Not sure if contractor is covering up a mistake.
Angela220
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I was hoping someone would be able to give me proper information. I just had wood flooring done in my whole house, and I am not satisfied with the work that was done on the moulding. One area in specific, just doesn’t seem right. The contractor put a chip of wood in between the wall and the moulding which is leaving a 1/4 inch gap, and looks terrible. He told me he did this because the wall was bowed. I believe the reason he did this was to cover up the mistake he made in cutting the wood floor . The subflooring is exposed, and when I meantioned that I would like it fixed, he said I didn’t pay for caulking. This was a very costly job. I thought I was paying for a professional job. Is my suspicion correct?
Replies
Just based on that brief description I'd say that it's likely 50-50. Can you take some pictures?
Angela
Based on the description, you are 99% right in
a. not paying the final until this bogus looking thing is taken care of.
b. not paying the final and putting a couch there and he can take his stuff and go home.
c. paying after he agrees to make this right.
Did they remove base and/or shoe molding b/4 laying the floor or............was this new construction and they ran base and/or shoe after finishing?
How's the finish look (besides the bogus area?
Pictures
I agree, let's see pictures.
If he cut the new flooring too far from the wall, and now the base/shoe won't cover the gap, so he has to shim it away from the wall to cover the edge of the flooring... that's not OK. The base/shoe should generally be nailed tight to the wall. In some cases, if the wall if really goofy, I would shim it, and try to keep it parallel to joints in the flooring, if they are running the same direction. You have to pick which is worse.
When he says you didn't pay for caulking, maybe he means he's not a painter, because if he starts caulking he'll have to start painting too.
Anyway, pictures please.
David
I think the problem is that the contractor DIDN'T cover up the mistake.
I will attempt to post pictures of areas that he didn't want to fix.
Angela
Bogus work.
Not taking care of it b/4 you noticed?
Bogus contractor.
Not taking care of it after you contacted them?
Worse than bogus.
Small claims? Better Business Bureau? Large mean looking tough guy?
The un-nailed molding is trivial to fix and he should have tended to it as soon as it was pointed out.
The fitting around the door jamb is badly botched (and has nothing to do with "uneven walls"). Could have been cheaply fixed when he did it, quite a bit more of a PITA to fix now. But definitely his problem. Unless it's inside a small closet or some such where a careful caulk job would be sufficient to conceal it, it should be repaired by replacing the piece of flooring.
Were there other areas?
Dan
The molding can't just be nailed-it's too long at the joint. Not a missed accident-poor work.
Caulk in or out of a closet, in the furnace room, or behind the frig-still wrong. Maybe if this flooring was in the crawl space.
Hi Angela, Sorry about this - that's just really bad workmanship. He knew as soon as he laid that piece that it was wrong but continued with the rest of the flooring anyway. Where did you find the contractor? He absolutely should be held responsible for fixing this and any other issues to give you at least a decent job.
So it seems that the flooring contractor is also responsible for reinstalling the base trim. I'm betting that this isn't what he normally does and is in way too deep. The first photo shows the wall at a doorway seems to be dying away or it's detail is sort of rounded over. It's not that the wall is not straight, the wall is supposed to be that way. But the trim man (a flooring guy in disguise?) didn't know how to finish off that run of shoe molding. So he just left it. The second photo shows that the trim carpenter (sorry, use of that term here is probably an insult to all carpenters) was either completely lazy, blind, hurt his thumb so he had to go home early, just stupid, or, perhaps, all of the above.
I, too, wonder about other mistakes. These are so egregious that there must be others of a less severe nature.
Fixing these two spots is relatively easy: A special piece of molding will have to be made to terminate the run in the first photo. Not a job for a first timer but any competent trim person will be able to do it. (Or, will at least have a millwork shop make the piece for him.) The second situation calls for removing that length of trim, cutting it a bit shorter, then nailing it into place.
By the way, calking to close minor gaps, is every bit an expected part of this job. NOTE: I said minor gaps.
sap
The guy undercut the casing and jamb-if you cobbled up something for that bare spot, you'd have to do the same to every damn opening in the house-and that would look terrible too.
I've seen low rent housing done in laminate with outcomes like this-done by someone not a flooring guy, carpenter of even semi qualified diyourselfer.
To charge anyone for a whole job and leave this ............
he should have had a mask on.
Ask him if he is proud of that work and then ...
Ask him if he is proud of the work and then tell him you are going to post pictures of his work, his name, business name, and address on this message board weekly and ever other construction message board you can find. It will not be slander as you are just posting the work in which is so proud of. It is what it is! This is his work this is his name if anyone is intersted in hiring him. Simple.
No shame
Anybody who leaves work like that is beyond shame. This person has no reputation to ruin because he doesn't give a ****.
He broke my tile and replaced it, but I don't think he was going
The previous photo of the overlapping moulding was actually nailed in like that. I am fearful of what is hiding behind all the furniture. He was paid to move the furniture. I just happend to notice that one because it was peeking out from behind my bed.
