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Contractor issues

  • So, I'm the litigator with no balls, to state the obvious. In case you don't remember, our house had a plumbing flood at the beginning of the month. Our contractor started the repair work yesterday. When we got home, husband and I both found the work to be sub-par (a/k/a ghetto). Part of the job is installing new toe kick panels on the kitchen cabinets. He cut pieces that he could wedge in without removing the cabinet, which left a big gap. He also tried to match the color with stain instead of finding the same laminate. Also, there was a huge bubble in the drywall tape from where he had to patch the wall back in over the plumbing area.

    In my pregnant state this kind of thing stresses me out to no end. It's my house, just put it back together. Last night I sent the guy some emails and talked to him this morning, but I'm still pretty anxious. Just posting here to vent, but anyone think I can right the ship or should we just expect more problems? At this point I'm sure he thinks I'm the royal b!tch customer, and yet I've been pretty passive aggressive. My husband wants to kick the guy off of the job completely. Yes, he is licensed and insured, and had a book of work and references.

    FSULaura

  • On to the next one.

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    equanole

  • equanole said...

    On to the next one.

    Yeah, I thought that was premature for today since he's contracted for the whole job. If there isn't serious improvement after day 2 when he has been asked to take corrective measures, I think I'll pull the plug.

    FSULaura

  • FSULaura said...

    Yeah, I thought that was premature for today since he's contracted for the whole job. If there isn't serious improvement after day 2 when he has been asked to take corrective measures, I think I'll pull the plug.

    I used to run into this with my rental houses from time to time. I learned to be VERY specific in writing the contract - which I highly recommend when one is approaching this type of activity. In person, go over the work to date as understood by you both, go over what you expect to be finishing and corrective measures and WRITE IT DOWN and both of you sign it.

    Above all, work to keep your equanimity of temper when speaking with the guy. If you get tore in like Uncle Nashty used to, you'll get the bare minimum and/or barely adequate attention paid to your project. Also, it's probably a good idea to always have only one point person from your family address the contractor. Not saying you have more than that, but conflicting directives cost money - as me and my wife found to our consternation when we were starting out. We got played against each other which did nothing but add to the final bill.

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    Ain't no cell phones under water!

    Nashnole

  • Just thought I'd update this. On Sunday, after the clown was "done," we discovered that when reinstalling some of the baseboards, he.....wait for it.....shot NAILS through one of our pocket doors! How incompetent can you be? So I e-mailed him that it had to be immediately corrected. Then we started to get pissed about the fact that we could still see the old paint color coming through and I decorated my walls with dozens of post-its noting where further paint is required.

    He ever so graciously agreed that he needed to fix the door but is fighting about the paint. Says he should charge us for a second coat, blah blah blah. I'm making the husband deal with it.

    FSULaura

  • Isnt he the "professional" that should have known it needed extra paint for proper coverage?? Canizazz!!

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    DAKOTANOLE

  • He spent about 6 hours at the house yesterday recoating areas that we had marked with post-its and fixing the door. Made my husband sign a release that is in no way binding upon me, annnnnnd.....over the course of the day, divulged that he is blind in one eye. We're done with it and him, but sheesh.

    FSULaura

  • Haha! A color-blind painter nicknamed lucky??

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    DAKOTANOLE

  • FSULaura said...

    He spent about 6 hours at the house yesterday recoating areas that we had marked with post-its and fixing the door. Made my husband sign a release that is in no way binding upon me, annnnnnd.....over the course of the day, divulged that he is blind in one eye. We're done with it and him, but sheesh.

    Do you have textured walls?

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    WillyDees

  • WillyDees said...

    Do you have textured walls?

    Standard orange peel.

    FSULaura

  • FSULaura said...

    Standard orange peel.

    Ah. Sometimes those textures are really tricky. I put knockdown in my house, & it took a ton of paint to cover.

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    WillyDees