Need Help with renovation
We are looking for some advice and guidance to complete the renovation of our brownstone. The contractor that we hired has delivered sub par work and the quality is poor. We really need to get a 2nd and 3rd opinion on what we have received so far. I have read on BS before where someone…
We are looking for some advice and guidance to complete the renovation of our brownstone. The contractor that we hired has delivered sub par work and the quality is poor. We really need to get a 2nd and 3rd opinion on what we have received so far. I have read on BS before where someone had retained the services of a external assessor. We can not trust the architect anymore as he is in cahoots with the Contractor (due to getting work for each other) So we really have no one to turn to. We know what what has been done is not acceptable. We just need to find a resource that can help us confirm this so we can go back to the contractor with what is and isn’t acceptable.
As mentioned above you can bring in an architect or you can do what I did. i had a similar issue and through a recommendation hired Constantine from bullfrog builders to come in and give me a detailed write up of what was wrong with my original contractor’s job. He charges $500 for a thorough review of the plans and job site and then sends you a write up within a few days. The fact that they charge for this service keeps them impartial. Give them a call at 718-228-0199.
Yes, definitely get an architect or another expert to help you. But think about what you mean by “acceptable”. Are you worried that the work isn’t to code, is dangerous, finish work is done in a sloppy way, or that you are not getting what you thought you asked for but could be a difference of opinion?
You’ll probably get more specific and helpful advice here if you can be more specific about what your concerns are.
It sounds as if there are two simultaneous issues.
1.You need to know if your suspicions are founded.
2.Hinging on #1 above, you need assistance in negotiation with architect/GC
You need a disinterested 3rd party to discern if their work quality is customary and usual but your expectations are “high end”, or conversely, that the job is botched.
More frequently we see botched jobs that are performed by trades where the client is a developer or a “flipper”, but there is plenty of incompetence and skullduggery to go around.
To answer #1 above, you need validation from an experienced renovator who specifically cannot then turn around and offer his services (dis-interested).
If there are problems discovered, then if simple negotiation is unsuccessful, you will need to get legal help.
The great majority of architects are honorable, talented folk, but when they are “slippery”, they can be very combative.
As a former school board president who built a school with a slippery one, once the check was cashed it was hard to get anything to “stick”.
Feel free to contact me off-line bruce at jerseydata.net
Bring in a different, independent, architect to consult. You want someone to look at the work as well as the plans. Are you concerned about structural and behind the walls kind of stuff or finish work?
I’m in contract in a place now that’s being gut renovated by the seller. I have periodic inspections done by John Gromkoski to identify anything being done wrong and then I have the seller or seller’s GC fix it. Maybe something similar can be done in your situation. Have an engineer or home inspector analyze all work done and make sure it’s up to code.
Sorry to hear that. What exactly is going on?