Adventures in boat ownership - continues!

[Englewoodcowboy]

Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from a contractors perspective.

#1 Missing ledge, a contractor would not have missed this. The concrete guy is giving you an excuse because he missed it and you need to hold him accountable. Hopefully you have not paid him fully. Now you can use angle as suggested and get it hot dipped and then it will not rust. This should be deducted from his payment if you perform the repair. The angle will need to be fitted, drilled etc. then send it to be galvanized. You can use red head anchors or the like to fasten it.

#2 Refund of deposit. A deposit in a contractors eyes is to secure scheduling etc. They are not usually refundable, you need to check your contract with him on that. A reputable guy will deduct his current expenses and time involved, expect to have his time for estimate etc. as well as whatever site time he spent with you deducted. No one works for free and when you awarded him the contract this is how he is getting paid for the time up front spent. When you gave him the contract it starts things rolling where he will invest time and money and this he will and has every right to recover. Most likely you will push for an itemized bill and it will work out to the penny of the deposit, this is one of those things that simply is business.

#3 Pouring a brick ledge after the fact is not recommended without removing some concrete. Cold joints in concrete fail specially in a shear and that is what you will have. Even pinning it will not hold for long. Sure it may last a few years but then you will have problems after a few winter cycles and you do not want that.

#4 Having a licensed contractor would have saved you these troubles. That is their job and their experience. They would have typically caught the missed ledge when the foundation was being formed up. This is some of the burden that inexperience will cost you. Not saying I told you so, this is simply showing you what you have to look out for. You need to know exactly what it is the guys need to do, how it has to be done and make sure it is done your way or they do not get paid. It is that simple.

 

[dansshin]

@Englewoodcowboy For compacting the soil who do I need to contact? I think having the backfilled area compacted before the garage floor and apron is poured may be good ideal if the cost is reasonable. Not sure if I need to regrade the area as well.

 

[dansshin]

@Englewoodcowboy Thanks for your input.

So what you are saying is if I put money down and contractor decides to jackup the price I have to loose my money down or pay the up charge? I have not signed any agreement with him and I see no statement about me loosing any money down under certain conditions in the contract he sent me to sign.

I would have preferred brick ledge built in to the poured wall but I may be ok with option of galvanized angle iron at least to prevent rusting.

Also brick ledge was specifically discussed with him prior to him doing the excavation and foundation. He is saying he did this on purpose because his panels can't accomodate the width.

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

That you can do yourself, go find a tool rental place and get a plate compactor. It has a motor on it and vibrates then you just walk it around, area that size should take you an hour maybe. You can gauge your compaction by taking a piece of rebar and shoving it in the ground by hand as far as you can. mark its depth with a piece of tape then after you make 2 passes with the compactor try to shove it in again, you should have a major reduction how far you can push it in. I would shoot for close to a 50% reduction in depth to be fairly decent. So if you can stick it in 6" then I would compact till you can only stick it in 3" or so. The compaction test is a different ball game where they actually have a machine that tells them how well it is compacted, since you are doing it yourself I would skip the actual; test as you only have you to fall back on.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I would use a jumping jack compactor because you need to compact a deep area that's wasn't compacted in lifts.

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

@Englewoodcowboy Thanks for your input.

So what you are saying is if I put money down and contractor decides to jackup the price I have to loose my money down or pay the up charge? I have not signed any agreement with him and I see no statement about me loosing any money down under certain conditions in the contract he sent me to sign. Handing him money with nothing signed you can pretty much chalk it up as gone. That is a serious mistake on your part, never hand over money without something in writing. Hopefully he will be a decent fellow to work with but you do not have much of a leg to stand on and you can take him to court but it will cost you more in the end I am afraid.

I would have preferred brick ledge built in to the poured wall but I may be ok with option of galvanized angle iron at least to prevent rusting. This is your only real fix option. He should have stated the form issue to you up front. Again if you have it in writing you have something to fall back on however with nothing in writing, scope of agreed work etc. you are treading on unstable grounds in pursuing him. Now if you owe him money you have leverage you can use. I would simply get a price for the angle, fit it yourself and have it galvanized. You can expect the gal price to run you their min. charge somewhere around $150 then you can provide him with payoff less the cost of the angle and your time. I would keep track of your time and back charge at a rate of $25 an hour since you are an amateur don't expect to get the hourly rate he would charge but it will make you whole on that aspect.

Also brick ledge was specifically discussed with him prior to him doing the excavation and foundation. He is saying he did this on purpose because his panels can't accomodate the width. By him not telling you his plan and you accepting it, again this is where you have him on the ledge cost to do it right.

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

I would use a jumping jack compactor because you need to compact a deep area that's wasn't compacted in lifts.

Yes and no. Depending on the soil, if it was loamy sand as found in FL I would say yes, however we used jumping jacks in the footer as you get a tighter compaction and have a narrow space to use it. In FL I used vibratory rollers for the slab, jumping jacks for the footer and plates for clean up just prior to pour. For the slab area since he is doing a stem wall slab a plate will be best suited. Looks like he is on a clay mix and clay packs pretty hard very quickly compared to sand.

 

[dansshin]

@Englewoodcowboy Here is what was written in the agreement that I still haven't signed. I'm not sure how he can say tare out is only limited to 3 or 4 course of brick above the 3rd stall based on how this agreement is. See second bullet point.

