I am a carpenter. Not a contractor. I've offered to help a friend re- do her living room floors and kitchen. I have a knack for making things look nice without spending a lot of money..I have a good nose for bargains, a good eye for detail, etc. Rewiring that had to be done, to accommodate new fixtures, new fan and a dimmer switch replacement were all done by a licensed electrician. I am dealing with my friend mostly, but lately the husband has gotten involved in the process. The living room floors are done, they are a good brand laminate. Installed and baseboards, shoe are coped and in place. Now to the kitchen. No decision has been made on tile or countertop materials...First the theme was to be "neutral", then not to spend too much money, then they looked at all their friends and family's stuff and made a sort of decision...only to waffle on design, product, you name it. (remember, I am doing this free, so money or pay is not the issue) The wife's usual comment has been "you have good taste, just do something and i'll like it". Now the husband has stuck his nose in it...and has NO clue what he wants, but pontificates forever about what he thinks he wants. He nitpicks every decision, is hard to engage as to "friendliness" and at the end of each twice or thrice daily dissertation..he says "well, it don't matter to me anyway". But then five minutes later, here he starts up with the nitpicking (he knows nothing about carpentry) I don't ever dispute color, as we all have different tastes. The end of this project is a custom bar, but the bar is going to be the last thing to be done. And because it will depend on some of the choices that they make...my specialty is custom wood pieces..all unique, and quality sturdy usable functional bartops. The husband has never been to my house, which is a showcase of what I do, I've asked the wife to bring him...oh well. Not that I want their house to look like mine, just to show them i have a sense of good quality.. I am getting quite frustrated..as I don't have time to dick around with them forever, I offered to help them, but not to babysit while they nailed one foot to the floor. I've told them ideas, where to shop, the necessary steps to achieve the look they want. (of course they want it all rock bottom, but that takes some thinking and planning, anyone can have a great looking kitchen if you spend a lot of money) My question to the group, what would you do? I do not want hard feelings, as we are friends. This is the first time I've ever worked with them. And what would I say? My big problem is with the husband. I just for the life of me, cannot engage him, it is just superficial babbling that I get from him...my husband says he is just using his "game face". Game face for what? The wife tells me one thing when it's just she and i, but when she's around her husband, she parrots him. Perry
- posted
15 years ago