Hello MR,
I recently bought my first house, a repo, for $60,000 (Spokane market is extremely depressed at the moment) and hired a contractor to do a significant amount of work. The work that had to be done included:
* new roof on house and shed
* finish the unfinished top floor; insultation, drywall, etc.
* remove the leftover electrical upstairs, which was outdated (knob and tube); downstairs wiring was already updated. Fix up electrical. Rerun electrical to the garage.
* refinish the kitchen, installing a dishwasher
* replace all of the carpeting downstairs.
* Replace four broken windows
* Heat ducts would be installed.
We have this all on a written and signed contract, unfortunately, undated (although dates on the checks, which I have copies of, prove work dates).
My recently divorced mother would move in the house to help me out with new homeowner things and with making choices for the work on the house until the job was over, at which point she would have been able to secure her own property and I could move a roommate in. This helps me out a bit. (I am 22 years of age)
He had the lowest bid, but we did research; ensured he was licensed and bonded, etc. We agreed to a few things for the low price; he stated he had leftover shingles, tile, and carpet from previous jobs, and so we had to agree to go with what he had (which was just fine in my book). We also requested that he complete the downstairs by April 1st so we could move and not have to pay a small fortune at the apartment complex we were staying at. That was our move in date. The biggest warning sign was that he wanted a down payment of 60% of the total cost, which we flat out refused, and finally we agreed to paying out in large chunks as the work progressed.
The contractor was initially very agreeable, and kept offering to do little extras, refusing to take money for it (like painting the downstairs). Over time, he started to go slower. The workers would show up at 11 and leave by 1, or claim to have worked but with no progress done. They were also sloppy, and things had to be redone; the flooring was improperly laid in the kitchen, for example.
He also started adding extra expenses. All the work done was inspected; He stated that the inspector said he needed to add extra supports to redo the garage on the roof, for example, and that it would be an additional $800 for the lumber, no charge for labor. The first two additional minor expenses we agreed to pay, but when he tried to add some more costs to the electrical because of 'code requirements' we said, in a very polite manner, no, because we had a written contract that he would do this work, and if he wasn't aware of the code requirements, and what is being done isn't something outside of the contract, it was his responsibility.
He got very upset, and came back the next day with a written list of "extras" that we hadn't paid him for- the things they had offered to do for free and refused to accept payment for (painting rooms, helping us install some hardware, etc)- and threatened to charge us for them. We argued that they had they had refused payment and that they couldn't turn around and ask for payments on things that offered for free. Finally, we came to a consensus; we paid out the money for that last extra, in exchange for him signing a second contract that there would be no additional charges for the rest of the job for anything agreed upon in the contract unless we requested additional work outside of the contract, and that he would eat anything required to complete the job that came up.
We noticed a few odd things along the way;
(1) All his equipment looked brand new
(2) He would disappear for like a week without doing anything after receiving paychecks.
At one point, after they had started on the roof, he asked if we could pay some more money in advance, to help pay for his workers, because he stated he was paying them out of his own pocket. We looked at the numbers, and determined that we had already overpaid him for the amount he had done; we were at 75% paid out, but only maybe 40-50% of the work done. When I let the contractor's assistant who was asking on his behalf know I would pay him a little more after the roof was completed, he got very angry, started talking about how much they had done for us, and how untrusting we were, and that they obviously weren't going anywhere, and then said they would walk off the job and check back next week to see if we had changed our mind, and left.
This upset me (being threatened), so I arranged a meeting with the contractor, his assistant, myself, and my father (retired head of DEA for our region). The contractor acted as if his assistant had been too rash, assured me they would finish the job, and agreed to take another 5% payment after completion of the roof.
We asked if he would agree on a deadline. I had company coming to visit in about one month (June 15th). He said he could have everything done "long before" then. We asked if he would agree to sign a contract stating that we would pay 2% extra as a tip if he got it done by that date, but that he would be penalized from the final payment if he did not; he did not want to sign anything along those lines.
Two weeks later, the roof was nearing completion. I asked if he could have it done by July 15th, three weeks from that date. He stated, "no problem at all. We will have the roof done Friday, inspected Monday, and then it's all downhill."
Friday passed. Monday came, and they finished it and had the inspector out in the evening while I was at work. He claimed the roof had passed, and collected the additional 5% from me; later turned out that the inspector had passed it on the condition of some minor fixes (I have the inspection report now).
Over the next week, they did the minor fix (consisting of fixing some flashing around the chimney) and nothing else. He told me he would do the insulation on Thursday. I called him Thursday, and he said they were out buying it- no work done at the end of the day. Friday, he didn't show up. Monday, he had an excuse as to why he couldn't make it (wife's car broke down). Tuesday, no work done. Wednesday, they started insulation. Thursday, they completed insulation. Friday, no work done; he said the drywall company failed to deliver it.
It has obviously been very slow- 4 months have passed. So far, I would say that the work is 65% done, and I have paid out to 80%. He is obviously not going to meet my deadline.
I called him about an hour ago, to see where things were at. I asked him if he could simply get the drywall done by the deadline, without the bathroom. He said he was "not sure". I said I was a bit concerned, as almost no work had been done last week; and he erupted into a fit, literally screaming at me on the phone, that he was "sick and tired" of us trying to dictate their hours and he would walk off the job if I did again.
I'm going to pay out for a hotel for my visitors out of my pocket; in the meantime, my plan is to try to get him to do as much work as possible without paying out any money. If he finishes the job, great, I'll pay him the rest. If he demands more payments, and walks out when I don't give it to him pending work completion...
I'm not sure what to do.
