HELP ! ! ! !

jbuck · Feb 21, 2011

Alright I am building a house and 80+% complete. Cabinets in. Electrical trimmed out. finish trim done.

Now I am fed up with my General Contractor dragging their feet. It has been 5 weeks since the finish carpenter finished. (Jan 14). Today I got a call from the general (DB) telling me that they are getting a delivery out here the end of next week and I HAVE TO find a few people to go out and off load the truck. I reminded her that I payed for her to build a house that was suppose to be finished NOVEMBER 1st. They she began yelling at me for a few minutes. My mom and wife was with me so I put her on speaker phone while she was YELLING AT ME for being uncooperative and how she doesn't have time for this right now. So she said that it is my fault that my house is going to get delayed further.

WTF am I suppose to do??? Our contract states that they have about 130days to complete the house. Which would be about mid december, all the while I am paying a higher intrest rate for a construction loan which is about $700 a month in interest.

They also have totally F'd our roof up. The sub they highered ran out of tar paper so finished putting the shingles down with out it. So there is big patches of roof with no tar paper. Which is my problem too because they said that they don't have to money to fix it. (I do have a bunch of pics of the roof)

What should I do?

eldbillbo · Feb 21, 2011

Ah man i know the feeling sounds like the outfit i was dealing with a few months ago . i wish i had words to help, you should start with contacting the contractors board

jbuck · Feb 21, 2011

I forgot that I did tell her that I cannot unload it by myself and I can find someone for her to hire or if she wants to pay me to find someone I can do that too. Thats what triggered her outburst.

jbuck · Feb 21, 2011

I have also contacted my bank to have them stop any further dispursements. At least until the roof is fixed.

MA Duce · Feb 21, 2011

jbuck said:
I have also contacted my bank to have them stop any further dispursements. At least until the roof is fixed.

Check your contract. If it doesn't say you are responsible for accepting deliveries, (which I can't imagine), let your general know. As bad as this sounds, I think the sooner you get an attorney involved the better. Have the attorney review your contract and then write a letter detailing your concerns and outlining the general's responsibilities. That will only cost a few hundred dollars, but will get the joker's attention.

SargentMac · Feb 21, 2011

MA Duce said:
Check your contract. If it doesn't say you are responsible for accepting deliveries, (which I can't imagine), let your general know. As bad as this sounds, I think the sooner you get an attorney involved the better. Have the attorney review your contract and then write a letter detailing your concerns and outlining the general's responsibilities. That will only cost a few hundred dollars, but will get the joker's attention.

+3 (Me, my wife, and my wife's contractor uncle)

jbuck · Feb 21, 2011

I am ready to get a lawyer. I just don't know if I have a legal leg to stand on.
I can tell you that I am in no way, shape, or form responsible to accepting deliveries.

I would like to get out of my contract and get this thing finished. I have lined them up with several sub contractors that will do the work, but they just keep saying that they cannot find anyone. There was a contractor that came out today and said the he would need 5days to finish everything so we can move in and I really want to move.

I would like to know if I can sue them at least for the $2k in interest that they cost me, at a minimum? My bank has dispursed 60% so far if that matters for anything

ejmpnu92 · Feb 21, 2011

The best thing to do is contact a lawyer, who specializes in construction. I would stop all payments, that would get the generals attention. Also, are they paying the subs they used? If not, the subs might file a lien?(not sure how it works up here, but down in CA it is common for a sub to file a lien when not paid by a general)
A very serious catch phrase in the industry and for state officials is "diversion of funds". If they are taking your money and spending it elsewhere and not on your house, that is "diversion of funds", akin to fraud.
Also, there might be a possibility of a breach of contract by the general, that would allow you to back out of your contract with them and find other contractors.
There are other issues too, but first and foremost, hire a lawyer.

Father of four · Feb 21, 2011

Call the C.C.B...better yet check out their website first.

<broken link removed>

deadeye · Feb 21, 2011

Get a lawyer involved and threaten to have the contracters bond attached to. I hope for your sake that the contracter IS bonded so that you can attach it if that's the correct terminology. Most contracters are bonded and dont want it to be messed with as it makes them look bad to future customers. As far as the roof goes who in their right mind would continue to put shingles on without paper down first? Sounds like the general uses bad subs as well as not inspecting what they're doing. I would also recomend having an inspector inspect all work done so far and having the main contracter redo any sub- standard work on their dime.

VW_Factor · Feb 21, 2011

Don't pay them anymore. Have them fix their junk they have screwed up. See if you can recover any money already paid out from your bank. I'd already be pissed off about the house not being finished, let alone the screwed up stuff.

Consult a lawyer.

coctailer · Feb 21, 2011

Father of four said:
Call the C.C.B...better yet check out their website first.

<broken link removed>

This is the first step.

mjbskwim · Feb 21, 2011

Sometimes just the law office letter head is enough to scare them.

I can't believe they have that much "more pressing" things to do than to finish the house.

jbuck · Feb 21, 2011

Yeah but they have no motivation to get it done. We are on day 203 and we are about 3 weeks out as soon as the next sub starts. I talked to the next sub today that said there is more that needs done then was on his bid so he has to resubmit his bid. So he was suppose to start on 23, but he said that thats not going to happen.

ejmpnu92 · Feb 21, 2011

As for the roof, technically, not your responsibility. Yes, I know, I know, but them giving you the excuse that they don't have the money, not a valid excuse. The General is supposed to be managing the subs, which means, that if a sub messes up, it is on the general to fix it. Plus, not sure how it works here, but I am surprised you did not get a roof inspection after the roof went on. Down south it is called an exterior inspection, which has to be completed before the interior work is started. If an inspector passed building, the city/county/state can be held responsible to a degree.

hsullyc · Feb 21, 2011

I just sat in on a DRS as a witness for a general contractor that I did work for from time to time.I would never go into this process without legal advise.I can get you the number of the lawyer that he used,this guy was amazing.He has been doing only construction cases for like 30 years.I hate to see what you are going through happen,but as a contractor myself I see it all the time.Construction projects never go as planned,but you have to try your hardest to plan for stuff to happen.If I can help in anyway please let me know...

Grunwald · Feb 22, 2011

The roof things really gets me. I used to own a roofing company and would NEVER put down shingles without tar paper under them. This voids the shingle manufacturer's warranty for all the brands that we dealt with.
I would really question the caliber of sub contractors that she is using. Is she just getting people off craigslist??

Like many before said, lawyer up and stop all payments. Get the roof redone right. For crying out loud, tar paper is the cheapest part of the roof job.