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PSA: A kitchen job in Boise turned into 14 hour days and I finally walked off it
So this started two weeks back when a client wanted all her upper cabinets swapped out before a family party, and she swore the boxes were already level. Day one I pulled the old uppers and found the studs were 26 inches apart with zero blocking, so every cabinet needed its own furring strips. By Wednesday I was making three trips to the lumber yard a day because she kept changing the crown profile. Thursday the dishwasher line leaked into my toe kick and I spent two hours drying it out with a heat gun. Friday she handed me a punch list of 19 items, most of them stuff she added on her own after I left. I packed my bags at 6pm and told her I was done, and I have never felt better about losing a job. Anyone got a line on how to spot this kind of client before you sign the contract?
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vera64213d ago
That line about her handing you a punch list of 19 items, most of them added after you left, is the whole tell right there. I read a thread on a contractor forum a while back where guys said the biggest red flag is a client who keeps "remembering" extra work once you're already on site. The other one was a homeowner who swears everything is level or plumb already, because that usually means they either don't know or they're hoping you won't check. Three trips to the lumber yard for a crown profile change would have been my cue to run. Good on you for walking, some jobs cost more in sanity than they ever pay back.
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