Loading…
7
Met a guy on a job in Phoenix who said he never signs contracts
He told me 'handshakes are better than paper' while we were wiring a kitchen remodel last fall. I've seen three contractors get burned by that exact mindset this year alone. How do you even start to explain why a written scope is non-negotiable?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
caseys306mo ago
Wait, he said this while actually working on a job? That's wild. You can't even trust a handshake to hold a wire nut in place, let alone handle change orders or payment. Explaining it is simple: the paper isn't about trust, it's about making sure you're both talking about the same kitchen.
2
ericschmidt5mo ago
Making sure you're both talking about the same kitchen." Man that's the whole ball game right there. I remember I once told a guy "I'll fix the cabinet door" and he thought I meant I'd rebuild the entire kitchen. Biggest miscommunication of my life. Now I put everything in writing. Even "fix the hinge" gets a paragraph and a sketch now. My handwriting looks like a drunk spider fell in ink but it beats the alternative. Better to look like an over-explaining idiot on paper than argue in person.
2
terry_butler6mo ago
Man, that hits home. I had a guy point at a wall and say "just patch it up" once. To him, that meant a little spackle. To me, looking at the half-inch hole, it meant a full California patch and texture. The paper stops that "you said, I thought" mess before it even starts. It saves the friendship more than anything.
1