Question about contractor breaking something.

[Jynkz]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

Hi, we had a water proofing company come in to trench our basement after it flooded, we also asked if he could plug an electrical conduit that was leaking that gives power to our garage. After he finished we no longer had power to our garage so clearly he broke something. He had his electrician come out and see if he could fix it which he then removed a GFI plug and we had power to our garage again. Later that night the electrician calls us and says he shouldn't of done that because now the outlet that kept tripping the GFI is a live wire leading to our garage which is a hazard. So they are now trying to tell us we need to run a whole new electrical conduit to the garage and it will cost us around $700. My question is why are they trying to say we are responsible for damage he did to our first conduit plugging the hole. If he is the one at fault how do I get them to fix it and us not have to pay for it? This is just extremely frustrating and I feel like they are trying to make us pay for their mess up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

Hi, we had a water proofing company come in to trench our basement after it flooded, we also asked if he could plug an electrical conduit that was leaking that gives power to our garage. After he finished we no longer had power to our garage so clearly he broke something. He had his electrician come out and see if he could fix it which he then removed a GFI plug and we had power to our garage again. Later that night the electrician calls us and says he shouldn't of done that because now the outlet that kept tripping the GFI is a live wire leading to our garage which is a hazard. So they are now trying to tell us we need to run a whole new electrical conduit to the garage and it will cost us around $700. My question is why are they trying to say we are responsible for damage he did to our first conduit plugging the hole. If he is the one at fault how do I get them to fix it and us not have to pay for it? This is just extremely frustrating and I feel like they are trying to make us pay for their mess up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The contractor didn't "break" anything - his work simply exposed improper or defective prior work. You need to have it done right. I would suggest, however, that you get a second opinion from a different electrical contractor.

 

[Jynkz]

Well technically he did break open the pipe that the line was ran through and cemented both ends of where he broke it open at the "plug" it. So that still means it's not his fault that it does not work after he did that?

 

[Zigner]

Well technically he did break open the pipe that the line was ran through and cemented both ends of where he broke it open at the "plug" it. So that still means it's not his fault that it does not work after he did that?

He fixed the conduit.

As I said, get a different electrical contractor out there for a second opinion. You really have no idea of what is going on...that's not an insult, just a fact.