Contractor woes - help!!!

Parent Cafe
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Thank you all for your input!!!

First, @greenwitch nailed it: car-house collision! My house is right by the road and, frankly, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before. It was not catastrophic because the car’s rear wheels caught on the guardrail - otherwise, the car would have gone through the wall of the house and gown into the basement, and the elderly driver would likely not have survived. As it was, although it looked pretty impressive with the car sticking out the side of the house, the hole in the siding was only about 3 feet wide.

Now, on to structural damage: What I was referring to was an apparent shifting of the something-or-other inside an interior wall perpendicular to the exterior wall where the impact occurred. The wall looks fine to me, but a door at the far end of that wall no longer closes, apparently because everything shifted. Contractor No. 2 didn’t even notice that, and when I pointed it out to him, he just said that shifting is normal in an older house. Well, yeah, it is, but in this case, it was caused by the impact - and I want it fixed!

The only other structural issue I’m aware of is a cracked support beam at the impact site. Since all of this was identified by the very meticulous insurance adjuster, do I really need to hire a structural engineer? If I need to, it’s not a problem, and I’m sure it would be paid for - I just hadn’t realized it was necessary. I don’t mind doing it - frankly, I think it would be a refreshing change to hire someone who actually shows up and does what he’s being paid to do! :slight_smile: Please chime in, @MaineLonghorn and @HImom - given my description, do you still think a structural engineer is necessary?

As for telling the contractor what needs to be done - shouldn’t he be able to identify the issues himself? At least as well as the adjuster did? The majority of you seem to disagree, and want me to give him the adjuster’s report. I can do that if I need to - I’d just need to copy it over and white out all the dollar amounts. And thank you, @coralbrook, for suggesting that I put all my extras on the same list. Makes sense that I’d get a better deal on the little things if I throw them in with the big job.

As for how I’m being reimbursed by the insurance company - I received most of the payment up front. They’re holding back a small portion, and won’t pay that until they have confirmation that the work is completed. I’m not sure what happens if I do the interior painting myself . . . I guess I can call the claims office and ask.

And as for how I got into this mess in the first place, it’s because the first contractor I went to is a neighbor and family friend. I trusted him to look at the adjuster’s report and make sure everything was covered, and the allocations for labor and materials were sufficient. I then asked him to get me a written contract . . . and a year later, I’m still waiting.

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Thanks, @mycupoftea - I knew this, but had forgotten about it. Contractors in NH aren’t licensed, but insurance is still important.

Okay, give me a hint . . . how late is “late,” and how would the penalties be calculated?

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Angie’s List just changed its business model to no longer require a fee to join and post ratings. I think it will gradually become a less and less reliable source as everyone gets their family members, friends, neighbors and pet iguanas to post positive reviews.

Totally agree with this–but why is that ? Why is this profession so rife with incompetents, nincompoops, liars and plain old thieves? Is it because it’s too easy to get licensed and call yourself a general contractor? I’m not well versed in this area, but I assume that in most states a contractor has to show far less training and skill to get licensed than does, say, a hair stylist. Electricians and plumbers go through apprenticeships and have to show they know their stuff, but I doubt a general contractor has to demonstrate much ability before entering the field, and if that’s the case, it explains a lot.

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“Okay, give me a hint . . . how late is “late,” and how would the penalties be calculated?”

In my case, I asked contractors how long would the project take, and added ~20-30% to the estimated completion date. Most contractors juggle multiple projects, so you want to protect yourself from contractors taking your deposit, starting the project and disappearing after several days, or showing up at random. At least you’ll be able to terminate your contract and find someone else to complete the job instead of sitting and waiting (been there, done that). This is also the reason for pricing each stage separately to avoid possible disputes. As for the penalty, you have to negotiate it with contractors, but it must be painful enough to discourage them from missing several days or a week (depending on project). You’ll see how far you can push them.

Another important part is to make all decisions, place all orders, and receive all deliveries before the job is started. Otherwise, you risk sitting around and waiting for custom or backorders for unspecified amount of time. And this scenario is also not fair to a contractor who has made plans and committed to a certain deadline.

Bottom line, try to envision the worst case scenario, and spell it out in your contract. Not trying to scare you, but things happen, and you want to protect yourself. I would never be able to recover the damages from contractor’s insurance if I did not have his policy, and did not list this specific project step in the contract.

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“Angie’s List just changed its business model to no longer require a fee to join and post ratings. I think it will gradually become a less and less reliable source as everyone gets their family members, friends, neighbors and pet iguanas to post positive reviews.”

True - that’s why I largely ignore positive reviews. But they cannot prevent unhappy customers from writing negative reviews, which I find very informative. If you focus on contractors with many recent reviews, you get a consistent picture.

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Might try HomeAdvisor.com for some options.

I would not be at all sure that the same folks who do other work also do foundation repairs. I have a foundation contractor doing some work to get my porches back into alignment after the concrete piers sunk due to the rising water table after the floods a couple of years ago. They don’t do other kinds of work.

I’m also leery of “saving” so you have extra for other things. My guess is that a year into this project you’ve actually lost some headway since the pricing of materials and labor have both likely risen. They certainly have in our area.

