JIT CONSTRUCTION

Description of Work: Contractor was hired to build an elevator shaft, mechanical room, and hire an elevator sub-contractor to install the elevator. The contractor hired unskilled people to do the framing of the elevator shaft, mechanical room, and roof over the elevator shaft. The elevator shaft roof is structurally unsound. Many of the rafter ends were scabbed, the notches on the rafters where they sit on the sill are excessively large. Some of the notches are cut out 5 inches beyond the sill greatly weakening the end of the rafters. The upper and lower doorways into the elevator car are not plumb. The lower doorway is located 2" too far to the right narrowing the entrance to the elevator by 2". Because of the thickness of the lower wall, a child excluder must be installed on the elevator side of the lower door. Because of misalignment of the elevator door and the lower entry door and the 4" child excluder on the back of the lower entry door, a wheelchair will not enter the elevator. (The contractor installed a 2'6" door instead of a 3'0" door for some reason). The contractor has lied to me on several occasions. The contract was written and signed by both parties to pay half at start and half on completion. I paid $14250 to start. Two months into the job the contractor told me he needed another $8000 because the elevator contractor would not order the elevator unless he was paid in full. I paid my contractor the $8000 and after 5 weeks the elevator was installed. Now I have these problems and the elevator sub-contractor tells me he has not been paid in full. The elevator has not been inspected and is inoperable. There are and were many other problems that are just too time consuming to mention. I.E. the doorway installed in the lower access to the elevator was trimmed out with old cedar siding removed from my house. When I removed the trim to install regular finished trim myself, the door fell out of the wall. The doorway was actually held in place with only the trim around the door on both sides of the wall. I have now hired an attorney. Who knows where this nightmare is going from here. I have known the owner of J.I.T. Construction for years. I would never have believed this would have happened.