In return, we never failed to finish a job. We didn't do giant jobs - the biggest we ever did was a nice vacation cabin for a little over $320,000 20 years ago.
We always had the cash reserve to do any job we bid - I never charged a dime of supplies, and I haven't banked since 1978. None of our clients required a bank loan - they paid on completion. Never dealt with commercial people at all - their dishonest ways are just not for me, and I knew that ahead of time.
Our contracts were very simple - the client knew what they had, and they knew what they wanted to end up with, so I bid a dollar amount to do that - quite pointless to break it up into some imaginary categories of supposed materials costs which differ from real, and disguise labor as materials and all that. They needed to know how much money and how much time.
I worked with my grandfather as a young man, and he worked until he was 86, crawling under houses and in attics. When he died, he had a three year waiting list of people who wanted him to do their jobs. He made it simple for them.
Now perhaps things are just different elsewhere, but in this part of the country, you do what you say, and if you're not bright enough or experienced enough to do that, work for someone for wages. I do act in an extreme way, because these are people coming into your home and altering where you live, forever. I don't need some amateurs or trainees to do that - I need someone who will get it done, on time and for the dollars agreed. Worked here for my grandfather and for me. I just had the misfortune to wear out my shoulders - I can't lift my hands much higher than my head and for just a few minutes at that, or I'd still be working at that - it's a good job, a real puzzle, and never a dull moment.
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