There are always glitches in construction projects no matter how professional the people involved are. The trick is to be aware of and anticipate this. I liken it to that children’s book of years passed called Where’s Waldo. Of course, he’s hiding somewhere on every cluttered page and the challenge is to find him. Today, we found the first Waldo.
I’d met with and asked for some additional work from the electrical contractor and was told it would be expensive. Since I’m all about words and their meanings, I asked for a dollar definition of “expensive.” When he told me what he thought it would be, I didn’t panic or pass out. Actually it seemed reasonable for someone like myself who is used to paying Chicago prices for such things.
That was before he put fingers to keyboard and created the itemized quote. That was before he called and said he had bad news. And it was definitely before he faxed the four page quote to me. Therein I found the first Waldo.
I had been ready to accept the original definition of “expensive,” but I’m not so sure about this new one that comes in about four times greater. I can’t reveal the actually dollar amounts here, because Earl reads my blog faithfully and I haven’t shared the news.
Instead, tomorrow I’m returning to the site and reviewing the quote. For instance, do we really need five extra outlets in a garage that accommodates two cars? Do we need an extra circuit wired for Earl’s pant presser? And what about the dimmer switches?
Fortunately, this news was offset by the fact that the four-inch baseboard I’m installing came in at $.86 a linear foot instead of the $1.46 I was expecting. I guess there are good Waldos too.
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