She's gonna blow Captain!

To survive this economic debacle, we must "think outside of the box"

I call it an economical debacle because I've lived through two recessions, and as bad as they were, neither one was as long and as persistent as this recession. I have witnessed too many sad things in the last six years. I have seen friends and even some family members lose their homes, and I have seen a few of my fellow contractors go under. This economy has put some of the strongest businesses in troubles path.

Is this what's next?

In the first two years, I was hoping that this major downturn in the economy and the bursting of the housing bubble would weed out all the weak and bad contractors. It did get some of them, but sadly for a lot of people the economy is still in the tank, and it seems that there's more economic punishment ahead for us. So what can we do to survive? We need to reinvent the wheel......think outside the box......learn to diversify!

That's what I chose to do....Diversify..

Through my years in business, I tried to keep growing. Not just in the amount of men, and equipment, but in the things that I can offer. I didn't want to become that guy....you know..."jack of all trades, master of none".
But I wasn't happy just doing one thing. So I did grow in the things that I offered to my customers. Most importantly and the point of this story, I became a Dealer and Installer for a whole house water filter system and Salt Free water softener, You can see it here:

 This was the perfect add on to my business. I was not only selling these systems online to anyone in the country, but I was also selling and installing them in my local service area.......which brings me to my story........

About  two years ago I get a call at my office for a full system. The guy, Joe, left a message that he was very interested in purchasing the system but he wanted to talk to someone with some knowledge of how the system worked before he committed to our system. I called him as soon as I returned to my office.

Joe was interested in the "big" system we sell. 

The Pelican Whole House System

That was good, but when he told me that he lived in New York state, I was a bit disappointed, but I figured that I would at least sell him the system and make my commission from the sale. I try and stay within an hour of my shop, and he was about a two hour drive. He then tells me that he would be willing to pay extra for travel time, because I was highly recommended by the main company. To be honest here, I really didn't want to travel that far, and I tried to overprice the extra travel time to a point that Joe would find it too expensive and look for a local plumber to install the system.

Joe was Happy to pay the extra but before he committed, he wanted to "see" the system.

"Do you have a customer that I can go see their system?" Joe asked in his high pitched, kinda whiny voice.

"I can't give you a customers address, but I actually have the system installed in my own home and you are welcome to drive over two hours to see it" I replied.

"Okay, can I come by tomorrow?, what's your address? And if I like the system, I'll leave the deposit.....Okay?....How's that sound? " Joe screeched.

I thought it sounded weird, so I told him that I would ask my wife if that was okay with her. Which it was, and Joe made an appointment to "see" the system the following day. When I got home the following day, my wife told me that this guy Joe had stopped by and he was "very weird". He asked a bunch of questions, and when he was showed the system, he went about giving it a detailed inspection. He left the deposit, and I ordered his system.

Joe's  system arrived, and I got it all prepped and ready to go. 

Seems that I have every fitting I need!

Before I left my shop I wanted to make sure that I had everything possible for the install. I didn't want to be that far away into unknown territory, not having everything I needed for a successful installation. I left with total confidence and headed off to New York.....to Joe's house.

After a little over two hours of driving, I was pulling into Joe's driveway. It was a nicely kept two story
colonial. The grass was very neatly cut, and I could tell that Joe was a bit of a perfectionist by the way he kept his home. I respect that.

Joe greeted me at the side door, and I have to admit that I had him pegged from just our phone calls. He was a small skinny guy, and he had a nervous twitch about him. I reached out to shake his hand, and he laid his hand in mine like a princess would, and I almost thought I should kiss it instead of shake it. I followed him into the finished part of the basement and he showed me the closet that we were to install the system.

I got started right away. I turned off the main water supply, made my cuts into the system and figured out my piping. While I was doing this I heard a strange noise, so I stopped and listened. It was someone upstairs pacing back and forth right above where we were working. I thought that was very strange, but went ahead with the installation.

Every once in a while I would feel a presence and look behind me to see Joe just standing there. I didn't hear him come down, he would just "be" there and he would and ask how things were going. I assured him that all was going well. I could tell he was nervous. He seemed the kind of person who didn't like change.

