Hackety Hacks
 

Is it just me or is there just an unreal amount of hacks on this planet? Where has the pride and craftsmanship gone? Along with integrity and ethics all seems to have gone out the window. It’s not just in the car biz either. I’m doing a pretty hefty remodel on my house and feel like I’ve found every single hack in a 50 mile radius. While discussing with customers, friends and family it seems that it is the rule versus the exception. I’m venting because In addition to 5 out of 6 subcontractors that I am using being total POSs I have been cheated or ripped off on the last several parts deals that I’ve done with the Porsche community. Thanks for listening lol.

Oh good, looks like we have the beginnings of another saga here !

It's called pride and passion. Unfortunately many give it up for a fast buck. Sadly it happens in all service areas.

I feel you nathan.

It's frustrating and why i end up doing nearly everything myself.

I took a flywheel to a well respected machine shop to get turned last year and it came back with a gorgeous finish and .006 inch run out. I took it back and he re-trued his flywheel grinder and this time it was .0035 run out, still out of spec. "That's the best i can do"

I bought another new flywheel because i didn't want it ground a third time. I did find a machine shop with my kind of work ethic in the process though, so thats nice.

my buddy is on his second pool contractor and the project has been going on since oct 2018.. the second guy is as bad as the 1st, but the project is limping to the finish,,,, maybe cause it ain't full of water yet..

we are in a rural area so not many guys wanted to come this far to finish what the 1st guy started so my buddy had to hire another less than up n up guy to finish it.. he found guy two was bad about 3 months in and he's been at it for 7 in total. some of the delays were due to weather, but the guy is still a bum.

Be sure to thank and appreciate the "Good Guys" that you do find. My rule is that I can't ***** about the "Bums" if I don't tell the craftsmen that I meet how much I appreciate their dedication and skills.

I get heavily involved with every project i have done or do it myself and have a hard time dealing with 90% of the "professionals' out there. It is sad when I know more about others line of work than they do. Years ago i used to say the difference between your average pro and an amature is the pro takes money. Today it seems even worse.

I have a few friends who are passionate about their work and take extreme pride in it. But unlike the world I grew up in the all mighty $$ and cutting corners has become today's norm. It is amazing how bad it is becoming and with the attitude of today's youth which has little care or interest in anything but their smartphone I have no doubt things will just get worse as time goes on.

BTW Contractors are bad but pool guys are the worst. if I wasn't on top of my pool guy every step of the way who knows what would have happened. I had to intervene and correct a dozen potentially huge mistakes and even then Some things weren't done properly. I had to push hard to get a simple pool finished in 3 months. I know others who contracted the same pool guy and have been waiting over 3 years to see it completed. Ironically they considered him for one of these reality Pool TV shows but figured out he was a hack like the rest.

I feel for you. It is frustrating to spend your hard earned money on someone who doesn't care enough to do the job properly or overpay to have it done correctly.

With my house it all went sideways when I needed to hire a structural engineer. First guy seemed up to par and did his part in a somewhat timely manner but apparently he tried the old rope-a-dope with the city and they called him out on everything that he did erroneously. Once I provided him with the corrections, he ghosted me. I complained to the board of engineers after I couldn’t reach him for several weeks. They straightened him out real quick. I had already hired a second guy who not only took 6 times longer than he said and after maybe three tough rounds with the city he essentially over engineered my house to appease the plan checker. I caught on to what he had done And realized the cost to construct what he had drawn was insane. Lastly I finally found a great engineer and he “value” engineered my house and saved the day and hardly charged me anything. All-in-all probably a 6-8 month delay. This was just the first of literally a dozen (possibly more) poor choices of poor persons that I hired.

Yeah for sure. I’m a 1 Star or a 5 star kind of guy. My wife and I definitely go out of our way to praise good people even if it’s literally the person helping us in the drive-thru window

People are ten times more likely to complain than compliment. I’m with you. I make sure to thank everyone.

It’s a real challenge on my business. All these mechanics think because they can do a brake job or rebuild a cylinder head they can automatically do gearboxes too. I vet new dealers (whom I call installers) and close 2-3 shops a year for being hacks.

Let's not forget paying people on time. When I was in business, I paid my vendors, especially those I might need in an emergency, right away. No 30 days, 60 days, 90 days. No, as soon as I got the bill, or even in cash.

