new garage $2 1/4 million | Page 4 | FerrariChat

new garage $2 1/4 million

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by bundas, Oct 19, 2015.

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  1. energy88

    energy88 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Jan 21, 2012
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    John
    Mitchell: you seem to be practicing the old doctrine: "you can't take it with you." Nothing wrong with that. Sounds like you have worked hard throughout your career and now is the time to be happy and have exactly what you want. After all, it is your own money and you are entitled to spend it as YOU see fit. All the best to you and hope you have many enjoyable hours in your man-cave..
     
  2. bundas

    bundas F1 Veteran
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    Dec 31, 2005
    7,090
    lexington ky usa
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    mitchell barnes
    Is not worth any thing when health kills the ability. So in 40 years of working I cleared about $40 million. Spent every penny on myself. Travel 76 countries. Did five star trips. Nothing less. Left nothing out. Ended up in the hospital in 2002. With serious health problems, bad Drs. That is when I purchased my first Maserati and Ferrari site unseen from the hospital bed side phone. Drove them six months later. Still have both. Ended with about 5 million cash. Spent every cent. Have enough to do what is left. Happy camper guys
     
  3. Juice It

    Juice It F1 Rookie

    Sep 22, 2002
    3,233
    Maryland (DC Suburb)
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    Jeff
    Good for you, great story and hope your health gets better. We have a friend of the family in her 80's with no family left and never had kids and she has about 4 million in the bank and will not spend anything on herself and fights with general repairs that need done to her home. She insists she is going to leave everything she can to a college she went to 60+years ago. My mother who is her friend has tried to get her to live a little and enjoy some things but she isn't having it. Your way seems like the route I would take and sounds like you deserve some fun as well as an awesome garage!
     
  4. action-ant

    action-ant Karting

    Nov 16, 2015
    176
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    Anthony
    Enjoy and live full days. Be well Mitchell, and everyone here.
     
  5. bundas

    bundas F1 Veteran
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    Dec 31, 2005
    7,090
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    mitchell barnes
    When starting with incompetent businesses nothing gets better. Today was a banner day. Call from the architect. They will take 1/3 and want my contractor and the architect to take the balance. Then the man informed me that I owe $24,000 from a year ago for work, that is on top of the $10,000 I already paid them. He said the $10,000 was for the garage only. My new guy said this was a $5,000 job at the most. Then he added that these are the worst drawing he had ever seen and no way it would work. Frame and glass supplier said the same. They sent my accountant the bill in Jan. While I was real sick with cancer treatment. I have another architect reviewing the drawings. He is a lawyer as well.
     
  6. bundas

    bundas F1 Veteran
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    Dec 31, 2005
    7,090
    lexington ky usa
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    mitchell barnes
    Of this project appears bleak at best. Out of dollars. I my have the lawyers file s law suit next week. They are still gathering data. Sure enough I need a pitched roof now the frame supplier says 20%. More $$$$'s. The courts will take two years. I am worn out from this.
     
  7. bundas

    bundas F1 Veteran
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    Dec 31, 2005
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    mitchell barnes
    New item. Remote for the car elevator. $15,000. Safety stuff.
     
  8. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

    Sep 25, 2006
    23,397
    Campbell, CA
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    Ian Anderson
    Wow! I guess there's an exception to every rule!

    I was about to post that I'm convinced the contractors licensing exam runs something like;

    Q1; Are you a flake? Yes? Proceed to Q2
    Q2; Can you look the customer straight in the eye, and swear you'll be back tomorrow & then disappear for a week? Yes, proceed to Q3
    Q3; Do you faithfully promise that all your jobs will run a minimum of 20% over your quote. Yes?

    Here's your license......

    ;) & I'm only half joking here. My last guy went way over budget & then simply abandoned the job while I was away for a week. :(

    I feel for you man! What a friggin' nightmare this is turning into. :(

    Good luck,
    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  9. bundas

    bundas F1 Veteran
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    Dec 31, 2005
    7,090
    lexington ky usa
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    mitchell barnes
    I have been after my contractor to pour concrete so I can deal the bottom of the garage doors. So I say, 'pour a 2' strip'. He pours a one ' strip. Then pours another 1' strip. Except this time it is too low so I still see a 11/4" gap. So here comes a stupid reason. Today I told him to take it all out and repour. Dumb ass.
     
