"... Her house build demonstrates that. She described the floor and stair riser issues in her first post ..." She does not go into detail on why the condition of the construction is the way it is. You are assuming it was all the gc's fault. While I am certainly not going to defend the GC she fired, I will say part of that condition might have been from the house being open to the elements for a period of time. ANother part was that she never gave the original GC the opportunity to make the work that was done ready to be installed over. The GC did not complete the project and was removed from the job before he could finish his work, so of course it was not ready to be installed over, because the work was not completed and the original GC did not have the opportunity to make sure the stair system or any other part was in a ready state to be installed over. She very well may have had just cause to remove the CG, but nevertheless she took on the GC responsibility on herself to ensure it was ready for finish trades. I believe it is apparent that this house was not ready to have finished trades in it performing finish work, and it was her responsibility as GC to make sure it was unless soneone else accepted that responsibility by contract. "...A person does not require a GC to have a floor put down. ..." The problem with this is that it was not as simple as getting a floor put down in a home that was ready to have finish trade present. Again, we do not know what caused the stair issues, which could have been: Framing problems caused by the GC's incompetance, or being open to the elements, which flooring installer holds no responsibility for because its a hidden condition, unless it was a tile contractor who must check for build stability, and deflection and rigidity requirements. You might not be aware that carpet, wood, and resilient installers are noit trained for, nor do they hold any responsibility or liability for framing issues. All of which she holds responsibility for as the project GC. The only way the flooring installers would hold liability and responsibility for framing (hidden conditions) issues is if it was addressed on their bids that they agreed to do the work. Any flooring installer would address this in their bids if they elected to take on the added responsibility and liability from stair framing condition and height requirements she may ahve had which could only ahve been taken care of with additional prep they should have addressed in their bids if they wanted to take on the additional responsibility and liability for an added fee. Additionally, she admitted she has no local building codes for such things as stair height. Could they have done better...sure. But it begins and ends with who is liable and responsible. She took that on by electing to be her own project GC. "... While it might have been possible for her to have stepped in earlier to babysit the install where she would have seen that they weren't able to handle the job, stopping it sooner than what happened, that doesn't relieve that company of their total responsibility for having installed a floor over an (obviously) unsound substrate. You can't remove prep from the flooring equation. The flooring company is the professional here and in charge of their own work. It's their job. Once they start putting the floor down, they have accepted the substrate as sound and taken ownership of the results. They did not act responsibly or professionally. Period. Doesn't matter who did the hiring. They and they alone are responsible for their own incompetent work ..." Again, (and again, and again, and again) an installer absolutely is responsible and liable for the surface they install over. However, I will disagree that prep cant be removed. It very well can, and often is removed. While most professional flooring installers do much surface prep, others do not, and FEW, if any, will concern themselves with framing issues AT ALL. I do, but most do not. It all boils down to what was included in the bid. Flooring installers have no responsibility to do added prep work unless they agree to be contracted to do it. They ahve every right to stop work, tell the GC this or that prep needs done before continuing, and tell them to give them a call when its ready to be installed. Lastly, you seem to be taking everything she says as gospel. I dont. I have alot of experience with customers, and customers lie alot... and often. Mostly to save face, save a buck, and/or to shirk their responsibility. The customer is not always right. Thats a falicy. I find it hard to believe that she had issues with the GC, then issues with all the trades. Everyone was wrong in every aspect of this project ... except her. I dont believe that for a moment, but I am not saying its impossible. What I see as possible is someone who bit off more than they could chew, and is blaming everyone else. I am not stating no one else holds any blame though. Could be a little of each. Bottom line its mostly her responsibility unless she has a piece of paper saying different ...except the subfloor issues which the installers absolutely are responsible for if they elect to do the prep and/or install over it.

Thanks! Other than the initial tile selection, there really isn't anything else I would change. I thought I was well informed before signing the contract but I realize now how little I really knew. I feel very fortunate to have selected a builder that made the "right" decision for us time and time again. From design to equipment selection to fixing the small things throughout the process I always felt like their primary goal was to make me happy. My advice is to make sure you pick a reputable builder, ask lots of questions, and try to be home as much as possible during the build. It's amazing what the subs will do for you if you're nice to them and don't mind footing the bill for lunch and drinks occasionally.

