Originally posted by @Todd Rasmussen:
@Stephanie Moran
What things needed to be corrected by the new contractor? What things were left undone?
I wouldn't show him all the documentation and photos right now. If he takes you to court, that's like sitting down to a game of poker where the other person has seen your cards. Just give him a list of the things he failed to do, or the things that he did wrong that you had to have redone and give him a number that you think he owes you.
Additionally in the letter, include a clause advising him that he is unwelcome to ever return to that or any other property owned by you. (This will help if he ever shows up at the house as you can prove he has been previously advised regarding 602(l) of the penal code (trespass).
Also, if you ever get to court, I'm guessing his claim will be thrown out immediately because he is unlicensed and you will get a chance at a counter claim.
Make sure you are reasonable in what you calculate your damages at. 20 days is not an unusual delay for any type of construction work and if your contract with him didn't have liquidated damages listed, I doubt you can get reimbursed on a per day basis.
What was the total original contract amount?
Hi Todd, I appreciate your time in listing out your suggestions, including the PC for trespassing.
The original contract was for $10,000. Plus, a HD giftcard with $2,000 for materials. I purchased all the large items: windows, flooring, appliances. He was paid 1/3 cash before beginning, plus the gift card for expenses. The major jobs were itemized on the contract and it was noted that all the miscellaneous details would be included. For example, the first major job was painting the entire interior for $3,000. It took over 3 wks plus it had to get redone because he didn’t sand the walls the first time. So 5-gallons of paint turned into 10-gallons. But, the job was done 90% satisfactorily, which that first payment covered.
Then there is the deck, Itemized at $2,200, has been paid because by the time the interior paint was done, I gave him a CC for another $3,333. According to him the deck only needed some band-o/caulking, and patching up any holes in wood, plus paint. He didn’t fix more than 8ft of about 200sq ft of deck. And he used a spray gun to paint it and asked me to purchase 10-gallons of paint because the $2,000 gift card had run out. The paint job was a total mess, there is paint sprayed over the siding of both adjacent houses, and then back side wasn’t painted. The cost to fix everything he didn’t do plus what he didn’t even know to fix because he isn’t licensed, is $4,000, and is being worked on as I type this.
we signed a start date of 09/10/19 and an end date of 10/10/19, he left the job or stated it was complete on 10/29 and 10/30, respectively.
So all in all, he wants the third installment which would be $3,333. Pricing all the mistakes, everything that is going to be redone, including the flooring which he messed up and still worked on after I told him not to touch it anymore—he ended up deciding to go out with a bang and stained my original wood floors with red oak. Plus we did a little addition of $75/day for the 20 days he went over since this property is meant to be rented out.
Per the neighbor who is a recluse, he’d show up alone everyday at 10am, 11am, sometimes noon, sometimes not at all, and while we didn’t set an agreed daily schedule, I’m sure his lax daily schedule contributed to going over by 20 days.
thanks again for your input, just typing all this out is really stress-relieving!
