GARY'S FOUNDATIONS

The crew was scheduled to come on Monday 9/8/14 but did not come that day or the next day (Tuesday, 9/9/14) telling us that the foreman was sick. They came on Wednesday 9/10/14 with a 4-man crew plus Dwayne, the owner, and started the job. The crew didn't show up again on Thursday 9/11/14 and Dwayne had left a message with our GC that their foreman had a doctor's appointment. On Friday 9/12/14, no one showed up again. It seemed odd that another foreman or the owner wouldn't supervise the job to cover for a sick day or a doctor's appointment, but with what came next it made sense. On Friday 9/12/14, our GC said that Dwayne told him he had not bid the job correctly and wanted additional funds (about $3,800 more) to complete the job or he would back out. Dwayne had been given a complete set of plans to bid the job, so there should have been no excuse for blowing his bid. We do have some non-typical specs on our plans, but our GC told us that he had specifically asked Dwayne a few times if he was sure he had reviewed the plans before submitting his bid. A reputable company would have completed the job at the price they gave. After discussion with our GC, we decided we weren't going to pony up. On the day the crew worked, they did put in a long day (about 9.5 hours) digging and setting forms for the footings. The forms were set at the proper elevation, however the inspector saw that they were not the proper width in nearly half of the runs. We ended up correcting those mistakes and working by ourselves, our GC and a friend to pour the concrete footings on our own. His "bidding error" caused a delay of about 3 weeks on our project (after the day they actually worked) which created a lot more work for us. In that timeframe, it rained so we had tarps to deal with to protect the project, unstable dirt walls, rain water to pump out of the hole, and mud all around the project. In addition, it was stressful not knowing if or when another contractor could come in to complete the job. Fortunately, we got another basement contractor to set forms and pour the basement walls. He will get a very positive review in another post. Gary's Foundation gets an F for failing to bid properly, failing to show up on time, and failing to complete the project.