I don't understand the whole process, but if you had to pay $100k in legal fees and had a return of $64k, doesn't that leave you in the whole even worse? We bought our 25 year old home last April. (Zero Lot Line) Our neighbors said that the former owner wanted to replace the roof the year before, even though they didn't want to. Turns out that the former owner really took the cheapest 'contractor' he could find. Crooked rows of shingles that disappear under another row, no mastic on the chimney top, poor flashing, nails right through the exposed portion of a shingle, only four (instead of the required six) nails per shingle, ripples in the shingles that could be caused by old nails still in the roof. I filed a complain with the BBB after getting the info from my neighbor. The company has gone out of business, which is of no surprise. There were other complaints against them, too. In my case you get (or inherit) what you or someone else paid for. In your case it sounds like the builder danced around the problems until the company was gone. I really hope your damages were partly covered. If that happened to my home I'd be sunk.

"I don't think you can get a nice finish coat directly on top of the bonding agent. At least I had a difficult time, although perhaps a pro would know how. For me, everything slid around too much while you were trying to work it smooth." Sounds like you are not leaving enough material on the wall, possibly using too much water in the mix, and did not allow the bonding agent to dry enough. The layer is about 1/16 to 1.8 inch thick. The mix for skim coating should be about like peanut butter in consistency. This allows it to be pushed out easily but has enough body to be workable. Bonding agents need to set up to tacky before applying the plaster. The water in the plaster will help it soften again and grab. Use of drywall knives also makes covering large areas even more of a chore than it needs to be. A plasterer's trowel makes short work of covering large areas and produces a smooth finish. It takes some practice to barealy raise the leading edge to obtain a good finish. The trowels with the tiny (3/4 inch diameter) handle are not as good as ones with a decent (~1.5 inch) grip diameter.

You said you're in CA? If so, I don't think you have to worry about this clown. Did they file a preliminary lien notice before starting work, or within 20 days thereafter? Is the window supplier getting paid from that lien, or a separate one? If no preliminary lien notice was filed, it's too late for them to do anything. If there are legit prelim lien(s) already pending, still don't worry. The building department is on your side. The inspector is your friend. This is what they are for, consumer protection from bad builders. As long as the permit remains incomplete, the contractor can not do anything with the lien. Advise the contractor that you know the law, and at this point he just needs to cut his losses and go away. Advise him that he would find a better use of his time, learning the correct way to install replacement windows. It will be the only option that has the slightest chance of paying off in the future. Here is a link that might be useful: you need to read this

toddinmn - Thank you! My husband is the cabinet and window installer. We'll have someone else install the countertop. I dont think I will go all the way down to the counter, but will have the bottom trim piece below the window sill reach the bottom of the counter. That is good to know about vinyl windows. We were planning on doing vinyl. Our range will be a Bluestar which has a high BTU output. The back left burner is a simmer burner and the back right burner is 15,000 BTUs. The range will be 8" away from the windows. And then of course the windows will be a few inches above the countertop. Do you think I need to go with a wood window instead? Or will vinyl be OK? I think we've decided to go with a casement window so its easier to open for me. This post was edited by khallock on Fri, May 17, 13 at 9:16