A sad commentary on what's important

This week my brother and I began a small remodel / repair job on a $1.1M home.  So far we've had our framing carpenters, plumber, tile setter, garage door guys, gutter people, drywall contractor, and trim carpenter working.  Today we'll have our painters begin.  What I've had confirmed is that just because a home costs over a million dollars doesn't mean it's a well built home.  I'm absolutely amazed at how shoddy this home was built.


I don't think the original framing contractor owned a level, or a square.  The floors upstairs are off 3/8" in less than 2 feet.  That's huge!  We're re-configuring closets and in trying to put in new shelving we've found none of the corners are square.  They're off 5-10 degrees.  How do you f**k up a simple closet that bad?  The water heaters are upstairs, a big "no-no" in my book, and don't even have working pans under them.  And the pressure relief valves were stuck closed.  They could have blown up!


BUT....and this was apparently what the original builder was counting on....the trim and cabinets and paint job look nice.  What the customer can see looks good.  But just under the surface it's junk.


I think this is the reason my brother and I have such a difficult time getting work.  We go overboard doing things right.  It's the only way we know.  Of course this means our prices are higher than almost all of our competition, and today people want a deal.  "Cheap" wins almost every time.  Others get work, I don't.  A few discerning people want things done right and hire us, and we don't disappoint. But more and more I'm just going behind the bad builders and fixing things up.  They get the 6-course meal, while I get the crumbs.  It's frustrating.


S