This has been discussed a lot, maybe too much, but I have to vent. Am supposed to paint a chiropractor’s office starting tomorrow morning. My wife says I’d better go over tonight and make sure everyhing is ready for me to paint. I call and they say they’re working on it (8 pm).
I go over–they haven’t been able to move the receptionist’s station away from the wall more than about 6 inches. Another office has wall to wall (all four walls) desks, cabinets, bookcases that they cannot move away from walls. I move a few cabinets and a bulletin board they couldn’t move.
In the office with unmovable furniture, they have removed a wallpaper strip at chair rail height, but it it still tacky with adhesive they say they couldn’t remove. I’ll try solvent in the morning.
They are trying to remove a wallpaper border in another room and it is not coming off–they are using a scraper and they have squirted it with a couple squirts of Dif. I tell them I’ll save that room for last and suggest a better way of doing the wallpaper stripping (but doubt that anything will be done before I get there at 8 am). (They expect job to be done and open for business Monday morning.)
Originally I thought it would be no problem, but am starting to worry since in two rooms I will have to paint behind unmovable furniture with a thin roller and cutting in around woodwork will be a problem. Also lots of alarm and other electrical stuff that can’t be moved and will need to be cut around. I was expecting to go in and roll walls that had nothing but some outlets with the faceplates taken off.
Anyway, might be a long weekend. They’re nice people so I’m understanding and hope in return they aren’t expecting perfection!
They are having new carpet installed after I paint–so eventually all the furniture must be moved–they kleep telling me that’ll be the carpet installer’s problem! Too bad I can’t run in and paint after the installlers rip out the old carpet and before they put in the new!
Replies
Hey danno, I hope that you put something in writing that says they need to move furniture at least 3-4ft away from any wall to be painted.
and if they signed off on it , it is thier resposibility Not yours to make sure that those items are not in you way. In the future add something to the effect of if you have to move anything ,you take no responsibility for any damages to items or surroundings.and it will be subject to additional charges for labor.
(i know the advice is a day late and a dollar short considering that you have to do this job over the week end., but for what it's worth Good luck with that.
If you did not get the whole thing in writting, make sure to do it in the future. You should not have to make up for poor planning on someone else's part. If you have to keep moving stuff around
then charge them extra for it because you did not antincipate having to get all thier stuff out of the way. your there to paint not be mover.
We all learn as we go, i know i'm still learning. You'll know better next time. Good luck...
Ray.
I jsut got home about 5:30--started at about 8 this morning. About a fifteen minute lunch and breaks to go to the bathroom.
Yeah, good advice for next time. I'm too nice to people, but then I shouldn't complain! They moved most stuff, but when I started to paint this morning, I found that a couple things are almost too close to get my step ladder in there and one cabinet will be too close, but I can lean and get around it--or move it myself.
They had told me they didn't have primer and they thought the paint would cover, so I grabbed on of the five gallon tubs and started painting. It seems sort of weird--covering more like primer--sort of translucent. Finally look closely at the tub--it is primer--tinted to the top coat color (lots of tinting!). So I finish priming that room and in a doorway I try the top coat paint I found. That doesn't cover in one coat, so back to primer. Got about half done of what I had hoped to get done! Looks like I know what I'll be doing next weekend! Don't know if they plan to be open Columbus Day--probably will be.
Anyway, the top coat should go on well tomorrow! Maybe faster too, now that I'm not trying to make primer hide like a top coat!
Danno
People not ready, Huh!
I went to install a bar top a week ago Monday morning, the old bar was supposed to be cleaned off, the overhead storage cleaned out(there are several post on top of the bar that hold the overhead storage up). Not a damn thing done, probably take someone 2 hours to clean it out and move it away from the bar. I have to be out by opening time so I don't have time to wait.
I charged them 4 hours for my time and went home. I came in this last Monday morn it was all done. Got my bar top in and cleaned up by 10:30.
I'd charge for anything extra I had to do. Your time has to be worth something and you shouldn't be expected to donate it, unless you want to.
Doug
Someone else had a thread about this sort of thing very recently. I guess I mentioned I went over last night and helped a bit--disconnected the thermostat that they couldn't figure out so I could pull the wire out of the cabinet in the receptionist's station, then found we couldn't move it anyway because of the security alarm hook up through it too. (I'm not touching that!)
This morning rubbed off most of the sticky adhesive and a big black spot on another wall with Goof-Off and removed a mirror.
Almost as frustrating as helping people move! Helped my sister once and she was throwing stuff in paper bags and we were taking it out to the truck!
Almost as frustrating as helping people move! Helped my sister once and she was throwing stuff in paper bags and we were taking it out to the truck!
Had a sister in college, moved every 6 months, from one third story apartment building to another 3rd story apartment building!!!
Doug
I guess I can hijack my own thread--I helped a woman move once--go to move her refrigerator--it's running, so I open it, it had food still in it, including half eaten things, partial bottles of pop, etc. Turned out the ice maker was also still hooked up, so we had to interrupt everything to go to a hardware store so we could remove and cap off the copper tubing! (Happened twice on kitchen remodel jobs, but then we had enough "slack" in the tubing to pull the fridges out to work around them. The worst was moving an insulated flu from the furnace going through a kitchen cabinet through a second floor closet above and then out through the roof!)
Edited 10/8/2005 8:21 pm ET by Danno
Oh God..I had a sister in law like that...I was the ONLY one of a kagillion friends or relatives with a pick em up truck....she also had a lovely upright piano to be removed and replaced on every 3rd floor apt she lived in...she never played it..I finally sold my truck just to not have to move her anymore. Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Oh, man, that reminds me of when I helped a guy at work move--he and his wife had a piano. We tried going in through the attached garage and got it up the one step and into the kitchen. Got it into the hallway and had to get it turned around to get into the living room. Only way to turn it involved taking door off going to basement and holding half the piano up and pushing it part way into stairs, but still couldnt get it around. Wrestled it back out. Got it to the front of the house, but had to cut down a tree and remove the porch wrought iron railing to get the thing in the door. I think we had to take the screen door off too. Anyway, finally got the thing into the living room. I said, "Next time I come here, someone better play me something nice on this paiano." Guy says, "Oh, none of us know how to play, but we might learn." I told them they'd better be signing up for lessons or there'd be bloodsshed! About a year later they're divorced. Never did hear that piano! (At least I didn't have to help him move it out again!
Never again mention Princeton ( NJ) UM church..we did the organ in the balcony...a wind chest of that size just happens to be 2x what a genie lift can lift...and four able bodied organ dudes can't compete with a 1 ton chest at 30' in the air..strapped to a soon to be collapsed genie lift...now ya know why I quit. Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
You get in on all the fun, safe and easy gigs.
If I hadn't spent all that time in a chuch(es) , I'd be dead. Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Lucky (I assume) no one was killed!
oh come on-
I thought you liked a challenge
<G>
Princeton's not too far away. Someday I'm gonna go look for that church.
Ya can't miss it..it is the huge place witha steeple on campus.LOL
If yer in Philly go to St. Joes University chapel...that organ will blow you away. Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Money don't talk, It Curses
(the other Bob)
I think I know which one you're talking about- never been in it, but it is hard to miss.
A good friend of mine used work for an organ builder. He's currently a church musician/composer, and lives up in the Albany, NY area. His name is Al Fedak.
I don't know how much organ builders know/knew of each other, but I figgered I'd ask.