Oh what fun we have with Contractors--Hail repair

[iheartmaytag]

You guys may remember I told you that we had a major hail storm on July 8th. Well we have been repairing damages from the almost hour long pounding of baseball sized hail every since.

First there was the clean up of 30 contractor size bags of leaves and tree branches, rehanging electric, cable, and telephone lines. Dealing with insurance and the adjusters. They totaled both of my cars and were going to replace the roof and siding on the back of the house.

I decided to go with the "Preferred" providers the insurance company had because they would find the contractors and coordinate the repairs. They got the roofing done at the end of September, but had to wait on the siding. First they were going to just replace the back portion and use the salvaged siding from there to repair/patch in the sides and front.

They ran into a problem that they couldn't match the siding so after months of trying to match it the insurance approved to replace all the siding on the entire house, upping the total estimate by another $14,000.

So they started on the siding yesterday. By the time I got home last night they had about half tore off the side, and front and were reinstalling the new stuff as they tore off. It was starting to get dark and I heard the leader yelling at one of the other guys that he was doing "sh!t" "You, Fix!!"
Then the guy threw something and walked off the front porch where he was working.

The next thing I know there was a knock at the back door and the guy that walked off was standing there with a cell phone in his hand wanting to know the address. He handed me the phone and I though he was probable talking to the Contractor, as it turned out he was talking to 9-1-1. Then the Police show up and wanted to know if I witnessed the "viloence" that occured.

Having had enough, and it was getting pretty dark, I told them that it would be best if they just went home tonight and came back in a better situation with more light tomorrow.

I then tried to get hold of the contractor and got his answering service where the woman was still wound up from spending the whole day on her stripper pole she got snotty with me, so I called First Choice with the insurance company.

Well today ther are two crews, a contractor and the insurance adjuster sitting at my house monitoring the work. I don't know now if I'm a problem child, or they are.

I will be so glad when all of this is finished. They still have to have the HVAC people out to comb the AC and then replace the gutters and repaint the garage.

What buzz kills.

 

[penguinsoup]

contractors, etc....

Contractors, well some of them are strange birds. I just had a contractor friend come in & refinish my basement from a flood. No problem, until his drywall guy decided not to show up. Fortunately my contractor cancelled his vacation & worked himself. While it took longer, he still got the job done. Then the carpet guys screwed up, but he took care of that issue as well. So, in comparison I am very fortunate.

Getting back to contractors. Many times they'll hire subcontractors who are not always qualified. That may be the issue in your case. At least that's what it sounds like.

It is most certainly not your problem & seems that you have done & are continuing to do the right thing. It is the insurance company & contractor's responsibility to make sure your the work is done per your agreement, especially as your insurance company recommended the contractor.

Best of luck!

P

 

[iheartmaytag]

Sub-Contractors

Yes, the siding guys, and roofing for that manner must have been subs. The actuall contractor can speak English.

 

[hydralique]

Contractural Relationships . . .

Most general contractors use a lot of subcontractors. This is a mostly beneficial situation, in that it gives all parties a lot of flexibility. A good contractor will know his subs and will often chose a specific sub for a specific job. Problems occur when a contractor doesn't provide adequate supervision and coordination for the subs. Regardless of this, if a licensed general contractor has hired the sub, then he is responsible for the work of that sub, even if the sub isn't licensed. This is a great benefit for the client as it gives him a recourse in the event that the work is shoddy. If a client hires his own sub, then the general isn't responsible for that work.

The best way to approach any work with a general contractor is to make sure he's licensed and insured, and then discuss scheduling and supervision of his subs before the work starts.

 

[maytagbear]

Sounds like

you've been through some hail with your repairs!

Sorry to hear this, hope things start to improve.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[petek]

I remember back in the 80's we had a major hailstorm and damage. I was laying on the couch yakking on the phone when all of a sudden it sounded like the roof was gonna come crashing down, jumped up and massive hailstones were pummelling everything. We ended up with a new roof, all new allaround siding, new patio furniture and fence repairs. I took a cash settlement instead of repair/replace on my car and kept it. We never had any insurer/contractor problems at all and within a month or two everything had been fixed up. Our insurer was Allstate at the time

 

[alr2903]

Iheartmaytag, while you have the siding off is an excellent time to get the termite guys to treat all the lower levels. They can really get the cracks and crevices and inspect for damage easily. alr2903

 

[panthera]

Oh, yes, my, yes.

My parent's roof was badly damaged by a hail storm this last summer. When the adjuster came out, he pronounced it totaled and wrote the check.