Garage addition Brick$5,000.00
- Tear off 1foot from ground on garage corner (front & side) for newfoundation tie in
- After foundation is finished come out and tear out rest of brick fromexisting 3rd garage stall for framing
- After framing is done come and install new matching bricks withmortar color and quality
- This bid includes material and labor ***** Owner will pay 3 installment payments
-$1250 on August 15 2015
-$1250 second phase brick is removed
-$2500 upon completion.

Owner request that we use new brick, and if you reuse the old brick itmust be on good condition Add one matching Key Stone.

 

[Bruce]

@dansshin, is the brick only going on the side the driveway will be on?

If so I would just pour the driveway making it thicker at that point and wide enough to cover all of the brick and lay the brick on top of the driveway slab. We did that on two sides of my house that have 32' or brick wall. One was the driveway the other is on top of a concrete patio.

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

@dansshin by the looks of your contract you are covered for the work necessary by his contract. Being you didn't sign it however have a copy is not great but good. If he does not want to honor his agreement then you have something, changing the scope after the fact plus you making the first payment is technically the same as accepting it. This gets more into a legal matter that perhaps one of our lawyer members may chime in on. If there is nothing stating the refund is non refundable you may have a good standing but it all comes down to how he wants to deal with it.

 

[Bruce]

You can see a corner of those two walls here. The two slabs for the first 10' of the driveway and a 50'x10' patio were a similar cost to adding simple brick ledges on those sides. More material went into them but the labor was similar.

 

[dansshin]

@Englewoodcowboy I was wondering why he sent me a change order this morning at 7:33am when I told him I would not accept his price increase and return my money yesterday but I just noticed that in his change order he changed the wording of the original agreement:

"After foundation is finished come out and tear out rest of brick from
existing 3rd garage stall for framing"

to state:

"After foundation is finished come out and tear out rest of 3-4 course
of brick on garage area"


But this statement make no sense in so many ways in the context of my project to take my existing full brick front single stall to full brick double stall. Side that I'm adding on has 11' of brick from floor up. How does removing 3-4 course of brick get me to allowing me to frame for my new double garage. Also he verbally stated $1500 extra but wrote the change order for $1000 increase.

 

[dansshin]

@Bruce Nice house you built there! I hope your house build went much smoother than my garage build!

Unfortunately I do not plan to have my apron extended beyond the new door edge on that side. More than likely front area where the brick will go will be landscaped with shrub and flowers.

Since my contractor is coming back to pour garage floor, apron, service door slab, I offered to dig and pay for the materials (I'm assuming this can't be more than $100) if he would pour 4" form down to the footing and drill rebar & epoxy into poured footing and level to existing brick ledge and he agreed. Although I still have half of his payment I choose not to use that as leverage and never mentioned it. I'm hoping digging that 6' stretch down to footing will not be too bad on my back....LOL!

 

[dansshin]

@Bruce @Englewoodcowboy @Speedling How much brick do you think needs to be removed from below garage to be able to frame for 18'x8' garage door? My dad said all brick for 3rd stall needs to be removed but I'm wondering if that's really needed.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5630/20644892336_4c2e540b60_b.jpg

 

[Speedling]

Is the new door going to be next to that door or replace that door? I am extremely tired but just looking at that quick I would just but a door up against the outside jamb and go 18' from there with the door but I don't know your exact plans.

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

I dont know what he is trying to accomplish. According to what you stated he put int the original bid he is changing his mind. As I said before, you have a contract that you made a payment on accepting, the scope of work is not changing, It sounds more to me like he screwed up when he quoted you and is trying to get it in an CO. I would have to argue that with him and get him to do the job he agreed to do or refund your money, no extra is to be paid. But this is going from what you are sharing with us and not knowing the whole story.

 

[dansshin]

@Speedling
Single garage will be converted to double garage so it will replace existing door.

Yes plan is to use the one edge of existing door and go to 18'x8'. So at least some brick above and all brick to the right (when you are looking at it from outside) has to be removed at the minimum if the new framing can be done that way.

I'm wondering if new framing for the 18'x8' opening can be done without removing all brick as that is what my brick guy seems to be assuming.

My dad is saying all brick above and right needs to be removed.

 

[dansshin]

@Englewoodcowboy Brick guy will not return any calls or messages. In fact when I call him it goes immediately to his voicemail so I think I have to file a claim on this guy.

Brick guy has seen my plan for double garage with 18'x8' so I think he is thinking he just needs to removed the brick enough for that opening. If framing of new headers can be done that way then I would be fine with minimal removal of brick but my dad is saying all the brick for 3rd garage should be removed.

 

[Bruce]

There should be a gap between the brick and the framing. It is around 2.5" at my house.

Is the brick over the garage door supported by a steel lentil (angle iron)?

I think that I would try to use a jack or build framing under the right hand side of the existing garage opening to support the soldier course of brick over the top then remove the bricks on the right side of the opening to allow for the new construction and hope that I could preserve the brick above the current opening.

I would not want to remove any brick on the left side of the current door. That looks like a mess to put back. It might be more difficult but I would try to assemble the new header from inside.

 

[dansshin]

@Bruce There is angle iron and gap for the finish trim of the garage door on our existing garage as well but with finish trim on the garage you are not going to notice the gap. But since my door is increasing from ~7' high to ~8' high at least some brick (if not all) above the existing garage has to be removed. My question is for framing the new header to support the load do I need to remove all the brick to install the new header? Just looking for second opinion on this as my dad is saying yes. We are not planning to touch any brick to the left side of the 3rd stall assuming that doesn't get in the way of framing the new header and the new addition.