Ediy
Member
I have a mason (and his crew) fixing part of my house's foundation right now. So far I'm not too pleased about a couple of things, but I want to check whether my expectations are reasonable since I haven't had much experience with masons and their work. Maybe what he's doing is standard and my expectations are just out of line... or maybe not.
Yesterday he and his crew arrived to do what we all thought would be a fairly minor job that would be finished in a day. While they were working, they found a problem in the foundation that meant it was suddenly a much bigger job than anyone thought. With the additional work needed, it would take another day or two. The mason explained the situation, I agreed to go ahead with the larger project. He told me what he was going to do to wrap up for the day, and what time he would come back in the morning to finish. So far, so good--I don't have a problem with any of that. (I mean, the additional problem he found was an unpleasant surprise, but the problem was there to be found--that's not his fault!)
Here's the part I have questions about: when he and his crew left yesterday, they left a hole in the wall at ground level (a missing brick) that would be perfect for mice or rats to come in through, and although there was rain in the forecast, they didn't do anything to stop rain from entering through the partially-disassembled section of foundation they'd been working on. I went downstairs this morning to find a large puddle in the basement. Is that to be expected in the middle of a project?
Maybe my expectations are out of line, and if they are I'd like to know that so I won't hold a grudge or write an undeserved bad review! But if I should be able to expect better than this, I'd like to know that too so I can make sure not to hire this mason for any of the other projects I have in mind.
Yesterday he and his crew arrived to do what we all thought would be a fairly minor job that would be finished in a day. While they were working, they found a problem in the foundation that meant it was suddenly a much bigger job than anyone thought. With the additional work needed, it would take another day or two. The mason explained the situation, I agreed to go ahead with the larger project. He told me what he was going to do to wrap up for the day, and what time he would come back in the morning to finish. So far, so good--I don't have a problem with any of that. (I mean, the additional problem he found was an unpleasant surprise, but the problem was there to be found--that's not his fault!)
Here's the part I have questions about: when he and his crew left yesterday, they left a hole in the wall at ground level (a missing brick) that would be perfect for mice or rats to come in through, and although there was rain in the forecast, they didn't do anything to stop rain from entering through the partially-disassembled section of foundation they'd been working on. I went downstairs this morning to find a large puddle in the basement. Is that to be expected in the middle of a project?
Maybe my expectations are out of line, and if they are I'd like to know that so I won't hold a grudge or write an undeserved bad review! But if I should be able to expect better than this, I'd like to know that too so I can make sure not to hire this mason for any of the other projects I have in mind.