You might remember not to long ago I mentioned we found a contractor to take over the day to day responsibilities on site. It was a sigh of relief for us. He’s a good guy with sparkling references and has been in the business a long time. We set up a simple contract that was based on hours worked and gave a us a way to track time and manage our budget better. We spent a lot of time reviewing our budget, gettings subs on board and getting the project rolling. We even took over the responsibilities of managing the budget and monies (for obvious reasons), as well as helping find subs.

After almost three and a half months we still felt like we were stuck in the mud and things were taking much too long. The site had been ready for concrete and we were having unecessary delays. We were in the middle of managing a grading sub who was managing a concrete sub underneath him. Meanwhile we were managing the contractor along with BLDGS help. It just sounds convoluted doesn’t it? Our problem was our contractor didn’t own our project. Although he was experienced, he was treating our house just like another job. This wasn’t his baby that he was going to show his friends and potential clients. This wasn’t his passion – to build modern homes. This was just another job. Sadly for us, we had been paying him for not making much happen.

Near the end of July we were still shuffling around trying to get the concrete guys to come out. We had already had several weeks of promises and no action from the subs. Meanwhile our contractor was casually pushing these subs along with no real sense of urgency. At the time I think I was in Florida, and Kelly had called with a proposition. Actually might have been a demand – we were getting a new contractor. Yes, a third. Of course you could feel my hesitation and you didn’t even have to be there. You work so hard to build a relationship just to throw it away?

Luckily, this wasn’t just any guy off the street. It was our friend Russ Jackson. One of Kelly’s long time friend’s husband. He was just coming off a stint at a commercial construction company working on BIG projects. He was at a turning point too, realizing that as apt as he was so early in the business, the corner office just wasn’t for him. He wanted something different as well.

We’re happy to say that Russ is on board as our new General Contractor. He’s already shined a positive vibe on the project and has brought a “git-r-done” attitude that we so desperately needed. Thanks Russ – welcome aboard!