Hired an insulation company to put foam insulation in my walls. The installer had to drill holes in the outside of the house to put the foam in. Long story short, he drilled 20 holes through the wall in one bedroom all the way through, 15 holes thorough the bathroom wall popping off the ceramic tiles on the inside walls, drilled through 4 side wall registers, and one other place in the walls. They want to come fix it using the same guy that messed it up. I am not comfortable with this response. I know they tile will not be able to be matched as it is 50 years old. Can I demand they retile the entire bathroom so the tile matches? Any ideas what my legal rights are with this situation. Can I demand that they pay for a competent company to make the repairs?
from buffalo ny: if you have been damaged in dollars, why not try come to a repair or dollar settlement agreement in a meeting with the insulation company owner and the competent repair company owner you both agree on using when the insulation company is done filling the cavities? if you look at this as if it is a first dent in the outside of your brand new car, you know you don't get to replace the whole car interior for free. you will be able to pay for a bathroom remodel out of your own pocket someday using some energy dollars your insulation purchase has saved you. a lawyer may not be the tile expert you want him to be.
The one thing you might do to start is contact the state contractors department. You might get some ideas of your options before contacting a lawyer $$$$$. If they are willing to come out and do the repairs they are omitting guilt, try and get something in writing. I would agree with you If they are to incompetent to drill a simple whole in a wall I certainly would not let them do any repairs. It also would make me wonder about the quality of their work in the first place. I also would use a contractor of your choice. It sounds like your in need of some not to simple repairs the wholes in the registers can be a real nightmare. regardless of how old your tile is that's not a factor. Did you ever get a copy of his, License number, liability insurance and workman's comp? It's amazing how many people never ask for any
First, I'd read what any contract with the insulation company says. If it doesn't address this issue, and many contracts don't, then the answer as to who gets to fix it goes something like this. If a problem occurs due to the contractor, generally they are entitled to an opportunity to correct it. For example, if I had plumbing work done, and found at the end of the job that there was a small leak, the plumber is entitled to a reasonable opportunity to correct it. Most likely even a couple attempts. If you went out and hired someone else to come in and repair it instead, there are two problems. The first is, the plumber will probably tell you he's not going to pay the bill, or at least not all of it. Second, if you went to court, there is a good chance the judge would rule in favor of the plumber.
But, if a contractor screws up a job so badly that it's obvious he's incompetent and incapable of doing it correctly, or what he damages is clearly not his area of expertise, then the property owner has the right to get someone else to fix it and the original contractor will be legally obligated to pay. Think of the example of someone who hits a golf ball through your window. The person doesn't have the right to fix it or choose who does fix it. You are entitled to have it fixed by any shop that is within reason and acceptable to you.
I'd say that in this case, this contractor has clearly established that he is incompetent and I would not allow them to do the work if it was my house. I agree with the suggestion to see if they will negotiate a settlement. For starters, you should be owing them a good bit of money, since you should not have paid the final full amount. Get 2 or 3 estimates to repair the damage. If it's less than what you owe them, tell them you are deducting it from the final payment. If it's more, see if you can get them to agree to pay the rest. If not, then small claims court is an option. However, as always, getting a judgement and collecting it are 2 different things.
As to the issue of replacing all the tile in the bathroom, yes, you are entitled to that IF matching tile is no longer available to make an acceptable repair. After having a couple tile shops tell you that it can't be obtained, you might want to send a short letter to that effect to the contractor and give him an opportunity to find it within
10 days, etc. That way if you sue him in small claims, he can't show up and claim that the tile was available, so a simpler repair could have been made. If you do, send it both regular mail and with a return receipt.
" if you look at this as if it is a first dent in the outside of your brand new car, you know you don't get to replace the whole car interior for free."
You're comparing Apples to Oranges
"you will be able to pay for a bathroom remodel out of your own pocket someday using some energy dollars your insulation purchase has saved you."
That logic defeats the whole purpose of trying to save money with the insulation upgrade.
" a lawyer may not be the tile expert you want him to be."
He doesn't have to be a tile expert he just has to know what the contractor's liabilities after damaging someone's house. Just a wild guess I'll go with liability
I have never heard of such a dump ass way of looking at something. How would you feel if some contractor damged your house?
As a side note...I just had a sunroom put on the West side of my house that involved removing the siding down to the studs on a wall that had been insulated with foam some 30+ years ago. Literally no foam in the wall. It seemed to have stopped just a few inches from the holes that had been drilled. It could have been worse. I knew a foam insulation contractor who told me way back then that his guys had blown the inside wall out with their foam gun and filled up half the room with foam before they realized what had happened. He went out of business when people started having reactions to the formaldehyde in the foam. Just reminicsing.....
