Montreal Gazette

CAN YOU SAVE A BAD RENOVATION?

Take your time and learn everything about the job and how to do it properly

- MIKE HOLMES

This morning, my guys went to look at a job they got called in to fix. Unfortunat­ely, it was a situation that was all too familiar.

A homeowner hired a contractor to rebuild their home. Everything seemed like it was going to plan. The contractor got permits; he gave them a contract with a payment schedule, tied to specific project milestones (e.g. rough-in, drywall, completed); he even had an inspector come in and check the first stage of the build.

But the homeowner started noticing things weren’t quite right.

The first clue was the job site was a complete mess, with major safety hazards everywhere — it looked like a dumping ground for other builds the contractor had going in the area. Then the exterior siding was removed, leaving the house exposed to the elements all winter long — then finally, the basement flooded.

The homeowner called an independen­t, third-party home inspector (not an inspector that the contractor hired) to come in, take a look and give their unbiased opinion. Their report confirmed the homeowner’s worst nightmare: the contractor botched the build, and it was going to take a lot more time and money to fix it.

The big questions here are: Could this situation have been prevented? If so, when? At what point? And is there anything the homeowner can do now?

The homeowner can take the contractor to court, but we all know that takes time and money, and in many cases like these, the homeowner doesn’t have much

of either. What about insurance? Can it protect you from a bad renovation?

Your contractor’s insurance, which should include full liability and Workers’ Compensati­on insurance, only covers accidents on the job site. (For example, someone falling off the roof or a valuable painting getting damaged.)

Extra coverage on your homeowner insurance can protect you against personal and public property damage the renovation causes, such as messing up your neighbour’s home or a broken water main. But if the renovation was just done poorly, you’re the only one stuck holding the bag ... and we all know what’s in the bag.

So where did things go wrong? Where they usually do — at the beginning.

A good renovation and a proper

build starts with education. It’s the first step, it’s the biggest, and it’s usually the one that most people skip.

Learn the basics of what a proper job looks like, what it takes, and what it really costs.

The first red flag was the contractor’s quote — it was too low.

There was no way anyone could deliver the kind of renovation this homeowner wanted based on the quote this contractor provided, and the homeowner should have known this. How? By getting quotes from other contractor­s.

If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. The contractor could either be using cheaper products and materials, or skipping proper installati­on practices, or all of the above. But you better believe they’re not taking a hit on the costs just to give you a big, big deal.

What the about the contract? They did it right; they had a payment schedule tied to project milestones.

The problem was the contractor rushed through the job and did things wrong just to get paid.

Had the homeowner known how the job should have been done in the first place, the proper steps and how materials should have been installed, they could have stopped the contractor before paying him even more money to continue to do a bad job.

Another solution is putting in the contract that you’ll get your own profession­al home inspector to check the work and verify things are done right, before moving forward to the next phase of constructi­on — because contractor­s know inspectors, too.

In the end, the homeowner fired the contractor. Now my guys have to fix his mistakes on her dime.

At the end of the day, it comes down to trust. A contractor must earn it. You don’t just give it away. Do your homework, take your time and learn everything about the job and how to do it right.

That way, the second things go wrong you can pull the plug and save on future damages and costs — then hire the right people to make it right.

 ?? ALEX SCHULDTZ/THE HOLMES GROUP ?? A contractor left this home exposed to the elements and rodents for more than a year.
ALEX SCHULDTZ/THE HOLMES GROUP A contractor left this home exposed to the elements and rodents for more than a year.
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