legallearner
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WA
We are in the last throws of our remodel and ready for final inspection. However, there are a number of items that still need to be done that are not required for the final inspection (gutters, exterior paint, punchlist items). There are also two items that are faulty: a deck coating was poured incorrectly and did not cure correctly, and our new spiral staircase (never used yet!) is rusting badly.
Two questions:
1. At this point, we believe we have paid for what has been done, but because of the remaining items, there is still a contract balance of about $20,000 that is not related to final inspection items. Our contractor will not schedule the final inspection until we give him more money. Can we demand a final inspection as a condition of further payment (and he obviously would have to complete more work)?
2. Part of the remaining $20,000 is about $5,000 we are withholding for the faulty items (the polymer deck coating and the spiral staircase) as our understanding is that these are "punchlist" type items since they are not acceptable upon installation. He says no, that we owe him and that they are warranty items. My understanding of a warranty item is it is one that was installed properly but later on developed problems. Am I correct, and therefore I do not owe him money for these until they are corrected?
(FYI: The remaining $20,000 balance we are withholding amounts to this: The exterior paint amount is $12,000 we are withholding since it is not done -- and we are in the cold, wet Pacific Northwest so we don't understand why he is pushing painting now; $3,000 is withheld to redo the polymer deck per the per sq. ft. amount the manufacturer gave me; $3,000 is withheld for the rusting spiral staircase -- not even the full amount we had to pay upfront for it; and there is still about $2,000 of misc. punchlist work to be done. On top of this, his crew broke a blind of ours and he took it to be fixed. Well, in the process, he lost it. The replacement cost for it is $2,500.)
Thank you.
We are in the last throws of our remodel and ready for final inspection. However, there are a number of items that still need to be done that are not required for the final inspection (gutters, exterior paint, punchlist items). There are also two items that are faulty: a deck coating was poured incorrectly and did not cure correctly, and our new spiral staircase (never used yet!) is rusting badly.
Two questions:
1. At this point, we believe we have paid for what has been done, but because of the remaining items, there is still a contract balance of about $20,000 that is not related to final inspection items. Our contractor will not schedule the final inspection until we give him more money. Can we demand a final inspection as a condition of further payment (and he obviously would have to complete more work)?
2. Part of the remaining $20,000 is about $5,000 we are withholding for the faulty items (the polymer deck coating and the spiral staircase) as our understanding is that these are "punchlist" type items since they are not acceptable upon installation. He says no, that we owe him and that they are warranty items. My understanding of a warranty item is it is one that was installed properly but later on developed problems. Am I correct, and therefore I do not owe him money for these until they are corrected?
(FYI: The remaining $20,000 balance we are withholding amounts to this: The exterior paint amount is $12,000 we are withholding since it is not done -- and we are in the cold, wet Pacific Northwest so we don't understand why he is pushing painting now; $3,000 is withheld to redo the polymer deck per the per sq. ft. amount the manufacturer gave me; $3,000 is withheld for the rusting spiral staircase -- not even the full amount we had to pay upfront for it; and there is still about $2,000 of misc. punchlist work to be done. On top of this, his crew broke a blind of ours and he took it to be fixed. Well, in the process, he lost it. The replacement cost for it is $2,500.)
Thank you.