Southeast Kansas Outfitters

He came over at 11 like he said he would.  He stood at the back door and told him I have two separate jobs but they go together.  One is to install the sump pump.  The second is to take off a little panel in the kitchen wall and to see how the raccoons are getting in.  He said okay, that’s fine.  Let me get the pump going in the cellar.  I had an hour of pumping to do to get the water out and then he would come up to do the other job while it was pumping.

It was 25 an hour and I said that was fine.  I don’t care about the charge as well as they do a good job.  He went down and got the pump going and then came up and said he was going to lunch at burger king.  He came back at one and went back to work at the cellar.  Once the water is out the only thing left to do is put the new pump in and a new pipe.  He’s fooling around and fooling around.  It’s hard for me to confront him, he’s acting all squirrely, going back and forth to the truck.  By 5 o’clock he says he’s done that’ll be 5 hours.  I told him you have to do the other job it’ll take only a half hour.  He said he didn't want to do it, that college kids could come do it.  And that he wouldn't come back unless there was a half day’s worth of work.

 I am now in a bind to get it done.  I thought that was really mean.  He acted real funny and was fooling around.  I have had a new sump pump put in every two years and it’s never taken so long.  I shouldn't have paid him.  Overall, it was just a bad experience and he didn't clean up after himself.  The ones that a really sharp clean up where they have been working.  He didn't do any of that.  I don’t like people saying one thing and doing something else and acting all funny.

He's pretty busy, so the hardest part was waiting for his schedule to clear. When he came he quickly assessed what was needed, but then asked me to explain exactly what I wanted and made sure we were on the same track all through the process. That is so rare in a carpenter, that I was more than pleased. He is very knowledgable about how projects could be finished, but he doesn't take over!
All the gaps were even between the floor boards to allow rain to drip through, the cuts were at just the proper angle to blend into the overall look. 
The end pieces and scraps were kept picked up and after it was finished he even brought our deck furniture back. I'm just really pleased overall.