Improperly, unfinished work by contractors.. GRRR

[Andy the Digger]

Anyone have any experience with lousy work done by contractors they hired to do work around their home/acerage/farm? I am in the middle of my first experience with this..
any input??

 

[mat]

Cut your losses...Loose the guy! Pay him what you owe him (has he can lean your house for anything over $350) Then call me

 

[Summitric]

anyone have any experience with lousy work done by contractors they hired to do work around their home/acerage/farm? I am in the middle of my first experience with this..
Any input??

hmmmmmmmmm, what are you getting done??

 

[growly]

Anyone have any experience with lousy work done by contractors they hired to do work around their home/acerage/farm? I am in the middle of my first experience with this..
any input??

Holmes on Homes - HGTV Canada

 

[sledderdoc]

Cut the contractor loose and pay what you owe and move on. I would check ref. next time too. You can call the BBB to report but no sense having them correct the work if your not happy. Get someone you trust .... remember you pay for what you get ..... the cheapest is not always better.

 

[bigdaddy35]

I agree;

Cut your losses. Pay only what you owe and fire him.

Find another contractor and set out everything in writing for costs/work to be done/expectations/timelines etc. If they don't have a contract of their own or won't sign yours... walk away.

 

[Cyle]

If your not happy with the work DONT PAY HIM! Tell him to either redo it, or pay someone to fix it, if theres any left pay the first guy that. And tell the other contractor to pound sand.

They can put a lean on your property if they have a signed contract to prove everything, but if it's a decent amount of money, in small claims court the homeowner wins EVERYTIME, if they are right or not. Many won't even try, they will just walk away from the job.

Construction is a nasty business.

 

[arcticdodge]

I am bad for this. (Sorry Mom I will get it done). All my jobs I start always have something I have to finish. But I don't do it for a living. (Mom figures it should be free). Yes wifey I will get the gate up when I get home from BC. But if you are paying someone stop paying. Work not done = NO PAY. If he has left tools lock them up. He will need them sometime and come get them, then you can get him to finish the job or he just won't come back and you get free tools. (We still have one guys drywall gun and assorted drywall tools) which we now use and do our own work with.:d

 

[maxwell]

your right construction is nasty. unfortunately. with commercial construction we are bound by CCDC2 and other documents to finish the work to the specification. if that doesnt happen there are insurance bonds and whatnot to cover this.

in residential construction it is a mess. hard to pin the liability on anyone. he doesnt have any specifications on what he is "suposed" to do. if its not on paper it didnt happen.

do what everyone is saying and end it now. pay whats owed. or what you can "negotiate" and find someone else,

 

[Cyle]

your right construction is nasty. unfortunately. with commercial construction we are bound by CCDC2 and other documents to finish the work to the specification. if that doesnt happen there are insurance bonds and whatnot to cover this.

in residential construction it is a mess. hard to pin the liability on anyone. he doesnt have any specifications on what he is "suposed" to do. if its not on paper it didnt happen.

do what everyone is saying and end it now. pay whats owed. or what you can "negotiate" and find someone else,

I think the big thing is how much money is he talking about? If it's a job for like $1,000 it's not worth messing around with to much. If it's something major like $15,000 done wrong, you would be VERY VERY unwise to pay them if you aren't happy.

 

[Andy the Digger]

I was getting a steel building put up. There was a manual, a phone/help line.. I had planned to do it myself, with the help of a friend, but I had a month long job come up in short notice, so I looked for outside help.
I couldn't find anyone to do it for a quote.. SO I paid hourly, in Cash.. no contract.. To a couple guys that told me it should be EASY.. and that one had experience with this before.... It seemed so simple to put up.. Maybe 4-5 days worth of labor.. It was like lego for adults.. Just a lot of bolts and some medium lifting, but would require thought and planning....
After 7 days of working on this ( which I was away for... ) I get told most of it is done, and the rest they don't have time for.. I go home and I find that I have to take the thing half apart and start OVER!!! Bent panels, Improperly installed panels ( overlap for watershed backwards on the last 6 panels.. makes me wonder if the so called brains of the operation was even there that day... The bill says so.. hmmm.. ) So here I sit.. In debt over 4 grand for something thats going to end up being more work then it originally was to do myself.. I know I don't have to pay - but thats not how I work.. What was done is entitled to payment.. I need intervention from a 3rd party, so this don't get ugly I am thinkin..

