Licensed Contractor vs Not Licensed

ServiceAward · 2024-11-16T11:08:00+00:00

I am not happy as I type this at 5am...this is a very long post becuase I do not know how to write short posts. Feel free to skip on by if you dont have time to read..... Some background... Some of you know that we had a large tree from a neighboring property fall on to our detached garage last January. Mom had let her homeowner's insurance lapse, so there was no insurance to cover it. It is a toss up as to whether the owner of the property where the tree fell from is legally responsible. Generally state law here requires there be some negligence involved. In this case, the property owner is a rental company (a shady one at that), and we had not informed them that the tree was dead and leaning in our direction. That particular tree was in the back of their property behind many more trees, so it was too visible from their end. It really was not very visible from our end either as it was a double-trunk tree and the trunk I could see leaned the opposite way. So I was quite shocked with it came crashing down as I didn't realize there was a second trunk. While the property company did respond and removed other dead trees, my requests for some sort of compromise on paying for the damage went unanswered. I wanted to talk to an attorney about all of this, but everybody wanted a minimum of $300-$400 to even talk to me for an hour. And without being Mom's Power of Attorney (she won't give that up - yet), it seemed like waste as I could not take any legal action on her behalf. My brother does not help, and my sister cannot help. Everything falls on me, from caring for her, caring part-time for my sister, taking care of the house, and running my business. My hope was that I was going to get something from my dad's estate so I could pay for the repairs myself. That all fell through about six weeks ago. Fast-forward and God gave us a blessing this week so I can not only get the garage repaired, but also a new roof on the house. The house roof is nearly 35 years old and leaks in several places. I moved very quickly to find a contractor. Back in the spring when I tried to get initial estimates, I had a difficult problem getting anybody to call me back. There are a lot of lazy people here who do not want big jobs or only want to work when they need the money. When a company finally did call me, they showed up and gave me an estimate of about $15k just for the garage. I have to have 8 trusses replaced, so it is more than the roof. I recently saw a sign for a company that I didn't recognize from my calls in the spring, so I wrote down their information in case I was able to get the repairs done. I called them, talked to the owner. He was driving at the time and asked me to text my information to him and he would have his sales person contact me. Based on my experience in the spring when people didn't call me back, I really did not expect anybody to call. To my shock, the sales guy called within an hour and set up an appointment for Thursday at 12pm. I was already impressed for the simple reason they kept their word and called me back promptly. Then, on Thursday, they called an hour before the appointment to make sure we were still good to meet. I appreciate that very much. The company that gave me the estimate in the Spring did not even call me. They just showed up two days later at 8am when I was still asleep. Here is a tip, that is a great way to piss me off. I met with the owner and the salesman as scheduled on Thursday. They were dressed nicely, looked professional, their vehicle looked professional. In other words, it wasn't some junk van they were using. I was immediately impressed by them and something in me said, yes, these are the guys I want. They looked at the garage and they showed me some photos of previous work they had done. I had already read some reviews on their website and on Yelp. They have rave reviews. The owner told me that he had been doing home improvement work for about 7 years, but got so many calls from people wanting new roofs that he expanded his business to do full roof replacements and truss work. He even showed me some pictures of recent trusses they installed on a home that a tree had completely gone through. Before I could ask about licensing and bonding, he asked if I had an electrician to do the electoral work because he was not licensed to do the electoral work. I told him that was one of the questions I was going to ask him, and he reiterated to me that he could not do it because he was not licensed In fact, he said he knew how to do it, but legally he couldn't. But, he did know some electricians if I didn't have anybody in mind. My plan has been to wait on the electrical work, because right now I need to get the roof repairs done and can always come back later to get the lights back on in the garage. Because he emphasized he was not license to do electoral work, his answer implied to me he is licensed to do all the other repairs. Therefore, I did not specifically ask about any of that. That's my fault, because I should have certainly made sure. While they were here, I had them give me an estimate on the house roof and new gutters. They gave me an estimate before they left. This was something else I also appreciated, as the company in the spring took a week to provide me an estimate. I told them I would talk things over with my mom, and I would let them know something Friday. Mom has cognitive issues, good days and bad days, but anything that involved paying out large sums of money or anything that involved making big decisions, she cannot handle. The estimate on the garage came in at $12k, which is nearly $4k less than the estimate I got back in the Spring. The house roof is running about $9k, and new gutters and downspouts will cost about $4k. They are going to replace the ventilation, too, as our attic fan stopped working a decade or more ago. Other than the cost of the house gutters, I think the roof prices are reasonable. I'm not going to quibble over that gutter price. The gutters are 30+ years old, and the downspouts have been there since I was in my mom's belly. They are falling off and they need to be replaced. I think the price on the garage more than makes up for an over price on the gutters. It took multiple hour-long conversations with mom to help her understand all of this and how we are going to pay for it. Poor mom said at one point she was not going to live much longer. I cannot tell you how much this upset me. I finally got her to understand getting these repairs done is the right thing. It will help me to keep her in her home for as long as possible, and I shouldn't have to worry about a leaky roof that could be a fire hazard. Plus, having the garage fixed means I have a solid place to store my inventory. My bedroom has been an office since January. I've either slept on the floor, an air mattress, or in an extremely uncomfortable chair for the past 11 months because I had to take my bed down to run my business out of my room. Mom finally got on board with all this. I called the sales guy Thursday night and told him it was ago, and I could make the 20% deposit on Friday. I was worried mom would outcome Friday morning, but she seems excited. I met with the salesman again to sign the contract and make a 20% down payment, which was $5k. Next Tuesday they will be back with the truss company so they can get the measurements for the trusses. I've been hyped up about this and very thankful we can get this work done. That was until early this morning. I was sitting here doing some Googling of the company re-reading the reviews, and I ran across a link to look up to see the status of a company's contractor license. To my shock, I could not find one for this company. It is possible the state's website is not updated, or maybe it is up under a different name. I can find where the owner was licensed home inspector in the past and he appeared to have always been in good standing. It looks like he let that expire about the time he started the home improvement/roofing business. I could not find anything on the current business. As I'm typing this I'm working through my emotions here are my thoughts and concerns: First, there is no question in my mind that these guys are professional. They seemed very knowledgeable. I appreciated the photos of their work. They even offered to provide me with customer names if I wanted to talk to them. The fact they were in professional vehicles tells me they are not the type of people who wake up and say, "I think I'll go fix a roof to make some cash today." I didn't know the owner had been a licensed home inspector, but I think that does count for something. I am concerned, if in fact they are not licensed, that they mislead me. I can't understand why they would say they could not do the electoral work because they were not licensed, yet be willing to install trusses and a roof without a license. They also told me the city would have to come inspect their work which, if they were not licensed, I think they would be trying to do the work off the books from the city. At a minimum, I for safety of my mom's well-being, I need to get the record straight one way or the other. Ideally, he tells me yes, they are licensed and provides me the number so I can look that up, rather than trying to go by the name. If he tells me, no he is not licensed, things get a lot more complicated. Given that I just provided the deposit on Friday afternoon and that the contract does not talk about formfitting the deposit if a customer cancels it, I don't think the deposit is at risk, especially if it goes back to a licensing issue and because I feel mislead. Then, I ask myself, should I even cancel? That brings me to this post. In the former industry I worked in, while I didn't need a government license, I did have extra certifications from a 3rd party in the industry. These certifications were supposed to let people know I am more knowledgeable and trustworthy than the people that didn't have the certifications. I can tell you that there were plenty of people with those same certifications that didn't know crap. I know of several of them that outright gave wrong information to the public that put people's lives in danager. I even filed complaints and nothing was done. I also know people who did not have the certifications that are much smarter than me and had the skills needed to excel in the industry. So I know that even when it comes to contractors, a government liscense does not tell me whether someone has the skill to do a job correctly. The other thing I have to consider is that we still do not have insurance on the property. We can't get it until that garage is fixed. I did inform the owner of that when I met with him on Thursday. If he is liscned, then he sure would have insurane as I think that is part of the lisceneing requirment. If he is not liscened, it becomes an issue of if someone gets hurts, then what. I can't have him or one of his employees suing me or my mom. I won't put that at risk. So if he is not liscened and I decide to have him to do the work, I'll have to tell him I'll need him to sign something to not hold us libal if anybody gets hurts. I really do not want to have to go back to the drawing board beause it is so hard to get anything done in this crackhead city. If you find anybody decent to do work, you've got to hold on to them because 80% of them don't give a crap. Thoughts? Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2024 11:11AM by ServiceAward.