When the breaker box exploded, the exhaust fan broke on Memorial Day, the ice machine went down on a Sunday, the sewer backed up into the bathrooms, all of which actually happened, my subs showed up. Know why? Because I treated them well, paid them on time and used them during non-emergencies as well. These guys get stiffed and drawn out all the time, more often than not, but never by me.

The home improvement stuff is another kettle of fish, and you have to vet those guys multiple ways. I usually get recommendations from my other subs that I've been using for years. I've only been burned once, and that guy wishes he never took my job. Hello BBB and State Comptroller!

My electrician was totally re-wiring my cottage when he took a phone call. As I listened in, the guy on the other end needed him right away, an emergency. The electrician put him off, told him he was really, really busy and probably couldn't get to him for two weeks, sorry. As he hung up, he said to the cell phone; "maybe if you paid me what you owed me, I'd stop by".

my buddy made two mistakes from jump. he did not do any research on the 1st guy what's so ever, and did not have complete contract docs. meaning no plans, except a few sketches that the county much to my surprise approved and issued a permit.

I believe had he had a better plan set, with a good contract that included a schedule and milestones for payment and look into who he was hiring more closely we'd both be swimming by now. in the end he will likely pay 1.5x the cost of what the pool should have cost. fortunately he has the money.

I was just telling my wife this. I told her “imagine if we didn’t pay promptly how bad it would be if this is what we get when we pay on time.”

And don’t pay them off too early or pay too much of a deposit. Having $10K in my pocket was very useful in getting the roofers back when they screwed up my gutters and skylight install. I don’t care if the inspectors signed off on it. If I didn’t I’m not paying or signing off on the job complete.

Exactly. Contracts and progress payments are one thing. Making the final payment is another. My idiot A/C installer didn't install filter compartments, exterior pipe and wire conduit or finish off the floor vents. Wouldn't return my calls. I knew he was on the golf course, because I knew where he played. I owed him $10G's but he didn't care. He was ripping people off left and right.

I sent him a certified letter, signature required. They refused it. I sent a Certified letter to the BBB and the NY State Comptroller and Division of Licensing and went to his office to deliver copies. The secretary told me he wasn't in and didn't know when he was returning. I sat down and told her I'll wait. She said he may not come back. I said that's fine, I'll sleep here. She was aghast. The only way I was leaving is if they brought in the cops.

Sure enough, dumb-sh@t shows up, only because I wasn't leaving. We had it out and he sent his guys to finish the job. They hated him too. Figures.

Best way to thank them besides telling them is to refer them to friends and family.

Whenever I find a good electrician, plumber, carpenter etc.etc. I make sure to take care of them with a little extra. This way if and when an emergency arises, they show up.

Pay materials. Then pay cash - dollar bill cash not a check - when the job is done. Give them a due date - you are done by x And it’s done properly or you don’t get paid.

Tell them to bid the job that way.

Bids are a bit higher up front, but it gets done right and on time.

Too many people go with lowest bidder and are surprised contractor sucks. Also, retainage.

Public bids have the same problems, I got a pretty big utility job, and missed getting the whole $3mm project with a combination bid by $7k. I've already got 10x that in COs to fix the low bidders problems or flat out finish their work. This is not an uncommon thing for us, but he was the low bidder and its bond work so there is "no wiggle room" for most CMs.

You get what you pay for.
The cheap guy is the most expensive guy in the end.
Sound familiar?

I once ended a dispute with a roofer by putting a stop payment on a check, he arrived the next day with a giant of a man, a real knuckle dragger. He started poking me in the chest, telling me I was going to pay. I pointed at the roof and when I did my sweatshirt road up, the sun glinted off the S&W 38, nickle plated. The big guy took a big step back and started mumbling, "gun, gun". The roofer also stepped back, started calling me sir, and was gone shortly after. I got a letter from him the next day that said since I didn't pay, his warranty is null and void. Ok by me.
I had a permit so had I needed the gun it would have been legal, this was GA, not NY, much easier to get a carry permit.
We did the roof ourselves, it was weird, but it worked.

---Adam


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Hackety Hacks
 

Nick,

Paying subs invoices within 30 days when I have to wait 60 to 120 is why we always get trucks when we call.
The brokers flat tell my foremen. Derrick pays his bills, you come first.


