out just to be Lopez's rate. His assistant gets $65. The two of them spend three or four hours digging holes in my yard just to try and find where the sprinkler lines run. There's a lot of talk about zones and runs and caps and lots of other things. Lopez tells me he hopes the water runs clockwise around my house, but when he discovers it doesn't, there's more muttering about how expensive this is going to be. Lopez and his assistant leave for lunch. When they return they have a trencher on a trailer. I ask Lopez to give me an estimate to the nearest hundred, and he can't. Then I ask him to give me an estimate to the nearest thousand, and he can't. Then I go get an adult (my wife).

I'm not entirely sure what Lopez and his assistant did -- I believe they capped off the zones that go under where the building is planned to go, and trenched one line around the edge of that building. But Lopez's job is only half done; when the building (and eventually, the pool) are done, Lopez has to come back, uncap the rest, reconnect what's left, and fix anything that's broken.

Check made out to Lopez: $1,250.

PS: The only time the sprinkler system has been turned on at this house was for Lopez to see where the sprinklers and zones were/are.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

He also says he's going to do me a favor and not charge me. I say that's good, because I'm not in the business of paying people who are twelve hours late. The minute the words come out my mouth, I can feel the price going up.

Outstanding. Good for you man. I know we sort of run the gamut here - we've got people that never get themselves into that situation like with Vark (can you imagine trying to get one over on someone that knows more than you?) We've got people like myself and Ben who eat a lot of shit until we're pushed too far and then we go for the carotid arteries and we've got people like CO and my brother who I believe delight in the conflict.

12 hours late without a call, that's amazing.

[AArdvark]

Remind me to tell the story of us putting up my brother's two story pole barn.

THE
SPLINTERS!
AARDVARK

[The Happiness Engine]

The only check I'd be giving Lopez is how my tire iron worked.

[Jizaboz]

I know this probably a stupid question but what’s preventing someone from just turning off the water that supplies the sprinkler system then do the excavation where needed?

That’s a hell of a bill.

[Flack]

If the goal was to never use the sprinkler system again, that would work. The problem would be that the water pipes under the building would be broken and trapped under its concrete foundation, which would make repairing them at that point impossible.