So my buddy calls me yesterday concerning a cease and desist order he received yesterday from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, otherwise known as CDPHE, concerning a complaint filed by persons unknown about non-permitted work underway at his recently purchased fix and flip. The house was built in the early 1950's. The complaint was authored by an environmental investigator employed by the City and County of Denver, but was written on a CDPHE complaint form. Interesting.
A little background on my buddy. He has worked the past 25 or so years for a company that supplies high tech circuit boards to purveyors of fine military hardware and weapons systems that can drop cruise missiles on a dime in Gaddafi's back pocket. Before that he kinda did interior trim in cracker box houses. So he's got that going for him. He and his wife bought their first FnF last September, all wide eyed and bushy tailed, and won't it be fun playing contractor, working 50-60 hours a week at my day job, 'then having real fun demoing, drywalling, and carpentering at night and on weekends', blah, blah, blah... "Sure will,†I says. Snicker.
He asked if I would be willing to come over and tell him what I think. "Sure will,†I says. Small house, laser measured in an hour, kitchen plans drawn in two, nifty summary delivered after about three hours spent. OK, six total hours, but who's counting? Don't hear from him for two weeks. He finally calls back to ask if I know how to make oak flooring transitions. (You may/may not have seen a thread.*) "Sure do. Say, did you like my kitchen layout?" I asks.
"Yeah, we decided to go with Home Depot."
"Great, did they come verify measurements for you?"
"No, they wanted $100 bucks so we tweaked your drawing a little and used it."
"Hey, no skin off my teeth. Hope it all works out."
Cabinet runs ending 7 1/2" from side walls, requiring 6" + 1 1/2" joined fillers, in an already tiny kitchen. Dishwasher door that opens less than 45° because it hits laundry room door casing. Sink jammed into a shared inside corner with the free standing oven. No REP's, and the refer's on the end. I certainly didn't draw that. Then there's the mini 6' x 3' hallway with six door jambs, none more than 6" away from each other. New prehungs, all at various heights. There's more but I drank to forget. "Dude, I told you how to do this! Level a line!" Nothing but the FU stare. Turns out he hired a couple of latino tile setters who claimed to have set hunnerds of doors in distant haciendas. T'was truly fugly. I couldn't restrain a hardy, prolonged belly laugh.
Then I got the 'I hate my life' speech, his 2EW (the boss) was riding his ass to finish, they were losing money, so I grabbed him by the shoulders, shook him, gave him a slap across the face...and left to have some beers and watch football. Felt good. Real good. Maybe he gets the last laugh. He claims they flipped $15k out of it. Enough to buy their next POS. Oh yeah, he bought me dinner for my effort. You know, for my effort. On to his latest gig...
The sheer audacity. He has asked each of the past three weekends if I want to 'drop by' and check out their latest purchase. "When the internet runs out of porn,†I says.
"C'mon, I want to pick your brain on a few things."
"I'm sure you do but I just found out they have gay porn, too. Besides, I'm riding my bicycle this weekend, miles in the opposite direction."
Enter the cease and desist order. Turns out homeowners may be able to skirt federal EPA and OSHA laws concerning lead, but not state laws concerning asbestos. The inspector demanded licensed inspection of all drywall, insulation, flooring, and siding, then licensed abatement for anything testing positive. Fines are pending. I have never experienced this situation before, and neither have the few, local contractors and/or trades I've talked to this morning. A leveling of the homeowner-cum-contractor vs legitimate contractor playing field to which Lavrans alludes, perhaps? Or simply bored BIs driving around eating all the cop's donuts? We'll see.
Before anyone jumps to conclusions thinking this is a rant about not getting paid, or working for friends or family...save your breath, because it's not. Some outcomes are better than money. I'll keep you posted.
* http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/s...led#post579196
A little background on my buddy. He has worked the past 25 or so years for a company that supplies high tech circuit boards to purveyors of fine military hardware and weapons systems that can drop cruise missiles on a dime in Gaddafi's back pocket. Before that he kinda did interior trim in cracker box houses. So he's got that going for him. He and his wife bought their first FnF last September, all wide eyed and bushy tailed, and won't it be fun playing contractor, working 50-60 hours a week at my day job, 'then having real fun demoing, drywalling, and carpentering at night and on weekends', blah, blah, blah... "Sure will,†I says. Snicker.
He asked if I would be willing to come over and tell him what I think. "Sure will,†I says. Small house, laser measured in an hour, kitchen plans drawn in two, nifty summary delivered after about three hours spent. OK, six total hours, but who's counting? Don't hear from him for two weeks. He finally calls back to ask if I know how to make oak flooring transitions. (You may/may not have seen a thread.*) "Sure do. Say, did you like my kitchen layout?" I asks.
"Yeah, we decided to go with Home Depot."
"Great, did they come verify measurements for you?"
"No, they wanted $100 bucks so we tweaked your drawing a little and used it."
"Hey, no skin off my teeth. Hope it all works out."
Cabinet runs ending 7 1/2" from side walls, requiring 6" + 1 1/2" joined fillers, in an already tiny kitchen. Dishwasher door that opens less than 45° because it hits laundry room door casing. Sink jammed into a shared inside corner with the free standing oven. No REP's, and the refer's on the end. I certainly didn't draw that. Then there's the mini 6' x 3' hallway with six door jambs, none more than 6" away from each other. New prehungs, all at various heights. There's more but I drank to forget. "Dude, I told you how to do this! Level a line!" Nothing but the FU stare. Turns out he hired a couple of latino tile setters who claimed to have set hunnerds of doors in distant haciendas. T'was truly fugly. I couldn't restrain a hardy, prolonged belly laugh.
Then I got the 'I hate my life' speech, his 2EW (the boss) was riding his ass to finish, they were losing money, so I grabbed him by the shoulders, shook him, gave him a slap across the face...and left to have some beers and watch football. Felt good. Real good. Maybe he gets the last laugh. He claims they flipped $15k out of it. Enough to buy their next POS. Oh yeah, he bought me dinner for my effort. You know, for my effort. On to his latest gig...
The sheer audacity. He has asked each of the past three weekends if I want to 'drop by' and check out their latest purchase. "When the internet runs out of porn,†I says.
"C'mon, I want to pick your brain on a few things."
"I'm sure you do but I just found out they have gay porn, too. Besides, I'm riding my bicycle this weekend, miles in the opposite direction."
Enter the cease and desist order. Turns out homeowners may be able to skirt federal EPA and OSHA laws concerning lead, but not state laws concerning asbestos. The inspector demanded licensed inspection of all drywall, insulation, flooring, and siding, then licensed abatement for anything testing positive. Fines are pending. I have never experienced this situation before, and neither have the few, local contractors and/or trades I've talked to this morning. A leveling of the homeowner-cum-contractor vs legitimate contractor playing field to which Lavrans alludes, perhaps? Or simply bored BIs driving around eating all the cop's donuts? We'll see.
Before anyone jumps to conclusions thinking this is a rant about not getting paid, or working for friends or family...save your breath, because it's not. Some outcomes are better than money. I'll keep you posted.
* http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/s...led#post579196
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