As for pool contractors. They all suck.
I built a 3,500 gallon Koi pond. Basically a small pool. City made me permit it like a pool. I did all the work but Gunite and plaster myself.
Gunite guy was horrible. I asked if he had done ponds; oh, yea, all the time.
He gave me a deal to do it on a Saturday, but we had a race that day.
I met him early and had to leave. Came home to three big steps down into the pond. WTF! I ran to Home Depot to rent an electric breaker and chiseled those dam things out that night while they were green.

Landscaping by Deez hands.
Whole backyard too 13 months to do myself.

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Not sure if the laws in all states are the same but putting a stop on a check is illegal in NJ for services rendered. Either don't pay and never pay the final payment until all permits have been closed.

My good friend is one of the best landscapers I have known. A true Porsche enthusiast and is on these forums. He is more passionate about trees and stones than most of us are about our cars. Without his help intervening with the pool guy who he has done work for I would never had my pool done. I through one of the pool guys employees off the job after he mouthed off to me. After receiving his initial check my pool guy informed me in his exact words he doesn't give a ****. He explained that during desert storm his buddy and he were in a helicopter and the next thing he knew his buddies head was in his lap and body obliterated as the helicopter crash landed. :eek: So he doesn't care about anything. Wish I knew that prior to writing the check. :rolleyes:

Even after spending a fortune on surveys and pool design and drawings when they went to mark out the pool it was in the wrong place because they used the old survey to overlay the pool on. Eventually I said screw it and went outside with a can of marking paint and drew out the pool how I wanted it and where. Luckily the City was OK with it and it came out OK but being the perfectionist I am so many things were wrong when done. The pool was actually dug to coping height instead of 3" lower setting the pool to high which cost me additional money in landscaping. Luckily we unearthed a lot of boulders from stone and retaining walls when the property was a farm 100 years ago. It saved me a fortune in rocks needed to fix the pool guys mistakes and make the yard work. The hot tub was plumbed improperly so some of the jets won't work when combined with air so after a year of negotiations we agreed to drop the cost of the spa from the bill vs breaking it up and doing it over. I could only imagine what a nightmare it would have been to break it up and if it would be worse or not. No doubt it would have taken forever to fix.

Funny thing is I drew up the plans and GC'd a 3000 sq foot addition (right side of house) which I thought was a piece of cake to do. When monitoring the pool install I nearly went into business with my friend who is the landscaper since it is such an easy thing to build. The potential profit margins are huge if you just manage your employees and materials. I don't understand how they can leave so much $$ on the table and not care.

I am happy enough with the end result. My friend meticulous and passionate approach to landscaping made up for the pool issues and the result is now being used for advertising for an awning company who took this photo for their website.

I can go on for pages of all the little things done incorrectly that you don't pick up until long after they are gone and the work is completed. I think the average homeowner doesn't know enough to understand when things are done improperly or poorly and think they are getting a better job than it is. You have to be your own GC, Dr and lawyer these days otherwise you get screwed. I do all my own work if I can otherwise I am rarely happy with any professionals work. Don''t get me started on some of the work I had done at reputable well known Porsche Independent shops years ago.

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I gotta tell you guys, all this is why I'm such a DIY'er. I know just enough to be dangerous, but enough to know when I'm getting hosed. It's important to be somewhat knowledgeable when talking with your subs.

It all started 40 years ago when I GC'd my own house. It grew from that to cars to plumbing to electric to tiling, yada yada yada. It's definitely the reason I do some of the work on my own cars. That, and I'm New England "thrifty", or just plain cheap.

But I discovered over the years that I enjoy working with my hands. I've made my fair share of dumb mistakes and completed crappy jobs, but that's how I learned. Now, youtube makes stuff a breeze.

My 150 year old grandfather clock started gonging poorly Friday. One youtube video later, I was down at the shoe repair shop getting a piece of leather to fix the hammer. Bingo.

Anthony, your house and pool are gorgeous.

Couldn't resist after reading all this. I too am a forced DIY guy. Across the world it is still the same i.e. you get 60% cost on labor but wtf you can't get a job done properly? Been there and done that enough times that I won't trust a pro as far as I can throw them.