  10. Nurburgringer

    Nurburgringer F1 World Champ

    Jan 3, 2009
    11,031
    Texass
    Holy crap.
    My father bought a small house in TX 1 year ago and I project managed the interior painting, flooring replacement, electrical updates, kitchen and bath gut/replacement and some other work and it was a BIG hassle from just being there to supervise multiple bids, to the contractors not building things to plan or just plain screwing things up.
    I popped in over lunchtime one day just after they set the granite seat in the shower. It looked wrong to me so I placed a small screw on it and sure enough the screw rolled back towards the shower wall. What the ****, guys? $9k for a small shower redo and you can't even get the basics right?
    The whole thing convinced me that from now on I'm either going buy a house that I can do any mods myself or just live with what I've got.

    I can't imagine the heartburn involved in what you're going through.

    Best of luck to you man.
     
  11. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

    Sep 25, 2006
    23,397
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    Ian Anderson
    I can! Albeit on a *much* smaller scale. [And from what you said above, sounds like you can too! :(]

    +1 from me too.

    The whole mess, from the architect, thru the general to the subs & suppliers sounds ****ed up. I really feel for you man.

    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  12. JasonMiller

    JasonMiller F1 Rookie
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    Jul 16, 2004
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    Jason Miller
    true whats the common denominator ?
     
    SoCal to az likes this.
  13. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

    Sep 25, 2006
    23,397
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    The client?

    Really?

    I hope I'm mistaken, but if not we can certainly continue the debate......

    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  14. bundas

    bundas F1 Veteran
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    Dec 31, 2005
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    mitchell barnes
    Bracing myself for a long court battle. Decision and review of the architects work has been summed up. A building cannot be done from these drawings. Code violations. So next week all parties will receive notice. That stops the time clock on filing
     
  15. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

    Sep 25, 2006
    23,397
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    Ian Anderson
    :(

    Again, I know everyone here wishes you all the best with this nightmare. Good luck!

    I'm amazed an architect can screw up so badly. Didn't he/you have to present all the drawings to your planning department before starting?

    We certainly do out here, and they really do study them closely. They'll hilight *anything* that may be even close to a code violation.


    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  16. 4th_gear

    4th_gear F1 Rookie

    Jan 18, 2013
    4,425
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    Michael
    I've been checking this thread every now and then for updates and for better news. I can feel your pain and I can relate to similar but perhaps somewhat less costly mistaken trust in renovators and contractors.

    I once hired a general contractor, who called himself a "renovator", a "master homebuilder with 25 years of homebuilding experience" no less, to renovate 2 houses for me. He had successfully built an English period-style orangery for me one time, using my drawings and specifications. I thought we had established a good working relationship.

    Unfortunately, instead of my going on vacation, he went on vacation with his wife for 3 weeks overseas, with no one to inspect the work from his flooring subcontractor. It was a good thing that I didn't also take a vacation - instead making a 130 km round-trip every 2 days to take photos and check on progress. The photos saved my butt (and my money). 6 months later the entire stone floor cracked, almost 1500 sq ft of ruined work. You can imagine the mess from demolishing the stone floor, resourcing and relaying new tiles... while attempting to protect expensive trim work, furniture and belongings.

    My lawyer (and a friend) told me not to pay him the rest of the installments because he was constantly stalling and not making any meaningful reparations. The photographic evidence was the key in revealing why the floor failed. Other contractors I brought in to look at the mess were puzzled and horrified but their comments helped to fill in the blanks when I researched the proper technique for creating the underlayment for such floors. In the end, the industry expert hired by the renovator to point the finger at my house ended up having to point the finger back at him instead. It was like crime scene forensics and he could not refute the evidence. ALWAYS TAKE TONS OF PHOTOS, DOCUMENT THE WORK. Never accept the word of any contractor on face value.

