We kept thinking that there was a "Chris" that Venice Flooring uses to install and that he supervised these guys. It took us until the next morning to figure out that "Angel" was the supervisor of his own crew. He looks a little like a gang banger and so we thought the older guy on the site was the site supervisor and he was just a worker and that Chris would show up any moment.
Anyway, Angel turned out to be a carpeting craftsman but those landing stairs (that I love) nearly did him in. He tried ever combination of folding and cutting...EVERYTHING. They had to come back the next morning.
I told them that when we tore out the carpeting it was in a bunch of pieces but Angel thought I was nuts. I'm ashamed to admit that I called David of Venice Flooring the next morning to see if he could help but he didn't know anything about carpet but he said that if Angel didn't pull through he'd call someone else.
I was a little afraid to come up and see but when I did...it was magical. Angel had figured out how to do it in one piece. I over-praised him in front of the other guys (I was very happy though...it looks great.) The older guy was so cute. He barely speaks english but he said "He is very smart. He's good, no?." I could only imagine the talk around the dinner table that night about the crazy white lady that wanted him to just piece it together and how he slew the stair dragon!I ended up giving him an extra $50. He said it was too much but I told him again how happy I was with the stairs and the repairs he'd done (I'd already given him $100 for stretching the master and repairing the playhouse carpeting.)
Lesson Learned:
Craftsmen come in all different and tatooed packages. Dave's Construction has a big trailer, shirts & a website and did a lousy job.
The oldest guy in the truck isn't necessarily the supervisor.
Giving a good tip can make you feel good and really make a difference for struggling workmen. (Hopefully I'll get it back from Dave!)
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