I do admit that I'm a perfectionist and I take pride in any job I do. All I want is a good job, but time and time again I've realized the problem. The contractors, or even the single guy just want to get onto the next job to increase their profits. They don't see your job any different. It's just a numbers game to them and they will do what they are programmed to do in any culture.

Therefore, I do anything I can do myself out of distrust and fear of less well done. It's my house and so I do feel the passion to do it right. I realize one can't do everything alone, yet one can learn to do it with a little advice or a youtube search. Ultimately, if it is done properly, with less the 60% labor, minus the shoddy job, one comes out on top with a satisfied feeling and some longevity in the end.

Hire a pro may just be the the pretense to get one professionally screwed!! Just my experience, and so I do things myself and with precision and pride no matter how long it takes me. It's the most peaceful and satisfying strategy in my opinion, if one can do exactly that.

I have to agree you have to enjoy working with your hands to do this work yourself. Although as I am getting up there in years I can't do half the jobs I was able to do just 10 years ago. Between just getting older and my arthritis it is getting tougher each day.

Sometimes the most satisfying feeling is cracking a cold one while sitting back and admiring the completed project. My honey do list will never end as there is always something needing repair or upgrading. Being retired it saves me a boat load of money doing these things myself and or not having to redo what I paid others to. Weeding my property is a 3 hour a week job. But there are just some jobs I pay people to do like roofing and chimney repairs. I had a leak in the new roof from the addition and although the flashing around the visible side is all new copper which was specified the backside which can only be seen from above was never reflashed and they just layered silicone on it to make it work. Of course 7 or so years later it became a problem. Just another way to save a buck and there seems to be no remorse.

I do have to admit Google has become my friend although I find the youth of today think it is the answer and can do anything by just searching without any experience and I have learned experience is worth its weight in gold.

that is what both my buddy and I have learned during his ordeal. thankfully for him it was finally plastered yesterday and will be filled today by water truck from local hydrant sources cause like me he is on a well that would not fill it at a fast enough clip.

dam shame due to covid that the salons up here are slammed after having just opened a couple weeks back cause I can't get a waxing at my speedo line!:D wanted to look my best for the 1st swim in the new cement pond...

Tobs,
Based on that pic of you and pops yesterday, gonna need a pruner to get through that thicket of a beard you got going on.

I’d love to have a pool. I would never add one to a property, ever.

What has been your personal experience with youth of today thinking they are experts just by using Google.
Please be specific.

yep, that's why im glad my buddy about a mile from me got one.. ill swim like it was mine.


that was no beard, this is a beard... my bobby munson stage..:D





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My theory: Treat your good suppliers, contractors like employees with respect. Never use a bad ones twice.

Yes the youth of today are so self confident, not like previous generations youth no sir. Thats why the very recent, completely new phrase, "hubris of youth" was coined for this generation. lol I know, I know, "its worse now."

No offense but this is a boring trope.

Why not? I use my pool everyday and hate when it is closed. Best thing I ever did especially when the mercury reaches 90 and even more so now that we are all locked inside our homes. Unfortunately the experience of building it was painful but the results well worth it.

I spend a lot of time directly with a number of brilliant 30 somethings. IMO some of the best and the rest seem to go downhill from there. These are all brilliant young minds lacking direction or discipline we had to have 30 years ago. They are convinced they know it all and if not can find it on google. I laugh internally as things unfold as I predict and they are dumbfounded how it happened. Occasionally I come across one who has the discipline and understanding of what work is all about but not many. My response is not only about todays youth and the internet but the attitude. Something my generation couldn't afford.

Just because you can rebuild an engine or tune a car doesn't mean you can run a business. The wealth of info in these forums has helped many rebuild engines and work on cars without any formal training and in many case I find is a mistake. I have worked on cars fixed by shade tree mechanics that should leave things to the professionals. They got the general idea down but without experience make mistakes unknowingly. I find little is retained and or learned and everything is instant gratification or don't bother me attitude. If there is nothing posted about the problem they come across on google or youtube they shut down and the job sits idle vs jumping in and figuring it out putting their experiences to work. I find what they consider a hard weeks work is by my standards less than a days. 60% of their day is on youtube or google.