 

[polarice]

I was getting a steel building put up. There was a manual, a phone/help line.. I had planned to do it myself, with the help of a friend, but I had a month long job come up in short notice, so I looked for outside help.
I couldn't find anyone to do it for a quote.. SO I paid hourly, in Cash.. no contract.. To a couple guys that told me it should be EASY.. and that one had experience with this before.... It seemed so simple to put up.. Maybe 4-5 days worth of labor.. It was like lego for adults.. Just a lot of bolts and some medium lifting, but would require thought and planning....
After 7 days of working on this ( which I was away for... ) I get told most of it is done, and the rest they don't have time for.. I go home and I find that I have to take the thing half apart and start OVER!!! Bent panels, Improperly installed panels ( overlap for watershed backwards on the last 6 panels.. makes me wonder if the so called brains of the operation was even there that day... The bill says so.. hmmm.. ) So here I sit.. In debt over 4 grand for something thats going to end up being more work then it originally was to do myself.. I know I don't have to pay - but thats not how I work.. What was done is entitled to payment.. I need intervention from a 3rd party, so this don't get ugly I am thinkin..

so if the work thye have finished has to be taken apart how do you figure you should be paying them .... unless they comeback and help

 

[blastoff]

Sounds like a bunch of loosers I wont pay them dick. !!! I would even keep there tools..

 

[Cyle]

I was getting a steel building put up. There was a manual, a phone/help line.. I had planned to do it myself, with the help of a friend, but I had a month long job come up in short notice, so I looked for outside help.
I couldn't find anyone to do it for a quote.. SO I paid hourly, in Cash.. no contract.. To a couple guys that told me it should be EASY.. and that one had experience with this before.... It seemed so simple to put up.. Maybe 4-5 days worth of labor.. It was like lego for adults.. Just a lot of bolts and some medium lifting, but would require thought and planning....
After 7 days of working on this ( which I was away for... ) I get told most of it is done, and the rest they don't have time for.. I go home and I find that I have to take the thing half apart and start OVER!!! Bent panels, Improperly installed panels ( overlap for watershed backwards on the last 6 panels.. makes me wonder if the so called brains of the operation was even there that day... The bill says so.. hmmm.. ) So here I sit.. In debt over 4 grand for something thats going to end up being more work then it originally was to do myself.. I know I don't have to pay - but thats not how I work.. What was done is entitled to payment.. I need intervention from a 3rd party, so this don't get ugly I am thinkin..

So they aren't willing to finish it at all? I would do this, pay them after they help you do it all right, and if you already paid them more then enough time to do it all, don't pay them anymore. If they are stand up people they will do it. Yea not paying someone sucks, but if they intentionally did a bad job I don't feel sorry for them.

If they tried and had problems, that's another story, but saying you don't have time to finish a job is BS. But if he also said he had experience he should know what he's doing, or not get into it to begin with.

7 days labour for 2 guys is some decent coin, especially if it didn't get you squat. I wouldn't just forget about it and do it yourself, get atleast some of your money worth. Even if you don't have a contract, you are in the right, it is a bit more of a grey area, but still.

If you wanted to get reinbursement someway, I would fine a relieable contractor to give you a price to put it up originally, and what it will cost the way it sits. If you got those, you could EASILY take them to small claims court for recoup your losses.

 

[Andy the Digger]

So they aren't willing to finish it at all? I would do this, pay them after they help you do it all right, and if you already paid them more then enough time to do it all, don't pay them anymore. If they are stand up people they will do it. Yea not paying someone sucks, but if they intentionally did a bad job I don't feel sorry for them.