We were now into the third hour of the install, and almost finished. I asked my helper to get one of the fittings out of my truck, and cut it to a certain length. When he brought it in to me, it looked like the cut was wrong. Sure enough it was! I was pretty upset because now I had to try to find a plumbing supply store to replace that fitting! I called upstairs to Joe who was pacing back and forth above our heads and asked if he knew of a plumbing supply store that was nearby. Joe came running down the stairs as if there was a fire, eyes bulging, and he started to panic and asked in a very concerned tone,

"What's wrong? Is everything okay? Oh Geez, maybe you should put everything back the way it was."

Joe...

I explained that everything was fine and I just forgot to bring a fitting. He was reluctant, but went upstairs to get me the address of the nearest plumbing supply store which was about twenty minutes away.  While he was upstairs, I told my helper to prime and glue all of the fittings up to a certain point, so when I get back all I had to do was glue in the last fitting and we'd be finished.

It took an hour and a half to get the part and get back to Joe's house.

I was not very happy at this point as I should have been heading back to my shop by now. So I went in with a new found determination to get this thing done and get out of there. My helper was in the driveway when I got there, and I confirmed that he did in fact prime and glue all of the fittings....he said yes, of course!
There wasn't much left to do at this point, I made sure to make the cut myself, as not to have any more mishaps. I primed and glued the last fitting and firmly held it in place for several seconds. Finally! I was finished, and I had my helper clean up the working area, and put away the tools.


Now I always find it nerve wracking when I'm finished with a system and ready to turn the water main back on. I found out from my licensed plumber Ken Kunich, that all plumbers secretly have that same oozy feeling in their stomachs. I told my helper to go ahead and turn the shut off valve to the open position, and in a very load voice exclaims...."Okay, here we go!"..... Which is why Joe stopped his pacing and came running into the basement to "see" the starting up of his new system.

Okay.....just a bit of an exaggeration...but close!

I looked around at the fittings like I always do to make sure of no leaks. All three of us were standing there when all of a sudden, a load bang, and an instant soaking shower!!! It was a shock to say the least! I yelled over to my helper to turn off the main shut off valve. I looked behind me to see a water soaked Joe, who was in what seemed to be a state of shock. I was SO embarrassed that this had happened, and at the same time intensely curious of how this could have happened.

"Oh Geez Dominick.....I don't want this system in my house now" whined Joe "Look it ruined my walls, and the door is soaking wet, and..."

Nervous Joe

I stopped him there..

"Listen Joe, I'm not taking anything apart. The system is in and that's that."

What had happened was my less than brilliant helper did not glue one of the fittings, although he did prime everything which was why I didn't notice. For those who are not familiar with pvc piping, the primer is purple, and the glue is clear. You will always see at least a bit of purple at all of the joints. I explained to Joe that it was human error, and sadly that happens. The good thing is that there was no damage to anything as we had dried up the area (the only damage was to my pride) and glued the fitting back on. This time I inspected EVERY joint to make sure that it was good to turn the pressure on again......it was.

Turned the water on again, and Joe was standing next to me with a plastic bag in front of his face. This time there was no exploding pipes, and the system ran proper. It was now 5 pm and I was dying to get out of there, but Joe wasn't going to let me out of there that easily. He came over with a flash light, a sock and a towel, and proceeded to SLOWLY check each and every joint in the system. that took around twenty minutes. When he was satisfied that there were no leaks, I handed him my bill and asked for a check so I could go home.

"Well I want to check all of the toilets, and sinks before I pay you"........ I have to admit, I had a bit of a "vision" with my hands around his throat.....I explained that this was completely unnecessary, but Joe was insistent, and proceeded to spend another 35 minutes checking anything that had anything to do with water.  
It's now almost 6pm, and this is when Joe tells me he can only pay me through PayPal.....WHAT THE.....! At that point I was so frustrated that I didn't care anymore and all I could think of is that it was gonna take me three hours to get home, which it did.

It took four long days for Joe to finally send me the money...... 

I guess there are a few lessons to be learned here. First is never trust an idiot. I should not have taken for granted that my helper did the right thing. I learned a valuable lesson that day and I now always double check everything. The second lesson is stay close to home......it figures that it took almost triple the time to do this job than it should have taken. And the final lesson, if Joe ever calls again.....just tell him that I moved to another country!

TIP OF THE DAY: 

How to glue PVC piping....without any explosions!

Purple primer is applied to PVC pipe fittings and pipe. When dry, PVC cement is applied and the pipe inserted into the fitting while rotating a quarter-turn.

