Darnit: I think my eyes are failing me (1 Viewer)

[Wayne Ernst]

Update: I checked the measurements this morning when I got to the house. The distance between the mantle and the ceiling was 1/4" greater on one of the sides. The large center square panel is the panel that the guy thought was sloping down a bit. I could only confirm that by holding a straight edge across the bottom of the moldings. I could then see what he was talking about - but, with the naked eye and without the straight edge, it's nearly impossible to tell.

I then took off 2 pieces of the center panel molding, cut new pieces and installed them. The straight edge confirms all is good now. However, to the naked eye, one really can't tell that anything has changed. But, the customers are good customers of mine and do supply me with frequenty business. It was just easier to replace the few pieces of molding than discuss it any further.


Original message:

I spent parts of the last few days installing a set of moldings to make the area above a fireplace more formal than the drywall that was present before. After installing the moldings, I carefully caulked the seams, primed the surfaces and applied 2+ coats of paint.

Tonight, I get an E-mail from the client indicating that the moldings appear crooked to him. So, tomorrow, I guess I'll have to avoid taking a day off and instead, re-work the moldings to behold the eyes of the customer.

Here's a picture of the work that I completed:

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Update: I checked the measurements this morning when I got to the house. The distance between the mantle and the ceiling was 1/4" greater on one of the sides. The large center square panel is the panel that the guy thought was sloping down a bit. I could only confirm that by holding a straight edge across the bottom of the moldings. I could then see what he was talking about - but, with the naked eye and without the straight edge, it's nearly impossible to tell.

I then took off 2 pieces of the center panel molding, cut new pieces and installed them. The straight edge confirms all is good now. However, to the naked eye, one really can't tell that anything has changed. But, the customers are good customers of mine and do supply me with frequenty business. It was just easier to replace the few pieces of molding than discuss it any further.


Original message:

I spent parts of the last few days installing a set of moldings to make the area above a fireplace more formal than the drywall that was present before. After installing the moldings, I carefully caulked the seams, primed the surfaces and applied 2+ coats of paint.

Tonight, I get an E-mail from the client indicating that the moldings appear crooked to him. So, tomorrow, I guess I'll have to avoid taking a day off and instead, re-work the moldings to behold the eyes of the customer.

Here's a picture of the work that I completed:

 

[DanaA]

I'd be overjoyed to have your product in my home. Looks really nice to me.

 

[DanaA]

I'd be overjoyed to have your product in my home. Looks really nice to me.

 

[alan halvorson]

Is he certain they're crooked, and not an optical illusion? Perhaps his fireplace or ceiling is out of level?

 

[alan halvorson]

Is he certain they're crooked, and not an optical illusion? Perhaps his fireplace or ceiling is out of level?

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

I would also be willing to bet that the problem lies with the ceiling and it not being plum and level to the floor (which the fireplace is built upon).

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

I would also be willing to bet that the problem lies with the ceiling and it not being plum and level to the floor (which the fireplace is built upon).

 

[Bob Graz]

It looks pretty nice to me.

 

[Bob Graz]

It looks pretty nice to me.

 

[Ricardo C]

It looks fine to me, as well. Your eyes are fine, but you seem to be suffering from a mild case of clientis assholitus

 

[Brian Harnish]

It's definitely the ceiling itself. If you take the straight edge of your web browser (or, if you prefer, a ruler or the edge of a sheet of paper) and measure it against his work and the ceiling, you'll notice the ceiling is slanted downward towards the right. The molding installation is of excellent quality. Great job, Wayne!

I would go the way of telling your client the problem is with his ceiling and not the molding installation. Although, one minor issue that may come up is the client may not like what you have to say and may raise up a stink about getting a refund. However, if you show it to him/her via a ruler or straight edge there is no way he/she can refute it. Hopefully, though, the client does have a decent head on their shoulders and will see the problem lies with the ceiling and not with your work.

 

[Lars Larsen]

A photo like that can hardly be used to judge if the molding is crooked. Brian, what you indicate could very likely be caused by a lens distortion in the camera (barelling). As you move away from the center of a photograph, the distortion becomes greater (typically straight lines become bended) and since the ceiling is in the top of the picture it's impossible to tell if the error is in Wayne's work or only in the picture. Wayne needs to do some on-site meassurements.

 

[Philip_G]

the picture is taken at an angle from the left, I agree with Lars. By brian's measurements the fireplace also slopes down to the right

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Update: I checked the measurements this morning when I got to the house. The distance between the mantle and the ceiling was 1/4" greater on one of the sides. The large center square panel is the panel that the guy thought was sloping down a bit. I could only confirm that by holding a straight edge across the bottom of the moldings. I could then see what he was talking about - but, with the naked eye and without the straight edge, it's nearly impossible to tell.

I then took off 2 pieces of the center panel molding, cut new pieces and installed them. The straight edge confirms all is good now. However, to the naked eye, one really can't tell that anything has changed. But, the customers are good customers of mine and do supply me with frequent business. It was just easier to replace the few pieces of molding than discuss it any further.

Camera related: I can see what y'all mean by the sphere of the camera playing tricks towards the top of the picture. When you look at the actual mantle, you don't see the curve - which you can clearly see with the picture itself. The picture was taken with my 2 y.o. Canon G2. I've never really noticed that issue before. However, it looks like it just may pop up when I'm trying to take shots of a horizontal item and parts of that item is towards the top of the frame.