Need an opinion - should I fire this guy or am I asking too much?

[al6517]

Quote:
Ok !!!! I think I have heard enough....................................... you said you learned your lesson and that is to not trust someone to know what their doing..................... with that attitude you will be forever in project h3ll, You failed to do your homework and your pawning off the blame on him. Stepping stones as you thought are not the right material and you insisted on the dirt when you should not have. your failure to check this guy out as you say............... you thought he knew what he was talking about.......... well then !!!!!!! duhhhhh that's on you. I always carry a book with large 8"x11" photo's of all of my work with references, you didn't do that. You thought you knew more than he did about what you thought was the right way. Now WTS it didn't live up to your expectations fine your both at fault, let's be clear on that and not dance around what you already know to be true. You wanted to get out cheap and it came back and bit you in the ***, I personaly don't take one single penny from a customer until their satisfied with the work, if they aren't that's my fault. Personaly I wouldn't have taken the job in the first place if you insisited on the wrong materials and couldn't agree on price beforehand, That is just not the working customer relationship I want to work under. Remember the good contractor's want to earn your business the next time you have a project and be called first without question. I am truely sorry you got shafted in your oppinion, perhaps you can gain a possitive lesson from this and do a little better next time and be a happy camper.

AL

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Your being in Florida improves your chances of the job being okay because you won't have freezing and lifting.
I think the job looks good, and you got off VERY cheap. I'm betting that you'll be happy when he's finished.

 

[PineappleMama]

Seems fairly inexpensive compared to other projects I've heard of, but not getting it all in writing, how many hours, etc kinda scares me. Leaves you open to being put on the back burner and/or forgotten if another/better job comes along for him. Or if he just wants to sleep in or wants to watch the game...

I agree with the others. Go ahead and let him finish it out, but set a time table. X hours or done by X date, period.

Given your climate it'll be a wait and see if it'll work or not as is. Maybe it will, awesome, you got a good (if time consuming) deal. But if not at least the thing is done enough to do for now until you find a REAL contractor that'll be a professional and do a complete job of it.

*passes salt*

 

[Sjisty]

Quote:
Ok !!!! I think I have heard enough....................................... you said you learned your lesson and that is to not trust someone to know what their doing..................... with that attitude you will be forever in project h3ll, You failed to do your homework and your pawning off the blame on him. Stepping stones as you thought are not the right material and you insisted on the dirt when you should not have. your failure to check this guy out as you say............... you thought he knew what he was talking about.......... well then !!!!!!! duhhhhh that's on you. I always carry a book with large 8"x11" photo's of all of my work with references, you didn't do that. You thought you knew more than he did about what you thought was the right way. Now WTS it didn't live up to your expectations fine your both at fault, let's be clear on that and not dance around what you already know to be true. You wanted to get out cheap and it came back and bit you in the ***, I personaly don't take one single penny from a customer until their satisfied with the work, if they aren't that's my fault. Personaly I wouldn't have taken the job in the first place if you insisited on the wrong materials and couldn't agree on price beforehand, That is just not the working customer relationship I want to work under. Remember the good contractor's want to earn your business the next time you have a project and be called first without question. I am truely sorry you got shafted in your oppinion, perhaps you can gain a possitive lesson from this and do a little better next time and be a happy camper.

AL

Ouch!! First of all, I didn't insist on anything. I did order and buy fill dirt to cover the roots in the area. That was done before I met this man. I agreed on his price, which was to pay for the materials THAT HE CHOSE and to give him an hourly wage. He suggested the pavers. He told me what was needed and that he would get them. I never even saw them until he brought them to the house. You are right - I didn't check him out. I took him at his word. Yes, I am at fault. Geez!

 

[chicks4kids]

I would have him finish the job if he can guarantee to you that he will be done is a specified amount of time. I think explaining to him that you feel it is costing more than you originally thought it would may make him realize that he can't dilly dally around. With the thought that you may have to cancel the job as it stands may wake him up a little. But the key is to get him to agree to finish the project in a set amount of time (that you decide). That way both of you are satisfied with the arrangement.

