Last week of custom building....Builder angry (plumbing, basement, concrete)
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Got all these responses saying my wife is to demanding(how would these message board people know), why a, I not more involved(I am, have work, wife works at not for profit taking time off to help kids who are online schooling and help with house).
For what it's worth, I don't know if I've ever seen anyone just get monkey-piled like that here for no reason. I couldn't believe what I was seeing - this was way out of line.
If it helps any, just know that it sure wasn't because of anything you did. Sorry to see it happen to you.
Hello, our building process has been an extremely stressful process, esp the last month or so.
We built a custom home and signed the contract in March. The builder was extremlely nice, he is an older gentleman. The whole family really liked him.
Then things got strange. It seems to have started with the lumber prices in the summer. He kept reminding us how much this and that cost him.
Nonetheless my wife more than me has been dealing with him and the last month has about drove her crazy and she is the nicest, caring person I know. He is extremely abrasive and is not doing things he was to do that we agreed upon and says says, "Look at contract, look at builder."
I don't know if narcist or sociopath fits well, but there are still things to be done he is just not going to do. Its like a different person
Small claims court would cost more money than it worth so I a few hundred bucks to a thousand I am just going to eat.
Anyone ever in this situation? I have been working and feel awful for my wife for how he talks to her like a dog or child. Whenever she asks questions, he just turns around and says not my problem or I am not going to do this.
The references were really good from customers, architects, sub contractors, etc.
Anyone have any advise.
I just told my wife we got a week and we are done. Just ignore all the antics.
Thank you.
Sorry this happened to you and your wife. I think the covid drove prices up and he is taking it out on you and your wife, it’s not your fault it’s because he is probably not making much profit.
But I wouldn’t recommend him to anyone once your done.
Yep, and maybe the builder got 20% off what I paid....still $4...an increase of about 60% from 9 months ago. So yeah, the contractor got hammered on prices, where even a 10% contract contingency cushion would have been drained. Unprecedented times for all.
Wouldn't the contract have a clause covering external contingencies like unprecedented material price changes? Granted I normally deal with professional contracts, but they always include some form of contingency for extraordinary material price changes. While normal market fluctuations should have been accounted for in his risk when bidding, it's unrealistic to expect a contractor to adsorb the full cost of a black swan event. Perhaps if the OP were amenable to some form of Equitable Adjustment might help get those last items finished.
Wouldn't the contract have a clause covering external contingencies like unprecedented material price changes? Granted I normally deal with professional contracts, but they always include some form of contingency for extraordinary material price changes. While normal market fluctuations should have been accounted for in his risk when bidding, it's unrealistic to expect a contractor to adsorb the full cost of a black swan event. Perhaps if the OP were amenable to some form of Equitable Adjustment might help get those last items finished.
Some do, some don't. When we built a house in 1999 it was a simple contract and he did a material take off based on our prints and material choices. There was a provision for change-orders, but nothing regarding price increases or decreases (commodities such as lumber can cut both ways- up/or down).
We had a major issue when we requested Pella windows with brown trim, no 'low-E'- just the basic windows. He priced the windows as such. Well when the windows had arrived and already been installed- he got the bill and it was a heck of a lot more than what he was quoted. Come to find out Pella (at the time) only offered that model window with brown trim in the 'Low-E' option- significantly more than what was quoted or what we wanted to pay. The supplier ordered the more expensive without checking with the GC. Technically he couldn't pass that additional cost to us, but instead of him getting mad and us getting mad- we went to the supplier and three of us agreed to split the difference 3 ways. We all ate a little.
But to answer the question- it all depends on the contract.
Hello, our building process has been an extremely stressful process, esp the last month or so.
We built a custom home and signed the contract in March. The builder was extremlely nice, he is an older gentleman. The whole family really liked him.
Then things got strange. It seems to have started with the lumber prices in the summer. He kept reminding us how much this and that cost him.
Nonetheless my wife more than me has been dealing with him and the last month has about drove her crazy and she is the nicest, caring person I know. He is extremely abrasive and is not doing things he was to do that we agreed upon and says says, "Look at contract, look at builder."
I don't know if narcist or sociopath fits well, but there are still things to be done he is just not going to do. Its like a different person
Small claims court would cost more money than it worth so I a few hundred bucks to a thousand I am just going to eat.
Anyone ever in this situation? I have been working and feel awful for my wife for how he talks to her like a dog or child. Whenever she asks questions, he just turns around and says not my problem or I am not going to do this.
The references were really good from customers, architects, sub contractors, etc.
Anyone have any advise.
I just told my wife we got a week and we are done. Just ignore all the antics.
Thank you.
What does your REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY tells you to do?
Oh; do you know something the rest of us don’t? Did you get the builder’s side of the story? Please! Enlighten us!
Oh, you want some enlightening? Cool. Here's a little enlightening for you... my previous remark does not in any way depend on who's right or wrong in the situation he is describing - it is simply an observation on some of the hostile, knee-jerk responses that his post provoked here in the forum.
There. That was easy. I still have a few minutes left over; if you need any more enlightening, lemme know.
As a home inspector, I worked as an expert witness in several construction related lawsuits.
Being rude or abrasive is not something to go to court over.
Every single lawsuit I worked on centered around the contract, and what the Standard of Care in the industry was.
I had one client that by the end of the lawsuit, I could not stand. He was a micro manager and had a very abusive demeanor. I could tell he had misrepresented things that took place. While he did prevail in the lawsuit, he really didn't win much because his attorney and expert witness fees were so high (I was only one of 4 experts). He tried to mice manage every one involved on his side.
While I did not read every post on this thread, I never got the meat of the complaint except being rude to the wife. My impression reading this is "its a two way street".
Losing a job has no relation to the construction contract. However, increased material costs may very well be covered.
Obviously the whole story is not being told here.
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sasie123
