I was going to sod the yard myself (bring in topsoil, grade, sod, etc) but decided my Cherokee isn’t quite up to the task of moving truckloads of dirt, so I got a contractor to do it.
Doing a good job too (for the most part). One problem though. My neighbor to one side of me put a fence up between our yards, which I chipped in and helped pay for (hence, lets say the fence is 1/2 mine and 1/2 his).
The contractors’ bobcat driver (bobcat=small, front load tractor thing for those who don’t know) decided to see if he could drive through the fence. Sure enough, he could. Needless to say, he did a good job of wrecking on 8ft panel of fence plus loosened up a 6x6 post. Contractor says “Don’t worry! We’ll fix it!” Damn right you will…
Anyhow, question is this. My yard is supposed to be done today or Thursday. As of now, he hasn’t started fixing the fence yet. If he doesn’t fix it by the time the yard work is done, should I withhold paying him until he fixes the fence or gives a commitment for a specific time to fix the fence?
Opinions?
BTW - I do not know for certain he is trying to screw me over and put off fixing the fence, I just think the worst of people until I see otherwise… I want to be prepared.
One other thing, did you get the name of their insurance company? If he refuses to fix the fence, contact his insurance company. You should be able to call the office and ask for it with no problem.
My wag is he doesn’t want to fix it till he is done since he doesn’t want to knock it down again. I would ask him when he intends to fix it. I might consider withholding 1/2 the payment, the whole thing or none dependign on the situation.
My opinion - it’s easier to not pay than it is to get someone to come back and finish a job once they have the money in their hands. Not all contractors are shady, but there is a healthy percentage that will never come back to do anything once they have the money. I’ll ask Jim about this, since he works in the construction field. Maybe he has an idea about SOP in this kind of situation.
Not only should you withhold at least half the payment till you are satisfied with the repairs, you should withhold the payment till your neigbor who put it up is satisfied too.
And to make the contractors job easier you should find out from your neighbor where they purchased the fencing. Are we talking about a simple fence that the contractor should be able to repair easily or something a bit more ornamental?
“find out from your neighbor where they purchased the fencing.”
I’ll second that, this way you can bring it up with him without it seeming like you’re trying to accuse him of shirking responsibilities. “Here’s the phones number in case you need it…”
