BARRY VICTOR CONSTRUCTION

Not very well at all. The job started on Wed., 6/11 with a 3-4 day estimate to completion. It's now Tuesday, 6/24, and we have at least 3 full days ahead of us. First, when they removed Sheetrock to frame in for the larger medicine cabinet, they discovered the vent pipe wasn't on the outside wall as expected, but was flush against the right side of the existing medicine cabinet (as you faced the mirror). This necessitated moving the vent pipe. I'm not high in home improvement skills, but I would have thought that a contractor would check on that before suggesting/ordering a larger cabinet. All that had to be done was to go out on my deck where the vent pipe is quite visible coming through the roof and realize that it was not where it was expected to be. Cutting and moving this pipe plus framing in for the new cabinet took 3 days. This work was deemed to be "extra". In the process of doing the electric for the medicine cabinet lights and the exhaust fan, some of the wiring was found to be old and in bad shape and required replacing. The access for the fan was in the attic under plywood flooring which was screwed down and could be easily removed for access. This was known to the contractor when he priced the job. ALL this electrical work became "extra" (see where I'm going with this?). They also had to replace some duct work for the heat/AC grate and replace the waste pipe for the bathroom sink. This, I agree, WAS extra. My costs to date are approx. $6600 with a final payment of $1100 upon completion. This doesn't include any materials (approx. $2500). As of 6/24, the wall has been framed, sheetrocked, taped, and primed. I found out that the painting only includes one side of the bathroom door and not the door frame itself (both need it). To be fair, I have to say that the quality of their work is excellent! So why am I unhappy? I feel some of the extra work should have been included in the contract work. They knew going from ad 30" M.C. to a 36" M.C. was going to require framing. Why was ALL of that deemed extra? Same with the electric....some of which should have been part of the contract work. I've talked to 3 contractors I know (which is a little awkward since I didn't call them for this work) and they agree with me about this. Their feeling was that there's a certain amount of problems associated with older homes that should be anticipated and made part of the contract work or eaten. The rate of the work is much too slow; this is a father/son team, and they argue about every decision which was funny at first, but now I realize is costing me $85/hr; I would bet an hour a day is devoted to "bickering". I'm constantly called into the bathroom to be shown what they've done (I finally got smart...I leave the house when they're working but stay in cell phone touch). Their day starts at 11AM or later and ends anywhere from 4:30PM to 7PM depending on what they're doing.