Our panel on the gable needed to be replaced. We received a response in about 1.5 weeks regarding the demolition. That seemed reasonable. However, we decided to do the demolition ourselves, which took approximately 8 hours for one person. Now, the carpenter has been here to install the paneling. It took 8 days, totaling 52 hours. And he wasn't finished! We questioned the time and he explained that it was more intricate than he anticipated, and when asked why he initially said 1.5 weeks for everything, he clarified that he expected to work 8 hours a day instead of the current 6. We asked him to stop so we could finish ourselves, which is roughly half of the gable battened. Was he excessively slow, or were we too optimistic with time?
And that things always come up should be something the carpenter knows. So he should have accounted for it in his quote, or left a reservation for it. But considering he didn't have to tear down the old one, he got 8 hours for free which he wasted. I replaced my gable, two stories high, in less than a week. A scaffolding that covered the entire width/height of the gable. Put a saw on the scaffolding and a nail gun. I'm not a carpenter but common sense solved the task. Approx. 7x7 meters with two windows per floor.
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How do you mean the forum should be able to assess if the time is reasonable or not? You must understand that no one here has the slightest idea of what your house looks like.
How big is the gable? What material is it now? What are you switching to? Are there any windows? Are there complicated window casings? What is the ground like under the gable? A gravel path or a flowerbed? Just as examples...
How big is the gable? What material is it now? What are you switching to? Are there any windows? Are there complicated window casings? What is the ground like under the gable? A gravel path or a flowerbed? Just as examples...
My house looks like a big + from above. 11 sides to replace paneling took two weeks, where the paneling was primed, oiled at the ends, one layer of finish, ready for installation. No nail gun. But the 12th side took almost as long as all the others. The thing is, I worked on this full-time as a profession, as a carpenter, and I chose to save the "worst side" for last. I was told several times by people that I wasn't doing anything! It takes so long! Now, admittedly, we have a "difficult" house to make changes to, but I don't think it's unreasonable for your carpenter to take "time" on it. Is the work well done? Can you do it better? I'm quite sure that you can do it just as well, but it will take time, longer than you might have hoped. Is it horizontal paneling/vertical/overlap/timber or what are we talking about? Replacing paneling on a house can't be said to take a specific amount of time! But if he has said it takes 1.5 weeks, I hope you have a quote for it and not hourly billing.
The one who should be qualified enough to make this assessment should be the craftsman who provided the time estimate of 60 hours. All serious parties include a margin in their price because there is always something that goes wrong. Now it turned out that the craftsman didn't finish on time despite his qualified guess. A dialogue along the way would surely have clarified any question marks, and it would likely have been appreciated if the craftsman had signaled when he found things that would make him unable to meet the deadline.
You might as well start by finishing it yourself and see how long it takes, that should give an indication of the carpenter's effort. It could be that you only have the straight section left, so keep that in mind. More than a week to replace the panel on a gable sounds like a lot to me, but as mentioned, it depends on how it looks. Post a picture, it makes it easier to speculate.
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I have deleted posts with bickering based on misunderstandings. Stick to answering the original poster's question; it is natural to have different opinions.
Are you finished with the panel yet?