• Apply some purple primer to the hub of the pipe fittings.
• Then apply primer to the end of the pipe.
• Let the primer dry for a minute before applying cement.
• When the primer is dry, apply some clear PVC cement to the hub of the pipe fitting.
• Then  apply glue to the end of the pipe.
• (By applying glue to the hub first, I can set the fitting down and not need to worry about the glue touching the work surface.)
• Then  push the pipe into the fitting WHILE turning the pipe about one-quarter turn.
• BUT... keep pushing the pipe into fitting. Often the pipe will "bounce" out of the fitting part way, so  keep the parts held together for a minute until the glue has a chance to harden.
• While holding the pipe and fitting together,  wipe off the excess glue

 

See you next time......from beyond.........

 

Part 2: The Court Case And The Jeweler

If you missed it ....The Dishonest Jeweler..... Part 1 HERE:

So to recap a bit....

I was hired by a Dishonorable, Dishonest, Despicable, and Deranged jeweler to work on his 4 million dollar home in Flemington, NJ. After I refused to do work that was out of the scope of my contract and knowing that I wouldn't be paid for it, the jeweler asked me to leave. Weeks went by and I had not received the "promised" check, so I went to see him.............He told me that he was NOT going to pay me, and he turned to pick up the phone behind the counter...."I'm calling the police"   I don't know how I stayed calm at this point, but I went almost nose to nose with him and said, "Go ahead, call the police, they'll arrest you, because you're the thief! And just to give you a heads up, I'll see you in court"

So the following day I went to see an attorney friend of mine. 

We went over all of the paper work, and lucky for me I had pictures. He explained to me that I had a good case indeed and I should pursue it wholeheartedly. He told me that I could sue him for all of the extra work, and I could even sue him for unnecessary stress, and I should also sue him for having to replace my transmission because he neglected to plow the driveway. My friend was looking for blood. I said to him that I didn't want to sue him for everything under the sun, and since there was nothing in writing about the extras, I would just look like a fool. He somewhat agreed, and then encouraged me to represent myself in court.

So it was to be....I was going to be my own lawyer!

Luckily for me, my wife is very smart and helped file the suit against the jeweler, and we both looked into the legality of our claims. I was very confident that I was going to get my money from this crook. 

Two weeks went by and I received a certified letter from the jewelers attorney. I actually thought that the jeweler somehow came to his senses and decided to pay the money that he owed me. I opened the letter with an internal grin, and much to my surprise there was a court document saying that the jeweler was COUNTER SUING ME!! I was floored by the arrogance of this man, and it just gave me a heightened sense of determination to teach this man a lesson. 

The court room!

The day came for our court date and I was ready! The weatherman called for a very rainy day, but that morning it was just a light rain, and it felt good on my face as I walked to the courthouse. My wife and I went up to the second floor of the huge marble-laden court house, and found the room in which we had to wait for the first case to be over with before we could enter. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the jeweler with his attorney.....

The attorney was a small middle aged man, who was smartly dressed. It was obvious that the jeweler had pointed me out because right after I saw the jeweler whisper something to the attorney, the attorney grabbed the jewelers arm and they made a u turn and sat on the other side of the building. That just gave me a bit more confidence, not that I needed anymore because I was fired up and I couldn't wait to get in and make a fool of this guy.

We were called in around 10 am. The Judge asked "Mr. DiTaranto, where is your attorney?" I replied "Your honor, I will be representing myself, and I'm ready to go" This got a small chuckle from someone behind me. "Are you sure Mr. DiTaranto? because this case may be complicated enough to warrant an attorney" I explained to the judge that I had all the necessary evidence and paper work to proceed with the case. He smiled at me and said "Well then, let's begin! Mr. DiTaranto....state your case"

I was on fire and didn't miss a beat. I presented most of my evidence to the court. I explained that he kept making changes to the plans without confirming any compensation for these changes, and that the required space for the fireplace was in question, and it turned out to be wrong as per the architects letter that I presented......in which I repaired, again without any written confirmation of compensation. I told the court that he insisted that I do the work of his Architect, and his Framer, and his Roofer. I submitted pictures of the roof rafters, and the window that was too close. I also submitted pictures of the fireplace before I changed it to a herringbone design, and then another picture of the fireplace with the herringbone firebox. 

Not me.....

