Yesterday I stopped by the river house with the man I hope will be doing the carpentry work. He has agreed to use Cole if he takes the job. Cole is a friend, a young man who has been doing the gutting on the property. He is a good worker, and he wants to learn the trades. What a great thing it would be if I can find contractors who will let him work for them. The man whom I prefer to do the furnace, plumbing and wiring also said he would consider using Cole.
Anyway, this carpenter found the reason for my wavy floor in what is to become the kitchen. Now how it will get fixed is another issue, but he thinks he knows. I was impressed that he found it, when one person who had been in the house didn't seem to think it was an issue (the person who introduced me to Cole), or at least never mentioned it, and another person was totally puzzled about why it was so uneven.
There is still some tearing out to do - this person who brought Cole into the picture set him to putting in furring strips (without my authority) so that I could increase the amount of insulation in the side walls. I had already done an analysis, and the extra insulation was going to save me $9.80 per year - yes, PER YEAR! - so why on earth would I spend money on the wood as well as the time it would take Cole to do it? I had told Cole I didn't want to do it, and yet this other person came into my house and set Cole on the job, bought the furring strips, and by the time I found out what was going on, it was nearly done. Now Cole is tearing them all out.
Why would I have them taken down when they are already there? I do not want to pay for the wood, or for Cole's time to do it, or for the more expensive insulation that would be required in the walls. At $9.80 savings per year, I would have to live to about 300 in order to recoup the cost!
I hope this person who interfered and took advantage of him will be big enough to pay Cole for his time. While Cole had been told I didn't want to do it and he should not have started it without checking with me, this person took advantage of Cole's youth and their friendship to misdirect him into doing something that I didn't want done. For all I know, he might even have told Cole that I wanted it done. I don't know. I am no longer speaking to him. He has refused to return the key I gave him (so that he could let Cole into the house), and so I am changing the lock.
Cole understands that he takes his direction from me and no one else. He also knows that the contractor key I give him is for his use only. It is just one more lesson to be learned if he wants to be a tradesman. You do what you are hired to do, and you take your direction from the person who writes the checks.
Anyway, now you know why I was so very upset the other day. But life goes on, and as soon as the last furring strip is removed from the house, I can put it behind me.
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