Contractor disappeared

[stumpfield]

My foundation contractor disappeared for a couple weeks. He finally return my calls and now he wants more $$$ to continue the work. He gave me a written bid for the foundation work and I agreed to the bid without any negotiation on the price. So far, he had spent 1 day on the job. He said it turns out to be a lot more work than he originally thought. The concrete cost more (his cost at $141 per year and concrete truck idling time at $3 per minute because of my location...) and he forgot to include the sand in the original bid???? It will need about 10 yard of sand at $40 per yard.
He's willing to remove the forms that he already did, walk away and I owe him nothing or ... agree to pay him all these extra charges if I want him to continue. What he said may be true and I don't mind pay him the extra but I'm a little concern about his action? Why didn't he just tell me right away instead of disappeared and avoided my calls for 2 weeks. I have to chase him down to find out why he didn't continue the work.... What do you think? Fire him or pay the extras?

 

[Deerfoot]

Personally, I wouldn't trust him to continue. If he is experienced he should have anticipated these costs in his initial bid. Even if he made a mistake on the bid, going away for a couple of weeks without contacting you is INEXCUSABLE!!! Maybe you can get another contractor to pour the foundation before he comes and gets his forms!!! : - )

 

[dmccarty]

Find another contractor.

I ate some mistakes building my house. After all I got the house in the end and if the material was needed it was needed.

But he did not know the truck would cost extra and he forgot the sand? That is basic stuff.

Then he does not return your phone calls. Bye Bye.

Later,
Dan

 

[stumpfield]

He's licensed since 1992 and no complaint according to the state record. I would think he should be very experienced. His bid and contract is based to the county approved building plan. He has been to the job site twice before I hire him for the job.

I guess it's obvious that if you are pouring a 4" slab that's 6" above natural grade, you need to fill the 2" with something. So, the extra 10 yards of sand is indeed needed. I called the concrete company to verify.... The concrete does cost more delivered to my building site. I do have 4 miles of single lane dirt road. He didn't know until the concrete company told him about the extra charges. It's true that the concrete company charges standby time because the trucks can't leave the job site until the last truck arrived because of my narrow dirt road. It takes 6 truck loads of concrete. Truck #1 can't leave until truck #6 arrives. So, all 5 trucks have to sit there and wait. It will cost $3/min per truck. All this will cut into his profit.

The problem I have is that he was refered by a good friend. (friend of friend kinda thing....) He's the only guy submit a written bid on this job and this suppose to be a favor from a friend's friend.... A few other contractors didn't want to deal with my road. Only 1 other guy willing to do the job but he's not licensed. I can't just flip the yellow page and be able to find a contractor to pickup where he left off.... Tough decision....

 

[dmccarty]

Stump,

My "problem" is that he would not return you phone calls. That just is a big no no to me. The not knowing about the trucks seems reasonable. The sand does not but I would be willing to eat the money. It sounds like an honest mistake on his part and he is not trying to rip you off.

We had 7 concrete loads delivered at 7 yards per truck. Since we used colored concrete the plant did not want to dirty up more than one truck. We thought they would run two or three. So it took all day to get our slab poured. It did not seem to hurt anything and it was also the July 4th weekend and was the hotest day of the year. Thats a long way of asking do you need to have the trucks just sitting there? Or are you so far from the plant that travel time would hurt the pour?

Later,
Dan

 

[Dusty]

Why can't the first truck leave and go the 4 miles and then leave a ribbon at the end of the road for the next truck to pick up. Once he picks up the ribbon, he heads down the road. He unloads, and leaves. When he gets to the end of the road, he passes the ribbon onto the next truck or leaves it at the side of the road if there is no truck waiting. This isn't rocket science. In this day of modern communications, is there a cell tower near the site? Do the trucks have any form of communication with the cement plant? You could even have a family member at the end of the road holding the truck back till the last one exits the road. That is the easiest way, and will cost nothing.
As for the contractor not calling you back, he might have been busy with other jobs and didn't want the pressure of having to deal with this problem at that time. I don't agree with him doing it, but that is life. Some people deal with business problems better than the others. I would just suck up the extra cost, since you are not going to get it done cheaper. Have him draw up a contract and then take it to your attorney for him to look over before you proceed any further. You have wasted 2 or 3 weeks. If you have to start over, you might not get it done for 2 or 3 months, or ever. When life hands you a lemon, learn to squeeze it and make lemonade. You have to make the best of this bad situation at this point. Life is too short to hold grudges and it is time to move forward, not backward.
Dusty

 

[deere755]

I would tell him to hit the road and never come back. I have a short fuse when it comes to contractors. We had a couple that really give me fits when we built our home. One we ended up suing and winning so the jerk could go bankrupt on us. I would have a hard time trusting this guy. There are alot of good contractors out there so you should be able to replace him. I would replace him even if it cost more to do so. One thing I did learn through our ordeal is good contractors cost good money, but they will save you in the long run. Just my two cents worth

 

[Kubotasrking]

I would certainly make another attempt to secure a solid, well reputed contractor. We continue to hear about this housing "bubble" that has burst which has clearly brought lumber prices down...I would think many contractors either are idle, or have equipment/crews that are idle. I don't know how long ago you began pursuing a contractor, but if it was 6 months ago...the market has changed for them!

As far as the friend of a friend goes...the respect for the common friend is obviously not reciprocated. I personally wouldn't spend a moment longer thinking about that as a reason for keeping him on the job.

Best of luck!

 

[EddieWalker]

Stumpfield,

He's already done you wrong, don't let him do it again. Just because he's had a license for awhile and has no official complaints doesn't mean he's reliable. He's already proven to you he isn't.

I like to hire people on personal recomendations. I keep a notepad with me and I write down names, numbers and notes on what I'm told about them. If I was in your situation, I'd drive around the area and look for newer homes or current construction. There are always those who work regularly and don't advertise in the yellow pages. As for the license part, that's your call. I worked for a number of years in California without a license. The more dificult they made it to be licensed, the more guys who got out of building and the more who did it illegal. It doesn't make all of them bad, just like having a lisence doesn't make them reliable or even competent.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[CurlyDave]

What do you think? Fire him or pay the extras?

Fire him.

Contractors have more ways of being flakey than you can possibly imagine. Once you get the slightest hint of things going wrong, get someone else.

Ask me about the time I had to go down to the county jail and bail out a roofing contractor and his entire crew to get the job finished. And he cheated me on the hours he claimed.