GC Wants Me To Eat His Mistake

Grumpy

We were installing cedar siding on an addition. The idea was to match existing. The existing is smooth siding. The GC bought the siding. We bought the trim. This is my first job with this GC.

Because the GC's supplier shipped the wrong siding, rough, we bought rough trims to match his siding. The Architect told the GC that the rough siding and trim has to be removed and replaced with smooth because smooth matches the existing.

I told the GC my cost for removal of what we already installed and told the GC how much to re-install the new material and I gave him a change work order for removal and re-installation. His response was the trims don't match existing so he wants us to eat the trim cost.

I don't want to eat the trim cost because I bought the trims to match his siding. I don't think I made a mistake.

Your thoughts?

Floorwizard

Did you know it was supposed to be smooth siding to match?
If you did, then someone should have been notified that possibly the wrong siding was delivered.
If not, then it should be easy to prove you had no idea.
A good question for the GC is :
How did you expect me to know this siding was the wrong type?

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"in 20 years you will regret more what you did not do than what you did"

hatchet

I can see both sides on this one. The GC should first and foremost eat the cost of the siding material and re-installation. The GC may be able to show fault if you have received any plan or specifications that shows the new trim and siding to match existing. If the information was not on the plans and took place in a private conversation between GC and architect then you should be in the clear.
GC's can be such a pain in the a** can't they? LOL

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Rich
WIT Construction Co.
Superior MT Contractor

Grumpy

Flor to be honest when they told me match existing I thought they menat widths and exposures, not type. I bought the rough trim to match the rough siding they had on site.

The problem is this... I explained my position to the GC, showed him the numbers and he wants to split the difference. Meaning I gave him a change work order for $4500 roughtly, and I allowed him to talk me down to $3200. (4500- cost of trims) He wanted to split the difference, meaning He pays me an extra $1700. My liabilty ends at 3200. I dropped 1300 for my mistake, the 3200 is for his mistake.

NOW that was insulting. He is trying to make a profit from his mistake at my expense.

Floorwizard

I wish I knew more about your field of work. Is there anyway to check on this dude? I am sure if he makes bad decisions, there would be record of it.
I know in the flooring industry, before we sign up a builder, we check references to find out why they need a new flooring store. Is it because they are unsatisfied with their current store, or were they booted because they didnt pay bills on time, or wasnt making decisions that kept working with them easier.

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"in 20 years you will regret more what you did not do than what you did"

Grumpy

They have a few carpenters who are working on other jobs. I've met two of them. They have 5 job sites. Too much work not enough labor... or so they say. Either way I'm pretty grumpy.

REWOODWORKING

first why are you buying the trim and he is supplying siding thats not the norm
when i do a job i ask who is supplying materials gc or me i never do part of it

every time i do a job i always look at the whole job befor i start and write down all my question and go over them befor i start this way there are not problems like this but even then things can still happen

i do alot of work for gc's and there are good ones and bad ones my advise is if you have done alot of work with this one eat it if you know what you are doing you will get it back 10 fold it works for me

i have taken hits on jobs and it hurts chalk it up to a lesson that wont happen again

but let him know it wont happen again and on your end dot all your i's and cross all your t's and dont forget this is a business.

Unregistered

Is the type of trim/siding (original or change) in writing?

Do you want to do buisness with this G.C?