The Judge was impressed with the work, and made a statement "Nice work Mr. DiTaranto, maybe I'll give you a call sometime" He laughed, the bailiff laughed, I laughed, and most of the people sitting behind us laughed...the jeweler didn't laugh. I was finished and sat next to my wife with my chest out and my head held high, because I knew that I killed this thing. I felt like Perry Mason! I was totally confident that no matter what they came back with, they couldn't take anything away from my testimony.

That's when the lies and the drama began!

The attorney gets up and walks in front of me with a picture of the fireplace that I had built. "So, Mr. DiTaranto,.....so this is what you call GOOD work?! If you had done this for me I would have fired you also!" He ran over to the judge and handed the picture to him. 

"Your Honor, I'm sure that Mr. DiTaranto didn't or wouldn't show you THIS picture of his work! Look how sloppy the work is, there are cement stains all over the brick! My client, the jeweler has had nightmares about how he was going to live with this mans sloppy work!" He slowly walked back in front of where I was sitting and asked me 

"Didn't you realize that you were working on a multimillion dollar home, and your work was far less than acceptable?! I'm sure you understand that the jeweler just couldn't have you finish up there with THAT kind of sloppy work...WELL??!!" 

I looked him straight in the eyes, as he didn't intimidate me like he believed he would, and replied.

"Well Mr. Attorney (not his real name) I wasn't given the chance to finish the job, and that is not a finished product. You see, when the fireplace is completed, we wash it down with a light acid wash, which washes off any cement that may have fallen on the brick, and the finished product, which that isn't, would be beautiful!" 

He shook his head in disgust, and walked back to his table to pick up a piece of paper. " Your Honor, this man, Mr. DiTaranto, failed EVERY single inspection, and when he finally did pass the ONE inspection, it was party time for Mr. DiTaranto,. it was apparently such a accomplishment for this man, that he called my client to tell him that he finally passed, and demanded a check from him!...Isn't that true Mr. DiTaranto??!!" 

"No, Mr Attorney, that is 100% false! You see, I went to the township and got a printout of all the inspections that were performed on the jewelers house, and if you look under the heading of "Fireplaces" there were three inspections that were performed on said fireplace, and EVERY ONE of them passed!! And the only time that I asked him for a check was when we both agreed that I would leave his job."

Crazy attorney, drama queen!

The attorney slammed both of his hands on the table in front of me and yelled, "Mr. DiTaranto, isn't it a FACT that you built this said fireplace wrong, and you were forced, by the township to tear most of it down, and when you started again, you overbuilt it and had to take the exterior wall of the house down, therefore weakening this wall forcing my client Mr. jeweler to seek out an engineer to make sure that this wall was structurally sound??, WELL, Isn't that true Mr. DiTaranto??!!"

"No, again, Mr. Attorney, I'm not sure where your getting your "facts" from, but they're all wrong. I have the original blueprints here, and a letter from the architect stating that this space was NOT for a masonry fireplace, but a gas fireplace which requires much less room. Before I started the job I brought this to the attention of Mr. Jeweler and he told me that he was an engineer in Russia, and not to question his requests"

"Oh really?, Mr.DiTaranto, you claim to be such a great and wise contractor, and yet you rely on my clients interpretation of the codes??? I find this ridiculous!" He went back to his table, bent over and whispered something into the jewelers ear. The jeweler looked over at me and said "Why do you lie? I just wanted nice fireplace on my home. You make nightmare, and I can't even look at you!"

The attorney pulled a piece of paper out of his briefcase and claimed "Your honor, we have here a bill for the re-building of the fireplace. Mr.Jeweler just couldn't live with what this man had done, so he hired this other contractor to knock Mr. DiTaranto's horrible work and rebuild it the right way" As he went to hand the judge the paper, I broke in and said, "Your Honor, I find that very suspicious, because I was at the jobsite two days ago to pick up some of my equipment that I couldn't get to because of the snow, and my fireplace was still there and has not been touched!"

The judge asked Mr. Jeweler if that was true, and the jeweler stuttered, "Ahhh, well, I hired him to do this work. He has not started yet, but he will be there today" The Judge said that the bill was inadmissible, as was all of the pictures that they handed in. I was flying!! Then the judge looked over and said "Okay, let's break for lunch. When we come back at 1:00 we will hear closing arguments"

As we left the room, I got a few thumbs up from the people sitting behind us. My wife and I went for lunch at a local restaurant. We sat there and as I talked, she wrote down every word of the closing statement. We were so happy that our case was so strong, and we were totally confident of our success, that we hardly ate anything. As we headed back to the court house it started raining so heavy that we were completely soaked as we ran from our car to the courthouse. When we walked in the bailiff form our case was in the lobby, and offered us a towel. We gladly took it and thanked him, and he replied "you're doing a GREAT job up there!" I was so happy to hear this and asked him if he thought I would win the case.

