I was originally contacted by this client to fix a non compliant stairwell (where the landing was too narrow) add handrail and sheetrock the inside of a closet. Upon completing these projects I contacted the city to clear the building permit but found out that the client was unaware of the other items that needed to be completed. What were the items that needed to be completed to clear the building permit? The basement had to be completely finished with baseboards, door casings, operative windows, finish the flooring in the lower level, sheetrock the walls in the furnace room, sprinkle the furnace and water heater as they were now in the path of egress, and, and, and.
I was unaware of just how bad this basement was until I was given the update that the basement had an outstanding building permit for the ENTIRE basement. That was okay but I did not realize exactly how bad the workmanship was until I started looking over the basement to prepare the next phase of the project and then it all came into light.
The windows had been screwed shut so that the previous contractor could get them to close. The casing around the windows had been secured with screws one at the top and one at the bottom which is the same way the doors were set with screws one at the top one at the bottom. The rough openings were framed tight and not with shim space. The flooring has buckled all over the lower level. There was a combination laundry room/ bathroom that had tile that was incomplete and in the process of installing the floor tile the previous contractor buried the floor drain. The electrical had all been installed by the contractor who by the way is not a licensed electrician as well as all of the plumbing done by this contractor who is also NOT a licensed plumber. The plumbing that the contractor did was done with plastic and secured with quick connect pex connectors. They glued all of the elbows with all purpose glue that is intended to glue waste vent and not plastic carrying water. It is only rated for about 12 lbs of pressure and water is at a much higher psi rating than air.
This is not where it all stops this is where it all starts unfortunately. This contractor is now nowhere to be found and the client is stuck with paying twice for this project. The project would have been cheaper the first time and it would have been done right the first time. Now the project takes longer to break down and figure out and then start to be put back together. The reality of this project is it would almost be better for the client to tear the whole basement out and start new but he is trying to sell the property and move so right now time is of the essence and this project will be done in pieces.
What will be done?
Windows will be fixed so that they are operational
Tile will be partially torn out and the floor drain will be incorporated back into the room. This floor drain should NEVER have been covered up in the first place.
The laminate flooring will be finished. The client has opted to not tear out all of the laminate flooring so the edges will be finished and spots will be in filled.
A lot of the doors will have to come out and either replaced or re hung. This is so the doors operate properly or at least close as two of the doors do not close at all.
Some of the door walls will receive a layer of ¼” sheetrock as the previous contractor used 3/8” sheetrock throughout the entire project on ceilings and walls. What difference does this make some of you may ask? Stock door jambs measure 4 9/16th” or for sake of conversation 4 ½”. Framing for walls measures 3 ½” and if ½” drywall is used on both sides that provides another inch of thickness all totaling 4 ½” Since 3/8” sheetrock was used the walls fall short of ½” by 1/8” on both sides for a total of ¼”. This creates a problem for trimming the doors as it is preferable to have the jambs and the walls flush with one another.
The light fixtures will need to be addressed as they are incorrectly installed.
The furnace room will get sprinkled.
There will be quite a bit of taping and texturing that will need to be done. The texture will be matched as closely as possible. The previous contractor applied some sort of heavy texture where the texture was splattered with blobs instead of a nice subtle orange peel texture.
These are just some of the deficiencies and the project will take some time as things are so that much of it will be figured out as it is torn apart. Please stay tuned for updates as this project progresses. I will be captioning these photos in the days to come but here they are for you to view and I think you can figure out the deficiencies on your own. This project is very bad and it does not take too much to tell what would be "finished" and what would not. These pictures are for real and this is how the project starts and I will add photos of the project as it progresses and once it is complete.
Before & During photos
Window trimed by using screws with no returns and not finished
More window pictures showing no storm Return air grills for mechanical room caulked in
or screen installed
Bathroom door does not close even when pushed Bathroom door and others not trimmed out
Flooring installed in this fashion not sure why Old shower/tub installed but not hooked up
Dryer ducted into seiling Doors installed using screws- one at the top
and one at the bottom. Doors openings were
also framed tight with no shim space
Egress window in bedroom installed. The trim was done without being wide enough nor installing
extension jambs. Gaps between finish boards sealed with toilet paper.
Furnace room will have walls sheetrocked More of the bathtub area in the laundry room
You can see how the plumbing was done. The
elbows were glued with DWV adhesive which is
rated for carrying air and not intended for the
pressure of water. Amazing that these pipes
didn't fail at some point in time or should I say
lucky?
Transition strip will go across this line of sight Viewing the outside of the bedroom door, no casing
to finish the flooring that is under the chair in
this picture
Return air vent Tile floor in laundry room not finished and floor
drain buried. Floor drain has been recovered
and will be incorporated back into the design
Door rubbing on flooring due to not being cut for height
...and the final travesty, the door casing cut too short and installed anyway. These pictures are just a few of the deficiencies in this space. There are more however I think this comprises an assorted selection of the issues. These photos show what the low bidder may provide for you and there is no code or any law that prevents this kind of work from being done because codes do not enforce workmanship. Are these items done? YES! Are they done right? NO! Can the codes department enforce any action against this contractor? NO, because the code only reads what has to be done however it DOES NOT stipulate to what level of perfection it is done to.
Please when you are selecting your contractor DO NOT use the dollar figure as your only determining factor. This is one of several jobs I have worked where I have had to fix other contractors work and it usually is because the client wanted to save a few $$$. You can see what a contractor can do to your project so just because their estimate looks good DOES NOT mean your project will.
Enjoy the site and stop back in the next couple weeks to see how this project progresses!