Well, I did find a decent contractor finally for my concrete, and he did a great job (after SEVEN flakes!)
So I decided to take on another project in my home, that is, the walk in closet. It's 10 x 5.5 feet with a 9 foot ceiling height. It was a total waste of space with only one railing and one shelf, so I wanted to install a Closet Maid kit like you get at Lowes/Home Depot. I had read some feedback about the professionals, and one lady said she paid $11k on her two walk in closets!!! Okay, more than ten times my budget, that's why I went with DIY. I want to put wood laminate flooring in the living room, so I figured the closet would be good practice. First I tore up the carpet, then the pad and glue, and then the project started. About half way through it got a lot easier.
I laid down a moisture barrier and taped it to the wall ...
and then I finished up and trimmed the plastic. Not too bad.
Next I painted the walls and I was going to have someone come and do crown molding at the ceiling. I thought I'd try it but someone told me about a guy that does good work and is very reasonable. So I emailed him Friday night and waited for a reply. Saturday he responded late and told me, "I'll give you a call tomorrow". So I made myself available all day, and no phone call. Sunday night, he left another email, "Sorry I didn't get a chance to call. I forgot it was Sunday and I try not to work on Sundays". Fair enough, but it would have been nice to know that ahead of time. So he said he'd call Monday, and I waited all day...no calls.
I gave up, and I went to Home Depot, started looking at crown moldings and cabinets, loaded up a cart with a bunch of stuff and he finally called. He apologized, but said he would come by Wednesday evening to install the molding. As we were talking, I told him I was getting cabinets and he said he is a cabinet maker, and asked what my budget was. Long story short, he said he could do the cabinets for less money, and they'd be custom. So I unloaded the cart and put everything back and waited for him to quote the job. He called and said he was running late and asked if he could come Thursday instead. Like the idiot that is me, I said 'ok' and made sure I was home by 3 pm. By 4 pm, he called and said he would be by in a couple hours, probably after 6 pm, and I said 'ok'. Yeah, I'm an idiot, I know.
Finally I tried to call about 8 pm and got his voicemail. Then he sent me an email and said he already painted the molding and it was ready to install. The first thing that I wondered was why he had molding painted and ready to install when we hadn't discussed style or color.
I didn't even bother to reply, I called at about 9 pm and told him to forget it, he was obviously not coming by and that I didn't want him to. That meant I had to go back to Home Depot and load up with the cabinets and molding
again and do the job myself.
Even though I told him the first time we spoke that I was tired of flakes and disappointed that he didn't call when he said he would, he assured me that he wouldn't flake on me. This clown basically flaked on me FIVE times in a week! So he lost a $700 job and I did the cabinets myself:
This is the kit from Home Depot, and was only about $600 and a few hours of my time.
at the end of the closet with additional shelves and rods
and the light was pretty lame, so I got a pretty kewl light to put in, and did that too.
Now I just have to do the base molding and the crown molding myself and it's done!
I'll tell you, I'm kind of glad that contractors flake so much out here...it's helping to pay for my home improvement education by saving me $$ and giving me experience at doing the work myself!