"Without a doubt! But remember one thing...this judge never gives the whole amount, but you'll get most of your money, you can bet on that!"

We both gave our closing statements. Mine was sincere and heartfelt, his was dramatic, and pretty much all lies.

The Judge looked right at me and said "I want to tell you that I think you did a stand up job stating your case Mr. DiTaranto" And then he turned to the court clerk and said. "I have come to a decision. Mr. DiTaranto, your testimony was very good and I believe that what you said here today was the truth" I WAS GLEAMING! "The court finds in favor of you" My insides were cheering, and I looked over at my wife and we both smiled at each other in triumph.

Then the judge turned to the jeweler...."Mr. Jeweler, Your case was also strong, and I believe your testimony, so the court also finds in favor of you"...?????WTF????????? I heard gasps coming from behind me. I looked over at the bailiff, and he was also in shock, and looked at me and shrugged his shoulders in disbelief.

I was stunned and about to collapse on the floor, and the judge asked me "Do you understand, Mr. DiTaranto?" I'm sure that I resembled a deer in the night road staring at oncoming headlights, and I uttered, "Yes, I think I do..." 

The judge then explained what was going on, " you sued Mr. Jeweler for $6,500, and he won the counter suit which is $9,800.00, so you owe Mr. Jeweler $3,300.00. Do you understand?" In shock even more, I replied, "Well not really, but if you think that's fair then what can I say about that?" The judge hit his gavel on his bench "Case closed....bring in the next case"

As we walked out, the people behind us were saying things like "somethings wrong here" and "no way that liar won"....I agreed. The jeweler and his attorney were right behind me and the jeweler leaned over and whispered in my ear.."I told you, not to sue me....now you owe me money" he laughed. I turned around, and stopped him and said "Try to collect it, there was some really funny shit going on here, and you can bet that this isn't over". 

It took six appellate lawyers before I finally got one who was honest or brave enough to take the case, as he saw that there was definitely something fishy going on. We were thinking that the Jeweler must have had lunch with the Judge and maybe gave him a watch for his wife, or told him to come into the store anytime and pick something out. But there is NO WAY that two people can "win". 

Nice Roman coins found on  the Shores of Italy!
nudge nudge..wink wink (hint)

We won the appeal, but I paid for the lawyer and I never got a dime from that Crook, as "his company" had gone bankrupt again, but he is living comfortably in his mansion on the hill.....with MY brickwork looking him in the eyes when he comes down his winding stairs. 

Any time I get a chance I tell people to avoid doing business with him, because he's a thief! There is a hint in this picture....if you really want to know who this crook is! 

See you next time......from beyond.........

  

Incompetence in the workplace?

I unfortunately have witnessed many instances of incompetence in the construction field.

Many stories come to mind on this topic. There are a ton of stories that happened on my crew during the years in business, which I will get to at another time, but I'm gonna tell a story that goes back to the time I worked with my Dad....again.....sorry Dad.  As a matter of fact there are multiple instances of incompetence that truly make me wonder how things can actually get done.
It was the summer of 73 (weird, seems like yesterday), and I was working with my Dad. He had a crew of very interesting people. One person in particular was my Uncle Paul. Uncle Paul married my Mother's sister, and he worked for my Dad for quite a few years.....be forewarned, you will hear more stories about Uncle Paul.

He was the kind of person who got himself into the craziest situations.

This one summer day we were working in New Brunswick NJ. We were working on a housing development, I think it was "Hidden Lake", although we eventually found that lake, which wasn't hidden well.
It was around 9:30 am. and we ALWAYS had our coffee break at 10 am. never fail.
This one particular morning, my Dad told me to tell Uncle Paul to go to the local diner to get coffee for the crew. He handed me a 20 dollar bill and told me to make sure that Uncle Paul give him the change. I did my job, and my dear Uncle was happy to go.

This was the exact car!

