Ps-The Phlegm I Cough Constitutes Post Supper

Blancett Carpentry

To: Sean Kinney
Re: Payment overdue for services rendered

Dear Sean,

This letter is in regards to the outstanding payment of $688.00 I am owed for the restoration of your porch. The original bill for $888.00, submitted Monday, November 28th 2005 has as of today Saturday, April 8th 2006 yet to be fulfilled. I was given $200.00 in cash on November 28, which accounts for the deduction. However, having spent $85.00 of money out of pocket for this project, I have been compensated $115.00 for the three weeks (from Nov. 10 to Nov 28) that I spent repairing your porch.

I again apologize for not having given you an accurate estimate for the cost of the overall project. Being already involved in a large restoration project, I did not take the proper time to adequately investigate either the cost or the materials involved. This is my fault and I am sorry for potentially blindsiding you with the final cost. However, the materials that were purchased (that were neither marked up, or bought by me- as an attempt to lower the cost for you) were of varying dimensions. They were different not only from the original flooring, but from each other as well. This necessitated different approaches to the installation of each set of boards, so that you would not have large gaps from one board to the next in your porch floor. I will not in this letter go into detail the significant structural repairs I executed, per your authority, as we progressed in repairs. However, in another attempt to reduce cost, I allowed you to assist me with every aspect of the project, at a potential risk of your getting hurt or compromising the quality of the work. I also cleaned up the work site, hauled the waste to the landfill, paid for it myself, and did not charge you for it. I also did a thorough examination of the Dowdy House on West Main Street, determining what repairs & restoration would be needed, and made a fairly accurate estimate on the labor, so that you could prepare a bid for its purchase. I also did this free of charge, as an act of good will, to compensate the under-estimation on the cost of repairing your porch.

As you are probably aware, we are in the process of selling our home. I was of a mind to let this matter go until today, when I got out my shoulder plane to work on a pair of sawhorses I am building. It is a specialty hand tool and cost two hundred and fifty dollars. I use it frequently with this work, treat it well and intend to give it to my son, maybe some thirty years from now. It has streaks of oil based paint both from the material I installed on your porch, and prints from my hands the day I installed it. As you probably know, oil based paint lasts a long time. I would rather not be reminded of Sean Kinney and the six hundred and eighty eight dollars he owes me, many years from now.

Please send a check for the remaining $688.00 as soon as possible to our address above. Otherwise, we will have to pass this matter on to our attorney.


Thank you,

Clay Blancett