Need a little advice

[S4PLAY]

I hired a handyman to drywall my garage ceiling, he gave me his quote after seeing the project and I accepted. A few days later he tell me he needs more sheet rock and it'll cost me another 100 bucks. I say ok.

Heres where I need the advice, The guy breaks 3 long flourecent light bulbs, one of my wifes lamps I brought in cause I had to disassemble the lights and shut the power off, and he damaged one of my cabinets and never says a word to me, my wife finds out of course when she asks where her lamp is...in the trash, he says.

Now i feel the need to do an extremly thourough inspection of the work and my garage to find out what else he may be hiding. Should I short him on final payment or just **** it up and live with it?

 

[bdamico]

sounds like you're getting hosed -- how do you not know how to estimate drywall needed? And to be off by $100 is a lot. That being said, I usually just **** it up and move on.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd be leerly of this guy from what you have posted so far. You call him a handyman, is he a constuction guy or just a fly by nighter ? I think I might be keeping an eye on stuff to make sure nothing disappears with him.

 

[Daedalus]

sounds like you're getting hosed -- how do you not know how to estimate drywall needed? And to be off by $100 is a lot.

+1! At my Home Depot that's 9 sheets of 4x8...~288 square feet??? How big is your garage?

He needs to find another way to make a living.

 

[bdamico]

+1! At my Home Depot that's 9 sheets of 4x8...~288 square feet??? How big is your garage?

He needs to find another way to make a living.

I disagree. Seems like he's found a great way to make a living! Someone's eating steak tonight!

 

[Journaler]

Whatever you do, hang on to the final $ until you're happy.

 

[S4PLAY]

Initially he said 30 sheets and that blossomed into 35 sheets, hung mud and taped was originally $1400 now he says $1500. I figure I charge him back for the stuff he broke and tell him see ya never, of course after I inspect everything and account for everything I had in the garage, I didnt have much a few sockets and old screw drivers nothing of big value. I emptied it before he started.

Nutts, he said he did everything, construction, bathrooms, floors etc. The work seems to be coming out ok he just seems kinda clumsy.

 

[NUTTSGT]

The main thing is that you are happy and satisfied with the work, it is your place.


BTW, do we get pics ?

 

[RECox286]

Next time you need a contractor, stop by one of the lumber/hardware/

whatever store that you either frequent or know of. They usually have

a wall of business cards. Further, they have the skinny on who is good,

and who is not. The contractors that they sell to are the ones they get

to know, and will like to see stay in business. The only problem is that

when we started to get busier than comfortable, we had to ask our

suppliers to please not recommend us anymore. Also, be leary of any

contractor that feels it is necessary to advertise, b/c usually the best

guys are always busy thru word of mouth and don't need to be canvassing.

Uncle Bob

 

[S4PLAY]

Ill get some pics in a little while. Great advice Uncle Bob

 

[CNGsaves]

Gotta hold back at least the dollar amount of damages that he has caused. Do NOT pay him everything or he'll have no incentive to finish job properly. Provide him written details of damage he caused and dollar amounts associated with those damages. Likely the "holdback amount" will be your damage amount and call it a wash.

Another absolute requirement is get WRITTEN quote that you can sign and keep Original so the $100 "upcharge" doesn't occur on your nickel - - ie best practice for future.

Uncle Bob is right on handyman selection in future. You're stuck with who you have for this project. Your call whether work is quality enough to continue, or risk more damages.

Post up pics as lots of gurus here on GJ to steer you in right direction.

 

[brownbagg]

you know, light bulb happen, **** happen when handling 4 x8 sheets by yourself. 100 dollars not **** when it comes to drywall, especially finishing. if he doing a good job, leave him alone and smilie

if he sloppy run his azz off and pay somebody else a thousand to finish. **** happens.

 

[jrsulo]

Here in n.j.....even a handyman needs to be insured,is he ??

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

Here in n.j.....even a handyman needs to be insured,is he ??

Here in PA as well. In addition to the insurance, contractors/handyman also need to be registered and licensed by the State. Before any work begins they need to give a written quote and are limited as to how much they can charge as a deposit.

 

[Chaznsc]

I'm sorry this didn't go like you wanted. It's very hard to find good help. I hired a local heating a/c company last summer to install a new system and they flooded my upstairs......TWICE! Complete incompetents.

 

[jrsulo]

Here in PA as well. In addition to the insurance, contractors/handyman also need to be registered and licensed by the State. Before any work begins they need to give a written quote and are limited as to how much they can charge as a deposit.

Same here.....and since sandy,they are checking !!!!!

 

[darkk]

Tell me you didn't give him all the money yet. Just deduct the cost to replace the broken items or tell him to call his insurance to pay for it. Period. Don't let this guy get away with it.

 

[AZ Pete]

Since he raised his rate, after starting the job. I think I would itemize the damages and settle them on satisfactory completion of the job. If he does really good work, finishes on time and in general exceeds your expectations, let the florescent tubes slide, but deduct the price of a replacement lamp....it was your wife's, not yours.

 

[nehog]

What does your contract say with regards to damages? Also what does the contract say about cost over runs? Was it a flat price contract, or a cost plus contract? Oh, you didn't have a contract at all? Then, IMHO, you're going to have a hard time getting satisfaction!

Lesson: a signed written contract for construction work is important for many, many reasons.