It was my third home, and I was ready to do some serious work to make it just the way I wanted it. I hired a contractor, Frank, to redo the master bath. Frank was a good guy, who did the kitchen already, and we loved his lead guy, Vinny.
It’s important that you like the people you will be living with day after day when doing a home renovation project. Regardless of whether they’re skilled, they become like family. Either you welcome them every morning or dread their arrival. We liked Vinny, and were always happy to see him show up for work at our home.
Having reached the point where I was comfortable indulging in the fixtures that I really wanted in my bathroom, I picked out a sink made in Italy. It was expensive, but it was what we wanted. And it would take 12 weeks to arrive, which meant it was a huge commitment. The plan of action for the renovation of the master bath basically revolved around the sink. This sink became the driving force of the project’s timing and focus. It was all about this sink.
Everything was done but for the sink. And, of course, the light above the sink. While it was all roughed in well in advance of the sink’s arrival, Vinny told us that it would be a bad idea to put in the light overhead until we had the sink in place. What if the light was slightly off-center? The whole room would look wrong if the light didn’t align properly with the sink.
Frank confirmed. First get the sink in, and then he would make sure the light was properly positioned. It made sense to us, but more importantly, it was what Frank and Vinny decided. We weren’t in a position to question them, even if we were inclined to do so.
The sink finally arrived. Instead of twelve weeks, it took thirteen. That happens with some frequency, that time frames don’t pan out as expected. But Frank, to his credit, had his plumber ready to go, so that the day after the sink arrived, he was there to install it.
The sink was magnificent. It was exactly what we wanted, what we hoped for. It looked perfect. And for what we paid for a stinking sink, it should have.
Two days later, Vinny brought the electrician to our home. We had met him briefly, as he installed some hi hats in our kitchen. A nice guy, as I recall, though his name eludes me. And the electrician set to work on the final piece of the master bathroom renovation, the light above the sink. We were about an hour away from completion.
About a half hour into the electrician’s work, Vinny stuck his head in the kitchen, where we were drinking coffee. “Uh, can you come to the bathroom?” I followed Vinny upstairs.
There, lying on the hexagonal tiles we had chosen for the floor, was a piece of the sink. Not a huge piece, but a piece.
It seemed that the electrician, while installing the light, dropped his pliers. They just slipped out of his hand as he stood on a step stool over the sink. Oops. And they struck the bowl of the sink. And it cracked. And it broke off. And it fell to the floor, where it remained as I entered the room.
“Why,” I asked Vinny, “didn’t you put something over the sink to protect it?”
Vinny gave me that sheepish look of a guy who screwed up, knew it, and had no excuse.
“Yeah, I should have.” The electrician just shrugged. Vinny called Frank, who told me that he would get me a new sink, at his expense, and he was sorry.
The electrician, in the mean time, finished the installation of the light above the now broken sink. He asked me to take a look when he was done. I said to him, “didn’t you think it would be a good idea to put something over the sink to protect it just in case?” Vinny was still on the phone with Frank. This was long before there were cellphones, and Vinny had to stay in the room where the phone was.
The electrician explained to me, “the sink was the plumber’s job, not his. If the plumber didn’t want the sink broken, he should have put something over it to protect it” until the electrician was done with his work. “But the light looks great, right?”
Epilogue: Frank made good on the sink, and a few months later, the job was done. In lieu of the third portion of the fee for the renovation, Frank took my Alfa Romeo Spyder Quadrifoglio for his son. We had decided to sell it, as it had no back seat and Dr. SJ was pregnant with my daughter. We bought a BMW 325ic in its place, as it had room for the baby seat. Frank thought it would be perfect for his boy.
Frank’s son loved the car, maybe the only Alfa that had no electrical problems at all, but blew the engine within a month. It wasn’t worth getting a new engine, so he sold the car for parts.
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Is this a metaphor for the practice of law, where something always goes bump in the nite and it’s someone else’s fault/problem? Or is this one of your periodic digressions from the stated mission?
We think the sink should have been able to withstand the blow of a pair of pliers from five or six feet. There was a flaw in the design and/or construction, and should have been covered under warranty. We know everybody luvs Italian and Continental, but next time: Buy Amerikan! (That goes for cars as well.)
Of course, you yourself could have anticipated, via Murphy’s Law, that something might have gone wrong.
After all, you were the proud owner of the sink. Not affable Vinny or the unnamed electrician, working guys who, unlike lawyers, don’t get paid “up front”.
