Yesterday we discovered that the stone block for the bedroom terrace fountain was not cut square. One side was skewed by 10 mm to 18 mm. Since the stone abuts the stone flooring, this skewed line would show in relationship to the paving stone grid. We also discovered that the stone was not aligned with the center of our bedroom door. We had a big “pow-pow” meeting with the stone mason, the installers, the contractor and our local architect. It was tense. But it was certainly not the first time we experienced this on our house and will likely not be the last.
What was different this time? Well, the stone carving mistake was clearly the result of human error. They cut the stone by hand and someone just was not paying attention. We know it could be done right since the other three sides were all perfect. The placement mistake, it turns out, was clearly mine. I had reworked the stone location in a drawing after I worked out the grid spacing of the paving stone (30cm X 30cm; stone is 60cm X 60cm). I did not double check the relationship of the exterior stone grid to the center line of the door. It was off by about 10 cm.
If this had occurred on a job site in the US, the stone would have been taken away and redone at no cost. I would have paid through a change order to have the stone moved to the center line of the door (or accept it as is.)
Here, it is not that simple. We could have had the stone taken away and redone, but it would have resulted in a severe financial loss for the stone mason. I was struggling at the meeting (internally) if I could do that to this guy. He was so proud of his work and yet, clearly, distraught that the cutter had slipped up. I just did not have the heart to have this 1,000 pound solid piece of marble discarded and replaced (not to mention the lost time and construction delay). (See the “Romancing the Stone” blog entry.)
So, we made a deal.
We got: the stone relocated to the center of the door. The mason did not have to redo the stone but agreed to turn the stone 90 degrees; the contractor agreed to cover the cost of reworking the foundation and water troughs for the fountain workings (since they should have inspected the stone before it was delivered). The side with the cutting error will be next to the wall where the relationship of the stone to the paving will not be obvious. As best as I could hear it, “vamos a comerciar errores.”
As Lea and I were walking home, we said to each other that this stone will be our Navajo blanket–where an intentional mistake is made so that it is not “perfect.” A very good reminder that in life it is nearly always better to forgive and reconcile than dig your heels in and try to get your way without revealing your mistakes. All in all, a good day–even though it started out full of anxiety.
Excellent fix! I am sure that with all your years in architecture, you have learned to work with the little mistakes….or perhaps you are just starting to now?
I bought a 6ft library table here and one corner is 3/4″ shorter. I only noticed it because it was against a line on the wall. I think it is pretty amazing that the table is so stable.
I have learned to live with mistakes in the 45 years I have been at this architectural game…while it is never easy I always try to learn from each of them…
If we don’t make mistakes we learn nothing !