Bad Contractor. Already running over agreed upon due date. what can i do?

Can you tell me the name/company of said contractor?  We are in the market for a contractor and would like to avoid this guy. thanks

radgirl

in Construction 12 years and 8 months ago

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voltron | 13 years and 9 months ago

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I have a contractor doing work on my house and he is about 3 days over the due date with a lot of work left to be done. So far the job is not looking good as well. What are all my options to deal with this? Cut looses and accept the money paid is gone, court, other routes? I am trying to work with him but it doesn’t seem like this will be done or the fixes improved upon.

jockdeboeraia | 13 years and 9 months ago

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Have you tried talking to him and get a clear finish date?  If you do not have liquidated damages in your contract, I would guess you are stuck.  Talk to your lawyer.  Sometimes cutting them loose is a good option, but may in the long run take more time and money.  Is the guy doing a good job at least?  You could try offering a bonus to finish within an amount of time you are ok with finishing on and maybe at that time add the liquidated damages.  It would be a revision to your contract.

daveinbedstuy | 13 years and 9 months ago

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If he’s doing the work up to your expectations, that’s 90% of the process.  Make sure he’s given you your money’s worth before you pay him any more and then have a conversation with him abut what you think is going wrong.  Like above, 3 days over is FAR FROM a problem in the real wotld with contractors and you worrying about only that is just obsessing.

stevecym | 13 years and 9 months ago

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I would talk to him about the quality of the work and try to get him to stay focused on that.  if you rush him because he is late, the quality will suffer more.  generally when i am running late – and the customer is pushing, I try to keep my focus on the quality.  Most contractors would probably rather have someone complain about their speed than about the quality of their work.  also, when we are late I try to make up for it some how.  For instance, we were late with some work recently and now that the contracted job is done, they have given us a laundry list of handyman work to be completed at my hourly rate:  I am going to go real easy on them to the point that when they get the bill for the handyman work, they will be shocked at how generous I can be.  I am not saying a contractor can always do that, but this particular job was big for us and they were good to us and they offered to pay for every change and every additional thing throughout – when a customer treats a contractor like that and the contractor is behind or even if he is not behind, he should do something for the customer.  The trick here is to try to get something out of the contractor that will not cost him much but is a great favor to you.   If you can do that, it is a way to salvage a relationship that is otherwise getting a little rocky.  Again, focus on the quality; even if you have to look at the contractor for another week, you may have to look at his work for a lifetime. Steve http://brownstoner.staging.wpengine.com/tinkerswagon

Rick | 13 years and 9 months ago

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Very well said Steve. Home renovation is not an exact science in regards to time. No matter how hard we try. There are always unexpected time consuming aspects of every job. My clients seem to always make changes and  add on to the scope of their job too. High quality finishes always take more time as well.

wyckoff | 13 years and 9 months ago

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3 days over and you are already talking about cutting losses and going to court?  You need to take a deep breath, and then do everything possible to work this out WITH your contractor. Being a PITA will simply make this situation as bad as it could possibly be – even if that’s not immediately evident to you.

Your chances of success in court will be extraordinarily low.  Most likely outcome is you end up in arbitration 5 years from now and have to pay him out on the vast majority of your contract.

HomeSweetstuy | 13 years and 9 months ago

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You are absolutely right to be concerned.  Three days can very easily turns into 2 weeks and then all of a sudden you have outlayed many thousands of dollars and have not gotten your monies worth.  This system is not set up to protect you–it is set up to protect the contractor.  Get something definite and in writing from him and do not pay another dime until he has caught up and you have had a third party verify that he has caught up (like an architect or engineer) and that the work is what it is suppose to be.  Above all else–trust your gut.  If it doesn’t feel right-it probably isn’t.  I have been through the system and suffered immeasurably by giving a contractor the benefit of the doubt.  You can email me to discuss further at southstuy@gmail.com.

voltron | 13 years and 9 months ago

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we’ll it has turned into over a week beyond the due date (and there has been about 3days where no work was done). already a couple grand in the hole and the project is 50% done but even the part that is done needs work. not getting any real update or contact from the contractor either.

seems like not much i can do. tried to speak with the contractors but not getting any answers.