Taking a contractor to court

[Briana Lockman]

My wife is currently renovating a SFR for a flip. Over half of our budget has gone towards installing an entire heating and cooling system. We hired a contractor that we’ve used before for a few of our other units but he just seems to have been out of his league on this project and it’s costing us a lot in time, effort and money. He installed the unit with a couple of his crew members around July/August and there have been issues such as the heating unit dripping into the drip pan and overflowing causing a 4x8 whole in one of the finished bedrooms, a drip line placed above our electrical box, an electrician coming out to redo the wiring to the units because it was done incorrectly, and now that it’s cold we haven’t been able to get the heater to work. The contractor didn’t install heat strips so that the heat won’t work if it’s 35 degrees or lower outside and it’s preventing us from finishing painting, staining and tiling at the property because it’s too cold. We confronted him via text and of course no response despite guaranteeing his work. I’ve had another HVAC company come out to bid on the repairs and they’re saying it will be around $2,000 to get the new heating system functioning. We would like to take the initial contractor to court but we just aren’t sure how to start the process, how much we should sue for, and whether or not we should seek the assistance of an attorney. We have photos, contracts, texts and witnesses to supplement our claims. If anyone has any advice regarding contractors and court we would love to hear what ever you have to say! Thank you.