Superior Precision Services

The crew began by doing demolition that was unnecessary--and doing so carelessly, breaking a storm window and damaging screens that were to be saved--and ignoring demolition that would have made sense to do. One of the first things they did, for example, was remove all the sheathing from the entire front of the house, covering it only with Tyvek for the duration of their time on the project (see photo) and beyond. They installed a stairway (see photo) that was so out-of-level on the bottom three steps that it was the first thing you noticed when you walked in the front door. The stringers were cut so out-of-square that shims (see photo) were needed to make the stairway usable. Permits were delayed, and rather than do work that did not require permits, they began construction on the dormers. The front dormer was built out-of-center by about a third of its width. The owner first blamed the architect, then accepted responsibility and re-built the dormer, but in the text exchange, resisted the idea that the architect or I would have oversight of his work, writing "just let me do my work"! The re-built front dormer was inconsistent with the architect's plans, as was the entire upstairs (mostly in subtle ways). When I realized that I was going to have to manage confrontational relationships between myself and the contractor and the contractor and the architect if we were to hold the contractor to reasonable standards of workmanship, I emailed him suggesting that we negotiate an end to the contract and agree on a logical stopping point. I had made the required $6000 weekly payment on the Friday before the Sunday that I emailed him about mutually ending the contract, but the owner's response was to quit without performing any further work. In his first reply he acknowledged that he would owe me money, but 45 minutes later said that he would not, and implied that he would be suing me. On Monday, he removed his equipment and cut off all communication. For three weeks of work (much of which must be re-done), plus floor joists, siding, a subfloor and two unfinished dormers, we paid him $68,000. I have made many offers to settle accounts in an honorable way, but he has refused, and I am going to have to file a lawsuit to recover what I am owed. They left the work site looking like a disaster, open to the weather and intruders. The owner would not answer my questions about what had and had not been ordered to be delivered to a vacant job site. Fortunately, he left a trail of texts and emails that will make it very easy to prove in court that he violated our contract.