If they tried and had problems, that's another story, but saying you don't have time to finish a job is BS. But if he also said he had experience he should know what he's doing, or not get into it to begin with.

7 days labour for 2 guys is some decent coin, especially if it didn't get you squat. I wouldn't just forget about it and do it yourself, get atleast some of your money worth. Even if you don't have a contract, you are in the right, it is a bit more of a grey area, but still.

If you wanted to get reinbursement someway, I would fine a relieable contractor to give you a price to put it up originally, and what it will cost the way it sits. If you got those, you could EASILY take them to small claims court for recoup your losses.

I don't want these people on my property again... aside from showing them the faults.. All it would take is one to fall off a scaffold and turn around and sue me... then the shatshow begins.. I am just on damage control now, and hoping to remedy the situation myself... The small claims court idea sounds good.. I will have to crunch some numbers to see if the loss of employment on my end will equal the money I will save. It is morally correct to pay someone for their time.. whether they are competent or not.. They DID work for me... the fault lies on my shoulders for even hiring these people. No payment could equal to a lot of grief on my end as well... I am really starting to find that no one really cares about doing a good job anymore, and all they want is the money.. It scares me to think of the quality of homes that were built 2-4 years ago...

 

[maxwell]

it is scary the quility of homes being built. people arent asking enough questions from their builders or having someone come in to show them how it should be done.

some of the new homes are not going to last. i saw some scary things inspecting last year.

i had no idea teleposts were coming with instructions from the manufactuere to mount them on a 20 degree angle!!

 

[Cyle]

it is scary the quility of homes being built. people arent asking enough questions from their builders or having someone come in to show them how it should be done.

some of the new homes are not going to last. i saw some scary things inspecting last year.

i had no idea teleposts were coming with instructions from the manufactuere to mount them on a 20 degree angle!!

Wanna know the worst i've seen that passed inspection? 2 2x4's nailed together to make them longer SUPPORTING a stairway! Or the beam were they took out 2 teleposts! The beam was spaning over 60ft....they figured the two teleposts were for show I guess. Building inspectors for the city are a joke, and don't look at anything. I wouldn't buy a house built in the 5 years by a builder unless it was like half of what it's worth, the houses are so poorly built it's not even funny. My buddies house, you can see the stucco wire in some spots it is so thin!

Paying someone for their time is right yes, but if they lie to you about their experience, it is a different story.

 

[johndeereman346]

Ok first things first is i built one of those canopy shacks in 2 days with me and a helper, it was 16 wide 15 high and 50 long.

Also id offer my services but im swamped since i moved to ft mac.

And id say don pay them you cant even prove they were there if its cash. as much as i like cash work it sucks sometimes

 

[crow]

whoa cyle your painting alot of good tradesmen with a bad brush there....yes there is some guys that shouldn't be doing it, when it was super busy couple years ago anyone with a bag of nails and a hammer was working....but since then, they've all been weeded out ( well big portion of them anyways)there's also alot of qualified tradesmen in edmonton and surrounding areas.

sorry andy didn't mean to get off topic.

 

[Cyle]

whoa cyle your painting alot of good tradesmen with a bad brush there....yes there is some guys that shouldn't be doing it, when it was super busy couple years ago anyone with a bag of nails and a hammer was working....but since then, they've all been weeded out ( well big portion of them anyways)there's also alot of qualified tradesmen in edmonton and surrounding areas.

sorry andy didn't mean to get off topic.

I am generalizing a bit, but i've yet to see a good homebuilder, it's all about doing it quick and cheap. And nothing has changed, many terrible builders are still doing it. Qualified tradesmen is to generous to many hacks jobs. I'm sure there are a couple good builders and lots of good tradesmen but they are a TON more bad ones. I have seen and fixed so many hack jobs in the past few years, it is sickening tradesmen (and I use that term loosly) inspectors, and builders let it go.


There is a reason 1 subdivision of were my family is building right now there is a sign on the guys property that reads "built by something homes, fixed by homeowner" Wonder why they can't sell the spec house next door?