I had a home built in virginia 3 years ago.
After about 7 months of living in the house, my master bathroom
starting to leak water. The builder came in and fixed some pipes and
re-grouted some of the bathroom shower tile.
about 4 months later, the same problem returned, the grout in the
shower was falling apart and the tiles were coming up. The shower has
a seat in it and the entire shower is ceramic tile. So after arguing
with them for 5 months, the builder sends out a cracker jack outfit to
work on the bathroom again only for the problem to return less that 6
weeks later.
At this point there is so much damage to my floor I made them
(threatened legal) take out the entire shower and replace the subfloor
and the shower. They did do this, the major leaks stopped but the
grout is still coming apart and the tiles are still coming up. I have
accepted that the shower is a poor design and have requested that they
remove the seat all together to get around the problem. They don't
want to do this, since they have already spent so much money on the
problem...so I suspect, they don't come right out and say this.
currently the problem is getting worse and worse, and I can't seem to
get them to come out and fix it.
I have reported them to the better business bureau.
What I wan't is the seat removed and the shower fixed properly. I
wan't all the money back that I have spent to this date (paid extra to
change the tile color and have the floor done in ceramic as well), I
wonder if I could get some sort of money for the 3 year incovienence
these people have caused me.
I don't think you said what you meant. You don't mean that the contractor
should complete the job, fixing everything up to spec, and also pay you back
everything you have paid for the job. Right? That won't happen.
If you focus on getting this contractor to do the job right, there is no way
any court will force the contractor to finish the job or do anything in this
situation. You can continue to harrass, and threaten damages litigation,
and negotiate, and do all the business negotiation things you are doing. If
the contractor gets the job done eventually, you will be obligated to pay
the original contract price, and will have the right to sue for damages
arising out of the delay in completion.
Another approach is to hire a replacement contractor to finish the job and
then sue the first contractor for the price paid to the second contractor.
The courts understand and prefer this approach because the measure of
damages is clear. If no extra work is ordered from the second contractor,
then the damages owed to you by the first contractor are easilly determined
and not subject to speculation about the difference between the value of the
job the first contractor did and the value you eventually got.
If you contract with the second contractor to do more than the first
contractor was supposed to do, such as remove the seat, that will complicate
matters. But if that's what you want, go ahead. You will have to convince
the judge that removal of the seat is necessary because of design defects.
The beauty of leaving the seat in the design, if that can be reasonably
done, is that there is no need to argue about the design.
This second approach also gets the first contractor out of your house. That
counts for something.
If I did get a lawyer and sue them, could I also sue them for my legal
fee cost?
If the contract with the first contractor states that legal fees will be
included as a recovery by the prevailing party in litigation, then you get
reimbursement for legal fees added to your judgment. If the contract
doesn't say it, then you don't.
McGyver