The reason he was so happy to be the coffee guy, was first, he was able to get away for a little while, and the other reason was he got to drive my Dad's brand new Fleetwood Cadillac.
The brand new Cadillac was on the job because his pickup truck was in the shop....anyway. Uncle Paul gets into the car, and heads off on his journey. But just as he drove away, I see a concerned look come on my Dad's face. I looked over my shoulder to see the car heading towards a trench that was dug across the road by a Public Service (electric company) backhoe. My Dad looked at me and said "Where's he going?"....I shrugged my shoulders in the fact that I was just as curious as he was. My Dad started to whistle.....you know, the construction whistle....LOUD!

The car was heading right for the trench, and it wasn't slowing down.

 Now keep in mind that on our side of the trench was all of the dirt that was piled along the road from the digging of the trench. There was no way that Uncle Paul didn't see this. My father started to panic....and while yelling and whistling, started to run towards his brand new car. Just then we see the brake lights go on.....the car stopped, then we see the backup lights go on....my father stopped running, and in a relieved voice said "Man, he had me going for a minute."
While the whole crew was watching, the car backed up around 15 feet, stopped......the backup lights were no longer on...and all of a sudden we see the tires smoking!! I believe we all had our mouths wide open in amazement, and disbelief!! Uncle Paul was going to try and JUMP the trench with my Dad's brand new Cadillac! At this point we could do nothing but watch what the outcome was going to be. Seriously, I thought for sure that Uncle was just messing around, and would come to a screeching halt just before the trench.....But that was just wishful thinking.

I was actually surprised at what happened next.....

I swear this is what it looked like!!

The car hit the dirt pile, flew up in the air, and took an immediate nose dive into the trench!!!! What we saw from our vantage point was the back tires....spinning, the muffler, and my Dad running towards the car with a shovel!!

Uncle Paul lived, and remained employed to give us many more stories, but he never got to live that one down. He explained that since he was headed that way, he really thought that the car would jump over the trench, and he would be regarded as "the cool guy that jumped the trench" Oh.....and we didn't get coffee that day!

TIP OF THE DAY:

Since were talking about cars today, lets repair our cracked concrete driveway..

Patch the cracks with caulk. I can highly recommend Quikrete Concrete Repair 8620-10. It’s an acrylic latex product that includes a little sand, which makes it blend in well with concrete. You can even use it to repair the cracks in your stucco or masonry. 

See you next time......from beyond......... 

 

Whose fence is it anyway?

I have done many many jobs through the years....

And I have had so many different experiences on these jobs, mostly good ones. I have the kind of personality that I can get along with just about anyone. But there are the few, (and that's a good record)  that are, well let's say interesting. This story is not about the homeowners that I was doing the job for, it was the neighbor!
About five years ago......(slight fade)...I took a job in Lambertville NJ. (you can see that job here) for an addition on a duplex that was built in the late 1800's. The homeowners were really beautiful people, and they had complete faith in me to perform this huge difficult job.

