When the Cobbler Gets New Shoes

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If you’ve been a client of ours, you know that Deb Esborn is a very talented designer.  She recently took on her own bathroom renovation at home and experienced first-hand what it’s like to live through a renovation.  Here’s what she had to say about her own experience…

So what happens when a bath designer finally gets a new bathroom?  A good perspective.  Living through construction at my own home has given me a new appreciation for what you, our clients, go through.  I started picking out selections a few years ago.  Since my family was doing a lot of the woBath Remodel 2015 (79)rk ourselves we weren’t in a rush- it’s that cobbler thing.  I second guessed every decision along the way… did I pick the right wall tile?  Would it look good with the granite?  What about the door style?  Is this the right shade of paint?  It made me appreciate my clients who pick something and move on to the next selection, never looking back.

Once you’ve made all the selections and the work is finally ready to begin, then there is the disruption to your daily routine.  I have two dogs- one is a little high strung, so I wanted to keep him away from the trade partners (we used the trade people that George Davis, Inc. uses- Turek Tile, Hassett Mechanical Contractors, and Cape Cod Marble and Granite.)  What time are they coming? Should I put the dogs in the room upstairs?  Will they bark the whole time? Fortunately, my son was able to help out with that,
but whether it’s dogs, scheduling, or other commitments, it gave me a different understanding and perspective of what our clients go though.

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Lastly, I appreciate our carpenters more.  I started in this business with carpentry skills that my father taught me, but they’re fairly basic compared to the skill set of our team.  There are always things that don’t go perfectly on every job, and their job as a carpenter is to figure out a way to fix them as quickly and efficiently as possible.  We ran into a few of these challenges ourselves, but with some creativity, and a question or two directed at the experts of GDI, we fixed them in spite of ourselves.

The best part of the project is, of course, the final result and how everything came together beautifully. The dogs didn’t bark incessantly, the punch list is done, and if truth be told, I used the first tile I picked out 3 years ago, and I love it.

Now it’s time  to decide on the next project…

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Click here for an important message from George

To our friends and customers

By now, everyone knows that the construction industry is experiencing incredible demand, supply chain issues, price increases, and lack of skilled labor.  The word ‘unprecedented’ is thrown around a lot and does not do justice to what we are experiencing.  As much as we try to be realistic with our commitments, we started to see delays, product availability issues, and price increases, such as-

  • Lumber we had quoted in January 2021, was re-priced this week at an additional 25% increase.
  • Across the trades, there is not nearly enough skilled workers in the field, or in the offices.  Virtually every one of our trade partners is looking for help.  In many cases, myself included, the owners are stepping back into the field to help.
  • Questions regarding permitting in the past would have been a quick visit to the town office. They are now taking 2-3 weeks through email and phone messages.

If your project is in construction, you are our priority.  We will do everything we possibly can to complete your project quickly without sacrificing quality or our integrity in any way.

If your project is in the design or planning phase, we will continue to develop the plans and specifications for you, but we beg your patience as we finish up those who came before you.

If you are thinking about calling us for a new project, please know that your work is equally important to us since we will need new projects to move on to, so we are counting on you!

Going forward, our only promise will be that we will do the very best we can for you.  We will try to build reasonable schedules, including planned delays, but will also qualify them realizing we just do not know what to expect. We love what we do, we love our clients, and we want to keep it that way. Thank you for your understanding!