Y’all wish me luck

I’m on a remodel for a hippie couple from Iowa. They don’t trust us. I’m not allowed to get material on ther time. They watch us constantly and offer help quite often. The wife has sent us home a couple times due to temp to cold. She asked us to go home so they could go grocery shop last week. They aren’t allowed in a couple different lumber yards. I’m the 4th crew on this remodel. I unloaded on the boss yesterday. He begged me to give it one more chance. The husband told me last night that he would start working with us. You should have seen the look he gave me when I offered up a bet that he wouldn’t be working with us.😂😂😂
The wife is constantly storming out the door asking where my helper is? I explained to her that he does exactly as I tell him. If I was to ask for a board and suppose someone else had him doing something different the whole job would come to an end.
I slept not a wink worrying about this. I’ve prayed hard for a good outcome for all. This morning I feel like there’s not a chance I’ll get along with this guys wife and finish this one. In 35 years I’ve never walked out on a customer.

Saw a similar experience years ago, family could not keep a contractor on site so I was curious and watched, the woman would strawboss EVERY worker and aspect of the work, finally a contractor she got to stay awhile told her to LEAVE or they would and her work would Never get completed, she did and in two days all was done but with a caveat she was NOT satisfied with the work then refused to pay the bill. Lien added to their deed and finally she capitulated. They soon sold the house where they moved a WHOLE five miles down the road to Another project house but could not EVER get a contractor to set foot in and they finally moved away completely.

leave... I've got the perfect 'contractor' for them !!

Yep, hope you can work it so you can continue to say 'never walked out on a job'...

MY two cents worth, {it's worth Less}. That's not a job your on. She and he both want to be the contractor. Walk out and let them do it themselves, or hire a bunch of misfits that know nothing and let them be crew leaders as they apparently wish to do.

Damn Hippies.....Don't you have a Blacksmith Hammer Mill to be workin on anyway?  Tell her "Baby, it's cold outside" and head out!

I had privacy fence put up a while back . Fence company owner told me he can tell pretty quick if he can work for someone . Said he gave one woman a job quote . She didn't wanna pay for 8' 4 by 4's when the fence was 6' . Guy couldn't make her understand that 2' has to go in the ground . He had quite a few similar stories

I think a lot of times, just explaining the FACTS OF LIFE to the customers goes a long way. Many want to be a part of the crew and direct traffic.. EXPLAIN that YOU are in charge..

Funny this comes up now because I and my coworker both had a similar problem at work. We both agreed that we should be permitted to carry a horse whip and get to use it once a quarter, no questions asked! Just kidding, a horse whip may not be heavy enough. we work with a lot of internationals, huge cultural differences. We will walk into a lab on occasion, and before we can even get tool box open, each person in the lab will take it upon themselves to come over and ask "what wrong"....everyone of them! for many of them, that's probably 30-40% of their entire English vocabulary! then, at least one will shadow us, so close we keep bumping into them, watching everything we do.

I did "accidently" give one young girl a pretty firm nudge across the bridge of the nose with my elbo on one occasion. She got the message.


I had one guy asking questions like a five year old, leaning over my shoulder, and poking at things....and I am working on live 220 equipment! I pretty quick told him politely but firmly I would stop working if he didn't get back

shameless dude wrote: I know a couple people like you mention, they plan their life that way because they have learned to be "cheaper" like ole Joe, or they are hiding something illegal! one family I know was never nor will they ever be satisfied with any type hired in work, they have learned thru the years or from parents that it'll usually get them the jobs done cheaper. they tried that on me once and I didn't bite. it still isn't done what they wanted after 20 years. you did the right thing Thad!

Dale I hope I did the right thing? Only time will tell.
I have no problem with someone trying to save money. someone that wants something for nothing Is another story.

I will have to say I just retired from the trades and don't miss any of the problems being described here. Best line I ever used was -It can be done now, I'll just go home!

Thad, I think I worked for that couple a few years ago. I wondered where they moved to. I was also asked to leave the house when the decided to go to lunch.

Joe it’s been better. It won’t last. They’re gradually resorting back to their ways. First sign of trouble and I’ll be on the phone. The boss told them that I want to see this through. They said they don’t want to lose another contractor on this. He and they brought up all my short falls then I nicely reminded him that I’ve made it much farther on this job than anyone else has.

LouSWPA wrote: I'm with Shameless. when someone is so distrustful that they feel the need to supervise every second of your time they are as crooked as the day is long and they are hiding something. And Thad, your boss should know, these are the people that will sue over everything after the job is done!

Lou no doubt in my mind you’re correct. The boss is a young buck trust fund baby that feels like he is so well liked by all that it can’t happen to him. His mom is married to my brother and I’ve known him all his life. These people spend every hour of every day looking for something for nothing.
I’m done trying to protect the boss. I’ve let all my subs know ahead of time and they all know the risks. They’ve picked their own HVAC and plumbers. She told me we’ve doubled her electric bill this month. I told her maybe it was the 3 space heaters on the porch so they’re warm while they watch us. She let me know that electric infared heaters don’t use much electric.

Thad in AR. wrote: She let me know that electric infared heaters don’t use much electric.

They have this gadget that shows how much lectric is being used from any outlet.  They are pretty cheap too.  You could surprise the heck out of her with it.
How about maing up a sign and putting it on your tool box?
$20 per hour, $30 per hour is you watch, $40 per hour if you help, $80 per hour if you give advice.

One thing that always helped me was when they are saying "if you'd do this,,,,,"  Just hand em your hammer/screw driver/ what ever tool and say, show me how......