THANK YOU for all of your replies! You have no idea how much it has helped. We did talk to the pool builder and explained again that we wanted to work it out. They believe they can get this phase done with one more day's work and then move on. Our pool contract addendum states that we will pay him 5% after completion of this phase, and then the remaining (and final) 5% before pebblesheen. Our PB told us that we could either - A. Pay him the 5% immediately and get two days of work from him in a row, or....B. Pay him after he finishes this phase (as the contract states) and he won't be able to schedule us again for two weeks. He said it would be unfair to his other customers to be at our place two days in a row. He also blamed us for the four month process - saying that I hadn't chosen the grout color in a timely manner. Unbelievable. He is obviously looking for any excuse at this point. To top it all off, the stacked stone steps to the spa he built on Wednesday have been falling off. It seems that they mortared the vertical walls to DIRT, I'm no mason, but I do know that grout, cement, etc. doesn't stick to dirt. I'll post pictures tomorrow morning. I had called the ROC immediately after our PB had told us that if we pursued an ROC hearing, he would abandon working on our pool. The ROC told us that if our PB did that, it would be seen as retaliation against us for trying to protect our rights, and would NOT be in the interest of the PB. It is a direct violation of the statutes. At least our PB was kind enough to threaten this in an email, easy proof for later. The ROC also told us to forget paying this guy another penny (as all of you have suggested) until the final inspection is complete. Our payment schedule has been way out of line from the norm - we had paid him way too much up front before finding out from the ROC what the payment schedule should be. So, we are sending the PB an email in the morning to let him know we expect him to finish this pool. After final inspection, before Pebblesheen, we will give him the remaining 10%. If he wishes to stop work on the pool, we will consider it job abandonment and take it up with Administrative Judge at the ROC. What a friggin bummer. I absolutely hate that it's come to this, but we are just so tired of being brow-beat from this guy! If he does stop work on our pool, so be it. We tried to make the best of it tonight, telling each other that we will just focus on the BBQ kitchen, get some other outside bids, and enjoy other things. What's another couple of months to wait when we've already waited so long? It will all turn out OK. It is, after all, just a pool. THANK YOU AGAIN for all of your terrific advice. I might just be posting pictures of my kids or something for awhile since we won't have any pool pictures :). But someday soon, we will have water!

Resolution.... (hopefully) I replied to his threat to "serve" us with a layout of the objectively wrong things that happened, along with our documentation to support it. I also said I can't believe a professional would be proud of this work, but if you are, then I am happy to help share that this is what your customers should expect. I also pointed out that he has yet to address, apologize for, or even acknowledge any of the things that are wrong even though he has ample opportunity. I said that I do not think the work they have done is worth the full asking price and if he thinks it is, then he should take the steps he thinks is necessary. He replied that court would not be a win for either of us and that I should reply with a price I think is fair. I replied with two different calculations bringing me to the conclusion to offer $1,600. He replied that he would not accept less than $2,000 and that he'd proceed with court if I don't agree, and then threw in a couple more ridiculous claims. I think it's more than he deserves but I have several other very stressful things happening in my life right now and we decided we are willing to pay $2,000 to get this out of our lives. I told him to send me a new invoice stating this is the final amount due and language saying it would be considered paid in full to him and his subs. THEN... he sent the new invoice that included the language I requested AND a statement that neither I nor my husband is allowed to post any negative online reviews and said he wanted this signed with the check. My blood pressure shot through the roof, and I immediately replied that I would not sign any such language and would take this to court with the full amount at risk if he would not remove it from the invoice. He eventually sent me a new invoice without the online review waiver and I intend to sign it, pay him, and get this shyster out of my life. I think I know now why there are no negative reviews of his business online. I think his whole business is probably a scam, and while I do intend to leave online reviews to protect others, I am frankly concerned about him being retaliatory. We are installing a security system at our house tonight. Lessons learned: research the crap out of any contractor you hire, if they are telling you they can do things that others can't, don't believe them, and document everything you possibly can during the process. It's a lesson that cost me $2,000, plus another $10,000 for the new cabinets I'll have to buy, plus some $$$ for the vacation I now need to take just to bring my stress levels back to a normal range. Thanks everyone for being my therapy and providing such good advice and insight. I hope I don't have to post on this anymore and this is d.o.n.e.