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jordan_oleson

Help with general contractor conflict, bathroom remodel & faulty tile

jordan_oleson
6 years ago

Kind of a new world to me working with a contractor. Anyone have experience with this kind of stuff? Any contractors out there who can offer some advice? Here's the gist:

1. Hired contractor in March, 2016 to redo our master bathroom and kids bathroom by mid-June (our 2nd baby was due late June).

2. Comedy of errors that doesn't relate to current situation but is worth noting, master bath was not finished until mid-August (including about an 8 week delay due to the master tub being installed and then noticing a crack, which no one took responsibility for). Work ended up being done with wife and newborn baby at home, major inconvenience.

3. Here's the situation that's still lingering: the tile that was installed in the master by the supplier was no good. Immediately, we noticed that it picked up dirt like crazy, we couldn't clean it, the grout was super spotty and just got worse. We asked / complained about this several times, the contractor and installer each came to look and each just kind of shrugged and said "well, I guess you picked tile that likes dirt."


4. I refused to pay the contractor for anything related to the tile install and materials until some kind of action was taken to help us. They finally acknowledged that something was wrong with the grout (but not the tile), and they agreed to redo only our floor with new tile and grout (same tile was installed on floor, tub apron and shower walls). We figured we could live with the apron and shower.


5. We brought a piece of the installed tile into supplier shop to choose new floor tile and the salesperson looked at it, kind of shocked, and said, "wait, this is the tile that was installed?" She said there was obviously something wrong with it. They had the manufacturer check and sure enough, it was faulty tile, not finished properly.


6. Supplier has now agreed to redo floor, apron and shower at no charge to us. We've scheduled to have it done during a week in December when we'll be away visiting family. Yes - December. 21 months after we hired the contractor, and 18 months after he said it should have been finished.


Here's the thing, the contractor paid the supplier about 15 months ago. At the time, I refused to pay until something was resolved. Now that a resolution is in place, the contractor has texted me to say he heard from the supplier and "he's glad to hear that our tile situation will be resolved in December" and he's "looking forward to receiving payment for the work."

Am I wrong in thinking I should resist paying some how or another? I don't recall the amount exactly, but I think it's around $2000-$2500 (might have been a few other things lumped in with this involving our kids' bathroom). We've lived with nasty, dirty tile for 15 months and have spent a great deal of time and energy working to resolve this, with no help from the contractor. Not saying I would pay nothing at all, but is it unreasonable to only pay part of this? Is it irrational to say the issue of payment is something he needs to resolve with the supplier/installer?


I don't know...kind of a new situation and I feel like we've been hosed. Help? Any advice?

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