Who can make this easy?

Q. I’m reluctant to start any project on my home right now. Between the horror stories you write about, the economy, the lower value of my house and the noise and invasion of my home, I want to know if there is anyone out there who can make this job less of a pain. Do you know a contractor who will make this easier for us?

A. Your question reminds me of cartoons describing the perfect wife or husband. They have an extra-big ear for listening, a really small mouth for quietly answering, “Yes, dear” and some other attributes that I can’t write about here. The perfect anything has never existed and never will, but relative satisfaction is possible. I laugh (to myself) when a client tells me they have the “best contractor in the world” and this job is going to be as “smooth as butter.” Not to be cynical, but all I look for is anyone with sensitivity and the ability to clearly communicate and have patience. After watching one contractor scream more four-letter words than I knew at a homeowner the other day — and mind you, the contractor was doing a terrific job — and spending a day and a half on the witness stand in Supreme Court over another disagreement between a contractor and owner, the theme of the week was communication, or lack thereof.

Skillful craftspeople can carry out the work, but like the air conditioning workers who were instructed to make sure there was at least 7 feet 6 inches of head clearance in an office space but left only 7 feet and are now gone, that lack of communication has left a perturbed owner to live with an avoidable issue. While the A.C. contractor is heading out to sea with his case of cool ones, some friends and fishing poles, the homeowner is staring at the ceiling, asking how the problem can be corrected. Starting with a carefully documented set of plans and a well-written agreement, an owner can interview a candidate with a defined direction, but most owners are really surmising whether the person doing the selling is easy to get along with, not whether they will personally be doing the work, personally responsible or technically able. One client sued their contractor over a terribly built project, only to find out in the middle of the lawsuit (two years later) that the person signing contracts was nothing to the company but a salesperson, that the responsible owner was a different person and the company had gone out of business and was now operating under a new corporate name. These “bad apples” ruin it for everyone, but the best advice is to get help. Don’t make decisions alone. Ask an architect, an attorney and a building official for advice. Have the work looked at as it is being carried out. It costs less than doing the work twice. Good luck!