Windows!
I have been waiting patiently for months to write this post, and even now I am not completely comfortable telling the drama that became my window and door order. As a student of management styles and techniques, let me start out with a little constructive feedback for myself ~ the notorious went wells and next times :).
What I did well...the windows are absolutely gorgeous. It is hard to tell that from the pictures with this post, but you will see...I did a great job selecting great windows, great color, great style, and chose a great manufacturer. Okay, that is where it ends. What I did not do well...I did not budget well. I did not utilize my GC in the selection process. I ultimately chose the worst retailer to order them through...EVER. I ordered one too many windows, custom (so I get one for the cabin early:) ...due in no small part for the previous two noted errors. Okay, I am going to stop...it still burns a little :(
I will certainly do a post at some point dedicated to the retailer that I purchased the windows and doors from...not as a bashing of them, though there is plenty of material, but as a learning lesson to share on what not to do. Frankly too, who not to use. For now, all I will say is I ordered the windows and doors the first of December, and mid-February (15th to be exact) the windows arrived (still no doors...read between the lines).
To say that I was estatic to finally see the windows I had ordered 2 1/2 months earlier would be the understatement of the year. The truck backed up to the driveway entrance at the top of the hill, and I watched them unload them one by one onto the dump trailer. I inspected each as best I could, and I checked off the list twice to make sure everything was there. My GC and Wesley were both there helping the door guys do all of this. My GC, Steve Fitzpatrick, is amazing! He handled what might have been a tense situation perfectly. He protected the windows...perfectly. They had to remain in the dump trailer at the top of the hill overnight. The next day Steve and his crew would gently take the windows, one by one, down the mountain to place in the workshop. There they would be stored as the installation, one by one, would begin. It was a tedious process. Precious cargo too. I am highly uncomfortable describing how precious in monetary terms but no doubt we could not afford to damage one. More important than my money, the construction progress had been delayed enough at this point...I needed to keep the crew working. Time is money ~ for them, and they have families. With the delays, I was learning the responsibility of running your own jobsite. Weather delays ~ that is God. Material delays ~ that rests with me.
Let me say this too at this point...Steve Fitzpatrick is amazing! Wesley is amazing! I could not be doing this without Steve and Wesley...period. End of discussion. I am so blessed. I like to say that Wesley has become co-GC to Steve. He is literally my eyes and ears on the ground which has been such a blessing and eased the frustration of being two hours away from the jobsite. Also, my little sister Hilde and her husband David (who are general contractors in Northeast Arkansas) have been a rock for me with great advice and support. You do not doing anything worth doing by yourself...no man is an island. NO man (or woman:)!
Finally I am getting closer to "being in the dry" as the contractors say....but not quite yet...
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