Home Contractors

Salt Lake City - Matthew Thorn was supposed to be doing remodeling work at a customer's home.  The customer returned home, saw the contactor's truck in the front of the house, entered the house and found their bedroom had apparently been rummaged through. They left the house and called the police. The cops found the guy in the customer's bathroom, drunk, passed out, with some of the customer's property in his pockets.

The story

Plaintiff Marvin and Betty Rodrigue, of Jefferson County, Texas, are seeking to force Home Depot and its subcontractor into mediation because of their dissatisfaction with windows replaced by Home Depot and its subcontractor.

Before the work began, the Rodrigues put down 25 percent, the complaint says. Still, the down payment did nothing to ignite E & M Contracting or Home Depot's At-Home Services - both companies failed to begin work within 30 days of the contract date, the Rodrigues claim.

"Plaintiffs would further show that Defendant contractor cut pieces off of the window casings in a poor attempt to fit them," the suit states.

"Further, the window installation did not pass windstorm certification inspection performed by Hurricane Engineering and Inspection Services, who inspected the window installation 3 to 4 times in April 2010. Thereafter, Home Depot and its at-home services were notified the window installation was still not satisfactorily performed and remained incomplete, including but not limited to a missing screen, gaps around the windows, improper fit and caulking."

The story

A personal comment: Some of my customers complained about work done by Home Depot, some were pleased. Some of my customers complained about work done by Lowes, some were pleased. What makes the difference? The subcontractor -- who is hired by the store.  To paraphrase Forrest Gump, "Subcontractors are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

A woman in the Boulder, Colorado, area has a complaint about a contractor she hired to do some work on her home.  She says she had to have additional work done that cost over $21,000 and thinks the contractor should pay at least part of it.  The contractor disagrees.

The contractor did some remodeling work on an existing home and added an addition.

After the work had been completed, the woman called a plumber to do some work and the plumber told her she had moisture and mold problems in her crawl space.  Apparently, local building codes, and the scope of work she gave to the contractor, require a vapor barrier which the contractor didn't install.  Mold remediation was done and a vapor barrier was installed by another contractor, at a cost of over $21,000.

The contractor says it wasn't his responsibility -- the building inspector never noted it and he was working with the woman on a fixed budget and tried to accomplish as much as possible within her budget.

Rather than suing -- an expensive proposition -- she decided to put a sign in her yard and establish a gripe site on the web.

The story

The gripe site

Publisher's comments: This sort of thing is not uncommon. This is one reason why a homeowner should get a DETAILED proposal from a contractor prior to the commencement of work. The proposal should include specifics of what the contractor proposes to do as well as any exclusions or exceptions. 

All the recent disasters have attracted scam artists pretending to be contractors.

Before hiring a contractor:

1. Obtain references -- and check with the references.
2. Is the contractor licensed? Verify.
3. Does the contractor have insurance? Verify. He/she should have a document called an Acord Certificate which lists insurance and the name of the agent. Call the insurance agent to make sure the insurance is still valid.
4. Does the contractor offer a warranty?
5. Are types of materials to be used specified?
6. Trash removal & disposal: Will the contractor remove & dispose of trash? Get it in writing.
7. You should received a detailed estimate of what will be and what won't be done. If you don't have the details in writing, you're probably going to end up in an argument.
8. Don't pay it all in advance. A small deposit, maybe, and maybe with progress payments and with final payment being due on completion. If they ask you for the money upfront, get rid of them.
9. Do NOT sign over an insurance check to a contractor.