The new photo I posted is of a tile he replaced because he broke it, but I don't think he was going to grout it. I called and complained about this and several other problems, that's when he came over to and fixed it. What he did was put the transition on days before he grouted the tile, so the part under the transition is not grouted. I don't know if this shows through on the photo, and I don't know if this will be a problem in the future.
Father and son owned business I got off of Angies list.
Recourse?
I thought Angie's list was supposed to protect you from this kind stuff. This whole job represents extremely poor craftsmanship in the trade and extreme lack of professionalism as contractors. If you still owe them money, don't pay it until you are FULLY satisfied. If you have paid them in full you can consider how much trouble you are willing to go through to get a remedy. Probably small claims or your state's equivalent is an option, but not necessarily a pleasant one. If you do not receive full satisfaction, file a complaint with your state's contractor's license board, That board probably has some resources for you, the consumer. I guess you can report the problem to Angie's list and keep them from getting any more referals from that.
Good Luck.
Angie's List...
Here's an interesting piece about Angie's List. http://www.remodeling.hw.net/sales-leads/follow-the-money.aspx
Fortunately they are not active around here.
I would find someone else who is competent to fix the issues. The person who left those problems is not likely to fix them adequately, and you are likely to tear your hair out getting them to try. I would probably find your new person, get an estimate, and then call the original company and tell them you are suing in small claims unless they refund that amount of money. Don't let them back in your house.
oh
And i feel bad somtimes charging $50 an hour ,not anymore ,do people actually get away with this stuff
thats terribe workmanship ,
did he have a helper who just got out of school ,how can you leave that and just walk away
how much would you pay a guy like this ?
was he the cheapest quote ,did you see some of his other jobs ,
i am not saying your respnsible, but people should really do there home work and not rush into spending money on jobs
it seems everyone is in a hurry ,10% slower 100% better
would you trust him to fix this ?
what are you going to do put plinth blocks on all the caseings ,to cover up the mistake
He was not the cheapest and was actually not my first choice. My husband was the one that decided we should go with him because he got good reviews on Angies list. I am debating if I should post the pictures of his workmanship on Angies list. He said he wanted to fix the problems, but this was only when I threatend to call an attorney. I don't want him in my home again. He and his father had an attitude with me and were down right rude.
Angela
Sorry to hear, no way to treat a customer if you plan to continue on in the trade.
People should know. Not sure on posting pics, but it would certainly speak louder than words.
Best of luck in the future-the personal referral is sometimes a better source.
Posting Pictures
I think posting pictures is appropriate. Then it's not just the homeowner's opinion - The facts are there and others can make up their own minds.
Use Angie's list
Since you got him from Angies list, post a review, detail the problems with pictures and report a problem.
Now you have a write up in the magazine.
Good luck.
Ouch!
If you do not want the guy back in the house, do not pay him and get someone else to fix the problem, though this is not an easy fix. If you have paid him, call the BB, file a complaint and get some money back so that you can get it fixed properly. Maintain records of all conversations and interactions.
Tough road to hoe...........
Gary
I agree with all you said.............
but the hoe part.
Boss Hog would be a better authority-but......
isnt it a row-like in a corn or bean field?
Sweet peas, num num!
Which do you think is tougher to hoe, a row of corn or a road??
Dan
Here in the farmlands of Ohio, there's more rows in a corn field than in our highway system.
Hoeing Roads
It's a combo......Tough road to travel and a hard row to hoe!! Or if you are rowing across the lake to the brothel, it's a hard row to the..........
Given where you work - Oh, never mind.
Here's the thing that is puzzeling....if you enlarge the first picture of the door jamb, what I see makes me think he was originally going to try to cope around the jamb moulding only he did it in the wrong direction. I can't think of any other reason that the floor would not have been cut straight along the short axis. If that isn't the reason, then it looks like he chewed it off.
Whaddya gonna do eh
All you can do if you paid him in full already is give him a bad review on angie's list and spread the word about his bad workmanship.
You will have to call in someone to cut out that bad spot and carefully puzzle piece a new piece of hardwood to match. The over lapping trim can simply be removed, cut to length and reinstalled. Why it would overlap when re-installed makes no sense. The trim I assume was there before from the looks of and reinstalled after the new floor was in. Either way, rookie mistakes.
Best of luck.
Make sure you post a bad review on Angie's List. Too many people do not complain about truly bad workmanship. You need to warn others so they do not hire them. If this is the work they do then they deserve the bad review. Especially if they gave you problems about reparing this.
As an aside, I've never seen that stile of shoe moulding. Is is designed to catch dirt or what?
Ha, good eyes user-212.. I hadn't noticed the base cap being used as base shoe - that's hilarious. Again, sorry Angela you found the dreaded "Hackasaurus."