The lot was very small, and the only access to the rear of the house, which was where the addition was to be, was a nine foot wide driveway. As a matter of fact when I first went to look at the job, I felt so overwhelmed, due to the circumstances surrounding the job that I almost didn't take it. But I did.
It's my standard practice to take pictures of the entire house (area) before I start any work. And it seemed that this being one of the hardest jobs I've done in a long time, pictures were a must.
The work got started. Due to the confined area, I decided that my men and I would do the demo by hand which is usually done by machines. I instructed my men to be extremely careful not only for their protection but also for the protection of the attached part of the neighbors house as well. So we started to demo the house board by board. We had to stack the debris in the driveway because the dumpster was in the street, which was the only place I could fit it.
This is where I met the neighbor (on the other side of the driveway). I hear a woman calling...."Excuse me......hello....excuse me..." I looked over and there was a pleasant looking middle aged woman standing at the end of the driveway. I asked her if there was something I could do for her, as I introduced myself. In a somewhat unpleasant tone she said "Dominick, please make sure your men don't lean anything on my fence" I graciously agreed, and immediately and in front of her told my men not to lean anything on the fence. Oh....this was the first day.
The following day, one of my men unconsciously laid a broken piece of gutter against the fence, and within seconds, she was out on her porch pointing out that we were not respecting her wishes. I apologized, and instructed my men....again in front of her...to be more aware of the fence.
Now came time for the excavation of the basement. This in itself was a miracle. We had gotten heavy equipment down the driveway, and while we were digging we had to load  giant dump trucks with dirt as there was no place to store it. This as scary as it was, went very well. I left the job that night around seven pm. and the machine was just finishing up. Around 9pm I get a call,......it was the fence lady, and she was screaming about how the machine hit the fence and ruined it. I was sick over this, but in a calming voice, I told her that if there was any damage that it would be repaired before the job was finished. The next day, I was afraid to turn the corner to see the damaged fence, but to my surprise, it was just slightly and I mean slightly damaged, like only two slats were broken.
Throughout the job, she complained about the fence and the noise, and the dust...but mostly the fence.
As the job was coming to a close, an elderly woman who I had befriended, came by to bring us some homemade brownies.....She was a real sweetheart. She explained to me that this house we were working on was her late sisters, and held so many memories for her. She asked if I could show her the work that we did, and  I told her that I  would be honored to show this off to her, because of how beautiful it came out.
She toured the downstairs like a town inspector, looking, touching, and commenting the whole time. We went upstairs to look at the master bedroom, and she began to tell me how impressed she was with the work we had done. She said these very important words to me..  "I'm so very impressed at what you did here! I watched as you and your men carried all of the material down that skinny driveway, and it's a miracle that you didn't knock down that old fence that my sister had put in"........I was dumbfounded.....but yet oh so happy to hear these words that I asked her to repeat it. "Oh yes, my sister had that fence put in right before she passed away"
When the last scrap was picked up, and I handed the keys to the happy homeowners, the woman from next door comes to the front porch and asked me when I was going to fix her fence, as a matter of fact she wanted me to replace the whole fence because it wasn't going to match! I had the extreme pleasure to tell her "well, your gonna have to ask your new neighbors what they want to do, after all it's their fence, not yours!" This was confirmed by the survey for the lot I was working on, and now she changed her focus....."my chimney looks like it has a lot more cracks in it because of all the trucks and machines.......I showed her the "before" pictures and together we matched up ALL the cracks!

TIP OF THE DAY:

With spring right around the corner, it's that time of year again when spring rains can be heavy and unpredictable, often causing leaky roofs and flash-flooding. If you get caught off-guard and wind up with wet floors and soggy carpets, here's how to handle a "wet emergency". First use a wet/dry vac to pick up as much as possible. Be careful, as water and electricity don't mix. Then peel back the carpet, discard the pad, roll up the carpet and take it outside. Lay it out flat and dry the bottom side first. Then use a fan to dry the floor area. Often carpets can be cleaned and reused, but pads will need to be replaced. For some of us, rainy season is never fun unless we fix those roof leaks and have the grade pitched proerly away from our homes.

 

See you next time......from beyond......... 

Honesty is always the best policy

I started my business when I was 29 years old.

I looked like I was 19, and I paid a price for that. Most of my family had that curse, which became a blessing as they aged. I really struggled  to sign up a job because most people wanted experience. I did in fact have experience because I worked with my dad during summer break all through my time at home, and stayed with my Grandfather for one summer who was a stone mason and taught me the fine art of stone work. I also worked for a guy who took me under his wing and taught me everything from deck building to installing tile. But alas, I was a cursed man, and I had to convince my potential customers that I was capable of performing the work.

One story comes to mind.....

I got a call from an elderly woman, who lived alone. During our first meeting she grilled me about how much experience I had, and how I was going to do her job, which was to put decking over her concrete porch. Apparently I impressed her, because I got the job!

During the job, she would come outside to offer us a drink, and while she was there, she would look around at the work, and ask technical questions like.....

"Are you attaching that piece of  wood to the plywood or the two by fours?" and "How many of those post are you going to put in?" and "Is this wood treated to be put outside and how long will it last?"

This IS the actual job, and it's still there 24 yrs. later!

