All Forum Posts by: Mike Reynolds

Ok, #3 sounds [maybe] necessary but what is a red flag to me is the term their engineer. Find out who he is a and see if he has a stamp or if he is shade tree "my daddy taught me" type. He should really be your engineer even if the GC hired him because if he has a stamp that will take some liability off you if the system fails. It will be on him and the contractor then. If he is shade tree it falls on you. This info you need for sure.

#4 sounds really suspicious. He knew he had to rough it in anyway so did the materials and labor go up by 300% all the sudden? He gave you a hard bid. he needs to eat all of that rough in. Even if he gave you a quote for the price of that (quote usually lasts only a specified number of days because of price increases) and it went past it deadline he has to get you to sign off on the new quote.

@Ronny Crawford Well the last thing either of you want is to go to court. That will just cost both more money. I feel that 50% is fair. Even if it is per code he should have asked you first and had you sign off. He should know this. There are many (as you probably know) contractors out there that use this tactic. Not saying he is one. He may just be not educated on how contracts work. He will learn it now. But for the ones that are crooked they need to be put in there place too. I never had to go to court with any of my clients nor have I ever had to file a lien against them. I have had issues. Plenty even. They were always worked out where both of us were satisfied.

Have him or the inspector show you that what he did was per inspectors or code instructions. That would be the first step. Or have another contractor look and see if it was necessary. If it was you might consider going above 50% if the contractor is new to the business and you feel you can do business with him from here on out. If you feel like he is trying to get one over on you less might be in order.

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@Ronny Crawford If its not signed by you that contractor doesn't have a leg to stand on. Quick question. Did he give you a bid, estimate or proposal? They all react differently in a court of law. Either way, unless the laws are way different in GA, you have to be notified about change orders.

If you don't mind me asking, what were the changes?

I love the craftsman style trim and that you took out the arch. Great job.

How do we find the list?

@Chase Worst

@Chase Worst Didn't know that. Interesting.

@Rafael Lopez I'm not a CPA but I used to do my own business taxes (with help of course). Unless its changed if you didn't generate any income you wont owe any taxes. Deductions would just be a waste of valuable time. Now, I have never done business taxes and W-2 taxes in the same year. So if you could pay less on those because of the deductions I am not sure. That would be a question for a CPA.

@Rafael Lopez Yes as long as they were used by the business. Did you generate any income from the business to write anything off though?

@Mike Wood Thanks that does help. I was "quoted" by an old hand down there over beer and oysters that 1k price. I have never built a beach house but that sounded high to me. Your area and mine shouldn't have too much difference in price. I can do the rest of the wood work.

@Johnny Devora Welcome. Do you have anything to look at now?