Are there any contractors with integrity?
posted by Cynthia Brian at 3:27 PM
Thursday, July 21, 2005
About Me
- Name: Cynthia Brian
- Location: California, United States
Born and raised on a farm in Napa County, I raised chickens and drove tractor to put myself through college. I went from the chicken coop to Chicken Soup as I am the co-author of the New York Times best seller, Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul as well as other books. Every day I collect fresh eggs from my barnyard, so despite my career in film, television, radio, and the media, I am still a rural girl shoveling manure! There are no failures in life as I turn everything into fertilizer for my next garden of opportunity.
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Our house, which is only about 18 years old, is basically falling apart! What we thought was our dream home has turned into a nightmare. A movie was made about our house-it’s called The Money Pit. Can you relate?
We built this house after walking land for ten years, interviewing 6 architects, 18 contractors, and 43 lenders. We wanted only the best because we wanted to do it right and only do it once. We worked hard, saved our money, invested wisely, got educated about the process, then hired great people based on solid information and numerous recommendations.
Almost from day one the problems began. The architect added up the square feet incorrectly which meant the contractor’s bid was over budget. The framer disappeared with the dollars we paid the contractor, resulting in a lien to the house. The windows were delayed for months allowing the rains to drown the building in the winter. The superintendent had the nicknamed "Waving Rich" as he seemed to be afraid of his sub-contractors. Instead of checking on them, he’d drive to the top of the driveway, wave to everyone and leave. What was supposed to be nine months of construction evolved into 18 months of high stress and diminishing bank accounts. Despite the setbacks and cost escalations, we hung in there with full faith in our builder.
Our lender was a dream, extended our loans, and helped us avoid bankruptcy. We eventually moved in and thought the craziness was over. It was just beginning. Our kids sailed boats in the crawl space under the house which had become a lake while decorative columns rotted, and the deck sagged. We’d call the builder, he’d send out Waving Rich. A few things would be repaired, just to fail a couple of years down the road. We’d be told to caulk and paint the entire house, which we did….THREE TIMES.
My husband lots his patience and became furious. We are both people that believe in integrity and standing behind your work. After spending so much money, why was such a young beautiful house riddled with problems? A paper trail of letters and emails ensued. Yet because we really believed in and liked our builder, and we are not litigious people, we never pursued any legal intervention. Big mistake on our part!
This past year, the failings on the house have hit an all time high. We were forced to hire independent construction experts and to consult with an attorney. The reports indicate that our house is a "textbook case" of improper construction, inappropriate materials, and poor supervision during the building stage. The gutters are too small for the pitch of the roof and the size of the home, there are no flashing materials in evidence anywhere, the wood used was pine or plywood instead of cedar or redwood, some of the roof tiles are not even nailed down. The experts tell us that no matter how many times we caulked, painted, or maintained, this house was disintegrating before it was even finished. This renowned builder with the stellar reputation performed miserably on this project.
We must liquidate our retirement accounts to bear the burden of these expenses. The new California laws, forged by builders and the insurance companies, absolve the contractor of any responsibility after ten years. In hindsight, we regret being so kind. We regret having faith in the builder. We regret believing in his integrity and honesty to do the right thing.. We are paying a very high price for maintaining what we thought was a friendship between us.
Regret begets no relief. The reality is we always have and always will want to believe in the goodness of people. We want to trust in their word. We want to feel that those we hire are honest and will do the job as specified. We don’t want to sue anyone. We want to build relationships that linger.
Karma rules the world. What goes around, comes around. Word of mouth is always the best advertisement or the worst sanction. What’s going to happen? The optimist in me writes the ending with the contractor visiting the site, noticeably appalled by what has happened to his masterpiece. Peter resurrects his compassionate character by correcting the mistakes of the subs. He does the right thing. We compromise on the costs. Everyone shakes hands and the house becomes the home we had hoped to build.
Another ending-like Scarlett in Gone with the Wind, I’ll think about that tomorrow. It probably involves lawyers and the media which means no one shakes hands or wins.
If you’ve encountered a similar experience, I’d love to hear how you handled it. Email me at cynthia@NOSPAMstar-style.com (Eliminate the words NO SPAM from the email address before sending-this is to keep away the web crawlers)
Until next month, keep a positive outlook on life even when the walls are falling down around you. I am! And, remember when doing anything, DO IT RIGHT, THE FIRST TIME!
Happy summer to all.
Starsmiles and blessings,
Cynthia Brian
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