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So, waaaay back in July '05, actually July 23rd, which would be 2 years ago today! I hired a guy to do a teardown of my old garage and sheds along with stripping the yard/sidewalk/rock garden and hauling it away.
I quickly wrote up a contract as I was talking to the guy (he was a close friend to my boss) just so I had at least something to work with. In my words, not the most exact, but "Projected project completion mid-September pending cement work." was what I put down. He was telling me he'd be done next week, not to bother, but I said, I'll say September and we should be fine with that.
Basically what I put down for money: 1k up front, 1k after demolition of structures and removal of cement, 1k plus any additional costs for topsoil, sand, etc. to be authorized by homeowner, at completion of project.
A long winded rundown of what went on....
- Showed up 3 weeks after start of contract and tore my garage down and hauled it away.
- Showed up 1 month after start of contract and picked up some tools he left behind, I paid him the agreed initial 1k for upfront work.
- 1 1/2 months after start of contract (ASC from now on), came by and loaded sheds onto trailer and removed.
** We are now at mid-September, structures were removed, but no work completed on cement or yard removal/stripping. I had a cement guy lined up since August, but we didn't sign anything because we didn't know if it would be ready for him to start.
- 2 Months (Oct '05), I signed a contract with a cement guy to do my garage slab and driveway. We were waiting for removal of cement and yard before he started.
- 3 Months (Nov '05) Cement contractor could not wait any longer to put down cement, so he came in and scooped up all the cement and yard stones, bricks, that were in his way and piled them out of the way and completed his work in 2 weeks. He also removed the piled up concrete, bricks, stones when he hauled away the old footings at the same time, said not to worry about any additional cost. Rough graded around footings.
** From Oct-Nov I was in weekly contact with original contractor, he would promise to finish his work that week, every week I called, never showed up week after week, always had an excuse.
** Dec 1st 2005 I have a driveway and garage slab with new footings poured, no yard work done, we can't drive on the cement until its cured, cement guy said would be best if we waited until Jan - Feb.
- April '06, started calling up original contractor asking him to finish yard.
- May '06, Build garage with family help
- June '06, continued to call contractor to come and finish work.
- July '06, I told contractor all he had to do was remove the cement/brick/stone and I would pay him the other 1k owed after that work was done. He came over to discuss what needed to be done, offered to trim trees as compensation for him being late, I refused. He offered to seed the lawn for me, I refused.
** August '06, Contractor arrived, trimmed trees I asked not to be trimmed, plowed under all rocks, cement, bricks, and piled roughly 5 yards of debris behind my garage and spread seed over back yard. Told my wife he was done.
So, in the end, this guys final grade was horrible, tire ruts, blade gouges, uneven ground. You couldn't walk without looking down or you would trip over the ground. I had roughly 5 yards of bricks, yard trash, rocks, cement, asphalt, piled behind my garage. In the yard, he had a 10'x10' area of asphalt that he just bladed 2" of dirt over, never removed.
I was irate and about ready to strangle the guy! So, I went out and hired another guy to come by and dig out all the shit he didn't dig out, haul away the crap behind my garage, and smooth out the yard somewhere close to level. That guy did it that week. My father and myself spend roughly 30 combined hours of digging, dragging, smoothing, and hauling to get the backyard graded and ready for seed.
So, for the next 3 months, from August - Nov. I call up my original contractor to meet and discuss our contract. I said I had some issues and I'd like to go over the contract with him. He failed to show up at 4 different times that we agreed on over a 3 month period. I would call, he wouldn't answer for 2 weeks, then he would call up out of the blue and we would set another meeting date and he wouldn't show. So, I said F'em, I'm not going to pay him a dime then if he doesn't want to meet.
So, today, 2 years after we signed a contract for work, and about 1 year after he told my wife he was done, I get a bill for 2g's. And it says I owe interest if not paid within a month.
Do I really have to pay this idiot!??? I'm an idiot for not dropping him immediately, but being a friend of my boss's I would bit my lip and deal with the crap.
I would like to take that 2g's and deduct the other guys fee for finishing the work (500 bucks), my 30 hours of labor, heartache fees for trees that were hacked and all the damn straw I had to rake up, and the headaches from being so late.
