Chicago Tribune

Renovation horror stories

Will you and your contractor go from finishes to fisticuffs? We sent 4 remodeling jobs to the couch to find out what went wrong — and how to patch things up

By William Hageman

February 14, 2010

Man in the middle

Matt Lederer, owner of Mahogany Builders (mahoganybuilders.com), got in the middle of family tensions when his company was hired to update a condo belonging to a couple who were living out of town. In their absence, the husband's mother took it upon herself to have the condo renovated.

"We started off with her plan," says Lederer, "and about a third of the way through the project, just through circumstance, (the couple) moved back to Chicago and started to move in. Then the couple was there, making design decisions that were contrary to what the mother-in-law wanted, and we were kind of caught in the middle of that relationship a lot.

"It's really not the major decisions that do it. It's things like ... the last one was the grout color. The mother-in-law wanted a grout color that would make the tile pop, and the daughter-in-law wanted one that faded in with the tile color and didn't stand out. When the mother-in-law saw the final product, it was 'OK,' but under her breath it was like, 'I really hate it.'

"We get a lot of these weird dynamics where you can see their faces change, and their attitudes change toward each other, and you say, 'Hmmm, OK, why don't you guys talk about this and let me know what you want?'"

Expert analysis: Matt showed good judgment by stating, "You talk about this, and let me know," but forgot to establish a deadline for doing so, which would have reinforced his position. He has become involved in the power struggle between the mother and daughter-in-law and can't win.

Upshot: Step back from the drama and set deadlines for answers to your questions.