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swestrupI'm not generally a confrontational sort of person, and I really hate it when I ask someone to do something, and they don't, and then I have to confront them about it. I always imagine it will blow up into a huge scene.
You see, we're having our basement rebuilt after it was trashed by the sewer back-up. While the ceiling was down, the general contractor suggested we put in a box for a second light fixture, and move the existing one to a more reasonable location. I hesitated, but finally said yes. We're on a tight budget, but the only light in the finished part of the basement has always sucked due to bad placement. Moving it and adding a second light would help a lot.
The contractor told me what he planned to do, which involved turning the existing box into a junction point, and adding two more light boxes. I pointed out that you're not allowed to put a junction box inside a closed ceiling and that it would be cheaper just to partially pull and move the existing wire, move the existing box, and run a new wire from the old box to the new one. He agreed and went away to get a second light-fixture box.
Before he came back, I crashed for a much needed nap, and by the time I woke up the work had been done and the guys were gone. And, it had been done the way the contractor had originally said he would, which isn't allowed under the Quebec electrical code.
So, this morning I had a talk with the sub-contractor (who's doing most of the work) and explained to him the problem and asked him to do it my way. I had been dreading asking him this ever since the night before when I had seen that things were done wrong, and I'm sure it contributed to a not-great sleep on my part. I even looked up the relevant paragraph of the electrical code so I could quote chapter and verse if I had to.
Anyway, I don't know if its because he wasn't the guy who did the work yesterday, or what, but the sub-contractor quickly agreed to fix things and is putting it right as we speak. I'm very happy about that.
In other areas the workmanship I'm seeing leaves something to be desired, and I'm sure some of it isn't to code, but they're mostly small things that I'm willing to let slide as they won't have much impact on the final look of the basement. I didn't choose the contractor, the insurance company did, and I'm not sure I'd recommend them to anyone else, but I'm still cautiously optimistic that we'll have a nice basement when its all done.
Its also giving me much more confidence in the idea of doing my own renovation work. I mean, if a professional can get away with the quality of work I'm seeing, I don't think the bar is too high for me to compete.
You see, we're having our basement rebuilt after it was trashed by the sewer back-up. While the ceiling was down, the general contractor suggested we put in a box for a second light fixture, and move the existing one to a more reasonable location. I hesitated, but finally said yes. We're on a tight budget, but the only light in the finished part of the basement has always sucked due to bad placement. Moving it and adding a second light would help a lot.
The contractor told me what he planned to do, which involved turning the existing box into a junction point, and adding two more light boxes. I pointed out that you're not allowed to put a junction box inside a closed ceiling and that it would be cheaper just to partially pull and move the existing wire, move the existing box, and run a new wire from the old box to the new one. He agreed and went away to get a second light-fixture box.
Before he came back, I crashed for a much needed nap, and by the time I woke up the work had been done and the guys were gone. And, it had been done the way the contractor had originally said he would, which isn't allowed under the Quebec electrical code.
So, this morning I had a talk with the sub-contractor (who's doing most of the work) and explained to him the problem and asked him to do it my way. I had been dreading asking him this ever since the night before when I had seen that things were done wrong, and I'm sure it contributed to a not-great sleep on my part. I even looked up the relevant paragraph of the electrical code so I could quote chapter and verse if I had to.
Anyway, I don't know if its because he wasn't the guy who did the work yesterday, or what, but the sub-contractor quickly agreed to fix things and is putting it right as we speak. I'm very happy about that.
In other areas the workmanship I'm seeing leaves something to be desired, and I'm sure some of it isn't to code, but they're mostly small things that I'm willing to let slide as they won't have much impact on the final look of the basement. I didn't choose the contractor, the insurance company did, and I'm not sure I'd recommend them to anyone else, but I'm still cautiously optimistic that we'll have a nice basement when its all done.
Its also giving me much more confidence in the idea of doing my own renovation work. I mean, if a professional can get away with the quality of work I'm seeing, I don't think the bar is too high for me to compete.
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 06:15 pm (UTC)