 

[greathorse]

I have done a fair amount of this kind of work, mostly for myself. I think the job looks decent, very decent actually given the money you have spent. I have not worked in Florida, but it is my opinion that the substraight is far less critical where there is no freezing and thawing. Looks like a pretty good job to me, sort of home ownerish, but that is sort of where it was priced.

 

[vfem]

Quote:
As a wife of a subcontractor who's a do all handyman... I completely agree! You should have set up a couple meeting to get details... He's always working DIRT cheap so to speak. So, at this pricing I think he's done REALLY well actually. If you want to pay more, if you don't care about the price and you wanted a perfect job... you should have shopped around, and knew you'd have to pay more.

In this economy though, you got yourself a hard worker for little money. Just know if you want any changes at this point, you should pay for it!

My husband used to make $20 an hour for things like this.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Ok !!!! I think I have heard enough....................................... you said you learned your lesson and that is to not trust someone to know what their doing..................... with that attitude you will be forever in project h3ll, You failed to do your homework and your pawning off the blame on him. Stepping stones as you thought are not the right material and you insisted on the dirt when you should not have. your failure to check this guy out as you say............... you thought he knew what he was talking about.......... well then !!!!!!! duhhhhh that's on you. I always carry a book with large 8"x11" photo's of all of my work with references, you didn't do that. You thought you knew more than he did about what you thought was the right way. Now WTS it didn't live up to your expectations fine your both at fault, let's be clear on that and not dance around what you already know to be true. You wanted to get out cheap and it came back and bit you in the ***, I personaly don't take one single penny from a customer until their satisfied with the work, if they aren't that's my fault. Personaly I wouldn't have taken the job in the first place if you insisited on the wrong materials and couldn't agree on price beforehand, That is just not the working customer relationship I want to work under. Remember the good contractor's want to earn your business the next time you have a project and be called first without question. I am truely sorry you got shafted in your oppinion, perhaps you can gain a possitive lesson from this and do a little better next time and be a happy camper.

AL

Good GRIEF!!! How about cutting her some slack on making very typical mistakes? Do you think everyone is born with knowledge of what all is involved in any sort of home repair or enhancement project? How about the contractor's responsibility to educate her into what are apppropriate constructions methods? I didn't see anythng about him saying that the underlayment was incorrect and should be fixed, or offering to bid by the completed job, or naming references for her to check. They BOTH made mistakes, but quite frankly I see him as more culpable as tile laying is at least similar in concept to laying pavers, and he was at least thought to be an experienced contractor. She did not insist on ANYTHING, but rather changed to meet his requests. MOST contractors would have provided material samples for the customer to select from, not made their own selection. Regardless of whether it is flagstone or pavers or tile, they come in a variety of sizes and colouring which might match or clash with the homeowners taste in varying amounts.

 

[Rozzie]

I think the work is beautiful. I wonder if he wants to come do some work for me at that rate. The only way I can imagine finding anyone to do that type of work for that price is to go to the swap meet and find myself some folks of questionable immigration status to work for me.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I have done a fair amount of this kind of work, mostly for myself. I think the job looks decent, very decent actually given the money you have spent. I have not worked in Florida, but it is my opinion that the substraight is far less critical where there is no freezing and thawing. Looks like a pretty good job to me, sort of home ownerish, but that is sort of where it was priced.

I think the work is beautiful. I wonder if he wants to come do some work for me at that rate. The only way I can imagine finding anyone to do that type of work for that price is to go to the swap meet and find myself some folks of questionable immigration status to work for me.

I agree with a lot of the things said in this thread, in my personal opinion,

1. if you ARE REALLY unhappy with the way it is turning out, then you could tell him "no thanks we're done". Then you could either A) Find another REAL contractor to bid to fix/ finish it. Or B) What'd I'd do- is start working on it myself. It IS very labor intensive work, but it's not rocket science, and heck the ground is already leveled. I've laid enough brink and linoleum to get the gist of it done.

2. If you don't mind the way it is/ will turn out, just let him finish, set a date to be done by, and then be done with it with the knowledge that yes you might have to tear it out and re-fix it at a later time.​