Moving in Appliances and a surprise

Bob and I decided to start moving in some of the heavier appliances because most of them are in the kitchen and once installed they really wont be in anyone's way.

We also had help from our good friend Keith and his son Tyler.  Both bodybuilders so that was a bonus.

Got the stove in place.

Sub- Zero Fridge/Freezer drawers

Fridge and dishwasher.  That is the heaviest stuff and it's now all in place.  The fridge and the drawers get panels that match the cabinetry but our cabinet makers are on a much needed and well deserved holiday.  The panels can wait until they come back.  

Bob and I also decided to go ahead and put the handles on everything so we did.

Here's a close up of the handle.

Heres a picture of the jig that Bob made so that the handles are in the same place on every cabinet.

And heres what it looks like.

Now for the surprise....

Last week the painters were supposed to be back to clear coat front and back doors and the side door gets painted 2 different colors.  1 color on the inside and another color on the outside.

They were not there on Tuesday and they were not there on Wednesday and so I was curious but they have always been reliable so figured that they had something pressing.  Bob had to go into town to the Hardwear store and just happened to run into Corry who is the supervisor over the painters and Bob naturally asked him when they would be back.  Corry replied, " in a month maybe...if we get paid".  "You haven't been paid?"  "No", Corry replied.  Bob then asked if we could pay them to keep the job going.  And Corry said he would have to talk with his boss.  So long story short...our GC who had just gotten a draw for 12K from us to pay the painters had not paid them or only partially paid them.  This is not a good thing...this can be classified as a very bad thing.  So Bob told me and we sat down with our Excell file where I keep all the expenses and draws and figured out how much we'd paid Ronnie.  How much we had paid toward stuff and were to be reimbursed for and what was left and what work was left to be done.  And Ronnie didnt have enough left to finish the work he had left to do and even though we are very close to finally finishing we didnt see him working any harder to make that happen.  So Bob called him and essentially said....you've had this much in draws, we've paid out this much minus 25% for difference in quality and you have this much left to finish the job.  Can you do it?  We are offering you a win- win situation here.  This gets a house off your plate, and more debt and we finish it out.  Bob said to think about it and get back to us.  But he answered right away saying hed sign an unconditional release of Lein.  I got busy and called all the subs and found out who had been paid and who had not and paid them and have signed receipts with PAID IN FULL, written on them.  And the subs have been wonderful saying that they would make sure we are well taken care of.  Cookies and brownies and care for their well being and making sure they know how much we appreciate them goes a long way.  Next morning there was a flurry of text messages from Ronnie about stuff he was not paying for but we still had an Ace in the hole in case he tried to pull that one and it was to hit him with a bill of our own...

For example: Welder used as a generator for 2 months, several tanks of gas, weld plates for house and porches, consultant fee on how to attach the uprights to the weld plates since the wood framing was done first.  Labor for 5 -  8 hr days @ $55 an hr on installing the wood burning stove pipe and stove pipe materials, same with range hood, the list goes on and on.  But I felt like if I answered any of those text messages that he would gain the upper hand and so for once in my life I remained quiet and that strategy worked because he finally acquiesced and said if we paid the painters, the trim and the granite, we would be about even and he'd sign.  We printed up the form, stuck it in an envelope along with a SASE back to us so hed have no excuses on not getting it back.  We feel like a great weight has been taken off our backs.  Theres not much left to do and  we have all the proper people in place to do it.  A couple of them still work for Ronnie and they will have to do the work on the weekend but if they are making a fair wage then I doubt that there will be any issues.  Granite is supposed to be here next week.