Thanks for listening! :chiefwoohaw: :chiefwoohaw:
I quickly wrote up a contract as I was talking to the guy (he was a close friend to my boss) just so I had at least something to work with. In my words, not the most exact, but "Projected project completion mid-September pending cement work." was what I put down. He was telling me he'd be done next week, not to bother, but I said, I'll say September and we should be fine with that.
Basically what I put down for money: 1k up front, 1k after demolition of structures and removal of cement, 1k plus any additional costs for topsoil, sand, etc. to be authorized by homeowner, at completion of project.
A long winded rundown of what went on....
- Showed up 3 weeks after start of contract and tore my garage down and hauled it away.
- Showed up 1 month after start of contract and picked up some tools he left behind, I paid him the agreed initial 1k for upfront work.
- 1 1/2 months after start of contract (ASC from now on), came by and loaded sheds onto trailer and removed.
** We are now at mid-September, structures were removed, but no work completed on cement or yard removal/stripping. I had a cement guy lined up since August, but we didn't sign anything because we didn't know if it would be ready for him to start.
- 2 Months (Oct '05), I signed a contract with a cement guy to do my garage slab and driveway. We were waiting for removal of cement and yard before he started.
- 3 Months (Nov '05) Cement contractor could not wait any longer to put down cement, so he came in and scooped up all the cement and yard stones, bricks, that were in his way and piled them out of the way and completed his work in 2 weeks. He also removed the piled up concrete, bricks, stones when he hauled away the old footings at the same time, said not to worry about any additional cost. Rough graded around footings.
** From Oct-Nov I was in weekly contact with original contractor, he would promise to finish his work that week, every week I called, never showed up week after week, always had an excuse.
** Dec 1st 2005 I have a driveway and garage slab with new footings poured, no yard work done, we can't drive on the cement until its cured, cement guy said would be best if we waited until Jan - Feb.
- April '06, started calling up original contractor asking him to finish yard.
- May '06, Build garage with family help
- June '06, continued to call contractor to come and finish work.
- July '06, I told contractor all he had to do was remove the cement/brick/stone and I would pay him the other 1k owed after that work was done. He came over to discuss what needed to be done, offered to trim trees as compensation for him being late, I refused. He offered to seed the lawn for me, I refused.
** August '06, Contractor arrived, trimmed trees I asked not to be trimmed, plowed under all rocks, cement, bricks, and piled roughly 5 yards of debris behind my garage and spread seed over back yard. Told my wife he was done.
So, in the end, this guys final grade was horrible, tire ruts, blade gouges, uneven ground. You couldn't walk without looking down or you would trip over the ground. I had roughly 5 yards of bricks, yard trash, rocks, cement, asphalt, piled behind my garage. In the yard, he had a 10'x10' area of asphalt that he just bladed 2" of dirt over, never removed.
I was irate and about ready to strangle the guy! So, I went out and hired another guy to come by and dig out all the shit he didn't dig out, haul away the crap behind my garage, and smooth out the yard somewhere close to level. That guy did it that week. My father and myself spend roughly 30 combined hours of digging, dragging, smoothing, and hauling to get the backyard graded and ready for seed.
So, for the next 3 months, from August - Nov. I call up my original contractor to meet and discuss our contract. I said I had some issues and I'd like to go over the contract with him. He failed to show up at 4 different times that we agreed on over a 3 month period. I would call, he wouldn't answer for 2 weeks, then he would call up out of the blue and we would set another meeting date and he wouldn't show. So, I said F'em, I'm not going to pay him a dime then if he doesn't want to meet.
So, today, 2 years after we signed a contract for work, and about 1 year after he told my wife he was done, I get a bill for 2g's. And it says I owe interest if not paid within a month.
Do I really have to pay this idiot!??? I'm an idiot for not dropping him immediately, but being a friend of my boss's I would bit my lip and deal with the crap.
I would like to take that 2g's and deduct the other guys fee for finishing the work (500 bucks), my 30 hours of labor, heartache fees for trees that were hacked and all the damn straw I had to rake up, and the headaches from being so late.
Thanks for listening! :chiefwoohaw: :chiefwoohaw:
