All Forum Posts by: Nwakaego O.

 I have a follow-up question. Do you pay utilities (electric, water) and mortgage through Baselane. When trying to set up recurring ACH payments, it asks for routing numbers which I don't have for my electric company, water company and mortage, only account numbers. I have ask my mortgage bank to provide a routing number (waiting to see what they say). I just don't know about the utility companies. How did you set up those payments?

Can you deposit checks with Baselane?

Sooo... This is going to arbitration. :/ And I will be giving some updates. 

Hello BP,

This question is for anyone who has experience in rehab/construction (electricians/plumbers/contractors) or any homeowners who have done rehab work in New Jersey. If you have info for Newark, NJ that would even be better.

How much does excavating a basement space under 500sqft (40ft X 12ft) and a depth of 18in cost including securing the foundation?

How much does replacing a main sewer line with a 42LF 4in PVC cost?

How much does installing 6 duplex plugs and 2 switches cost?

Thanks in advance for the help.

@Joe Edwards No I only paid him $21K+ but he has completed work and I owe him for that. I want to settle him on those completed items. It's just on the items that no Change Orders were submitted that I'm trying to figure out how we can come to a compromise. Thanks for the offer to help. If I run into any unanticipated difficulties, I will shoot you a PM. 

@Natalie Schanne I also thought I would have to work with him till the end. I'm so glad for other people's experiences and for reaching out. I wouldn't have fired him otherwise. Right now, I'm just trying to avoid being more "fleeced" than I currently am.

Morning community and to a better New Year, I have another question/concern. 

I decided to fire my contractor at the end of this past year. Before asking my question, I want to say he's definitely getting paid for work completed per the budget he established for the SOW. I want to know, however, how one should/can negotiate a compromise for certain work done (uncompleted and without a Change Order) in exchange of re-establishing pre-exiting structures that got destroyed during the rehab. For example, his electrician installed 5 duplex plugs, 2 wall switches and carved out 4 boxes for recessed lights which would have fallen into a Change Order that was never submitted or approved by the NACA program I use. However, when my wall fell, a gas pipe (for my heat) that ran along two connecting walls of my basement (40 ft X 12 ft) broke. Right now, a rubber tube was used to temporarily connect the pipes but that needs to be restored to its original condition. 2- When replacing the old sewer line of my old home, the storm drain pipe from the roof was disconnected from the sewer. That would need to be reconnected (although Newark doesn't allow that anymore so I may have to find another solution). And 3- There is debris he would be leaving behind that the next contractor will have to cart away.

Is it a good compromise to say that I won't pay him for the electrical work as it stands uncompleted, because I will have to pay extra to get the broken pipes fixed, maybe reconnect the storm pipe to the sewer pipe, and collect the debris he's leaving behind? If not how would you handle that? I want to be able to complete my basement within the budget that was originally established for this SOW.

Also how much does it cost to replace a gas pipe that ran along 2 connecting walls that is 40ft by 12ft long in Newark? And how much does it cost for a licensed electrician to install 5 duplex plugs, 2 wall switches and carve out 4 boxes for recessed lights in Newark?

Thank you

@Eric Teran I'm not sure if he's insured or not. However, the 1st home-ownership program I use (NACA) has to approve of the contractor before I can use him and he's one of their approved contractor. I am reaching out to them to see if I can get that insurance information. Another contractor told me about making a claim against his insurance. I didn't know it was an option. Unfortunately, NACA isn't very good at returning calls or emails in a timely fashion and with COVID, it's a whole other delay.

@Amy D.  The wall fell on the Monday of Thanksgiving week. It was rebuilt within a week. The pipes that broke because of the wall however are still not fixed but his plumber inserted some rubber tubes to connect them. I'm not sure what you mean by when HIS insurance gets relevant. But I'll have to see if insurance covers it if and once I get his insurance info.

@Pride Davis The Contractor handled pulling the permits. He later gave me a Basement foundation and plumbing plan from an engineering company. After the wall fell, I wanted the structural engineer to confirm that the foundation was well done. He did. I do know that my contractor had to cancel the first scheduled plumbing inspection because the wall fell on the same day. The inspector that is supposed to check before you start sheetrocking has not shown up yet. I don't see the sticker for that.

@Nat C. I have started documenting email/text communications, pictures, getting my timeline right, re-reading the agreement we signed and essentially building my case if needed.

Regarding lawyers: I have reached out to a lawyer who has advised that trying to negotiate would be better and less costly, to your point @Mike Dymski, than going to court or arbitration. I tried the compromise route as advised by my lawyer, wrote up an addendum to hopefully agree on some new terms and threw in some addtl money to the established budget to complete the work amicably but he doesn't want to. My friend (who told me about Bigger Pockets) has linked me to a few experienced people in the field, here in Jersey, with whom I've spoken with to see what can be done and to even gauge how much things should really cost in the area.

I'm leaning towards firing him and having the work completed by another contractor and hoping for the best. The only silver lining I can see right now is that the bank has to approve of how much money they'll pay out to him based on the work that was done from the SOW established. Since I stopped the work, he can't take it all and run. I just know that agreeing on what the Change Order and/or Draw should be will be another fight. I imagine NACA would step in and decide if this turns into some crazy drama. I have alerted them about my situation so they are aware. Going to court, suing anyone or being sued is definitely not where I want to go with this.

And thank you all for the advice and for the various scenarios. 

I think he's arguing that the excavation does not include the reinforcement of the foundation or any damage that occurred because of this excavation, regardless of whether he was negligent or not. 

My argument is that it cannot be additional because the SOW states that you will be excavating. In addition, if he felt there would be an addtl cost to the excavation, he never mentioned it, never suggested to update the budget or never submitted a Change order before starting said excavation, as agreed in the contract we signed. Yet, he was fully aware of everything relating to the excavation since July. He still hasn't submitted a Change order.

On a separate note: I also want to know, what programs out there are great, for beginners, in estimating the cost of rehab based on architectural drawings I have. 

@Joe Villeneuve:

I bought a 2-family house in Newark, NJ. The budget was based on a new deck ($20K), 2 new heat boilers ($10K), new steel liner and chimney cap ($4.5K), excavation to obtain an additional 10in in height, 4in concrete floor and reframing ($28.5K), renovation of the half bathroom which includes new sanitary plumbing waste line and the fixtures ($6K), basement wiring per architectural drawing ($6.5K), Permits ($1.5K), and Clean up of all debris (3.2K).

The part of the basement where the excavation occurred is 40ft X 12ft.

During and after the complete excavation (from Oct to Nov 3rd), no temporary support was placed to maintain the walls in place. After a neighbor complained that our common wall was shifting, reinforcement started (Nov. 10th). Nov. 21st, the new plumbing was installed. On Nov 23rd, the portion of the wall, still not temporary secured and where the new plumbing was installed, collapsed. The wall is about 21ft long and 6ft high. That's where the bulk of his addtl charge comes - from the excavation and the new plumbing (both specified in the SOW with the budget quoted by him) and the fallen wall.

*Btw, is it standard to charge separately for the removal of an old pipe, the installment of the new installed sewer pipe and the attachment of the new installed sewer pipe to the existing main sewer line? I got 3 separate charges* 

I gave him the architectural drawing for the basement (which includes the boiler room and the "storage room". He's now differentiating the basement as two separate entities and is charging me addtl for framing and sheetrock 2 corner walls (a 7.1ftX6.3ft and a 6.3ftX6.3ft) in the boiler room.

Hey everyone, 

I'm new to this home ownership deal and am currently doing some rehab to my basement. I have had to stop all repairs being done to my house because the contractor sent me a bill of an additional $38K on a project that was already budgeted to cost about $80K. No Change orders were submitted prior to this so-called work he considers additional, as specified in the agreement we signed. I keep going back and forth with him and it's exhausting. This new invoice he sent to me is broken down in Materials / Labor,Overhead & Profit but they aren't verifiable. I have asked on several occasions for him to provide the invoices directly from the subcontractors that he's used and he hasn't done them still. I am very frustrated with him and this whole rehab process. 

I would like to know:

1. What those in this situation have done to resolve this and stay within the budget.
2. How can one verify the real cost of a project to ensure that you are not being overcharged. I have the two architectural drawings of the work to be done to my house.

Thank you.