Carpet installer made hole in wall

[tenplay]

We recently purchased wall-to-call carpeting for our family room from Home Depot, who contracted out the installation to a local firm. While the carpet layer was stretching the carpet with some kind of stretching contraption, he made a 5 inch hole in a wall. He stopped working and called his supervisor, who came over to the house. The super evidently talked my wife into believing that the wall was weakened from a water leak the year before, and so they were not responsible for the damage. He had her sign some form that said that the job was completed satisfactorily and didn't leave her a copy. My wife knows very little about repairs and her English is not that good. I guess she felt intimidated in that situation. Anyway I just went to Home Depot and talked with a manager, who said that he would look into the matter and call the carpet installer to get their side of the story. My question is, how can we prove that the wall was strong enough for the carpet installation? We've never had any trouble with the wall before. Shouldn't the carpet installer have taken proper precautions to not damage the wall? Thanks for any advice/suggestions.

[norminn]

Accidents happen. Doesn't sound difficult to repair, so it's not worth making a federal case over it. If the installer/HD don't take care of it, repair it yourself and move on. Your wife is a competent adult, and should not have signed if the job was not satisfactory. We've all been there, I think. If there was a leak in that area, then it's likely it didn't take much to finish off the spot - my hubby "discovered" a wet wall in my daughter's tub enclosure when he put his elbow through the tiled wall :o) Stuff happens :o)

[bambam]

I don't think you should have to.

The carpet layer punched a hole in your drywall. Happens every once in a while, fixing it should be a cost of doing business for him. If he won't do it, HD should. Without a fuss.

Be interesting to see what happens ... HD is not exactly renowned for the quality of their installs (sub contracted) nor are they renowned for acting quickly.

If they balk, fix it yourself with a California patch.

Ken

[Charlie Bress]

< My wife knows very little about repairs and her English

There may be some question of competancy in this case.

Whether the wall was weak or not does not give the installer leave to damage it. Patching the hole may be trivial: how about painting the room to restore it to its original condition?

Charlie

[Edwin Pawlowski]

You don't have to prove anything. Just look at the facts FACT. Wall had no holes in it before carpet was installed FACT. Installer made hole FACT. Installer is responsible to fix his error. FACT. HD used duress to get your wife to sign something.

This should not be a big deal. Accidents happen and this is really minor. If HD does not fix it in a short period of time, you can always do to small claims court. Give them a chance to fix it, if they refuse, go up the ladder a notch or two. If not action, small claims court. I'm not one to use that type of threat, but sometimes you have to.

[Nil]

On 13 Feb 2004, [e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

A what?

[Chris Lewis]

According to Edwin Pawlowski :

Regarding the first "FACT":

we have a not well-refuted claim by the installer that the wall was already water damaged. Drywall turns to mush when it gets wet.

Regarding the last "FACT":

a) It wasn't HD, it was the subcontractor b) The "duress" bit is going to be the thing that's hard to prove.

So, in court, we'd have at least two of these "FACTS" in contention.

If you approach HD in a non-aggressive/non-argumentative fashion, there's a good chance that HD will fix it simply as a good will gesture.

I've almost always had success with that approach, even when the company had no real obligation, moral or otherwise, to help me. [+]

Frankly, if this gets to a court, nobody wins. Least of all you. Companies like that can muster a lot more lawyers than you if they feel their reputation is under threat.

Not worth the agony unless you make a hobby out of harrassing companies.

If HD won't do it, spare yourself a lot of wasted time, and fix it yourself.

[+] Ie:

- Purchased a device, and find that parts are missing a week later. The retailer went out of business during that interval. The distributor gave me the parts. Not because I threatened them (he was clearly ready to dig his heels in), but because I suggested it was a "good will gesture". "H'm, yeah, I can do that...".

- Had an alternator replaced on the car. A week later the belt blew out necessitating a 450Km tow and a motel stay. A polite "why didn't you notice the worn belt?" letter got a "we reviewed our records and we don't think we goofed, but here's a cheque for your out of pocket".

- The bank goofed up on some retirement fund advice they gave to us, resulting in a loss due to an obscure tax rule. Not _only_ did they make up the tax hit, not only did they give us the interest we would have gotten if their advice had been correct in the first place, they bought us a dinner. Not a single threat was necessary. [Damn good bank that ;-)]

[DaveG]

a hole on our wall when bringing the carpet roll into the house. The installer had a drywall repair person come out and fix the hole and when it was done, you couldn't tell that a hole was ever there. As for the quailty of HD installed carpet, they did a great job, and I wouldn't hesitate to hire them again. Dave

[Yawnkin Bhuorpnwiz]

Death to Comcast.

