Contractor Hell, Help!!!

[Jeff G.]

Howdy BP Family,

I'm in a not-fun situation. My GF and I are in the process of remodeling our condo. We plan to sell it and BRRR from there.

A few months ago our downstairs condo neighbor informed us that we were "raining" in his bathroom every time we took a shower. So, we contacted our then condo maintenance guy and had him put us in touch with someone who could address the problem. As it turns out the tile in the surround wasn't water tight anymore and no amount of caulk was going to fix it. Once they got inside the walls it was clear that some plumbing issues were also present causing less severe leaks, etc. We hired a guy to do it for "5k, cash." Before hiring him I Googled him and didn't spot any lawsuits or anything in his history so we hired him. We also made a list of other renovations that need to happen before we sell this place and got an idea from him as to the cost. That was several months ago....

Fast forward to a few nights ago and... we could hear the sound of running water, persistently, in our bathroom and could not localize the source. At first we thought it was the neighbor on the other-side of the wall taking a shower. Nope, not with our luck.

After a few hours of investigating, the new maintenance guy figures out that we were flooding our downstairs neighbor (again, only worse) and it also flooded part of the condo basement.

Needless to say, we're not the happiest campers in the world. I calmed my girlfriend down (lest blood spurt out of here eyes) and reminded her, "this is why we have insurance. The downstairs neighbor has insurance, the contractor has insurance, the condo association has insurance. We'll be fine."

We filed a claim on our homeowners, the condo association has gotten involved. They have been consummate professionals up to this point and very helpful.

Buuuuuuut....

It turns out our "contractor" isn't licensed in CT in so far as we can tell. He does have insurance (thank God) but he subbed the plumbing out to some other individual who in all likelihood isn't licensed either because no competent plumber would drive a nail into a stud with a pipe behind it (and thus the nail into the pipe) as he did without a nail plate... not once, not twice, but three times! It's a minor miracle it took this long for the flood to start.

Our contractor appears to lack an actual corporate entity. I found evidence after the fact that he's been sued at least once before (the settled out of court) and those records show he's just a DBA. That's... that's... nothing. As part of the follow-up for the insurance claim one of us had to run down to city hall to see if this "rocket scientist" opened an actual work permit for his work. Nope, nadda. We checked our records and he never gave us a written estimate / invoice either. We have text messages that show he did perform the work though, so we have evidence to support our claim.

At this point the insurance companies have started talking to each other and that process is rolling.

My questions are:

• We're documenting everything we can and providing it to the insurance company as they ask for it. What else should we be doing?
• What sort of other things could happen here that might need to be prepared to handle?
• I'm sure we're going to be out or insurance deductible, do we take him to small claims court to recover that?
• Is there someone to report him to for not being licensed and should I even do it?

Any advice would be most appreciated.

[Mike Reynolds]

@Jeff G. Well, first you hired the guy with the insurance. HE hired the one without so he is still responsible for that job. He isnt licensed so he hasnt got a leg to stand on in court. Let your insurance handle the details and they will in turn sue his insurance to get their money back. 

Coupla things that stand out to me on the shower. If the tile is leaking it most likely needs pulled out and new liner or Ditra or whatever you guys use up that way. It was likely done by a homeowner who watched HGTV and saw "how easy" it was to do tile in a shower. I guarantee lots of those single floor homes on those shows are leaking but they dont know it yet. On a second floor shower it is vital to have it done right.  

The other is are you kidding me about no nail plates? Those things are a dollar a piece. Why would they not put them in? No permit means you may be on the hook for fines too. I hope all turns out well.