The worst project I ever worked on

[draftermatt]

Bob the goat's thread Here brought back horrible memories about my worst job. Mainly because of Bob's response to the guy.

In 2005 we got a job called Extra Place for a contractor who at the time was our best customer.

The building was oddly shaped. Like most buildings in NYC it went right to the property line, and in this case rather than a square it was a rhombus with angles of 83.9 deg, 89.8, 82.8, 103.6 going around the building. To say it was oddly shaped is an understatement.

So I start attempting to draw it, and I notice that the Structural Engineer's drawings do not match the Architect's. (Which sadly is more common than you would think/hope).

So I send a letter to the contractor who tells me to ignore the Engineer's drawing.

I finish the first floor up and send it out for comments.

A few weeks later I get a call from the new Project Manager (old one had been fired) who can't figure out why my drawing does not match the Engineer's. I explain the above to him, and I'm told that they built the foundation per the Engineer's drawings!

But no worry, he'll have a survey done and send me the info.

To make a long story short the survey turns into about 6 surveys. Because every time I get a new survey dimensions change, and I still cannot get the building to close. (In AutoCAD you draw to size, so if you tell me 99' I draw 99'.

Each time I'd get new dimensions I'd end up with one wall going past the other instead of meeting it, or end up short. I explain this to the guy, send him drawings showing how it won't close, etc.

It gets to the point where I'm losing sleep dreading this guy calling or sending me something that won't work again. I literally am up till 1 AM every night staring at the wall begging for my mind to stop thinking about this idiot.

Finally after yet another survey where most of the dimensions are different (again) and still won't close I lose it.

I send an e-mail saying it won't work, he responds that it must be my issue, and he's spent money on so many surveys, why can't I get it right, etc.

It's been a while but this is basically my response:

I'm drawing exactly what you give me every time and it doesn't work. You are the one who keeps changing dimensions, not me. If each time your surveyor gets something different, that is not my issue, this is not my fault!

I thought I was going to get fired, but my boss said I held out longer than he would have before telling the guy off.

They had another survey done and it allowed me to close the building within 2 inches, so we let it go.

The PM was still an asshole, but I was finally able to sleep at night. The building was built and didn't fall down.

A few months after we put the roof on we got a call from one of the PM's coworkers. The PM had left the company, and moved to Florida and they were all very glad to see him go.

The boss & I had a small party that day at lunch.

[bigpedaler]

OK, that beats mine.

All I had was cleanup on a construction site.

We have a children's educational facility behind our store called "Safety Village". It's set up like a mini-town, with streets, small houses, a traffic light, etc. Well, the local Wal-Fart rep "bought" one of the bigger mini-houses for representation in Safety Village. It had to be renovated, of course.

I was asked to come up with some sort of plan for the renovation (as an Assembler, it's assumed that I know how to do all this -- which, it so happens, I do). I draw up some quick plans after taking some measurements, figure out the necessary materials to do it, give it to mgmt., and am promptly told it's gonna be more than they want to sink into the project right now, maybe come springtime they'll look again. (This was a year ago, btw, and I didn't ask the obvious question of "you think it'll be cheaper in the spring?")

Spring rolls around; my plans are rejected for a 'contractor' who is a friend of the store mgr. OK, fine; I throw my plans and materials list away, and go about my work.

The 'contractor' -- someone I also know, and wouldn't trust to build a doghouse -- sunk about 4x of my projected cost into it, they ran with it, and then came to me to clean up the mess they made on the site. Further, they wanted to be 'eco-friendly', and minimize landfill, so as much as possible had to be recycled.

I spent six hours, alone, in the hot hot sun, sorting through lumber, roofing, siding, and OSB sheathing, breaking my already-abused lower back, to be told the next day that they're not going to do all that, it's all gonna be hauled to the landfill.

I dare that m'fer to ask me to help paint the thing....

[Samaliel]

(This was a year ago, btw, and I didn't ask the obvious question of "you think it'll be cheaper in the spring?")

From what happened, and also the first thing that sprang to my mind, it's more likely they thought they'd have more money to invest in the project. And since they spent 4 times what you quoted, they did.

[sms001]

it was a rhombus with angles of 83.9 deg, 89.8, 82.8, 103.6 going around the building. To say it was oddly shaped is an understatement.

I assume (hope) you're rounding here for easier reading but their plan is already fail at this point - don't those angles add up to more than 360 degrees?