By the time I was 30 I was running a complicated business doing work as a first tier supplier for just about every major defense and aerospace business. No resting on my laurels and when a hard job was completed it was onto the next. Not saying it was the best way to live but today I am retired at a young age and have the means to enjoy all my projects and live as I wish without financial concerns. No doubt living on a retired persons salary is not as easy as it was when working but I am doing what I love building and working on cars and driving on tracks when open.

Nearly every one of these 30 somethings or younger today seem to be picky about everything vs grateful for the freebie and feel they can do anything without experience. Some can but most end up getting in way over their heads. I learned by taking things apart and fixing them. Sometimes I broke things but I learned what not to do.

No doubt there is merit to having a textbook (google for those who forgot what books are) of what to do at your fingertips. Similar to our Chiltons or Haynes manuals I guess. I know of a lot of well known instagram shops that I see the work first hand and as being done vs what they show and IMO it is a lot of Hack Work that the court of public opinion seems to like. Just like watching RWB builds that people go crazy over. Watching him cut apart a 3.2 carrera my friend slaved over refinishing made me sick to my stomach and was a compendium of what not to do in my book. But this is what the internet has made of our world.

I digress but this video IMO a satire but touches upon so much of what I see with the average youth today. Some suffer more than others but all are lost in their phones and have 0 social graces putting the phone and internet ahead of personal interaction and getting things accomplished.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzXBFM0aurg

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"I spend a lot of time directly with a number of brilliant 30 somethings."

I have three 30 something kids with their 30 something spouses and a large and extensive mixed bag of their 30 something friends and I disagree, at least conditionally. This just seems like too broad a brush.

My kids are special (haha) so I won't talk about their work ethic or success, but I will talk about their friends. I'd say about half of them are doing well, with the other half not so well. Compare this to the idiots I went to college with decades ago and it's about the same. It always surprised me how privileged friends of mine from nice northeast communities, who were lucky enough to go to good colleges back in the day, could grow up to be lackluster dopes. DOPES!

But I see it with some of my kids' friends too. Still living at home, still dependent on Mom and Dad, still expecting a high standard of living when they aren't earning it. When I talk to these parents, they shake their head and complain but they continue to enable their kids, pay the car loans and feed and house them. I'm guessing your parents weren't like that. Certainly mine weren't. Parenting has changed in our entitled world.

Your success is because of you. You did it. You're responsible. There are plenty of 30 somethings out their succeeding and plenty that aren't. It's the way of the world.

Good for you, but don't deride the majority of a generation. They're not that bad.

Now those 40 somethings....SmileWavy

Can you be more specific? How does a retired guy puttering around his garage spend a lot of time directly with 30 somethings? Do you hire them to work at your home? Are you retired or working full time? And who are these people you are around? Is this a random sample? Do you think Harvard graduates are going to work in a retired guy's garage? 60% of whose day is on YouTube? Do you spend entire workdays with 30 somethings?

Read what he said until you comprehend it for Fuks sake before asking more troll questions.

Because I'm not in my forever home yet and there's too many other value added upgrades to be done in the 3-5 years that we will still be here. I was just saying that I would like to have a pool but don't want the hassle of building one. It will be on the wants list for the next house. And if it doesn't have one, I'll just get a Phelps swim spa.

You have a feminine streak, Deez! :eek:

Great work, BTW.



Ha ha, you should see the threads and post from the blue haired regulars in Off Topic - apparently today's youth are responsible for all of the worlds ails, have no sense of, or respect for, history, and generally suck at anything and everything. Same as it ever was! :D

I actually have to side with sugarwood's general point on this one, convoluted and trolly as he is wording it.

Old man yells at the internet that young people are lazy and stubborn. Yawn. Get over yourself, plenty of lazy people young and old, plenty of successful and hard working people young and old. Your generation is not special, no generation is special. Sorry if this is news to you. All generations youth have had these traits forever into the past.

Kids today.

so now that buddy paid a ton to have potable hydrasnt water trucked to the site to fill the pool post the frosting of the gunite cake it's gotten muddy AF... when the pump for the cuzzi and pool lines were fired all the dirt the lines collected over the last 20 months were pumped into the pool!

looks like thin, poorly prepared gravy. my waxing appointment will now happen before it's fit to swim in....

yep, contractor II did not flush the lines prior to the filling... muddy like the Mississippi..