Dealing With Warranty Issues

Brickie

I received the following RFQ thru my website:


I have a new construction home with a masonry fireplace that isn't working properly. It is constantly letting smoke in the house, we have a wind diverter on the top of the chimney, but that hasn't seemed to help much, would you be able to look at it and tell what is wrong with and give me an estimate on what it would cost to fix it?


I followed up with them & found out they have been in their new home less than a year & that it's still under some kind of warranty.

According to the HO "Our mason doesn't know why it's not working properly"

I'm curious as to what you guys think on how I should proceed.

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“Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.” – Ronald Reagan

Leo G

Tell them up front you do not do free estimates. Charge them dearly for doing the job. Once you touch it, it turns into your problem.

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Custom Cabinets in Hartford County Connecticut

threaderman

It's the masons baby,he should fix the thing even if that means paying someone else to make it right.

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Your plumbing & gas specialist proudly serving Oklahoma City OK, Moore, Warr-acres, Norman, Midwest City, Edmond, Bethany, Forest Park

dakzaag

Unless it is something really obvious or simple I would probably stay away. Is there a fresh air intake? Someone plug it with insulation maybe.

The best solution for poor design is rebuild, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when you drop that little nuclear gernade on them.

Dont you just love mud season?

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D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.

Brickie

Definitely no free estimates. They'll have to pay for an estimate

__________________
“Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.” – Ronald Reagan

Brickie

Yeah, that's what I've been thinking. It's about 5-10 minutes away from my current project so I may swing by and take a peek.

__________________
“Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.” – Ronald Reagan

Tscarborough

I do a couple of these a month. If it is to rectify one of my customers issues, then I do it for free, and usually can solve it on the phone. If it is a stranger off the street, I charge and visit.

Run through all of the standard questions or checks:

Width of box, height of opening.
Flue size.
Chimney height and relation to peak.
Trees.
Check damper and smoke shelve (bring a strong flashlight).

Make sure it does it all the time, and if not what seems to make it smoke. With certain layouts, open doors to other rooms, etc.

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It ain't Rocket Science unless you are building rockets.

tkle

Owner builder who took the cheapest price from a wanna be mason. Saved themselves a few bucks and now they want a real mason to tell them how to fix it so they can get the wanna be back. That's 5 minutes out of your life you could spend with family or sit home watching Spongebob. Ordinarily I wouldn't touch it. As slow as I've been.. I'd probably still brush them off.
Spongebob Squarepants...

Brickie

__________________
“Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.” – Ronald Reagan

dakzaag

Brickie,
Thanks for the update. So will you have another project on your hands? I'm guessing they will settle for having a very expensive back ground for family pictures and a place to hang stockings at Christmas.

So that means more work for us... or another HO spreading the news about how horrible it is to own a fireplace. It is situations like this that make me think the masonry certification program is a good idea.

__________________
D K & Sons
The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
2. Repeat as often as needed.