Contractors

Discussion in 'Sun City General Discussions' started by BPearson, Aug 28, 2017.

  1. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Sorry, been a while since i posted; busy with other stuff as you will read.

    One of the biggest challenges for new buyers to Sun City AZ is we have homes built from 1960 through 1978. There are flippers doing some decent remodels, but you often pay an inflated price or sometimes get questionable work.

    If you buy here with plans to put your own stamp on the house, that comes with its own unique set of problems. There's way too many wood butchers out there acting as if they are real contractors. Lord knows we have found our fair share of them. We bought the home we are in in 1999 and have remodeled it from top to bottom. Personally i love the home and hate the idea of moving. But with near on 3000 square feet, it is far bigger than we need.

    Two years back we bought a smaller home with plans to rent during the winter months and remodel during the summer. Funny how plans don't always work out like they should.

    This is a long story and one that i hope will help new buyers to Sun City begin to understand some of the pitfalls. I will break it in parts so not to lose readers.

    Suffice to say, over the past year we used a Sun City Home Owner Association (SCHOA) approved contractor, and in spite of that, we are in a mess. I will report them to SCHOA and we will see how they handle it. I will leave you with this nugget: This contractor did shoddy and incomplete work, but that's not the worst of it. We have a contract dated this July and when we pressed him to complete the work, he emailed us a portion of said contract with language he had deleted. Really? Crappy work is one thing, dishonesty is something compeletely different.

    Stay tuned, i will fill in the blanks and update you as to how SCHOA handles this matter.
     
  2. sussea

    sussea Member

    That is too bad. We are going to start remodeling our kitchen and both bathrooms. I have no idea who to trust.
     
  3. pegmih

    pegmih Well-Known Member

    DIY. With the help of Home Depot or Lowes!!!! That is what one of my neighbors is doing.
     
  4. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Hey suss; pm me and i will give you the contractor that has come in to fix the mess the last jackass left me in. I am impressed.

    The tail of woe began a little over a year ago when we hired a contractor who does a lot of work in Sun City. We were bumping up against a date our renter would be arriving (about 3 months) and we wanted to put up a patio across the back of the house and a roof that matched the three tiered roof line (flat roofed house). The long term plan was to convert two-thirds of that to an addition (which we did this year).

    Our 2016 project was expensive (35K) but we were willing to pay the price to get it done before the renters came. And, our contractor told us the next phase of converting it to livable space would be quick, cheap and easy. Right.

    We were working with our renters who were gracious enough to allow us access to be ready to move as soon as they left. That didn't work out as planned, but we did get going out early enough to get the addition enclosed and to remodel the kitchens and bathrooms. Our contractor submitted the plans to the county and we thought we were golden. Something got buggered up and we were setback 6 weeks. We thought still doable, but when the work finally began and walls were removed we saw how poorly thought out this plan was. The floor in the addition was 2 to 3 inches below the interior flooring, there was a beam hanging 16 inches below the 10 foot ceiling and worse yet the roof had a pitch to it.

    Alas, if those were our only problems we would get by. As work began, it was slow, sloppy and the communication was pathetic at best.

    Enough for now, but more to come and the bigger test will be how SCHOA responds to this. Talked to them yesterday and i will arrange a meeting to lay out my complaints. In the end, SCHOA makes good money on their vendor program, but the real value is if its members gets their moneys worth.
    We'll see.
     
  5. sussea

    sussea Member

    We don't have the skills to do the work we need done. We have original bathrooms. The bathtub and shower, floors and cabinets need to be replaced. Then the kitchen I want part of a wall knocked out and new cabinets and countertops. I wish I could do the work but I mostly can paint and do minor stuff.
     
  6. Cynthia

    Cynthia Well-Known Member

    Hey BP you gave me the name of a contractor once, JR, and I used him for my floors. He did a great job so I'm wondering why you didn't use him? I ask because I'll need him again.
     
  7. sussea

    sussea Member

    BPearson, I sent you a private message. Thanks.
     
  8. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    JR does a great job C, and i did bring him to bid the job. Unfortunately his guy that did the blueprints was way busy and never did get plans that could be submitted to the country. We finally gave up and that put us a month behind. My goal had been to use JR, but the amount of work was daunting and he was dragging his feet and i couldn't afford to wait.

    That sucked because i ended back up with Tru Builder. They had done a good job on the first part of the project, or so i thought. Once they took the wall down for the addition, i realized just how bad it was. And, by the time they were done we were 8 weeks behind schedule and a list of uncompleted work.

    I've now found a contractor who has been absolutely brilliant to work with. In fact, he was in there while Tru Builder was screwing up the electric and i had his electrician fix the mess they had made otherwise we would not have passed inspection.


    I've had to put off the kitchen and bathrooms till next year, but we are working out the drawings and will start as soon as the renters leave in April.

    The experience has been tragic, the idea we poured a slab last fall for the patio and then jackhammer it out the next year and re-pour is beyond comprehension. That's what happens when you hire contractors who have no clue on what they are doing...or worse yet, don't really give a damn.
     
  9. Cynthia

    Cynthia Well-Known Member

    Thanks. Good to know he's still an option. And sounds like you have another good name to pass around :)
     
  10. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    There won't be a quick resolution E, but there will be hell to pay. Filing both an ROC charge, a SCHOA complaint and a lawsuit if necessary. This past week we came across all kinds of solid information that will bury his arguments. Idiot.

    On the bright side, this new contractor has been brilliant. More on that and him as we get done.
     
  11. Cynthia

    Cynthia Well-Known Member

    How's the new high-tech roof BP?
     
  12. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Hard to be objective given what we have done since the coating C. Got the solar on shortly thereafter and now we are in the midst of a 5 ton air conditioner being installed on the roof. The flat roof house means duct work on the roof and holes cut into the roof for the air vents. Damn, our timing sucks. We were going to go with mini-splits but they just wouldn't have been adequate.
     

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