http://www.wannabesupermom.com/chat/renovation-nightmares trying to do it all without falling on my face Mon, 27 Jun 2011 22:56:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.wannabesupermom.com/chat/renovation-nightmares/comment-page-1#comment-9649 Ivan Giraldez Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:08:15 +0000 http://www.wannabesupermom.com/?p=422#comment-9649 Your story sounds like I had the brother working on my house here in Miami. We had a similar experience where we decided to convert an entertainment room to a master bedroom, replace the tile floors to stone and up date our kitchen & bathrooms. The project was expected to take 6 weeks or so. We reviewed & signed the contract, paid the interior decorator, & she brought in the GC by the name of David Kalthoff from the Construction Project LLC. The GC disappeared for 6 months (maybe took a vacation) then came by later with the notice of commencement and said that getting the permits and plans took that long? The work began while they tore down walls and installed floors we were living in the house until we had to move out because of the dust. Every time I came by to check on the work the A/C was running while they cut stones and dust flying all over the house. I complained several times and they said they would not run the air but they always did behind my back while I wasn't there. The GC would never give me the invoices to the subcontractors and I would tell him I was stopping the project till he gave me the invoices and proof of payments, but he would say that if I stopped the project all the subs would move on to their next jobs and who knows when we'll see them again? Also his wife was deathly ill in the hospital spitting up blood and she was the one who handles the receipts. Once she came out she would give them to me. 6 months later all was complete except for the kitchen & bathroom cabinets in which he claimed would arrive next week. Next week came and no cabinets. Reason...finish trims were taking longer than expected. After fighting and battling for 5 months for the cabinets to be done we decided to pay a visit to the cabinet maker and you guessed it. No cabinets had been started even after we paid $15,000.00 down payment. We also paid $6,000.00 for the marble counter tops and the GC made a $2,000.00 deposit and kept the rest for himself. I fired the CG and had to finish the bathroom with the help of a friend also a CG. The GC filed a Lien against my home and never paid all the other sub-contractors who also filed liens. I am in the process of dealing with all through the Board of Architects and building inspectors. To top it all off he never pulled permits except for the windows we decided to add to the project during demolition phase. This is the short version of the nightmare. Your story sounds like I had the brother working on my house here in Miami. We had a similar experience where we decided to convert an entertainment room to a master bedroom, replace the tile floors to stone and up date our kitchen & bathrooms. The project was expected to take 6 weeks or so. We reviewed & signed the contract, paid the interior decorator, & she brought in the GC by the name of David Kalthoff from the Construction Project LLC. The GC disappeared for 6 months (maybe took a vacation) then came by later with the notice of commencement and said that getting the permits and plans took that long? The work began while they tore down walls and installed floors we were living in the house until we had to move out because of the dust. Every time I came by to check on the work the A/C was running while they cut stones and dust flying all over the house. I complained several times and they said they would not run the air but they always did behind my back while I wasn’t there. The GC would never give me the invoices to the subcontractors and I would tell him I was stopping the project till he gave me the invoices and proof of payments, but he would say that if I stopped the project all the subs would move on to their next jobs and who knows when we’ll see them again? Also his wife was deathly ill in the hospital spitting up blood and she was the one who handles the receipts. Once she came out she would give them to me. 6 months later all was complete except for the kitchen & bathroom cabinets in which he claimed would arrive next week. Next week came and no cabinets. Reason…finish trims were taking longer than expected. After fighting and battling for 5 months for the cabinets to be done we decided to pay a visit to the cabinet maker and you guessed it. No cabinets had been started even after we paid $15,000.00 down payment. We also paid $6,000.00 for the marble counter tops and the GC made a $2,000.00 deposit and kept the rest for himself. I fired the CG and had to finish the bathroom with the help of a friend also a CG. The GC filed a Lien against my home and never paid all the other sub-contractors who also filed liens. I am in the process of dealing with all through the Board of Architects and building inspectors. To top it all off he never pulled permits except for the windows we decided to add to the project during demolition phase. This is the short version of the nightmare.

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