Posted on 04/01/2005 5:12:00 AM PST by billorites
I'd rather think a lawsuit like this would put this contractor out of business permanently. This case could get quite a bit of noteriety in the press. Who would want to hire a contractor known for letting empolyees urinate on the walls?
As required, I met the family before the lot was cleared and we went over the construction process, timetables etc. After a couple of weeks, the foundation was complete and the framing was about to start when the family showed up on the property. We tried to encourage the customers to call ahead and arrange a meeting time with the superintendants for two reasons: Construction site safety and so they don't walk in on anything like what was stated in the above article.
So I scrambled over to the family and greeted them, asked if I could help them in anyway and graciously reminded them that they should come see me before they come out to see their soon-to-be new home. The husband had an old wooden box about the same dimensions as a shoebox only twice as deep. The box had a hinged lid and was filled with some trinkets and religious symbols, etc... He said that they would like to place this box in the house as it is being constructed as a way to bless the construction of their home and ward off evil and all that mumbo-jumbo.
I told them that it wouldn't really be such a good idea because there's a lot going on and the box could get lost, crushed, stolen. They insisted so I constructed a little fenced-in enclosure alongside a foundation pier in the crawl area, complete with a little plywood roof and they thanked me and left. As time went on throughout the construction process, they would call and I would meet them at the house and we would walk through the house and make a point to check the box and make sure it was still there. All went very well and the house was about two weeks ahead of schedule when trouble struck.
Sitting in my construction trailer paying some bills, I looked up and saw the Indian family's car down in front of their house. I put down what I was doing and started walking down the street. I felt really good about the house. The plumbing, electrical and HVAC had all just passed their final inspections and the carpet installers were due in the morning. What could go wrong?
Just as I neared the family's car, I heard the father scream so I started rushing up behind the house to where I heard the screaming coming from. I met the father as he was stepping out of the crawl space door, "WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK! WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK!!! WE CAN NOT BUY DEES HOUSE! WE CAN NOT BUY DEES HOUSE!!!"
A little startled, I asked him what was wrong.
He started yelling and pointing back inside the crawl space, "SOMBODY SHEET IN DEE BOX! SOMEBODY SHEET IN DEE BOX!!!"
Long story, short. It doesn't matter what size house you are building or are having built. The same pigs are building it whether it's a $125,000 house, a $400,00 house (as this one was) or even a million-dollar house. The quality of the material may increase but the quality of the labor is no different. Pigs are pigs and the superintendant's and construction managers can not watch the contractor's every move. It is safe to assume that as you sit on your new toilet in your brand new home, you are not the first person to set their sweaty big arse down right where yours is. And after the first person left their trophy and realized that there was no water hook-up so they could flush, the next few crowning contractors, either found the other empty toilet bowls, or used the sinks. I figured this Indian family should have felt blessed that the contractors used "dee box" instead of their new toilets.
Sorry for the mental images, but, hey, sh*t happens...
You ain't kidding about that. YUCK!
better to be p*****-off than p*****-on.
(......Illegal workers)
Better than even chance of that. I have 25yrs. in construction building and running jobs...out of a crew of ten..one will speak english.
Quote: You really want to boil your blood, pay top dollar for a custom built home, and then have the builder declare bankruptcy right before all the shoddy construction issues arise. Then the bastard surfaces again a year later under a new name pulling the same crap.
A couple built a new home down at the end of my street 4-5 years ago. The builder declared bankruptcy about 3/4 of the way through and the lumber suppliers etc put a lien on the house even though my neighbor was paying the builder for the supplies as they were being bought. The builder was pocketing the money. It cost him something like 35-40K. extra.
Whenever building something always pay the suppliers yourself and pay the builder for his labor as it progresses.
When my house gets built, I'll be living on site. Inspecting all day every day and packing.
Not at all uncommon. A lot of the people doing contracting are in it because they have criminal records. Besides, it is a great way to scam people. Unless you get many solid references and watch them like a hawk, you are talking about people who will quite literally defecate on anything they can't break.
Indian people can be strange. My dad used to build high end homes before he retired. We had our own development and we had 2-3 new metal floor post left over(we over odered or chnaged design I can't remeber) from the just built house next to the indians house.
One of the subcontractors was carring over the leftover post and the indian DR. just happened to be their and refused to allow us to use them saying they were "used" because they were coming from th other house. Of course they were not used at all and were brand new.
We called our local supplier who brought out new ones which were actually quite scratched etc and looked worse than the ones the indian guy did not want us to use.
Happened to me and a lot of people I know. This is largely the bank's fault, because 1) They are supposed to do inspections to make sure the work is being done and 2) they are supposed to get signed affadavits that the contractors have been paid.
If they aren't doing these things they are effectively giving away money in your name.
DITTO
I don't think a bank loan was involved in this example. My neighbor is very wealthy and was paying the builder for supplies and labor as it progressed. He learned a lesson though.
Something else to look out for is that triangular area under the stairs. Here in Texas, one builder was found to be using it to sweep up their trash into before it was covered over with drywall. Since there's no way to access it, they thought no one would ever notice.
This is far more common than you'd think.
From experience I can say that it's happened in a truck, they've driven. I'm not saying all illegals do that.
The more "middle men" you have, the more opportunity there is for one of them to take off with a pile of cash. There really isn't any reason to pay a contractor for supplies that are not part of his regular inventory. Anyone can write a check to a lumberyard or brickyard.
I will never employ a general contractor or custom builder again. I have found a constant: They are either thieves or their "honesty" comes at such a high price they might as well be thieves.
For what you end up paying, you get absolutely abysmal service.
These people knew who was building th ere house but said nothing because they knew they would be getting it cheaper.
This is probably just an attempt to exit a contract, and will probably work. I once visited home sites to measure for stairs, and I can guarrantee that every house built in tha 70's was pissed in somewhere sometime during construction.
It's not just Oregon:
just last year we built a home here in Texas, and there wasn't a word of Spanish spoken on the job site, and not a single illegal on the crew.
We visited the house daily, and while dusty, it was never "soiled."
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