I have hired a registered contractor, on referral from a friend, to remodel our home on a project-by-project basis, bidding on each piece separately. The contract stipulates a small deposit and then progressive payments at different stages of the work. He bid the master bathroom, we accepted, and he got started.
He and his son's crew of four ripped out the necessaries, framed up what needed to be done, hot mopped the shower space, and installed a pocket door, and then stopped. He has had various excuses for not completing work, or just performing little inspections or measurements without actually doing anything constructive. Some of his excuses were legitimate, and I could not verify the others. He did have to fire two of the four "trolls," as he put it.
During this delay, we planned together what hardware would eventually go into the bathroom. I selected a rather expensive line carried by my local showroom and also by his "favorite" supply place for plumbing. It was significantly over his initial allowance for those pieces, to which I replied that anything over the allowance I would write a check for immediately, although to date I have not been asked to do this. The holdup now seems to be on a mixing valve that has to go in during rough-in and tiling. He told me he had ordered it, apparently it has to come from Sweden or Germany or ???, and nothing could be done until it arrived. This was several weeks ago.
Today I called his "favorite" plumbing supply place as a guy needing a part, and was told yes, the part would have to be special ordered and it would take from 2 to 4 weeks, and I would have to pay for it in advance. I then surreptitiously inquired whether my contractor had in fact ordered it "so I wouldn't duplicate the orders," and the nice lady on the other end of the phone revealed that while my contractor had it and some other pieces "out to bid" (meaning the supply place had given him a quote), but the contractor did not order them. She also told me this contractor was on a cash account; I read that to mean he doesn't have sufficient credit to buy anything there. To date he has about $4,000 of my money and a potential to make a lot more.
What does all this mean? The contract we signed unfortunately does not have a finish date (yes, I know now I should've asked for one), but isn't there a law that projects just can't last indefinitely? I should confront him on this matter, but I suspect he will give me the same goodnatured lies he's given me lately. Further, I suspect he is capable of violence or at least maliciousness (owing to my evesdropping on his not-so-private cell phone conversations with other clients who owe him money). I am afraid that 1) this caper will go on forever and 2) if I piss him off sufficiently he will inflict damage onto the house when I'm not there and get away with it. Am I at a point where I should consult a lawyer first before confronting him, or can this be worked out? I don't think he is intending for this to happen but I suspect he is between a rock and a hard spot and is scrambling to stay afloat. The fact that it was a referral still irks me, too....
Oh yeah, I live in California, or as our governor sez, "Kaleeforneeah"...
Any advice is appreciated.
Jon
He and his son's crew of four ripped out the necessaries, framed up what needed to be done, hot mopped the shower space, and installed a pocket door, and then stopped. He has had various excuses for not completing work, or just performing little inspections or measurements without actually doing anything constructive. Some of his excuses were legitimate, and I could not verify the others. He did have to fire two of the four "trolls," as he put it.
During this delay, we planned together what hardware would eventually go into the bathroom. I selected a rather expensive line carried by my local showroom and also by his "favorite" supply place for plumbing. It was significantly over his initial allowance for those pieces, to which I replied that anything over the allowance I would write a check for immediately, although to date I have not been asked to do this. The holdup now seems to be on a mixing valve that has to go in during rough-in and tiling. He told me he had ordered it, apparently it has to come from Sweden or Germany or ???, and nothing could be done until it arrived. This was several weeks ago.
Today I called his "favorite" plumbing supply place as a guy needing a part, and was told yes, the part would have to be special ordered and it would take from 2 to 4 weeks, and I would have to pay for it in advance. I then surreptitiously inquired whether my contractor had in fact ordered it "so I wouldn't duplicate the orders," and the nice lady on the other end of the phone revealed that while my contractor had it and some other pieces "out to bid" (meaning the supply place had given him a quote), but the contractor did not order them. She also told me this contractor was on a cash account; I read that to mean he doesn't have sufficient credit to buy anything there. To date he has about $4,000 of my money and a potential to make a lot more.
What does all this mean? The contract we signed unfortunately does not have a finish date (yes, I know now I should've asked for one), but isn't there a law that projects just can't last indefinitely? I should confront him on this matter, but I suspect he will give me the same goodnatured lies he's given me lately. Further, I suspect he is capable of violence or at least maliciousness (owing to my evesdropping on his not-so-private cell phone conversations with other clients who owe him money). I am afraid that 1) this caper will go on forever and 2) if I piss him off sufficiently he will inflict damage onto the house when I'm not there and get away with it. Am I at a point where I should consult a lawyer first before confronting him, or can this be worked out? I don't think he is intending for this to happen but I suspect he is between a rock and a hard spot and is scrambling to stay afloat. The fact that it was a referral still irks me, too....
Oh yeah, I live in California, or as our governor sez, "Kaleeforneeah"...
Any advice is appreciated.
Jon