    I had to become my own general contractor, hire other subcontractors (not without additional hassles), demolished, "cleaned up, repainted the entire house" and then finish the work myself.

    You literally take your life in your hands when you hire general contractors here up. It's like the Wild, Wild West - no accountability, no accreditation and good luck with a law suit while you have no home to live in. Canada has awful consumer protection when it comes to the building trades. I even hired a commercial safety test laboratory to check some of the work and the lab itself made mistakes, admitted to them and suggested they would fake their results. When I reported this to the federal regulators they did nothing, saying it was not in their interest. This regulator was in charge of overseeing industrial safety test labs. Yeah, very scary. Unfortunately I had other eggs to fry and no home to live in so I had to forego suing the federal government. This experience severely dented my trust in the Canadian government.

    Back to my main story. Incredibly, the renovator had actually won 1st prize at the Toronto Home Show for a similar renovation the year before I hired him... so much for the credibility of that home show. He was a psychopath. As I sorted out his mess I began to realize everything he told me was a lie. He was a narcissistic pathological liar who was a total klutz whenever he "wielded a hammer", constantly made excuses for mistakes, neglected inspections of his staff's work and hid work that violated building codes, endangering the safety of his subcontractors as well as occupants of the houses. The experience made me very cynical as well as an expert on some aspects of home inspections, renovations and construction... and psychopaths.
     
  17. bundas

    bundas F1 Veteran
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    Dec 31, 2005
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    mitchell barnes
    Brett at Granturismo got me real good. That thread is here. When I did business 40 years ago Canada was a problem. I worked near London, Ont. The CA skipped and I was sent to fix things. Took nine months. Another company that became a supplier for a while was Levy Truck. They were in downtown Toronto. Owned an entire valley. They were caught selling to Iran. The entire family went to prison. There were many more
     
  18. TheActionKid

    TheActionKid Karting

    Mar 20, 2016
    211
    Chicago
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    Andrew
    Mitchell - sorry to hear about your recent troubles but wow - that garage looks amazing! Appreciate seeing the progress of it over time and can't wait to see the finished product!

    -Action
     
  19. bundas

    bundas F1 Veteran
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    Dec 31, 2005
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    In legal hands. $300,000 plus fix. Insurance will look at my health record an stretch it five years. Basement leaks( not built as a roof. Not fixable. Meet this week with all parties so they can settle. If not, filing this week.
     
  20. gt4me

    gt4me F1 Veteran

    Sep 10, 2005
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    Lewis Mitchell
    Yikes, keep your chin up mate.
     
  21. sparta49

    sparta49 F1 Veteran
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    Mar 3, 2001
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    Frank
    Unbelievable. What a mess, I hope it works out for you.
     
  22. bundas

    bundas F1 Veteran
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    Dec 31, 2005
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    #97 bundas, Apr 10, 2016
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2016
    I think I came up with a plan that will work. Price $300,000 plus the$35,000 that the architect owes for pass due steel bills . I plan on taking all the concrete out pass the finished garage. The elevator stays. I will have a clear span 25'Wx 66'L. Put the pool parallel to the new structure and a car drive on ramp to make things work much better.
     
  23. energy88

    energy88 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Jan 21, 2012
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    Please get someone to double check your proposed design revision and associated cost estimate. Concrete removal might be more expensive than expected. I would hate to see you dig yourself in deeper. Good luck. We're all pulling for you to achieve your dream garage.
     
  24. UroTrash

    UroTrash Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Jan 20, 2004
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  25. bundas

    bundas F1 Veteran
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    Dec 31, 2005
    7,090
    lexington ky usa
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    mitchell barnes
    The architect made so many mistakes. I stopped months oago. Hired another lawyer/ architect to review the the problems. Lots. Half unsupervised and mr executive. So we have meeting ASAP, a second lawyer ($50,000 discovery fee) to see what the guy says. So far the screw up and over billings come to $200,000 by my guys detail list took four months to work this up to repair the whole mess. Another )900,000. The whole thing must be turned down


    S
     

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