This is going to be a shorter strange newsletter.
I need to leave to get on the train.
If you're a newer subscriber, I have the good fortune to have a fun part-time job in the summer and early fall.
I'm a conductor on a full-size real scenic train here in New Hampshire. Right now we're heading into the busiest time of year with the tree leaves changing color.
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Susan's Story
Yesterday Susan purchased two of my 15-Minute Phone Consults. She had an emergency and I was able to get on the phone with her in less than two hours.
I believe as we hung up she said, "Tim, thanks so much for offering this product. You really put my mind at ease and I'm now well prepared for tomorrow's meeting!"
Susan and her husband are getting their house resided with a custom-painted Hardieplank product.
I need to add that Susan is a subscriber to this newsletter and she's done a great job in the past of reading and processing some of my advice.
She hired a contractor that the James Hardie Company said was certified to install their siding.
That was the first thing she did right.
The second thing Susan did correctly was to go online and download all the installation instructions and any technical bulletin updates about how to install the product.
She read all of this material BEFORE she signed the contract with the siding contractor.
I preach that all the time.
Susan also INSISTED there be a line in the contract that read:
"Contractor agrees to install the siding according to all the written installation instructions and technical bulletin updates published by the James Hardie Company."
I preach that all the time too.
When the contractor started to put up the siding, Susan immediately saw they were making mistakes and pointed them out to the lead carpenter on the crew.
She had the instructions in her hand along with illustrations provided by James Hardie.
His response was classic:
"Ma'am, that's how I've been installing flashing for the past eight years."
Guess what?
He's been installing it WRONG for the past eight years.
The owner of the siding company has been trying to strong arm Susan and she wanted to talk to me about strategy moving forward.
I want to add that Susan also was smart and still has lots of the money that's owed to the contractor.
Realize that MONEY is your only leverage with 99.9999% of the contractors out there.
You NEVER EVER want to forward more money to a contractor than he deserves.
You want to have a payment schedule in the contract that gives the contractor periodic payments for work that's completed to your satisfaction and is done right.
The only mistake Susan made was she submitted to the contractor's demand of getting some money up front before he started the job.
The ONLY TIME you ever do this is if the contractor has to purchase custom-ordered product for your job.
The contractor does NOT pay his employees in advance.
The contractor does NOT pay his subcontractors in advance.
The contractor does NOT pay his material suppliers in advance for regular materials that are stock items.
Knowing this, WHY WOULD YOU EVER PAY a contractor in ADVANCE since he doesn't practice that policy?
Don't allow a contractor to strong arm you about money.
Our conversation centered around what Susan needs to do to maintain control of her money and to ensure the job gets done right.
All too often, I receive emails from people that HOPED the contractor would do everything right.
Hope is the emotion of last resort.
You HOPE for things you can't control like the weather, tsunamis, lava flows and salt water on Mars.
You CAN CONTROL your destiny with contractors if you just do your due diligence like Susan did.
If you need to talk to be about a large job BEFORE you get in trouble, than consider my one of my 15-Minute Phone Consults.
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That's enough for today.
I need to get ready for the train.
Big rain happening here over the next few days.
Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Do It Right, Not Over!