- Apr 20, 2009
- 3,793
- 1
- 81
Back in June 2014, we received softball to baseball sized hail that punched holes into hardy-plank siding, destroyed a roof, and knocked a hole clear through a window (as well as killed the TV on the other side of that window). Lots of damage, lots to be repaired.
Fast forward to now, and I am still in the process of dealing with the general contractor that we hired to take care of all of the repairs. They are a major local business, not a fly by night type that swooped in for hail damage business after the big storm. I thought they were the best choice to get good work done. I thought...
Along the way, one thing was mentioned as critical to the salesman who had my case... the basement window with the hole clear through it. I wanted that fixed prior to winter. That window was not repaired until the spring of 2015. They did have a guy, after a large amount of my pestering, come in and slap a 2" think sheet of styrofoam into the opening to block most of the airflow. I eventually did have improvise by cutting 2x4s to frame the window opening and wedge the foam into place so that it did not fall out. (It did fall out a time or two, and snow came in with it.)
The roof repair wasn't exactly fast, but it did happen prior major snow (if I recall). And they did patch a spot that had popped up after a strong windy day. I suspect, but am not sure, that the crew that did the work may not have sealed the edges where the roof met siding on the house. The only location I can see appeared to be fairly rough with respect to the siding.
Fast forward to now, and there was one last issue that had to be repaired. The corner of the house where the siding had popped up, presumably after the gutter/down spouts were repaired, there was a split where the siding met in the corner. I pushed for months to get someone to look and fix it, and even after I escalated and reached out to the manager of my 'sales rep', it still took a good month or more until just now a guy came out and 'tightened it up' and 'caulked it up good' to fix it.
So now, just an hour or so ago, I receive the phone call that they completed that piece. My sales guy leaves a message (I've talked to him a time or two and he simply frustrates me with his incompetence at this point so I let him go to voicemail (plus I was at lunch with a colleague)) and says that they patched that up, and that someone in the office would be sending me an invoice to close this up today, and was urging me to pay the remaining balance tomorrow or Saturday.
Thing is, he's already threatened a lien at one point, prior to ALL of the work being complete. I insisted that the work must be done before payment is complete, and not only that, but insurance had not yet cut me a check. I have the funds from insurance. My trouble is, they seem to be in such a rush to close this up, and about all I can figure is that they need that payment to write me off and not deal with me again. They've already received the majority of payment from the insurance company, but the remaining balance is now in our possession.
At this point, I suspect I need to hire an independent contractor to check the repairs to make sure that everything is fixed properly as it would seem they're in a rush to get this closed off so they can be done. I'd honestly have no problem paying right now had this been a smoother process, but it certainly hasn't. And all along the way, the only way anything gets done right is if I press them. No one is checking the repairs on their side, and it seemed most of the jobs are hired out to the cheapest laborer (the roof was done by a crew of Mexicans from Florida (I am in Nebraska)). I have no problems with whomever does the work, but I would suspect the work would be inspected and approved by this contractor. It really seems like my only contact this whole time has been this sales guy who, at this point, appears to know less than I do about home repairs, and I know jack and chit for the most part (I know a bit here and there, but I have not worked construction nor finished a room myself or anything of that sort).
What are my options? Should I just pay and move on? At this point I hold somewhere around 30-40% of the remaining balance, and I want to make sure they can't just write me off as soon as they have the check in hand. At this point, that is exactly what I expect to happen, which leads me to believe I need to hire a private individual to examine the repairs.
Fast forward to now, and I am still in the process of dealing with the general contractor that we hired to take care of all of the repairs. They are a major local business, not a fly by night type that swooped in for hail damage business after the big storm. I thought they were the best choice to get good work done. I thought...
Along the way, one thing was mentioned as critical to the salesman who had my case... the basement window with the hole clear through it. I wanted that fixed prior to winter. That window was not repaired until the spring of 2015. They did have a guy, after a large amount of my pestering, come in and slap a 2" think sheet of styrofoam into the opening to block most of the airflow. I eventually did have improvise by cutting 2x4s to frame the window opening and wedge the foam into place so that it did not fall out. (It did fall out a time or two, and snow came in with it.)
The roof repair wasn't exactly fast, but it did happen prior major snow (if I recall). And they did patch a spot that had popped up after a strong windy day. I suspect, but am not sure, that the crew that did the work may not have sealed the edges where the roof met siding on the house. The only location I can see appeared to be fairly rough with respect to the siding.
Fast forward to now, and there was one last issue that had to be repaired. The corner of the house where the siding had popped up, presumably after the gutter/down spouts were repaired, there was a split where the siding met in the corner. I pushed for months to get someone to look and fix it, and even after I escalated and reached out to the manager of my 'sales rep', it still took a good month or more until just now a guy came out and 'tightened it up' and 'caulked it up good' to fix it.
So now, just an hour or so ago, I receive the phone call that they completed that piece. My sales guy leaves a message (I've talked to him a time or two and he simply frustrates me with his incompetence at this point so I let him go to voicemail (plus I was at lunch with a colleague)) and says that they patched that up, and that someone in the office would be sending me an invoice to close this up today, and was urging me to pay the remaining balance tomorrow or Saturday.
Thing is, he's already threatened a lien at one point, prior to ALL of the work being complete. I insisted that the work must be done before payment is complete, and not only that, but insurance had not yet cut me a check. I have the funds from insurance. My trouble is, they seem to be in such a rush to close this up, and about all I can figure is that they need that payment to write me off and not deal with me again. They've already received the majority of payment from the insurance company, but the remaining balance is now in our possession.
At this point, I suspect I need to hire an independent contractor to check the repairs to make sure that everything is fixed properly as it would seem they're in a rush to get this closed off so they can be done. I'd honestly have no problem paying right now had this been a smoother process, but it certainly hasn't. And all along the way, the only way anything gets done right is if I press them. No one is checking the repairs on their side, and it seemed most of the jobs are hired out to the cheapest laborer (the roof was done by a crew of Mexicans from Florida (I am in Nebraska)). I have no problems with whomever does the work, but I would suspect the work would be inspected and approved by this contractor. It really seems like my only contact this whole time has been this sales guy who, at this point, appears to know less than I do about home repairs, and I know jack and chit for the most part (I know a bit here and there, but I have not worked construction nor finished a room myself or anything of that sort).
What are my options? Should I just pay and move on? At this point I hold somewhere around 30-40% of the remaining balance, and I want to make sure they can't just write me off as soon as they have the check in hand. At this point, that is exactly what I expect to happen, which leads me to believe I need to hire a private individual to examine the repairs.
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