Carol laid down the law to our two prime contactors. She told them that if they were not finished by the 25th of May (the night of Dave’s Graduation Party) she would kill them. I think that they believed her because I was looking at the yard on the 21st and could not fathom that they could get it done in four days. But they did. See the pictures that were taken an hour before the party started. There were still contractors there up to two hours prior to the party’s start. The finished up at 5 and the party started at 7. The sod was down and we had an instant lawn. Dylan brought the “corn hole” game and the UVA crowd showed up. And a great time was had by all. The kids (all newly graduated from UVA) finally went to bed at about 2 AM. Whew! I can call them kids as they are still in their 20’s.
Anyway, more about the back yard. What an absolute nightmare. We started this project mid-June 2008. Carol wanted to re-landscape the back yard; after all, it hadn’t been done in 20 + years. After much discussion, mostly on her part, I agreed to do so. But, I had a budget in mind that is around the average yearly salary of most Americans. We brought in a couple of landscapers to provide us with estimates. I had researched the local landscaping scene and found a number of reputable firms that had won awards and a few had even done the local HomeArama event. HomeArama is where the best builders in the area essentially start a new neighborhood by building a number of very expensive homes (usually 15-20) that showcase their talents and demonstrate the best in new home technology.
After two of the landscapers had visited and told me what I already knew (that I had a swimming pool problem) and would need be fixed prior to starting the landscaping, I then pursued getting a few swimming pool contractors to come over and give us an estimate. See, over the 25 year life span of our pool, the concrete foundation had broken on one side and the edge of the pool was now three inches lower in the deep end than in the shallow. I had a husband of a friend who owns one of the local companies come over to give us an estimate. For about $14 K he could fix the problem, but admitted that we would probably have to redo the fix in five to seven years. Then I had a vinyl pool contractor come and give us an estimate to replace the pool (actually replacing the broken foundation) and that would be in the mid to high $20’s. Then a fiberglass pool contractor came in and gave us an estimate of $43 K and finally we got estimates from the big guys – the ones who do concrete pools. Not going to say what their estimates were, but you can imagine.
Nevertheless, we decided to go with one of the concrete kings in the area, AAA Pools, Inc. We also contracted with them to put in extensive new concrete decking and cover it with very nice pavers. Great company, I would recommend them highly. One caution, while they are the best, they have the prices to match their reputation. My landscaper, lets just call him Tom, was a real pain though. I don’t want to name his company as I don’t want anyone to misconstrue that I might be giving him a positive endorsement. He is a very charming guy, very attentive, very creative, and a wonderful communicator – until the contract is signed. He was supposed to serve as the general contractor for my job, but did a terrible job of it. AAA Pools sub-contractor for the concrete work (a great guy named Buddy) finally stepped in and took control as the general which ultimately saved the job. But that isn’t to say that there were some pretty big issues that were caused by Tom’s lack of skills as a coordinator/general contractor. Buddy set me up with a carpenter who built the Pergola and redid part of the back deck. Nice, but again expensive. Tom subbed out the job of building the retaining walls and the stacked stone veneer to a couple of Mexican guys and they did an absolutely fantastic job. And we bought a prefab kitchen/grill from Backyard Dreams in Virginia Beach that a contractor had bought for HomeArama but didn’t want. So, Backyard Dreams gave us a really good price. It matches the job perfectly. Anyway, easy to rave about it now, but while it was going on, I was really stressed. Needless to say, when they finished my life was a little easier.
Anyway, more about the back yard. What an absolute nightmare. We started this project mid-June 2008. Carol wanted to re-landscape the back yard; after all, it hadn’t been done in 20 + years. After much discussion, mostly on her part, I agreed to do so. But, I had a budget in mind that is around the average yearly salary of most Americans. We brought in a couple of landscapers to provide us with estimates. I had researched the local landscaping scene and found a number of reputable firms that had won awards and a few had even done the local HomeArama event. HomeArama is where the best builders in the area essentially start a new neighborhood by building a number of very expensive homes (usually 15-20) that showcase their talents and demonstrate the best in new home technology.
After two of the landscapers had visited and told me what I already knew (that I had a swimming pool problem) and would need be fixed prior to starting the landscaping, I then pursued getting a few swimming pool contractors to come over and give us an estimate. See, over the 25 year life span of our pool, the concrete foundation had broken on one side and the edge of the pool was now three inches lower in the deep end than in the shallow. I had a husband of a friend who owns one of the local companies come over to give us an estimate. For about $14 K he could fix the problem, but admitted that we would probably have to redo the fix in five to seven years. Then I had a vinyl pool contractor come and give us an estimate to replace the pool (actually replacing the broken foundation) and that would be in the mid to high $20’s. Then a fiberglass pool contractor came in and gave us an estimate of $43 K and finally we got estimates from the big guys – the ones who do concrete pools. Not going to say what their estimates were, but you can imagine.
Nevertheless, we decided to go with one of the concrete kings in the area, AAA Pools, Inc. We also contracted with them to put in extensive new concrete decking and cover it with very nice pavers. Great company, I would recommend them highly. One caution, while they are the best, they have the prices to match their reputation. My landscaper, lets just call him Tom, was a real pain though. I don’t want to name his company as I don’t want anyone to misconstrue that I might be giving him a positive endorsement. He is a very charming guy, very attentive, very creative, and a wonderful communicator – until the contract is signed. He was supposed to serve as the general contractor for my job, but did a terrible job of it. AAA Pools sub-contractor for the concrete work (a great guy named Buddy) finally stepped in and took control as the general which ultimately saved the job. But that isn’t to say that there were some pretty big issues that were caused by Tom’s lack of skills as a coordinator/general contractor. Buddy set me up with a carpenter who built the Pergola and redid part of the back deck. Nice, but again expensive. Tom subbed out the job of building the retaining walls and the stacked stone veneer to a couple of Mexican guys and they did an absolutely fantastic job. And we bought a prefab kitchen/grill from Backyard Dreams in Virginia Beach that a contractor had bought for HomeArama but didn’t want. So, Backyard Dreams gave us a really good price. It matches the job perfectly. Anyway, easy to rave about it now, but while it was going on, I was really stressed. Needless to say, when they finished my life was a little easier.
No comments:
Post a Comment