Split cost of additional drywall work with contractor?

HU-918119203

3 years ago

Hi all, just wanted to gut check a minor additional cost that's come up in my kitchen renovation.

I have an antique house where I opened the kitchen to the dining room and gutted both rooms as part of a major renovation. I used a contractor who specializes in antiques and who charges on a time and materials basis. As it's an old house, it obviously wasn't remotely plumb/square. My contractor's lead carpenter spent a ton of time furring out and otherwise working on the walls and ceilings to make them reasonably level.

After drywall was completed and cabinets/counters were installed, two things became very clear. One, the drywall on one wall was totally not level because the drywall contractors had not worked around a structural post in the corner. It's a long story, but this is an antique barn with structural framing at the corners. In each corner of the house, the plaster bumped out (for lack of a word) around the post by about a half inch or inch or so. Contractor discussed whether to repeat that or to change it so that it was a typical corner and we agreed to keep it the same, since the rest of the house is like that. Drywall contractors didn't get the message and created a clean corner, but as a result basically undid all the furring/evening out work of the carpenter. This became apparent when my 4" stone backsplash was installed and it was flush on one end and a solid half inch off the wall at the other.

Two, the ceiling was definitely not near to level. This became apparent when the cabinets were installed, and the crown molding was clearly angled against the cabinet. It was not horrible, but very noticeable to me.

The solution was for the drywall contractor to "float" the ceiling and wall out. I am happy with the results of both. I should also say here that I am generally very happy with the work my contractor has done and feel the quality is excellent. No other major issues, no bait-and-switch on costs, generally on time and budget, professional and easy to work with.

Total cost to float is $2k. Contractor proposes to cover half the cost, reasoning that the wall float was something they should have caught but the ceiling was not, that uneveness is a given in an old house and this was within the margins, but just not acceptable to me.

I'm sort of inclined to pay the $1k and call it a day, but to ask contractor to carve out any cost/overhead/insurance associated with this (an extra 30% or something like that). Which he may already be planning to do. My hesitation is that I paid, on a time and materials basis, a lot of money to have the wall furred out. And this error basically made all that time a waste of money. I guess I ultimately feel it's water under the bridge, but am interested in what others think.

Featured Answer

pkpk23

3 years ago

Pay the $1000. You stated he is a contractor who works on oldhouses and you have been satisfied with the work. You will probably want him to do work in the future- you want him to want to work for you.

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Comments (9)

PRO
DeWayne
3 years ago
You had an unreasonable expectation to start with, and your contractor is saving the day. Pay the whole 2K. Old houses that are not level are going to have unlevel ceilings. And that should have been your expectation from the beginning.
chispa
3 years ago
Just pay the $1k and call it a day.

Don't start doing math on percentages of overhead/insurance/etc. which are not relevant to you, only the final price quoted is what matters.

Leave on a good note. You want him to come back if you have any issues or need help with another project down the road.
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homechef59
3 years ago
I've renovated a lot of old homes. Never expect that walls and especially ceilings will be level even after trying to make it so.

This is why when I design a kitchen with wall cabinets, I design the crown molding to accommodate the expected lack of level. There a couple of ways to accomplish this. But, the bottom line is it has be be designed in at the beginning of the process.

I'd pay the contractor the full amount. This could have cost you so much more. He's being gracious by sharing the cost. He won't be losing money in the end. You will be charged elsewhere, you just won't know where the charge is embedded.

Cooperation gets you a lot of benefits. These things happen. At least it wasn't a $50K mistake. I've seen those and they are not pretty.
HU-918119203
Original Author
3 years ago
Hi DeWayne, I did not have an expectation that it would be perfectly level, but I take your point on the ceiling. As for the wall - my contractor acknowledges that it was his fault for not properly instructing the drywall contractor and/or not noticing they didn't follow the instructions. Without which a portion of this bill would be unnecessary. Since most of what you pay a GC for is instructing and overseeing subs, I consider his offer to cover half the bill more than appropriate in the circumstances.
HU-918119203
Original Author
3 years ago
Homechef, kind of a confusing response. You are saying my contractor is gracious for doing this, but if I accept, he will essentially overbill me somewhere else to make up the difference. I don't think a gracious person is generally dishonest, but that is what you are suggesting.

I should add that the contractor offered this without any prompting or complaint from me about the cost.
PRO
Charles Ross Homes
3 years ago
Hi, HU,

I appreciate your point of view. The issue with the corners was discussed, but not implemented. The cost to remedy that is on the remodeler, in my opinion. Leveling a ceiling in an old structure is a darn-near impossible task. It would have taken more time and material to shim, and check ad infinitum. You would have ended up paying for that on a time-and-materials basis. The proposed $1K charge to float the ceiling alone seems quite reasonable to me. I'd pay the $1K and recognize the contractor's willingness to meet you half way.
HU-918119203 thanked Charles Ross Homes
bry911
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
As a general rule, you shouldn’t pay for something twice because of a mistake, but should pay the first time.

The amount seems completely reasonable and I would pay it and count my blessings.
HU-918119203 thanked bry911
homechef59
3 years ago
Not accusing your contractor of anything nefarious. He's just using good business practices. Trying to keep you happy.