Finally started

[gec]

Finally started the garage/addition, after 2yrs of planning today we ripped the whole end off the house to build a 27x32 garage with an office/master bedroom above. I'm not going to get the ceiling height I wanted in the garage but there should be enough material left to build a large shed after the building inspector leaves . This project was supposed to take 8 weeks in total but if they keep working at this pace I can't see it. I've been loading drywall & scrap lumber since 7:00am and making steady dump runs to try and save a few dollars..I need a bigger trailer or a closer dump.

 

[ruby76]

Awesome, you're going to love the extra garage space. I just finished my garage a month or so ago. Finally got the driveway in.

 

[gec]

I really wish I'd bulldozed the whole thing and started over trying to live in half a house sucks!
We had to cut off the plumbing & electrical yesterday & we're now living in the wrecked room.. I had to re-route the plumbing to supply the main bath upstairs but have no lights in the bath or my daughters room.
My contractor figures it will be a 8wk job but has taken on an 8500sq ft addition at another site & I have the feeling he's not putting as much time into my small $100,000+ job half his crew is at the other site ad
Just glad I have my helper to Keep watch on my scrap fire!

 

[74bigblock]

awwww good puppydog!

 

[gec]

I got a hole!

I got a hole!..finally the footings start tommorow, Wow do things ever start to add up we bought 3 sets of garden doors for the upstairs last week and now I have to go shopping for the garage windows & lock down a price for a couple of solar panels for the garage roof. I'll be heating the garage as there is living space above & a 2 pce bath in the back corner of the garage for a clean-up area...can't have it freezing up! I'm thinking of a small propane back up heater as the solar panels will only heat when the sun is up.
Gary

 

[ruby76]

Where do you stand now? Im sure you've had to make some progress, no?

 

[gec]

Yikes!

I never in a million years thought it would take this long to build. First the contractor we picked because of his references takes on an 8500sq ft job and most of his crew are at the other site, then we run into all kinds of problems structurally trying to tie the old into the new stuff, the architect screwed up the measurments & beam size & the contrators head is at the other job even when he is here. The good news is I have some walls 9ft upstairs because they used the wrong material...lol, sometimes you just gotta sit back and laugh. I took the homeless corvette out to the beach the other day, my daughter bought a floating island that would'nt fit in the van after blowing it up so I strapped it on the roof of the vette.

 

[ruby76]

You didn't really drive it like that did you? That looks like fun to have out on the water.

 

[gec]

Grrr...update!

This is a warning to anyone hiring a contractor,my wife is an avid hgtv watcher and knew all the questions to ask before hiring a contractor, we interviewed at least 10 and selected the one with the best track record, his crew had been with him for 10yrs plus,we spoke to his referances and looked at his past work. His price was $20,000 over our lowest quote but we were assured we were getting quality for the extra money....boy was I wrong!
This "crew" never did show up just the contractor himself and a couple kids he hired to do our job.
They brought the minimum tools (hammer), used all my stuff, ladders sawsall, drills slege,levels broke most of it then started borowing off my neighbors!
I've never built a structure in my life I'm more of a backyard mechanic type but this guy took 1wk to build the forms, 3 walls 27x30 and had concrete ordered when I noticed there was no way for the concrete to run from 1 form to the other at the steps! it all had to be redone.
From that point on it got worse, It took him 4 tries to frame a door & he broke down crying.."could'nt remember why he took it apart"
After framing the new part with the wrong material (I now have 9' walls upstairs) he moved into the old part of the house gutted the whole thing then could'nt put it back togeather.
I finally fired them at the end of november The original est. was $85,000.completely finished outside drywall etc inside no trim or carpet.
It cost $100,000 and we had no decks,siding, soffit, facia, eaves and a completely gutted inside and the things that were finished have to be completely removed and redone. All windows and doors have had to come back out as they are crooked, leaking, sideway's headers sagging in the middle etc.
I've since hired a friend thats built a few homes for himself and we've fixed most of the windows built the deck, board & batton and were now doing the eves.
I'm not sure what will happen with the contractor...he sent a registered letter end of nov. saying he feels we owe him $6,000 but because of his screwups he was willing to settle for $3,000, he came out expecting a check & after showing him all of his "Quality workmanship" that has to be redone I told him I was'nt paying him anything untill I see what it will cost to fix things that he was uncapable of fixing.
I thought that was the end of him but I recieved another letter yesterday that he now wants $13,000 by the 6th(lol) or he will collect.
P.S Sorry about the long post but I've been kinda busy this summer & was too tired to update the progress..lol
My daughter put about 10,000km on the vette this summer and it's now asleep in it's new home. I'll attach a pic of my new garage floor & see what you guy's think, it was poured in Oct.

 

[SoLow]

Hire an attorney..........sue the contractor......document everything! Bill the contractor for work not done...work that was done to fix what he did and the cost of replacing your tools. Sue him for not building by the plan. Guy's like that need to learn a lesson. Just my .02

 

[gec]

Thats unfortunatly what I'm doing now, looking for an attorney.
A Structual engineer that I hired about moving a beam was more worried about the door headers & exposed footings than the beam, he took lots of pics & said he was sending them to the head building inspector as the local guy only spoke broken english (I could'nt understand a word) but he seemed to get along great with the contractor as he'd just tell him to go ahead with the next step over the phone.
The engineer say's he spends alot of his time in court because of bad contractors & unfortunatly only the lawyers win.
The cracks in the floor are growing and starting to heave, I was guaranteed(verbally) that because of the rebar, heating the garage etc. it would never have a crack!
I'm not sure what can be done to fix this...other than wait till spring & rip it out? ad

 

[ruby76]

I hate hearing stories like this. Im sorry it worked out (or not worked ) that way. So I wonder what happened because he had previous happy customers that you had checked out prior to hiring him.

 

[gec]

This guy has a great crew that does all the work, his framer told me that when he shows up at a job site they make a list & send him to Home Depot because he likes to shop & just screws everything up if he tries to help.
After taking on an 8,500sq ft job he had to send the crew there and we got the new kids he hired.

 

[Piet]

It is these kind of stories that made me build my own garage (30' wide by 24' deep). My brother had a 60' driveway poured by a "professional" and it spawled (pitted) within a month. I had never poured concrete before in my life but decieded "I can do a lousy job for less" . I poured a 6" thick pad with rebar every 12". I put insulation below the pour and Kitec piping in the pad (for in floor heating). I used 28 mPa concrete and rented a contrete vibrator. It turned out GREAT. That was 2 yrs ago. I have a tiny tiny hairline crack (very hard to see) and this is after 2 winters (-30) and having a 5 ton truck parked on it for a while.

It a sad story you have. I hope that you win in the end!

 

[grumpyvette]

ID FULLY AGREE THAT THERES A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF CONTRACTORS THAT ARE ONLY IN IT, (construction) FOR A QUICK BUCK, AND THAT THE CUSTOMER IS A DISTANT CONCERN
its taken me over a year to get my garage about 80% done and I check out the contractors extensively by talking to previous job sites, even then its difficult to seperate the crooks from the guys who do a decent days work, and damn near all of them fail to deliver on the dates or at the costs aggreed too.
its also fun dealling with the inspectors from the county, some are nice and intelligent, some are so dumb and lazy, or flat rude, I honestly wonder how they are still employed