If you read the post, they did do it from the outside.
He doesn't need to allow them back at all, even to fix their own insulation work, if it's clear they are incompetent. And if the facts are as stated, I'd say he has a very compelling case that they are. Plus, why would anyone think a company that can't even install insulation without wrecking a house, knows anything at all about doing tile work?
You can demand anything. What you may get dpends upon the state in the work was done
You had a written contract, right? What does it say about damage?
After you read the contract, get out your digital camera and document everyting. Then do a second et of photos.
Invite the compay owner over for coffee. No workers, just the owner. Do the firsinvit by phne. If he won't show, do an ivite by mail, outlining what you want to do at a meeting.
At a meeting:
Calmly go over every damage item, and each potograph with him.
Ask him calmly at each item if he would accept such work in his in mother's house.
Suggest that the stuff needs to be fixed. Tell him that you want to have him and his company fix it, so that its both right and so that it doesn't cost him an arm and a leg. Remind him that s in oth his and our interests.
Tell him that based on past performance the worker who did the damage has lost all your confidence. Ask the owner if based upon the performance to date, he still has any confidence in the woker. Tell the owner that you are sorry, but you can not have the worker on our property again.
See what happens. Suggest that as a local contractor with a reputation to up hold, he should beinterested in getting this fixed right away. Suggest that he probably has connections with a tile gy, and a HVAC guy, and can get a contractors discount in getting the tile and ductwork (IIRC) fixed.
Remimd the guy it is going to get fixed one way or another. That you wan t to be a gentleman about it and give hi he first ance and cheapest chance to fix it.
Calmly and quietly tell him that if you have to get it fixed, you will have to make claims on and notify his insurance comany and his bonding company. (Where I live, K's have to have bond and insurance, and both are public record with the Construction Contractor's Board).
Call the state or local bar association and get referrals for lawyers in you area who do construcion or contract stuff. Where I live almost all the lawyers will give away a half hour or one hour consultation through the state bar lawyer referral service. Talk to a lawyer after you have all your picures and your contract with the insulation guy in hand.
This is so bad, report it to the state attorney general office. Don't let them touch your house any more. Call a lawyer. Check with the BBB if you haven't already. Wonder if they cut any wires.
Spent three years pursuing faulty workmanship in a new house build, supported by extensive written documentation (contracts, addendums, faxes, phone logs), spent $36K in attorney's fees for $90K in damages to new house, ended in contractor settling out of court for only $30K, of which he paid $10K. Had to go back to court to reinforce payment of the remaining $20K, of which he has paid nothing and the courts cannot enforce it. Lesson: there is no protection in court, the only protection you have in this country is to make sure you are dealing with a human being and not merely an excuse for mankind. The contractors understand how far they can push you, how far the courts will back you, and how insufficient enforcement is. Good luck.
Yes I have a signed contract. It does not specifically address damage caused by the contractor only that claims against workmanship will be settled by the American construction industry arbitration rules. Yes I saw his insurance and bonding paperwork before I signed the contract. I will call the owner of the company tomorrow and see what he says. After I saw the holes, I checked them all out and verified that he did not cut any wires. Evan if you think this is funny shit then I hope you never have a thing like this happen to you. I have spent the last year and a half working on this house only to have it trashed. It may be funny to you, but it aint funny to me.I did check out the company before going with them and they did have a good rep. Seems that the guy drilling the holes F#$%#ed up. Guess he was in a hurry to get off for the holiday weekend. Thank you all for the good suggestions
I don't think it's funny, it's a real shame the way they pass out contractor licenses. Unfortunately your one of many. You might check if your not happy with arbitration I believe you can get a lawyer. But you should contact the state contractors board and report the incident. good luck and hold your ground until your 100% satisfied
Unfortuntately the morons on the US Supreme Court will put the arbitration clauses back in. It was the US Supreme Court that made arbitration clauses universally enforcable based on a federal law that was intended to apply only to commercial agreements. Unfortunately the US Supreme Court decided that the law applied to consumer agreements too. The only way you can get out of an arbitration clause is if there is an error in the clause or contract.... for example only the husband signed the contract so the wife can still sue and avoid the arbitration clause because she also owns the damaged house but did not sign the contract. Another way is if you can convince the court that the suit is not covered by the clause or perhaps the corporation is not in good standing with the state.... i.e. some technicality.
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