about to give up on contractor

[aggie113]

about to give up on contractor *ended up firing him*

So my garage was set to be completed by October 2019. Right now it sits with the framing and OSB on the walls. The OSB has been up and exposed for over 4 months now. I'm already in front of the work as far as payment goes, so no fixing that now. I've got an order for the metal siding/roofing sitting at the metal yard for two weeks now that I've paid for directly.
Getting ahold of the GC has been difficult recently and I'm just generally getting fed up with the snails pace of progress. I'm looking to bring in another company to replace any bad OSB panels, wrap it and put up the siding/roofing and do electrical/insulation.
Maybe down the road I'll take the original GC to small claims court, but even then, can only recover 10k max.

 

[nadogail]

It would appear that a conversation with your local contractors license board may be productive.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

Talk about undodging a bullet.
Can you get any satisfaction or results by filing a complaint to the state licensing commission?

 

[aggie113]

No idea, company isn't registered with BBB. Don't know what recourse is open to me in Texas. Depending how much the new GC charges I'll have to save up a bit before I can look at hiring a local lawyer.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

BBB can’t help.
Contact all the places that do GC licensing.
File complaints.
Lawyer will likely cost you more than it is worth.

 

[aggie113]

Can't put a cost on spite. I mean, you can, but you won't care.

 

[bradpac]

To get permits in San Antonio the contractor has to be licensed through the city. Not sure, if you can holler at them about him or not, but here's the link to their page.

https://www.sanantonio.gov/DSD/Contractor#157451638-building

Unfortunately in SA, you can get stuff done pretty cheap, but the level of quality and/or reliability of the contractors is pretty low. Good luck.

 

[MrSurly]

Did you get permits through the city? Did the city require the contractor to get a bond? If so, you *MAY* have an actionable position against the bond for non-performance. Go to the city for the bond information; underwriter/date/number.


In MY case, the bond was no help, but we can hope your city will help on this.
I had to swallow and move on.

 

[jd_1138]

I wonder if you can just hire a co. that does roofing and siding to just come in and do their thing? Might save over hiring a GC? Depending on how much is left to do, and how much you already paid the previous GC.

Sounds like your GC is a real s--t show. That OSB should've been wrapped and sided as soon as it was put up. That GC has bad organization and scheduling skills.

 

[wbclassics]

Lawyer will likely cost you more than it is worth.

Terse legal letters from a lawyer don't cost much.

Send them to every address you can find for the guy, including his home address.

 

[Kaizen]

Make sure you notify contract is cancelled. Hopefully you have a contract stating time frames??



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[infinkc]

wow, surprised you even waited this long. I had a similar issue with a contractor, discussed my concerns and we agreed on what was owed back. Found a new contractor to take over the project.

 

[SALIV8]

File a complaint with your states attorney. This WILL get their attn real quick.

 

[Firebrick43]

Don’t let that metal set to long. Nasty corrosion can happen if wet and stacked for even a month.

I doubt other than discolored that the sob is hurt any setting that long unless their was bottom edges setting in a puddle.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Not a fan of GCs. Too many bad stories. Hire the subs yourself, but you need to be good at writing contracts. The standard contracts are so full of hole you can drive a truck through them.

 

[KnurledNut]

Did the contractor choose OSB instead of purlins?

 

[sweetk30]

check with local unions to see if he is a member and if so put some pressure on him .

but i would NOT do anything yet until you have given him legal notice and a time line to get it done before he is dropped and will be legal action .

if someone else comes in it might be a loop hole he can use to get out .

 

[Bolson32]

Did the contractor choose OSB instead of purlins?

Might not be a pole building.

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[72Camaro]

Name of contractor and company?

 

[aggie113]

Contract has a generic arbitration clause. Not sure if complaining to the city will do much. Though I can see all the other addresses where he's pulled permits and advise those clients what I think of him. Anyway, he has till the end of this week to at least deliver the metal siding I already paid for before I just hire someone else to deliver it before the metal yard decides to recycle it!
Got another contractor working on a bid to un-**** everything and have another one coming later this week to look at the job. If it comes down to it I'll just break the contract and be done with this guy. But not quite there yet.
And it's a wood frame, metal siding/roof building.

