Local builder gets his due!

Mark Hunt

here a few years ago about a home that I was asked to bid for radiant heat. It's a long story, but the short of it was that the builder gave the job to a contractor that had no experience in radiant for 20k below my price.

Well the builder abandoned the job after fleecing the ho for 400k+. He was indicted and convicted on numerous criminal charges and ordered to repay the 400k+.

I heard on the news yesterday that he has been ordered by a judge to wear an electronic tracking device because he has not re-paid the money.

I wonder how he explains that to his new victims,er,uh customers??????

The guy has cheated people all along the east coast, preying on hurricane victims as far away as Florida.

What a peach.

Mark H



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Jack_21

I once knew a contractor

who had painted on the side of his truck. "We Do Disasters" Go figure!

Jaitch

Some sayings come to mind.

Slow & Steady wins the race.
Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
Honesty is the best policy.
This too shall pass....
"I love it when a plan comes together"

ScottMP

He

called his customers HO's ?

Well no wonder.

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Constantin

I feel badly for the victims...

... I really lucked out with our contractor. Straightforward, honest, pays his subs on time. Thus, everything on this job is getting done with an A1-crew that is motivated to do the right thing, etc.

Mark, I think you lucked out because the contractor probably would have stiffed you. The homeowners aren't so lucky because they have to live with the mess their "contractor"/criminal/etc. created for them. Who needs GC's like that? It's more fun and more profitable working for the GC's and HO's that appreciate your craft, attention to detail, etc.

One boat builder that I had the pleasure of sparring with (after spending $$$, and about 1,500 hours of my own time fixing their glaring manufacturing defects) stiffed enough subs, etc. for the former general manager to remark to the press: "I can't say anything or I'll be shot" when the company finally collapsed with a lot of trade credit going along with it.

Weezbo

the unthinkable ,yet it happens.

would you rather have done all the work invested your life savings into the job,not been paid,...felt a sence of duty to the home owner and finished the job for them on top of it,doing the insulation vapor barrier sheet rock mud taping and texturing ,primer and paint,the roofing and framing and the electrical? your looking at him *~/:) i am a sap. may i not want.amen.

Ken D.

Builder

How many times thave you heard such a story? Unfortunately, all to often people are willing victims. They go with the cheapest bid, smoothest talking salesman,or glitzyest yellow pages ad. Advice to all- there is no such thing as a free lunch! You get what you pay for. If you pay next to nothing, you'll get next to nothing. The cliche^s go on and on. Always investigate a prospective contractor and DO NOT pay anything up front! The BBB is a good resource.

Constantin

I don't know if I entirely agree...

... as you may recall, I am in the midst of a gut job... or perhaps closer towards the end.

Anyway, I found the BBB to be less than useful when it came to screening general contractors. According to the BBB, less than 5% of all GC's in MA have ever had a complaint against them. Less than 1% had two. Yet, stories of crooked GC's abound... One contractor was taken to court, yet the dissatisfaction of that client never showed up at the BBB.

Perhaps the folks in Boston aren't the complaining kind. However, the rise of Angies list in this area seems to point towards the general problem: The BBB can only keep track of extant businesses. Crooked GC's and subs will simply fold one business, create another, and the people looking throuhg the BBB listings and Yellow pages will not be any wiser for it. Angies List is the BBB in reverse, where people generally recommend businesses to fellow homeowners rather than complaining about the bad ones.

Lastly, I agree with you that it's more than highly unlikely to get a bang-up job while paying peanuts. There is a small possibility that you've stumbled on a contractor trying to build a business on WOM, etc. but the risk isn't worth it, IMHO. At the end of the day, the best tests are references, pictures of prior work, and an informed consumer that can intelligently interview the contractor.

It's like the story that Tim told about when he worked at the utility doing (among other things) weatherization. When the time came for him to replace leaky windows, he used his experience to his advantage and asked prospective window-replacers whether they'd seal the area around the casing with closed-cell foam against infiltration or not. This simple test eliminated something like 50% of all contractors up front.

Similarly, I think it would be of great help if the learned luminaries here assembled a list of questions and answers that thoughtful consumers can use to screen their contractors. It wouldn't take long to create a short 10-question list to ensure that their hot water, steam, etc. heating system will be installed with modern principles in mind (pumping away, drop-headers, etc.).

Paul Pollets

My Top Ten Questions

1. Will you provide a heat loss calculation or an EDR connected load calculation to size my new boiler?
2. Are there differences in efficiencies between boilers, particularly between European boilers and American boilers?
3. Where should the circulator pump be installed on the “near-boiler” piping?
4. I have an existing masonry chimney; do I need a chimney liner?
5. All boilers have “controls”. Why should my boiler have an outdoor reset control?
6. Will you be installing a “low water cutoff” device? Why or why not?
7. Will you be insulating the pipes on my new steam boiler? If so, what type of insulation will you install?
8. Will you be insulating the pipes on my new hot water boiler? If so, what type of insulation will you install? And if not, why not?
9. Will you be commissioning the new steam (or hot water) boiler with proper chemicals to remove production oils, dirt, sludge, flux residues, pipe dope, etc.?
10. Will you warranty the system unconditionally for 1 year parts and labor and guarantee the home will reach 68°F at the coldest day of the year?


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Maine doug_7

Some more questions

Do you use electronic equipment to measure the combustion process? What do you measure? (check the little boxes)
Do you provide a printout to leave with the installed equipment?
Is maintenance included for the first year on this new install?
Do you offer a service contract?
Is 24/7 emergency service included?

TJ

locator beacon?

He still owes $400k?

I think the judge just want's the GC to wear the ankle bracelet so his dead carcass will be easier to locate.