I'm dealing with a situation where the crawlspace joists need replacing due to rot from poor ventilation. I got a structural engineer to produce drawings indicating I needed to replace about 8 joists (2-ply 2x12 @ 20'). After sending these drawings to my contractor and a site visit, I received an invoice that included "rebuild joists" without any specified quantity, and I paid a deposit. Now, the contractor claims the damage is worse than he initially expected, saying that instead of the 4 joists he thought needed replacing, now 9 will require replacement. I'm frustrated because I expected based on the drawings that 8 joists needed replacing, and it seems like he didn't base his initial pricing on those documents. I don't want to escalate things, but it seems like there's been a major miscommunication here. What should my approach be?
1 Answer
I’d suggest telling the contractor that you only agreed to replace the joists as shown in the engineer's drawings. You can say something like, 'The drawings showed 8 joists, and I’m okay covering the cost for one extra joist outside of the drawings and the subfloor replacement, but you should’ve caught the others in your initial estimate.' It's a clear stance that encourages him to stick to what was agreed and documented.
Exactly! And it’s really frustrating if he keeps changing the plan. You could always ask, ‘If you only replaced 4, wouldn’t I have pushed you later to complete the job according to the engineer’s specifications?’ This puts the responsibility back on him.