 

[aggie113]

Well, metal siding was not delivered this week either. Though I did have two other contractors over to look at taking things over. Should be able to move forward on a quote early next week. The other contractors pointed out some major faults with the current construction, including the main beam not being properly supported and that it's starting to bow the 2x6"s supporting it. Thankfully nothing that can't be fixed, but if my old GC was ready to just move forward with siding and everything else I could have ended up with a collapsed garage down the road...
Guy I fired is named Jereme Lyons, Lyons Construction. Works the larger San Antonio area. I found him on Home Advisor. I'll be sure to leave an appropriate review there after the permit is moved to the new contractor just to make sure he can't screw me out of that.

 

[sweetk30]

make sure to go get the metal you paid for already . even if you pay a rollback tow truck to go get it and slide it off in your yard .

hate to cut someone out but some times its for the best as you found out .

your story was headed down the road of the last big one here . they just hung the tin and he was picking up the yard and a wind gust blew in and tore his shop to shreads from piss pour work and lack of correct building methods .

 

[aggie113]

Talked to the metal yard and they recommended a guy who could deliver and offload it. Already arranged for him to get it early next week. Don't mind paying an extra $250 to make sure my $6,900 metal order doesn't walk off.

 

[aggie113]

Metal arrived, got a new contractor selected coming by tomorrow to review the contract. We are going to do several small ones, so first will be one to get the building finished and sealed up, then one for electrical and finally one for insulation. Extra credit would be hooking up well water/house septic but doubt I'll have the cash to that so soon.

 

[bradpac]

Glad to hear you're getting it figured out, breaking it up into different phases might end up better in the long run. Who did you get your metal from out of curiosity? Weird that they didn't offer delivery themselves.

 

[aggie113]

The order was placed by the old GC. Place called Metal Mart. They could offer delivery, but only if you had either a crew to unload it or a forklift. I needed a guy with a trailer and a couple guys to unload it so they recommended someone.

 

[andyvh1959]

Good luck on getting the work done. This is another example of why I do most of my work myself. Takes longer for sure. But in comparison, I started my garage project past Oct 19 and if I kept at it a bit more diligently I'd have the siding on and exterior completed already, by myself. As it is I acted as my own GC for most of the build.

 

[Git]

I live in California and I don't give the state much credit when it comes to a lot of things, but they have pretty good 'protections' built in for consumers.

When it comes to contractors, they have to have an estimated start and end date along with a lot of other things. If I was in your shoes, I would send the contractor a formal notice that he has until a certain date (give him a reasonable time period) to finish the job or he will be officially fired. Also check with your contractor's board in Texas if they have one.

 

[rburke65]

Re: about to give up on contractor *ended up firing him*

Oh I would find the original contractor......Yes I would......even 3 years later.....yes I would...

 

[bulletpruf]

Good luck on getting the work done. This is another example of why I do most of my work myself. Takes longer for sure. But in comparison, I started my garage project past Oct 19 and if I kept at it a bit more diligently I'd have the siding on and exterior completed already, by myself. As it is I acted as my own GC for most of the build.

Giving some thought to doing the same, also in San Antonio. The GC we had for the house renovations was a nice guy, but he chose some real douchebags for subcontractors.

 

[nadogail]

When the job goes to the lowest bidder you soon learn why they could bid so cheap.

 

[aggie113]

Well, they can bid real cheap when they are planning to run off with the money

 

[yeldogt]

A good contractor is worth his weight in gold .... depending on quality desired -- getting really good subs on time and at decent prices is not often possible.

It's easy to see on a transparent contract where major subcontract cost is shown .... The subs would never give me as an individual the same prices. The saving being your own GC is not as much as people think because of this ...materials as well.

And good GC know when they need a given sub ...

 

[aggie113]

The new GC I'm working with is basically doing this for cost plus, the plus being a very small amount. I guess pity is working in my favor
Speaking of, the garage framing is totally complete and much reinforced from where it was left. Electrician's bid is in and they should start next week. Then it'll be garage doors and metal siding, last step will be closed cell insulation.