He also gave me a piece of advice. Two, actually. One, he said, look - I totaled it, but you'll make it through the winter. Don't rush, there's a lot of poor quality roofers(he used another term which gives the ladies the vapors, so I won't use it) in town right now, making a killing. Wait till the good guys have time again, and no, I can't make any recommendations, all on our list are good, whoops! (he "drops" his billfold and three business cards fall out, he leaves them on the ground and pockets the billfold.)
Second, be at home the entire time. Even if it's a pain in the neck, even if you have no clue, don't ever leave them alone. It's the parlor maid and sweeping it under the carpet game.

He actually said that.

Good luck and let's hope the Rethugs are right and the climate is really cooling, not warming up and we won't have any more such storms.

 

[iheartmaytag]

These guys are not Gypsies, the general contractor is local. I just saw humor in the fact that these are the preferred providers the insurance company sent out.

I did have them hold off until September to start for two reasons. With all the local damages supplies were short. and I wanted to get through the storm season so I didn't have to go through this twice this year.

I work with a guy that was just getting the damages repaired form last year when this storm hit and he had to do it all over. Two deductibles, two headaches.

Today they have the front and one side done. The appear to be doing a very good job from what my untrained eye can see.

 

[panthera]

Glad to hear it

I don't know in which country my experience with "Handwerker" has been worse - the US or here in Germany.

In both countries, they tend to act like demi-gods and treat us mere mortals like, well, rather badly.

I'd guess American handymen are just a bit more inclined to do it right, but that's sort of like comparing being sick in bed with the flu for seven days as opposed to being sick in bed with the flu for one week.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that things continue to progress well.

At this point in my life, if I can do the work myself or (better) with my partner, we do. Roof's are a notch over my pay-grade, sadly.

 

[sudsmaster]

Interesting advice about staying home while the roof is being replaced... I might just do that when my home's time comes (from an aging roof, not from hail - the biggest we get around here is the size of peppercorns).

 

[panthera]

except for 1982

When the damn hail broke my windshield and killed the resale value of the car with all the dents...I was new in San Francisco and everybody said it never hails and never snows and that year, we got both...

 

[sudsmaster]

I was in the area at that time... and my car didn't get damaged by hail. Maybe it was just an SF thing?

Are you sure you didn't park next door to a golf driving practice range with defective netting (the range, not you)?

;-p

 

[panthera]

Rich,

I was in the Marina and we often had worse weather right there than the rest of the city...just like North Beach is colder than the Avenues...

San Francisco was wonderful to me. If I had to chose one city in which to spend the rest of my life, never leaving its borders again, it would be a tough choice between Venice and San Francisco.

Probably take Venice because I enjoy human status there, but otherwise...I mean, what more can you ask for? World class chocolate, world class opera and theater (we won't talk about ballet), outstanding museums, universities and colleges, wonderfully friendly people, did I mention the chocolate?, the best calamari in the USA, real Italian food (not Italian-American, there's a reason we lived in the Marina)...

Sigh.

 

[whirlcool]

Back in the 90's we had a tile floor installed in our kitchen. The room was 29' x 15'. The work was susposed to take 6 days.
the first three days went fine. Then the installed called at noon and said that he had to go get his wife out of jail and then he would show up. He never did the rest of that day. He showed up the next day, but the day after that he didn't show because HE was in jail for not paying his speeding tickets. A week later he shows up again. Worked for one day and then went missing for 4 days. I contacted the store where we bought the tile and their crews were to install it. They just explained that they were sorry and just to bear with them.
Finally 6 weeks later the floor was installed. The guy did great work, but he was so unreliable. But I have heard that people who are in the home repair field are frequently like this, with dry wallers being the worst.

 

[sudsmaster]

In the course of my motorcycling pastime, I have run across a number of guys who work in the construction trades.

Some are top-notch - and they quickly rise to the top of the construction food chain, becoming well-paid foremen, etc., or they start their own businesses and are successful - if they know how to weed out the losers.

Others seem to be the losers in high school you thought would never really make it. They seem unable to cope fully with adulthood, especially when it comes to taking responsibility for one's own life. Unpaid tickets, running from the cops, failing to file tax returns, skipping out on rent, drunk driving, drug abuse (and not just pot), getting into vicious fights/vendettas over women, unpaid debts, etc... I'm sure they have to be watched carefully on the job, or they'll wander off, get drunk, cover up major errors, etc...

 

[hunter]

yeah...

I've had experience with some great contractors.

Unfortunately a lot of them are unemployable so they work for themselves!

 

[alr2903]

Suds, yes and never loan them Your personal tools u will never see them again. Watch for hidden peril, the HVAC guy that installed the DW on the under the table plan, did not put the terminal cover over the electrical connections, he planned to but the bottom panel on the "next" day he came over, lawd i found my cat curled up under the dishwasher with wiring hanging on her. That concluded our "business". alr2903