There is an old saying that goes something like this: 'There are 3 parts to everything: Lowest Price, Fastest Service and Finest Quality. The catch is you can only have 2.' This is generally true, I have witnessed it again and again. This particular time illustrates it quite bluntly. This is intentionally vague in an attempt to not 'out' anyone involved. A customer called in a certain company to do select tasks while I was busy on the bulk of a project (I presume to speed up a rather large project). I assume the company was cheap and they were certainly fast(so fast they forgot some steps), can you guess what was missing?
More than a handful of details looked like Total Garbage. In FOUR places the trim was improperly aligned. Of four transition strips they installed, THREE failed to cover gap in the flooring. They shot finish nails through the face of a floating floor, which not only looks bad, but is also wrong. It could cause the floor to separate or buck up. They didn't have enough trim to cover the last bit so they mitered it backwards and left the gap. SERIOUSLY?!?! I took pictures for this blog, unfortunately my phone was malfunctioning and I lost many of the pictures I took in that session, but a few are above. In total, I spent TWO DAYS fixing these details and more when they left. That's 16 HOURS LABOR on top of the original price. Folks, you really do get what you pay for. I go behind other carpenters all the time, it's cheaper to pay me once for a quality job than to pay them to 'sorta' do it AND me to fix it. For certain, if you choose me, Finest Quality is a given.
Another difference is I clean up. It may be a big mess during the process, but when it's all over the only evidence I was there is the finished work. You won't find piles of saw dust, chunks of 2x4s, whats-it's and random screws after I'm gone. I put down floor and corner protection, use dust barriers and filters when applicable, and generally contain the mess.
Also, I have a complete carpenters apprenticeship of 4 years of classroom education and 8000 hours of hands-on training as a foundation that I build on with continual self education and 15 years of experience and counting. I actively keep up with industry changes, improved shop techniques and 'best practice' evolution.
I take care of my customers. About 70% of my customers are repeat customers. I think that speaks for itself. I warranty workmanship as long as the house is maintained by the original customer.*
If you don't use me, that's your prerogative, but please research anyone you hire and look close at pictures. If they have no pictures or finished work you can go see, STAY AWAY! If the price is significantly lower than other estimates then they probably don't have a clue how to properly account for the scope of the job or they don't care about clean lines, tight fit and finish details. Often, dramatically low prices indicate they aren't using 'best practices' and quality materials. Protect your home, because in the end the workmen leave, but you have to live in it and see it everyday.
*some exclusions apply, details will be in customer info packet
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