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I defer to @MaineLonghorn, as it’s her field. If my home were hit hard enough that a structural beam cracked and a door that used to operate fine would no longer close, I’d insist on a structural engineer consult for my home.

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I hadn’t even thought of this . . . thanks for the heads up, @arabrab!

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Why hasn’t the insurance company arranged this for you? Typically, they would use one of their preferred contractors who will do the work for the quoted amount, just as they would for an auto that needed repair after a crash"

That is the question I have. Every time I’ve had a claim, they’ve asked me if we’d like to use their recommended contractor, or go with my own. The first time I went with their contractor, who did a great job. The second time, I said, “I want to use the same contractor you recommended last time!” They know who good people are, and working from the estimate, at least you know what you are going to pay.

Our contractor worked from the estimate, however, he found ways to save us money. For example, he said that even though they had given us money to replace a large portion of the wood flooring, much of it was unnecessary because it wasn’t damaged, and they could just replace a little bit. Or we could get cheaper tile and save money. Both times we got extra money out of the deal, even though he worked from the estimate. There are many ways to not fix every little thing, and save yourself some money. Or leave some of it for you to do.

As far as the painting, I would NOT call the insurance company and tell them you are doing it yourself! On one water loss, I told the agent that my husband might do the repair, and she said, “NOOOO! I don’t want to hear that, because then I can’t give you contractors rates for the cost of the repair.” To which I said, “Nevermind!”

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All good points, @busdriver11! But one question . . .

If it’s not in the contract, how do I prove it’s been done? Without proof, they don’t pay the portion they’re retaining.

And I honestly don’t recall if my insurer ever offered to suggest a contractor. Since I was planning to use my “trusted” neighbor, I may have just told them I already had it covered.

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Hmm, I wonder? I guess you could show them the contractor’s bill. It sounds like the painting is a very small portion, and if they ask, you could send them a picture. I’m always leery of asking a question that I don’t want to know the answer to! I can’t imagine they would refuse to send payment because you didn’t have a professional do the painting, but I wonder if they would alter the estimate if you said you were doing some work yourself. I just wonder if they’ll get that involved with exactly who did what, as long as they have a bill showing that work was done.

If you’re still looking for a contractor, why not call and ask whom they recommend? Doesn’t cost anything for them to come out and talk to you, might be worth a try.

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I’d definitely ask them who they recommend and give them a call. I agree costs could well have risen in the year since you got your estimate. Time to get a bunch more quotes and bail this down.

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Will do, @busdriver11. After what @MotherOfDragons said about having to “kiss a lot of frogs,” I’ll be getting as many names as I can!

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If you know any realtors well, especially ones that are also property managers, they may also be good referral sources. Our property manager is awesome at getting things repaired promptly and reasonably.

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It doesn’t seem ethical or practical to try to get the work completed for less so that you have “leftover” insurance money to spend on non-related repairs/upgrades. Could that be commiting insurance fraud? Will you have the contractor give you an overstated bill for you to submit as proof that all the work was done in order to get the held back funds? How will that work?

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Really??? Insurance company pays $5,000 to get X, Y, and Z repaired. I take bids from a half dozen contractors. Contractor #3 is able to repair X, Y, and Z for $4,500. House is good as new and I have funds leftover. No fraud.

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No, it is definitely not insurance fraud. The insurance company doesn’t say you have to use all the money for repairs, this is just what they pay out, whether it costs you more or less. It’s not even borderline sneaky or unethical, it is fine. It’s not like they’re going to give you more money if it costs more! Not all contractors are going to charge the same amount of money.

Try sending back the extra you saved to the insurance company, and see how confused they are, receiving a check. :smiley:

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Interesting. I guess that’s like if your car is damaged in an accident and you take the money but don’t get it repaired - no problem.

We had $50k of storm damage to our house but had to submit a copy of the signed agreement with the contractor to the insurance company, as proof we were getting the work done and that it would cost $50k, in order to receive the money.

The insurance adjuster had originally estimated the damage was $20k and we promptly received a check for $15k with the rest held back until the contract was submitted. But then it took almost 2 years of back and forth to get the insurance company to agree that the actual cost to repair would be $50k.

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"We had $50k of storm damage to our house but had to submit a copy of the signed agreement with the contractor to the insurance company, as proof we were getting the work done and that it wpuld cost $50k, in order to receive the money.

The insurance adjuster had originally estimated the damage was $20k and we promptly received a check for $15k with the rest held back until the contract was submitted. But then it took almost 2 years of back and forth to get the insurance company to agree that the actual cost to repair was $50k."

I suspect that was because you needed more for the actual cost, you had to provide verification. Had it only been 18K, I doubt they would have expected you to reimburse them the other 2K

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Based on the OP’s further description of the damage I would definitely get a structural engineer to review the damage and make recommendations. Having the entire frame of the house knocked out of square is not a trivial matter, and skipping the engineer now could result in further damage down the road if the condition is deteriorating. That is, the frame isn’t going to straighten itself out, but it certainly might continue drifting out of alignment unless properly fixed.

Structural engineers probably also have good recommendations for contractors they’ve worked with. You can engage with the engineer a few different ways. A simple initial review and recommendation, monitoring and review of the repairs at certain stages, or just the initial review plus final review. For a major repair involving structural members I’d want the engineer to review the repairs before the walls are closed up.