In a message dated 10/2/98 6:18:19 AM EST, [log in to unmask]
mentions: << Top twenty contractor  excuses >>

I don't think it's excuses, but translations that are distinctive.

Redoing my NYC kitchen three years ago, I wanted the contractor (selected by
my architect) to reuse a door buck, casing and door for a new closet in my
1922 (Rosario Candela, architect, for Michael Paterno, builder) kitchen.  The
contractor said "oh, no, you could never get it out in one piece - it would be
in fragments."

I remembered clearly in my former apartment house (1909, Neville & Bagge,
architects, for the Hall Brothers, builders), another contractor >>saying
those exact words<< about an original built-into-place oak kitchen dresser-
cum-glass-doors-on-top assembly - which I was able to extract in one piece
with no problem for reinstallation elsewhere.

So, in about 45 minutes, I demo-ed the plaster wall around the door, and
removed the entire assembly - internal framing, casing, hinges, strike plate
(smart: I removed the door first, so it wouldn't swing open and kill me) and
presented it to him the next morning, thinking that it would make him happy:
he had priced new materials and installation into contract, and I even offered
to pay him more for the "extra work".  (The assembly was still nice and tight
after removal).

The contractor came in, waved  it off, and said "oh, I meant it will fall
apart when we put it in".  After he left, I paid his foreman extra to put it
in, and showed the contractor the day after that.

He had no "excuse" - his eyes just sort of glazed over and he looked away -
and I realized it wasn't a matter of excuses.  What I hadn't realized was that
I did not properly interpret his statement.  What he originally meant was not
really that the door assembly couldn't be removed, but rather "I am too busy
to think about it, please let me install a crappy hollow core door because
that's what I've always done and I am comfortable with it."

How about listferv kickboxing?

Figned, Christopher Gray