Bad Contractor

Here is original paperwork from Frontline Construction, explaining the job they were planning on doing and what the cost would be. Bear in mind that the home owner (myself) was still trying to shake off the effects of cancer and chemotherapy... therefore I didn't notice everything I should have, such as how very incomplete it was. Having said that, Steve of Frontline Construction still managed to violate the very broad parameters he'd written up himself.

First we have the tuckpointing of the foundation, which had some serious cracks in it post-flood, including signs of where the water came in. Originally, I thought he'd done an okay job with the places he did work on. (Only on the eastern wall, which was interesting since most of the water came in the back, or north, wall) However, two subsequent contractors who studied it have told me that he did no tuck pointing at all. He simply filled in the gaps with caulk.

And here's one section of the back wall that was untouched, including cracks and water stains.

Another view of the back wall. You can see where the home I frantically cut away insulation and threw down some hydraulic cement during the initial stages of the flood. It's still there in all its glory.

And a closer shot. Neatness didn't count at the time. It sure does now.

The five year old (rather expensive) gutters were torn off and replaced with gutters that are not close to the original diameter. (see picture below for comparison.) I have a lot of large trees which is why the original gutters were replaced with larger ones shortly after I bought the house. The wide gutters were given away by the contractor to a very creepy neighbor of mine who has declined to return them.
Now we're back to square one and the gutters will have to be replaced yet again whenever I find the money to do it. Steve's answer to my complaint? "You have a son. Make him clean the gutters out every few weeks. In fact, he should get a ladder and get a job doing it around the neighborhood." Uhm, what???

The contract stipulated that the basement floor would be painted with an oil based glossy paint. Steve's words and one thing that we'd agreed on. Before painting commenced, he bragged to me in front of his employee that it was the "best paint money can buy." He quoted a price of forty dollars a gallon and added that it would only take one coat to do a perfect job. This is what he used:

I'm actually quite grateful that his employee left this can behind. It's a Hallman/Lindsay product. Note how the words "glossy oil" seem to have metamorphed into "100% Acrylic Floor Enamel." I called the Wisconsin Dells distributor, where Steve would almost certainly have bought this $40.00 wonder paint. The price quoted to me was $23.99. Study of the product on the Hallman/Lindsay web-site stipulates also that this is a matte product. No gloss.

And, as it turns out, one coat gets you a patchy mess:

And did I mention the hole they knocked into my floor and didn't fix or even acknowledge? (Another good view of that nice even paint coating there too.)

The arrow indicates the position of the hole. Not exactly an easily overlooked place.

And although this is not in technical violation of the contract, I thought I'd share some examples of the craftsmanship and care that went into the job.

A little hard to see, but there is light visible between the top piece of molding and the ceiling.

A little more obvious. Let's knock some paint off the pre-existing and undamaged trim and take out a chunklet of drywall. This particular piece of woodwork is a head scratcher anyway. It's right by the staircase and had no flood damage whatsoever.

This is the edge of a corner shelf at the bottom of the staircase. Again, a head scratcher. There was nothing wrong with it, but the drywall was ripped off the top and front and replaced with some rough cut plywood and shoddily measured trim. The drywall on the side, as you can see, is still there. I'm at a loss. Why would anyone do this?