Neighbor sues neighbor over botched bathroom renovation

Dear Abby: We were friendly with our next-door neighbor, who owned a contracting company. We hired him to renovate our bathroom but, he didn’t set the tub correctly, and a slow leak occurred. Three years later, our kitchen ceiling came down. We had to pay $10,000 to repair the damage.

We talked with him about it. He seemed apologetic, but after speaking with his wife, who is a lawyer, he told us our options are to “eat it” or sue him. We sued.

The case was dismissed on a technicality, and the judge suggested we refile with a lawyer. We had tried to represent ourselves in small claims court, and the judge said it’s difficult to do when the opposing side has a lawyer.

Can you give us any advice

on how to deal with this if we choose not to refile a lawsuit? He knows he completed this part of the job wrong, but his wife won’t let him do the right thing. I’m blown away by the lack of ethics from people we regarded as friends. — The Right Thing In The East

Dear The Right Thing:

Do not blame only the wife for what happened; her husband is her willing partner. They are equally ethically challenged.

Because you are reluctant to incur the expense of hiring a lawyer to represent you in court, consider reporting the husband to the Better Business Bureau and the state contracting license board. If you do, it may save another family from experiencing the frustration and monetary loss you have.

Dear Abby: I have accepted that I’m better by myself, but my mother, who is religious, is convinced that I will want a kid one day. She feels she “knows” this, even though I have told her many times that I wouldn’t be able to handle a husband or children. I have done my best to grin and bear it, but I feel guilty for disappointing her.

It’s not that she won’t get to be a grandmother. She already is. Also I can tell the idea of my being bisexual makes her queasy. She is still in denial.

What can I do when she says things like she can’t

wait until I have a husband or a kid of my own, or when she makes the same irritating face whenever anything about anyone’s sexual orientation is mentioned? — Likes

It Solo In Texas

Dear Likes It: Because you have told your mother repeatedly that marriage and parenthood aren’t what you want, when she brings it up, change the subject. Do not allow her to make you feel guilty for wanting to live your life the way you see fit. It is your life, not hers, and you were not put on this earth to fulfill her fantasy.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren ,also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069 or visit