Heating contractor cut my truss

[OC]

I have my home up for sale, and a buyer made an offer. They had their own inspector. They ended up backing out of the deal, because a deficiency was a cut truss.

Almost 4 years ago, I had my electric baseboard heating, converted over to gas, forced air.

I searched high and low for the right contractor. Many didn't want to get involved, because of being complex. I got a list of licensed contractors in good standing, from our local building department. Many of these contractors didn't want to take on the task.

All I wanted, was this to be done right. Money was not a factor.

Longer story short, the inspector found the contractor had cut one of my roof trusses, for the exhaust vent stack.

I contacted the company, and they tried to stall me by saying it was 4 years ago. They don't appear to want to rush into giving me a fix.

This job was inspected by the city, but apparently, the lazy inspector trusted the company on the work which was "hidden" in the attic.

I know I'll have to hire a structural engineer, to see what my options are. I also have an appointment with my attorney, to seek damages from the heating company.

Bottom line is, I'll no doubt lose money by having go through all this mess.

Why oh why are there so many hacks? And, expensive ones at that!

[ransley]

It might be alot cheaper to forget the atty, fix the truss and go small claims yourself

[Bubba]

Simple. He has a home and or cars/trucks doesnt he? Ask him one more time to fix it, fix it right and fix it promptly. If he refused, find when he leaves for a weekend or longer. Go over, burn his house down, slash any tires, shoot his dog/cat and finish with a nice "yard job". See, and you thought this was going to be hard. Bubba

[hallerb]

now now now, you really want to be effective why use such a lame approach?

just put a nuclear bomb in his building. 3 megaton should be sufficent. or

just call the jerk and tell him you are taking the story to the media........

that should get his attention:)

[Red Green]

OC wrote in news:47e051bc$0$24104$ [e-mail]:

Did he just cut one of the web members? Did they just cut it and leave it hanging? Hopefully they did not cut the bottom chord and leave it open!! I would think you would have ceiling and/or roof issues if that were the case.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I doubt you need to hire a structural engineer. Take a good look at the truss and see what has to be done to brace it. Take a photo or three and take them to a truss maker for suggestions. If only one piece is cut, it should be fixable easily with some re-inforcement or sistering.

Then go after the hack in small claims court.

[hallerb]

home being sold, get structural engineer and have fixed right.

or you cant sell home, or have to give a big discount

[aemeijers]

Agreed- if nothing has failed (cracked ceiling, bowed roof), etc, in four years, it is likely the strength of the roof system was not seriously damaged. Some sistering, maybe a box around the vent stack, maybe some 2x4s to make some box sections to the neighboring trusses, should make up for the stupidity.

Small claims court is pointless, but I would take photos before the repair work, and forward them to whatever licensing authority the contractor is certified by. Dealing with those people will cost the contractor more than simply repairing the damage would have.

(Note that plumbers/HVAC guys with Sawzalls have given framers nightmares for decades. Back when I swung a hammer for a living, and again a couple years ago when I was house shopping, I saw many sins in basement ceilings, some of which were bad enough that I dragged the real estate agent downstairs to give them a lesson. Didn't those 2 screw columns and floating 6-foot beam under the bathroom raise any questions for them?)

-- aem sends...

[trader4]

Why is small claims pointless? It's ideally suited to situations like this. I would send a registered letter to the plumbing company, outlining your previous converstations with them, say that time is of the essence because you have the property on the market, offer them a chance to come look at it, etc. and give them a week to respond. I would not let them make the repairs themselves, but would listen to what they have to say.

After that, I'd get it fixed, which may not be all that expensive. After it's over, I'd wait till the property is sold. If you wind up selling it for less than the contract that you had, I'd sue for the cost of the repair, the sales price difference, and any legitimate carrying expenses between the sale that fell through and when you finally sell it. If that total amount turns out to be a lot more than the small claims limit, then I would consider using a lawyer to sue in regular court.

but I would take photos before the

Good ideas too, but costing the plumber money doesn't compensate the owner for the damages.

[MLD]

Crawl back to your hvac group. They need you there.

[Oren]

I local here built a house, the structural engineer made on mistake. The truss engineer required a change letter from the structural engineer. He was reluctant to admit his mistake and cost the job another week - just waiting for the letter.

[DerbyDad03]

re: I would not let them make the repairs themselves

I've heard of a case like this and IIRC the homeowner took the contractor to court, and attempted to sue him for the cost of the repair based on an estimate from another contractor.

The original contractor said that he should be given the option of paying for the repair or doing it themselves - in other words, they should be given the chance to "make it right" instead of being forced to pay someone else to fix it.

They added that if someone else performed the repair they would be unable to honor their original warranty because the original work they had peformed will have been altered.

All parties agreed to allow the original contractor to submit plans to an inspector, which were approved, and the original contractor did indeed "make it right", leaving the original warranty intact and everyone, more or less, happy.

[Oren]

[Bubba]

Ummmm, BITE ME! MLD Bubba

[Mike Dobony]

????? Just how big is this stack? Most are only 3 or 4" max. This could easily go between the trusses.

[mm]

The most likely reason seems to me to be tghe statute of limitations. It's been four years. I don't know how long the statute on contracts is, but I think less than 4 years.

I also think, if knowledge matters in this case, it is a case of "known or should have known" since the attic was available for inspection every day after the repairman left.

If there is a warranty, I doubt it is longer than 4 years.

But I'm no lawyer and I could be wrong.

A) The OP said "I contacted the company, and they tried to stall me by saying it was 4 years ago. They don't appear to want to rush into giving me a fix." We could use more details, but if they didn't want someone else doing the repair, it sounds like they should have told the OP that they were willing to do it.

B) If there is good reason to believe the original contractor won't do a good job even the second time, a court is usually not going to force a customer to let him try. I'm not sure how good a reason is needed, and we certainly don't have enough details in this particular case. But we do have a).

In this case, they're not honoring any warranty anyhow. And if this were a bigger job, they're not going to get out of their entire warranty just because a second guy touches some other part of it. They might try, of course.

I'm glad that one worked out.

[aemeijers]

From OP's description, the repairs will be a couple hundred bucks at most. IMHO, this falls under 'how much is your time worth'? Is it worth taking a day off work to go to court? And if you win, what are the odds on the judgement ever being enforced?

Yeah, I understand the desire for legal revenge on some company that screwed you- hence the suggestion to send pictures and a letter to the licensing authority. But can be done in the evenings, when you don't lose wages or vacation days in the process.

-- aem sends...

[Bob]

I don't know where you live, but in most states there is a time limit, usually two years, after which legal action of any kind can not be taken. I suggest you continue to work with the original contractor to resolve the situation. Bob-tx