Licensed Contractor vs Not Licensed

November 16, 2024 05:58PM

I have had a handyman do work for me that technically a licensed professional should have done - replacing a wall switch and some lights comes to mind - but that was minor work, and I trusted that he knew what he was doing. I probably wouldn’t trust an unlicensed person to do structural and roofing work.

Before you go into a complete panic, find out from them if they’re licensed. Ask for their license number and look it up. If they say they aren’t, then my question to them would be, “Why not?”

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown

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November 16, 2024 06:00PM

Generally, I go to a Bricks and Mortar business. They do the work or hire the contractors.
I trust ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯
that they know the licencing needs and have Workers Comp, etc.
My brother is in the trades and this is what he advised me to do since I am not very knowledgeable.
I'm not in the states so not knowledgeable at all about it.

Sounds like you've found a decent company.¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

I have no suggestion.

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.
Alexander Den Heijer

November 19, 2024 02:41AM

Glad you're finally getting this taken care of, honey. It'll be a huge thing to cross out on your to-do list.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown

November 19, 2024 03:47AM

ServiceAward, If you feel the contractor is being upfront with you and your gut instinct tells you to proceed, then do so. However, I have watched enough HGTV to know unpermitted work often comes back to bite people. I have read several times that it is wise to verify on your own the current status of a contractor's insurance and license. That means you ask for the name and policy number of the insurance company and call yourself to verify the policy. What if he once had insurance and let the policy lapse? He could still have the paperwork but it would be worthless. I would request he provide the name and polity number of the insurance company. Call your city or county permit office and find out exactly what permits you are legally obliguated to get. I do not believe the answer is based on the cost of the job, but the complexity of the work. Ask the truss company if they require permits be pulled.

November 19, 2024 10:22PM

ServiceAward, it sounds like you're doing everything right. The thing I would caution you to be aware of if they subcontract the job out.

With the electrical, most municipalites want a licensed electrician to at least bid the job. Doesnt mean they will be doing the work. In my experience electrical needs a permit unless, as mentioned above, it's installing a new switch or outlet inside where nobody sees. But not a complete rewire of your garage.

IMHO, if the contractor was shady and knew how to do it, he would have accepted the rewire no permit and go for it. This guy seems genuinely concerned about loosing his contractor license. Just my opinion.

If you live where hurricane ties are needed you might ask how much of an add on it would be to add to the other joists. Or if its exposed rafters to the walls DIY. if its between the rafters and the sheething, nevermind I brought it up

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Licensed Contractor vs Not Licensed

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