Can anyone suggest any course of action for me? :/
I recently bought my first house, a repo, for $60,000 (Spokane market is extremely depressed at the moment) and hired a contractor to do a significant amount of work. The work that had to be done included:
* new roof on house and shed
* finish the unfinished top floor; insultation, drywall, etc.
* remove the leftover electrical upstairs, which was outdated (knob and tube); downstairs wiring was already updated. Fix up electrical. Rerun electrical to the garage.
* refinish the kitchen, installing a dishwasher
* replace all of the carpeting downstairs.
* Replace four broken windows
* Heat ducts would be installed.
We have this all on a written and signed contract, unfortunately, undated (although dates on the checks, which I have copies of, prove work dates).
My recently divorced mother would move in the house to help me out with new homeowner things and with making choices for the work on the house until the job was over, at which point she would have been able to secure her own property and I could move a roommate in. This helps me out a bit. (I am 22 years of age)
He had the lowest bid, but we did research; ensured he was licensed and bonded, etc. We agreed to a few things for the low price; he stated he had leftover shingles, tile, and carpet from previous jobs, and so we had to agree to go with what he had (which was just fine in my book). We also requested that he complete the downstairs by April 1st so we could move and not have to pay a small fortune at the apartment complex we were staying at. That was our move in date. The biggest warning sign was that he wanted a down payment of 60% of the total cost, which we flat out refused, and finally we agreed to paying out in large chunks as the work progressed.
The contractor was initially very agreeable, and kept offering to do little extras, refusing to take money for it (like painting the downstairs). Over time, he started to go slower. The workers would show up at 11 and leave by 1, or claim to have worked but with no progress done. They were also sloppy, and things had to be redone; the flooring was improperly laid in the kitchen, for example.
He also started adding extra expenses. All the work done was inspected; He stated that the inspector said he needed to add extra supports to redo the garage on the roof, for example, and that it would be an additional $800 for the lumber, no charge for labor. The first two additional minor expenses we agreed to pay, but when he tried to add some more costs to the electrical because of 'code requirements' we said, in a very polite manner, no, because we had a written contract that he would do this work, and if he wasn't aware of the code requirements, and what is being done isn't something outside of the contract, it was his responsibility.
He got very upset, and came back the next day with a written list of "extras" that we hadn't paid him for- the things they had offered to do for free and refused to accept payment for (painting rooms, helping us install some hardware, etc)- and threatened to charge us for them. We argued that they had they had refused payment and that they couldn't turn around and ask for payments on things that offered for free. Finally, we came to a consensus; we paid out the money for that last extra, in exchange for him signing a second contract that there would be no additional charges for the rest of the job for anything agreed upon in the contract unless we requested additional work outside of the contract, and that he would eat anything required to complete the job that came up.
We noticed a few odd things along the way;
(1) All his equipment looked brand new
(2) He would disappear for like a week without doing anything after receiving paychecks.
At one point, after they had started on the roof, he asked if we could pay some more money in advance, to help pay for his workers, because he stated he was paying them out of his own pocket. We looked at the numbers, and determined that we had already overpaid him for the amount he had done; we were at 75% paid out, but only maybe 40-50% of the work done. When I let the contractor's assistant who was asking on his behalf know I would pay him a little more after the roof was completed, he got very angry, started talking about how much they had done for us, and how untrusting we were, and that they obviously weren't going anywhere, and then said they would walk off the job and check back next week to see if we had changed our mind, and left.
This upset me (being threatened), so I arranged a meeting with the contractor, his assistant, myself, and my father (retired head of DEA for our region). The contractor acted as if his assistant had been too rash, assured me they would finish the job, and agreed to take another 5% payment after completion of the roof.
We asked if he would agree on a deadline. I had company coming to visit in about one month (June 15th). He said he could have everything done "long before" then. We asked if he would agree to sign a contract stating that we would pay 2% extra as a tip if he got it done by that date, but that he would be penalized from the final payment if he did not; he did not want to sign anything along those lines.
Two weeks later, the roof was nearing completion. I asked if he could have it done by July 15th, three weeks from that date. He stated, "no problem at all. We will have the roof done Friday, inspected Monday, and then it's all downhill."
Friday passed. Monday came, and they finished it and had the inspector out in the evening while I was at work. He claimed the roof had passed, and collected the additional 5% from me; later turned out that the inspector had passed it on the condition of some minor fixes (I have the inspection report now).
Over the next week, they did the minor fix (consisting of fixing some flashing around the chimney) and nothing else. He told me he would do the insulation on Thursday. I called him Thursday, and he said they were out buying it- no work done at the end of the day. Friday, he didn't show up. Monday, he had an excuse as to why he couldn't make it (wife's car broke down). Tuesday, no work done. Wednesday, they started insulation. Thursday, they completed insulation. Friday, no work done; he said the drywall company failed to deliver it.
It has obviously been very slow- 4 months have passed. So far, I would say that the work is 65% done, and I have paid out to 80%. He is obviously not going to meet my deadline.
I called him about an hour ago, to see where things were at. I asked him if he could simply get the drywall done by the deadline, without the bathroom. He said he was "not sure". I said I was a bit concerned, as almost no work had been done last week; and he erupted into a fit, literally screaming at me on the phone, that he was "sick and tired" of us trying to dictate their hours and he would walk off the job if I did again.
I'm going to pay out for a hotel for my visitors out of my pocket; in the meantime, my plan is to try to get him to do as much work as possible without paying out any money. If he finishes the job, great, I'll pay him the rest. If he demands more payments, and walks out when I don't give it to him pending work completion...
I'm not sure what to do.
Can anyone suggest any course of action for me? :/