Watched a street project not long before I left Chicago. Stripped to bare earth. Curbs put in. I noticed that the top of the dirt was about TWO FEET below the curbs. Thought to myself, "Well, maybe they run something underneath them here, or maybe there's a water problem and it needs a huge draining layer?" Street sat that way for two or three weeks; I even asked a guy who lived on it what was up. Turns out the plans were read wrong by the contractor on site. Someone on the crew had the good sense to realize that a standard street was NOT going to be the two feet thick needed to bring it from grade up to flush with the curb base. Woulda been a nice waker upper for the residents every morning though, climbing down to their cars. Your client was very lucky you have both skills and common sense Matt!

[Arm]

I assume (hope) you're rounding here for easier reading but their plan is already fail at this point - don't those angles add up to more than 360 degrees?

Watched a street project not long before I left Chicago. Stripped to bare earth. Curbs put in. I noticed that the top of the dirt was about TWO FEET below the curbs. Thought to myself, "Well, maybe they run something underneath them here, or maybe there's a water problem and it needs a huge draining layer?" Street sat that way for two or three weeks; I even asked a guy who lived on it what was up. Turns out the plans were read wrong by the contractor on site. Someone on the crew had the good sense to realize that a standard street was NOT going to be the two feet thick needed to bring it from grade up to flush with the curb base. Woulda been a nice waker upper for the residents every morning though, climbing down to their cars. Your client was very lucky you have both skills and common sense Matt!

...they add to 360.1 degrees. Math is delicious!


It's a pity the shopping centers around here didn't have engineers like you. We have one that used to flood- and I mean like, two feet or so of water- every year, every spring, every time the rains got really heavy... presumably someone didn't measure a grade right. Or someone else didn't care.
Eventually the shopping center was bought by a new owner to completely tore out and re-graded the parking lot and installed new drainage and everything. But it took years, and half the stores in the complex were always closed 'til that was done.

[draftermatt]

I assume (hope) you're rounding here for easier reading but their plan is already fail at this point - don't those angles add up to more than 360 degrees?

Well here it is... What do you think.

Sadly the comments you all have made are pretty common. I get calls all the time like that "Oh, we read the drawings wrong and..."

Like today when we arrived at a job to find the last 11' weren't even started being built yet because the contractor missed an e-mail from the Architect.

[Imogene]

The building was oddly shaped. Like most buildings in NYC it went right to the property line, and in this case rather than a square it was a rhombus with angles of 83.9 deg, 89.8, 82.8, 103.6 going around the building. To say it was oddly shaped is an understatement.

Not to mention it's not a rhombus, if those are the actual angles... a rhombus has two angles that absolutely have to be above 90 degrees. The shape made by the angles you describe is a very wonky rectangle...

[Arm]

maaaan....
You gotta love lots like that.

I particularly like the 'we decided to punt this wall in here a few feet, just because we could' inset on the lower left...

It's like a house designed by a kindergartener...

[draftermatt]

The shape made by the angles you describe is a very wonky rectangle...

Basically yes. I couldn't think of how to put it into words though. Thank-you.

I particularly like the 'we decided to punt this wall in here a few feet

What I especially like is the "well the mason/concrete guy/random dog got the wall off, so now the building is suddenly this"

You know it's gotta piss off the architect who designed it correctly.

[Arm]

Basically yes. I couldn't think of how to put it into words though. Thank-you.



What I especially like is the "well the mason/concrete guy/random dog got the wall off, so now the building is suddenly this"

You know it's gotta piss off the architect who designed it correctly.

See, I think you're assuming too much there. How do we know there was originally an architect? I'm thinking, probably monkeys. Any architects involved were tied up in a basement, chained to a desk, scribbling out designs half-mad with fear, in between pleading to be released to see their families again.

Seriously, that is an awesome plan. I can't stop giggling about it every time I look at this thread.

[draftermatt]

See, I think you're assuming too much there. How do we know there was originally an architect? I'm thinking, probably monkeys. Any architects involved were tied up in a basement, chained to a desk, scribbling out designs half-mad with fear, in between pleading to be released to see their families again.

Oddly enough you're probably right.

Like the guy who wanted a 4'-0" wide piece of concrete to stick out of a building 7'...

I could spend a month telling stories about bad architects/engineers/builders. It's pathetic.

Like Wednesday - "oh I didn't know I needed to build that wall before you got here"

[42_42_42]

I'm starting to think it's a miracle that anything ever gets built that doesn't immediately collapse.