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Hired a contractor. He measured my patio, around 330 sqft, made me sign a contract for $500 of labor to install tiles.
Met me at the store, we picked tiles, I took them home put them on the patio (Saturday).
Today he started his work, I visited during lunch.
He said he wants to put his huge table saw into my garage overnight. The back garage door next to the patio is open so he has access to electricity. I kindly expressed I dont like that because there are my clothes, shoes, food items and my motorcycle and truck - overall, not enough space and if he can leave it outdoors. Sure.
Once I leave, turned my back already, he says, ok, I put the saw into the garage. HUH? I said nothing and left.
Half an hour later he sends a text that because the patio drops a little on one side, he needs to float it and this is $100 extra. If he doesnt' do that, he has to cut tiles and it will not look pretty.
I told him that he please float it and I don't want to pay extra. He texted he left and needs an answer until tomorrow. I am pretty pissed.
I feel like he would not do that if I was a man. Every time I hire someone, they try something to get more money out of me, no matter how I handle it.
What would you have done, just silently pay an extra $100?
First and foremost, you don't want a "dead level" patio- you don't want water sitting on it; especially when it's tile! It should have a bit of slope to it so the water will shed off.
Now, with that in mind I would pick a tile that would be of a small enough format that it wouldn't require cutting it to conform to the slope of the slab.
As for all that other "S#!Te"- it's your house, you're the customer, the contractor conforms to your requests- not the other-way-around! If they don't like it tell them to pack their S#!T and move on!
First and foremost, you don't want a "dead level" patio- you don't want water sitting on it; especially when it's tile! It should have a bit of slope to it so the water will shed off.
Now, with that in mind I would pick a tile that would be of a small enough format that it wouldn't require cutting it to conform to the slope of the slab.
As for all that other "S#!Te"- it's your house, you're the customer, the contractor conforms to your requests- not the other-way-around! If they don't like it tell them to pack their S#!T and move on!
he told me to pick big tiles (less work for him and looks better).
Yeah, he said he left and took his stuff and needs an answer until tomorrow. He measured everything before he gave me a quote so I am not sure why he is changing the price now.
I don't really want him to come back no matter what.
So you would have told him off, too? In the past I swallowed it and just never hired the same guy again.
Do YOU have a copy of the contract, with both signatures on it? Unless he has boilerplate about changes, he broke the contract and you can fire him. What I would be mildly concerned about is his trying to take it to court, claiming that you owe him the $500, as he started the job.
This is why when money is involved, I do all major communication in some form of writing that I can produce in a court of law. I'm not sure how I would produce a text as a document with proper time and date stamps.
I would probably give him a choice. He can finish the job as contracted within a couple days, or he can be paid for the percentage of the job he has done (WITH signed receipt indicating the two of you determined to mutually stop the job) and pack his goods.
If you refuse to pay him anything, you'll just end up in court or with a continuing hassle. Due diligence has to be done prior to a job start and signed contract.
I would get a second quote for floating the tile and a separate quote for the entire job. In this case, you know if this person is trying to take advantage of you or not. It's kind of after the fact, but it should help you to make the decision as well as fire him as well.
I feel like he would not do that if I was a man. Every time I hire someone, they try something to get more money out of me, no matter how I handle it.
What would you have done, just silently pay an extra $100?
For something like this no because it should not be an unforeseen circumstance. Estimates are a tricky deal. I put a new bathroom in for Grandmother, free labor of course. This a very old house, the bathroom used to be a little porch, has three exterior walls and roof directly over it. It was originally converted to bathroom in the 70's. Unforeseen was the 2*4 walls on 2 sides oriented the wrong way and not enough of them requiring what amounted to a whole new walls being installed, the rotted sill plate, the two busted rafters and the wall behind the paneling where the new plumbing was going that was solid plank.
How do you explain to the homeowner the extra $1K+ that just got added to their $2K estimate? The sill plate is something that might have been spotted with close inspection but other than that there is no way for contractor to know about these other issues.
Excuse me coalman, but a slope to the floor is not a hidden thing.
And the very first thing I said was....
Quote:
For something like this no because it should not be an unforeseen circumstance.
This is something that should have been plainly obvious.
The point I'm trying to make is that is not always the case and many people have unrealistic expectations about estimates. It's a bad deal all the way around because a scrupulous contractor doesn't want to be seen as a fraud but they can't be losing money either. On the other hand it's very easy for a fraud to take advantage.
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