what would you do?

[lamoncha lover]

as some of you know I just had a metal building put up. i am really quite pleased except for a few things.
This is not going to be a barn, but will be my house.
trim pieces scratched...
personal garbage left strewn about..bottles, paper wrappings etc. We are firm believers in you pack it in you pack it out....my 1st grader knows to not litter.
no cleanup of construction materials..they were however mostly put into about 4 piles.
speaking of piles
defecating in the woods just off the trails.
even left toilet paper. I understand but couldnt they have at least burried it? Or toted it out?

So should I say something or should I just take care of it myself?

[knight88]

First, save all the lumber & pvc scraps, you will need them sooner or later. The trash/garbage should have been cleaned up, most contracters have a person or company to do just that. Call them and ask...

[MN Gardener]

I would say something about the scratches, the poo and personal garbage. The scratches could void the warranty and maybe cause premature rusting. As far as the scraps, depends on if you are paying them by the hour. If you are paying by the hour, is it worth it to have them pick up the scraps up or is it something you are willing to do yourself. If you are paying a straight fee, see if it was in the bid. Just my $0.02.

[DW]

We are now of the age where we do hire...we always get a porta potty & have dumpster available. Did you provide this?

[Joshie]

Originally Posted by DW

We are now of the age where we do hire...we always get a porta potty & have dumpster available. Did you provide this?

If they needed a place to potty they should have provided that! I'd keep all that you could possibly use and call the contractor about the messes. I assume that your contract called for them to leave the place in a neat condition.

[lamoncha lover]

I did not provide a porta potty or a dumpster. If I go and clean it up I will be hauling it off in my truck bed...they did have a truck bed. It just seems very unprofessional to me to leave a mess. i did email the owner of company tonight. Tomorrow I will go out and pick through the stuff and pull out what I want to keep and start cleaning up the things that are just going to blow all about. He can let me know how he wants to handle the scratches and the few other construction concerns I had.
I told my grand son we are going out to the woods tomorrow to clean up EVERYTHING. I thought he was going to throw up lol

[springvalley]

Well I think that must be standard now as we had a new roof put on a shed this year and I had to pick up the mess. As far as the pooh in the woods, I keep a porta -potty around for things like this and hired help, hay rides and stuff like that.the scratchs on the metal I would complain about, that won`t get better. Good luck and now you know for the next time. Thanks marc

[wyld thang]

you should see what guys throw inside the walls, and if you didn't provide some sort of bathroom you're lucky they went off into the woods to do their business

was picking up/disposing garbage definite in your contract/bid?

[lamoncha lover]

I actually never even thought about it. A bathroom was never considered. Town and public restrooms are 3 miles down the road. There was a camper there I would have gladly given permission. I just didn't think about it. Perhaps I should tell them about the sawdust toilets I saw mentioned on here?
I dug out my contract. It was a bid job. Not by the hour. Nothing was mentioned about clean up. Again I just assumed it would be par tof the job. You know kinda leave it how you foind it.
Not a big deal. Tomorrow I will go clean up poo, and garbage, and nails. And I will leave the fixes from the construction angle for them to do.

[seedspreader]

Originally Posted by wyld thang

was picking up/disposing garbage definite in your contract/bid?

DING DING DING.

WINNER.


The only real complaint that you have that is actionable is the scratches. You MAY be able to make a claim of some sort of negligence since the trash is strewn around, but you may as well just clean it up and make a note for the next construction project.

We used to do construction clean ups and dry wall buckets were quite the grab bag of goodies.

[lamoncha lover]

its not like I plan on court action. I just wanted to know if it was worth a call or an email to let the guy know. he is real big into customer satisfaction...and if it wasn't his responsibility or if it was normal building behavior then I wouldn't bother him.

[Lizza]

Clean up should have been in your contract and it should have been something you should have asked, I mean live and learn but clean up is a big one to know about. I write in my contracts that dirt from excavation will be left on site, no removal, construction material however is included in my bids, and written out.

As for the porta potty, frankly I am really surprised they didn't require you to provide one. Our house builders specifically require a porta potty on site during build.

Now the scratches I would complain about.

[Paquebot]

Spent 13½ years in construction of mini warehouses. One thing that was automatic in the shipping was touch-up paint. Effort was always to send trim out in good condition but even the best erectors would carry additional bottles of paint with them.

Also, those scratches won't compromise the metal. The color is very thin and strictly cosmetic. The undercoat is the most important thing and that's what the guarantees are based on.

By the way, that color would have been our Polar Blue. If I were still working, I'd send a bottle.

Martin

[Wayne02]

Same thing happened when we had our metal building put up in 95. Poop and toilet paper left on the ground over the course of the 3 day build.

[lamoncha lover]

Martin
If they could touch it up and still makeit look nice i would be more then thrilled. Some of the scratches are pretty deep..but I don't think they are all the way through to the metal. i will look

[tomstractormag]

You hired someone to put up a building???

Tom

[mdharris68]

On all of the remote jobs I have been involved in around here, the dumpster and porta potty were provided by the home owner.

[Minelson]

Originally Posted by lamoncha lover

its not like I plan on court action. I just wanted to know if it was worth a call or an email to let the guy know. he is real big into customer satisfaction...and if it wasn't his responsibility or if it was normal building behavior then I wouldn't bother him.

If he is really into customer satisfaction then he will want to know about this. I would just nicely let him know. The scratches are unacceptable and need to be repaired by them.

[Mike in Ohio]

The debris I would just clean up myself. Looks like a couple hours work and it will probably be less aggravation than trying to get the contractor to do it. That's one reason not to pay everything (keep at least 10% back) until you sign off on the job.

I'd be a little more irritated about the scratches. Those look like plain old carelessness. Call up the contractor and mention about the debris and that you are cleaning it up yourself. Express your unhappiness about the scratches. At a minimum they should provide you with some matching touch up paint.

Just my 2 cents.

Mike

[lamoncha lover]

Thanks all.
Me and the grand children went out to the land and it took a 6yr old. 8 yr old,11 yr old. 13yr old and myself 2 hours to clean up the stuff.
And it looks so much better~! There reward was a movie...so all turned out ok that way.
We have a wood burn pile, garbage al lloaded into the horse trailer, keep tin pile and put all the saveable lumber in the building.
I will be insitent on something done about the metal and the few other issues.
AND yes Tom we hired somewone to put up a building. Neither one of use have building experience,no family or friends to help, and bodies that are a bit beat up and aged.As a former dog groomer I LOVED when folks who were clueless tried to groom their dogs themselves. What a mess they would make and then call me crying. I did not want to be one of those people,,in over my head and crying for some professional to fix our mess.I really don't think it's all that unusual...
Not every person has the same skills.