Laundry room

[MrsK]

Hypothetically, if you were having a laundry room built, would you assume that moving and installing the washer and dryer was part of the contractors estimate? Or would you expect that to be a separate line item/additional cost?

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[rufflesanddots]

I would assume it's included...that's the whole point of a laundry room, right? Otherwise it's just a room.

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[OrionGrad]

If they were in that room originally, I’d expect it to be included. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t assume that. (But then I’d also expect that if I *asked* him to do it at the end of the project, the contractor would just do it without trying to nickel and dime me with extra charges.)

[JDAZ11]

If they were in that room originally, I’d expect it to be included. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t assume that. (But then I’d also expect that if I *asked* him to do it at the end of the project, the contractor would just do it without trying to nickel and dime me with extra charges.)

I agree. I think the only way I’d think that it might not be included was if it was being delivered after the renovation was complete. And then I’d expect the retailer to deliver and install it.


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[civilspouse]

I would think that even if they hadn’t included it they would just do it if asked because it shouldn’t take that long. How is the project going?


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[MrsK]

Laundry room

Well, we were supposed to be done by now but the original contractor dropped out a couple days before we were scheduled to sign. Apparently, someone came along and offered him a $100k deposit to renovate a whole house. So, we had to go back to interviewing contractors and collecting estimates.

I have already purchased appliances and the washer/dryer set that is meant to go into the new laundry room was delivered last month (in accordance with the first contractor’s timeline). I have also already paid half the flooring costs and scheduled the flooring contractor.

We settled on a new contractor for the laundry room and mud room. I’ve been asking him for his contract and start date for a month. Now, we are supposed to start on Monday. He came by today to meet with me and the decorator, to get his contract signed and collect his deposit. I was trying to pin down some of the details of his timeline, figure out the logistics like how long K1 will be displaced from his bedroom, whether we need to move certain pieces of furniture. I asked if he’d have enough room to bring the washer/dryer upstairs. He asked “who’s doing that?” The decorator literally laughed out loud and I joked “what am I paying you for?” Turns out, he wasn’t kidding. He wants to charge another $150 to bring the machines upstairs.

He also didn’t have any of the lighting for the room in his contract, resizing the doorway, and some other matters that we thought we’d discussed. Now I’m worried that some matters we did not discuss but rather assumed were included — such as installing the appliances — will be left out. I don’t want a surprise to run up the cost or delay the project. This contractor has kids who go to school with my boys so I don’t want to sour the relationship either.


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[MrsK]

Aaaaaaand the contractor just quit.

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[OrionGrad]

Oh no!

[rufflesanddots]

WTF!

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[MrsK]

IN A TEXT! This is what he said:

"After our meeting yesterday, I don't feel that you were comfortable with the project scope and how we'd handle things. We do a multitude of business every year without issue, but I'm going to have to decline doing your project I'm afraid. I'm sorry for pulling out this late in the process, but I don't feel comfortable moving forward with your work."

Um, yeah. I'm uncomfortable because I couldn't reasonably assume that the laundry room would have a washer/dryer. I'm a little relieved that I didn't have to let him go but now my project is delayed again. DrK is pissed but, really, I think it's better to wait than be elbows deep in the project and then discover that plumbing would cost another $5k.

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[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I'd be frustrated too but it just seemed fraught with peril given that he's not being upfront with costs AND his kids go to school with yours.

[OrionGrad]

What happens now with the flooring contractor you already scheduled? Can you delay that without penalties?

[MrsK]

What happens now with the flooring contractor you already scheduled? Can you delay that without penalties?

Yes, I think we can delay. Now the decorator is talking about having the flooring done first in all the rooms other than the laundry and K1’s room. (We are reflooring the entire 2nd floor.) Then she’d bring in another contractor to do the laundry renovation and flooring for the laundry room and K1’s room (which would need to be opened for the construction).

There was a question with this last contractor about flooring too. We are installing a drain and pan under the upstairs washer. Two general contractors and the flooring contractor all said the pan is installed directly into the subfloor with the flooring going up to its edge. The contractor who just quit said he wanted to have the floor installed after his work was done, with the flooring contractor taking up the pan and installing the flooring under it. Just too many things were not working with this guy.

Meanwhile, I’ve moved money around to pay everyone this month. I’ve been postponing events that are supposed to be hosted in my home (and now, IDK if I can do them when I said I would), and I’ve already packed up 3 rooms in anticipation of demolition.


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[MrsK]

The other issue is that I have 3 sets of washer dryers now. The old one is in the garage, the new upstairs set is in my current laundry room and is way too big for the room, and the small combo set is scheduled to arrive next week for the mudroom that isn’t being built until IDK when.


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[scrub-jay]

Sounds like you dodged a bullet with that guy. I hope you get a better GC on board soon.