She knew her stuff, as she explained to me that her late husband was a contractor himself, 

and he often did work in the house, and she always helped him. I made extra sure that I cut every piece of wood to the exact measurement, and that every nail was countersunk as not to cut her sweet little feet as she walked on her new porch.
When the job was completed, she came out and asked if we could put her patio furniture on the porch for her.....which we did. She sat me down next to her to pay me. She said to me that she was very impressed with the quality of the work, and hoped that it was going to last a long time. She handed me an envelope of cash, and I quickly put it in my pocket and got up to say goodbye to her. As I was walking away, she insisted that I count the money. Being kind, I laughed and exclaimed..."C'mon, I trust you" But she insisted. Then she got up and walked back into her house. I reached into that envelope and grabbed that cash like it was a million dollars, after all this was one of my very first jobs.
As I counted it.....three times.....I found that in fact there was an error. She had over paid me by $300.00!! It seemed like forever, but I'm sure it was only a few seconds that I began to think "should I tell her?, this extra money would sure come in handy.." But the decent part of me prevailed, and I went to the door to call her. She asked if there was a problem, and I told her that she had over paid me by $300.00.
She smiled at me with the most beautiful smile I've ever seen, and said to me, "I didn't make a mistake, I wanted to see how honest you were, and you passed the test with flying colors! Now I know you did a great job on my porch, and I know you will be very successful in your business, because you are an honest man."
These words from this lovely woman stuck with me throughout the years, and I'm proud to say that I remain an honest businessman today....

My tip of the day.....

As spring approaches...(YAY!!) we should take a look at our front porch. I'm talking about a masonry porch here. Sometimes during a bad winter the concrete, block, stone or brick can move due to the freezing and thawing. This causes small cracks usually around the perimeter of the porch, and especially up against the house. What you want to do is to apply a durable silicone sealant into the cracks and up against the wood to the house. Make sure that it's warm enough and dry. Do this every spring and not only will you add years to your porch but you will be protecting your house from rot, and bugs!

Dap Silicone Plus Premium Silicone Rubber Concrete & Masonry Sealant (Gray)

See you next time......from beyond.........

This is my first post of many.......I hope!

And being my very first post about my life in the wonderful world of construction, but first I'll need to introduce myself. Okay here goes.........
My name is Dominick Allan DiTaranto, I'm a middle aged married male (that's me below) from Central New Jersey.

My story begins many years ago....(fade)..... I met a really sweet young lady while working as a Supervisor on a construction site who soon became my wife. We both discussed our future as Husband and Wife, and how we wanted to bring up our children in this crazy world of ours. Which is when we had (I think it was me) the CRAZY idea to start our own construction business......since I was born into a construction family, and with all of my experience in the construction industry, this seemed like the PERFECT idea!

Well it's been 25 years since then, and WHAT A RIDE it has been!

Through the years, when I would come home to my beautiful wife, I would tell her of my day and the sometimes exciting, sometimes unbelievable, sometimes horrible day that I had. She would listen with a concerned, but yet interested face. She would indulge herself in the conversation, and comment or suggest, so I always knew that she listened and cared.

There was so many times that we swore that we should write a book!  

Well it took me 25 years, so here I go!
This blog is going to be many different things.....Mostly stories of things that I go through owning a construction business. There will also be tips and tricks of the construction trade, and who knows where this will evolve. Suggestions will be appreciated also!

Today for my first post, I'm going to give a really good tip:

Whatever you do, whatever your thinking, what ever your experience.......DON'T start a construction business........Alright, I'm just kidding, it really isn't that bad....here is the tip of the day:

Squaring off an area: 
If you need to make an area square, whether it's a patio, or a deck, or your doing a tile floor, here's a good way to do it.
Let's pretend were going to build a patio off of the back of our house.....
Our patio is going to be 15' X 15' starting at the corner of our house.
First measure from the corner of the house and make a mark (on the foundation) at 15'.

Measure your first line, fifteen feet (away from the house) at a (somewhat)90 degree angle.   Put a stake at that point. (steel stakes are my choice)
You should now have two lines....One against the house and one going into the yard.
Measure across 15' (parallel to the house) and put another stake there. It helps here to have two tape measures, because you can measure the 15' from the house where you put the pencil mark. 
You should now have somewhat of a square. Run a line from your first point onto all of the stakes.....you should have the outside of the patio lined out.
The best way to check the square is the 3 4 5 method. From one of the stakes measure out 3' and make a mark on the line, then from the same stake measure out four feet in the other direction, and again make a mark on the line. Now measure from mark to mark.....If you have a good eye, the total between the marks will be 5'. If not, adjust your stake in or out to achieve your goal of five feet. The illustration below should help. And now your square, and that's my tip!  
One more quick thing....
If you have a really large area to square off.......double the numbers...Example: 6 8 10 and so on...Hope this helped!

See you next time......from beyond.........