You were doing okay until you put the “k” in American, whereupon you lost it. But good try.
Nice to hear that Alfa did get at least one out of the factory without serious electrical problems. That epilogue seriously made my day. Free tummy rubs for all!
The message unclear,
Still joyous to hear,
It looked like an electrician,
But sounds like a politician?
Now pass me a beer.
The best laid plans of mice and men and all that…or sh!t happens. Your plumber was a stand up guy, the electrician, not so much.
As the person who was working at that stage of the job, the electrician should have been responsible for covering the sink to protect it from damage, although the plumber bears a small part of the blame for not telling “Sparky” to put something over the sink.
I assume the plumber was the GC on the job, or did you also have carpenters doing any work? Generally, the carpenters work for the general contractor and the plumber and electrician are sub contractors so in reality, the general is ultimately responsible for everything on the job, including any warranty work.
Off to Westport, CT this morning for a 4 week job. (What really sucks is they only have one public golf course in the area.)
Yours is one of the very first blogs I read every morning.
Both the plumber and electrician were subs. Frank, the GC, was a bath and kitchen reno guy. Bear in mind, the plumber was off the job for a couple days before Sparky showed up.
Having walked a few miles in both Frank and Vinny’s shoes I have a few observations.
Don’t bring an electrician with a tract home mentality in on a remodel. You might save enough to buy a few Italian sinks but you’ll spend more cleaning up their mess.
Vinny’s job is to bird dog it even if Frank insists on bringing in the dregs. From your description he seems to realize that.
Get your draw schedule right. Three thirties and a ten. Give the customer a smaller lever and you may not feel compelled to take the damn car after a few months have passed after the job is complete and you still haven’t been paid.
You raise a few interesting things. I made a similar point to Frank, when he told me not to worry as he was responsible for replacing the sink. I responded, “but how can you make a profit when you’re eating the loss?” I knew Sparky wasn’t making enough to cover the cost of the sink. Frank just shrugged, said it was part of the job. This was a stupid response. Yes, losses happen, but the point is to minimize the potential for problems, not just shrug it off. Frank was a lot more laissez faire than I could ever be.
Vinny was just a really nice guy. A good carp, and utility infielder. But electricians and plumbers are prima donnas, and Vinny wasn’t the kind of guy who could give them orders and make them follow. So they took advantage of him being easy going.
My draw schedule is a three thirds. I won’t do a deal with only ten on the back end. I want the leverage, just in case. And I’m happy to let the GC walk if that’s not good with him. But ten on the back isn’t enough to make sure the job gets done, right and on time.
Nobody made Frank take the Alfa. I may be a hump, but I’m a great payer. I pay in full immediately. Frank really wanted the Alfa, so that’s the deal we cut.
Actually I misread the epilogue. I was under the impression you made the trade on the car several months after Frank made good on the sink. That’s clearly not what you wrote.
Texas has homestead protection. One could be setting on that last third a long time if the customer decided that’s what they wanted to do.
I was expecting something CREEPy. Am I too jaded?
Jaded wouldn’t be the word I would choose.
“Both the plumber and electrician were subs.” not creepy enough for you?
Thanks for the cautionary tale, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to cover the sink either. So the moral here seems to be, make preparations for possible mistakes. Also with Italian cars it’s always something.
That’s one possible moral.
Another possible moral is Don’t go Italian…for cars, anyway.
Had a Fiat Spider Convertible back in the day. Unbeknownst to me, the previous owner’s kid had dropped a Hotwheels car in to the top of the boot for the tranny. Dang car didn’t have second gear. And to top it off, the “hook” on the back of the clutch pedal that catches the cable end was screwed up so I was putting a new clutch cable on it about every other week. Got so I could change the clutch cable in about 15 minutes with a pair of pliers and some judicious cussing.
Fiat: Fix it again, Tony, or Finest Italian Automotive Technology? And how did we get onto Fiat anyway?
Well, I know how you just love anecdotes.
Sometimes I really like the anecdotes. The problem is that most of the time, they’re friggin’ awful. Most people’s stories aren’t nearly as fascinating as they think they are.
[Ed.Note: So your email is “[email protected]”? I’d “rathernot” post your comment. See how that works?]
Can we see the sink? Can you post a photo?
No. That was many years, and a few houses, ago.
I see. I love quality is what I had in mind.