He used a carpet stretcher. He was supposed to back it with a long two by four. Enough to straddle the supports under the sheet rock. If there were water damage the wall supports on the floor would have rotted. You would have more than just a patch job. If the hole is small baseboard should cover most of it.

Death to the christian military.

[CBhvac]

But there was a water leak in the wall the year prior..that the homeowner did not make the installers aware of, that might have lead them to change the method and location for the work and tools being used at that time..

Installer made a hole in a severely weakened wall, that had a leak in it the year prior and was unaware of.. And, should it be nessasary, the installers can prove that the wall was weak, by simply having a portion of the drywall that was knocked out, that shows it to be water damaged, and getting the courts to issue an order that compares the piece they have, to the existing wall...

Homeowner is responsible to let the installers know that the wall may be weakened due to the water leak prior.

She is a grown adult, and the word NO, I am sure is one she understands.

No matter where you are from, or what you speak, if you dont understand what is being told to you, you wait, or locate someone to explain it to you.

But, the bottom line is, why in hell the installers wont simply repair it, when its a cheap, and quick repair is beyond me, unless the wall is so damaged from the water leak the year prior, that a patch is a waste of time at this point, and they are aware of it.

There are 3 sides to this story...the homeowners, the installers and the truth.... Trick is, knowing what side is where..

[norminn]

This is where common sense comes into play. If the HD manager and the contractor both refuse to make adjustments, then the owner has choices. Hire an attorney and pursue legal means. Or, bite the bullet and fix the wall. A nice, firm letter to HD and the contractor might do it. The choice is there - the time and efford and money it takes to hire an attorney, when there was already a defect in the wall is one legitimate choice. Probably easier and less stressful to do it one's self. The weak spot should have been repaired when the leak was repaired. Now the installer did a favor - you can peek inside the wall and see if the framing is rotted or infested with termites :o)

[Charlie Bress]

There is a presumption in what you post that the wall was, in fact, subjected to water damage. That has yet to be substantiated. I don't know nor do any of the other posters.

Probably better than going the attorney/court route is ( if calm negotiation fails ) is a formal complaint to the Better Business Bureau. A reputable company does not want to have an adverse report on the BBB files. And the process is free. I have used their services one time to resolve a dispute and it was successful with no strain or cost on my part. All too often people cry "lawyer, lawyer, let's sue". That should absolutely be the last resort.

Charlie

[tenplay]

Thanks, everyone, for all the opinions and suggestions. I contacted the manager of Home Depot and showed him pictures of the damage. He was able to see that the wall in question looked perfect before the installation and was properly concerned. He will contact the carpet installer on Tuesday after the holiday weekend. I will determine a course of action after they give their response. Fortunately I paid for the carpet and installation using the Home Depot credit card. Because of the introductory offer, the payment is not due until 1/05. As a last resort, I can challenge the payment then. But I hope it is resolved way before then.

[m Ransley]

My rule of hand is smash the instalers head into the wall ,,, if it goes through in 1 try , the walls are crap, if it takes 10 trys they are good , if it takes 20 or mor , i plead insanity and ask for lieniency

[Xmfard]

no offense tenplay, but that's what you get from hiring the depot...getting crap carpet installed by crap contractor..

Xmfard

[Ron]

Hiring a lawyer to get money from HD is a waste of time. If an attorney won't take the case on contingency, don't bother. The damage to the wall is probably less than the attorney's fees. You're better off getting the damage repaired by a licensed contractor with a written statement saying there was no water damage, assuming there was none, then going to small claims court with the bill to try to recover your expenses. But first, try to get HD to fix it.

Ron

[TOM KAN PA]

____Reply Separator_____

A 450Km tow???

You had a car towed 450,000 miles?

[Chris Lewis]

According to TOM KAN PA :

Heh, no. 450 kilometers ;-)

[bambam]

A "California" patch is a useful technique for repairing smaller holes in drywall.

1) Clean up the hole into a neat square or rectangle.

2) Cut a piece of drywall an inch or so larger than the hole on all four sides.

3) Score the outline of the hole onto this piece ... leaving the inch or so all around. Snap along your score lines and peel the excess drywall off the paper backing. This should leave you with a drywall patch the size of the hole, with a flap of drywall paper all around.

4) Mud around the hole and apply the patch, using the flap as if it were drywall tape. Three coats.

Ken

[Nil]

On 17 Feb 2004, [e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Ah, so. Neat trick - I've heard of it but never heard exactly how it was done. I'll have to remember this.