Restarting remodel after disastrous GC experience

10 years ago

I posted here several months ago that we were having difficulty keeping our major home remodel project moving forward, and eventually all work ground to a complete halt. The crews quit showing up and stopped answering emails and calls. We were left with a huge mess on our hands, both figuratively and literally, the literal bit provided by the big trash can of construction waste left on the porch.

We're now attempting to get some of our money back from the person known in our home as the No-Good-Horrible-Very-Bad GC. Even though they started work in January, they didn't even complete enough work to earn the full initial deposit. I have no idea if we'll ever see a dime, but it's too much money to just let slide. We may end up in some kind of mediation. And this was a contractor with glowing referrals! So frustrating.

It's been truly icky--I've rarely been so stressed in my life. BUT! After enormous anxiety and lots of interviews, we found a new contractor who is smart and savvy and working incredibly hard. I feel on the verge of regaining some faith in human nature.

Right now, a crew is in the backyard tearing up the concrete forms that the No-Good-Horrible-Very-Bad GC finished in FEBRUARY. They were able to reuse the rebar, but most of the forms were warped and useless. I've been told concrete will be poured Monday or Tuesday. The electrical box has been moved. Plumbing rough-in starts tomorrow.

The job foreman has told me his goal is to have us in our new kitchen by Thanksgiving. The schedule has it closer to Christmas, but he says he likes to set himself a personal target. I feel like a huge black cloud has lifted out of my life. And even though I'm still dealing with the No-Good-Horrible-Very-Bad GC, I can approach the situation with a lot more humor since I'm seeing progress elsewhere.

I think we're really going to do this!

Featured Answer

elunday
Original Author

10 years ago

Joseph, I've asked that question. I was told that the problem rested with the main subcontractor for the job, who was the job foreman. I'll call him S. (He was in charge of our site, even though the contract was with the GC.) At first S was just erratic--not showing up when he said he would, not answering text messages or phone calls, etc. I would try to contact him, then eventually get in touch with the GC. He would call S, and S would show up and work hard for a few days. Then the cycle would start over.

In the summer S went totally AWOL, didn't answer any communications from me or from the GC. The GC says he finally tracked S down on a job site (one of S's own, not one through the GC) and S told the GC that he (S) had one of *his* subs completely screw up a job and S was desperately trying to fix it.

We tried to be flexible through all of this, and when we got the explanation above we suggested the GC find another sub. Or do it himself. Or something. That never happened. Finally, after no work had been done for weeks, we gave them a deadline.

That deadline passed, and we wrote them a letter ending the contract.

It's unfortunate. I really liked S. He was kinda ADHD and all over the place, but he was enthusiastic, and when he worked, he worked really hard. He did things like hunt down trim that matched the trim in our 100 year old house--you can just find it at Home Depot. But then he vanished, and has, according to the GC, remained out of touch. (I'm assuming the GC is telling the truth, and have no reason really to believe otherwise, although I suppose he could be lying upside down and backwards.)

You guys don't know me, and I could be the biggest PIA client in the universe, and you have no reason to believe me when I say I'm not. But I'm actually not. I'm also self-employed, so I know what it's like to juggle clients. I also recognize our wonky house makes things complicated. You truly never know what's behind the walls. So I really don't get it. I think the thing that baffles me the most is why the GC couldn't get someone else to do the work or do it himself. The only thing I can figure is that he already paid S and couldn't afford to hire anyone else.

The only other thing I can offer is the theory of the new GC, who says that the framing of the addition is really complicated, and when the old crew realized it was going to be a lot more tricky than they planned, they wanted out.

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Comments (9)

funkycamper
10 years ago
So glad you're getting your faith and humor back! Hope all continues to go well. Keep us posted.
weaver2
10 years ago
I am So sorry to hear about all of the problems you had! And I admire your positive outlook with your new contractor in the face of al those previous Horrible GC issues!

best of luck and I look forward to seeing your finished, wonderful new kitchen!
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Joseph Corlett, LLC
10 years ago
If your old GC were here, what would he say went wrong?
fldirt
10 years ago
Hope all goes well with the new GC. Any remodel is stressful but when you have a bad GC that just pushes the bar even higher. Hang in there…
AnnKH
10 years ago
Good luck moving forward!
my_four_sons
10 years ago
Joseph, sounds like you're looking for a blame the client story. Let's just give elunday a big woohoo for finding a new gc who can correct the job and finally get the project done. Remodeling is hell, and I can't imagine having to restart a project begun 7 months ago. Good luck, hope the holidays find you roasting turkey in your new kitchen!
Katrina Tate
10 years ago
Glad that everything is back on track. I understand your frustration and loss of faith. We had a similar ordeal years ago that I posted about when it was still the garden forum. We went through 4 general contractors to finish a house that had a roof truss issue that took multiple GC's to determine and finally get fixed. We ended up getting two general contractors licenses revoked and ended up in court with the bank financing the project, but we did get our money back and the house was finally finished with us being the GC. We sold it.

I don't know why it's so hard to find a reliable, honest, organized, responsive contractor. We've interviewed 16 contractors for our bathroom remodel. Some never called back, some never provided an estimate after a site visit and one guy who we did select just stopped responding after we picked a start date (months ago). Glad that happened before he demolished our bathroom. The most recent contractor we met with took us to see his work at a neighbors home. His work was fabulous but we never heard back from him despite his promise to send us an estimate in 2 days. It's been two weeks.
whiterussian31
10 years ago
What a nightmare! I hope all goes well with a new GC.