Quality Home Renovations

The short version is that Quality Home Renovations refused to perform the work as outlined in the signed contract. The explanation provided by Bill Warick, the field supervisor, was that the owner, Michael Mann instructed them to walk away from the job because they were not going to remove the existing sand bed before pouring the concrete. I used to be an electrician, and even I know that you don't build anything on sand. Not if you want it to be permanent. Have they never been to the beach? Aren't there parables about construction projects in these conditions? Their contract states "Builder agrees that he [bolded in their contract] will remove all debris, equipment, materials, etc. from the location upon completion of the construction." I might have understood if they were at least going to provide a change order estimate for the sand to be removed, but they didn't even offer one. This is an additional breach of contract. QHR knew about the sand bed, because I addressed it when he was on site to provide the estimate. I also brought it up during a phone call on Friday, November 13, when Bill called to schedule the work for the following Monday morning at 7:30am. He seemed shocked that I would expect them to remove the sand, and asked if there was anywhere on the property that they could dump it. This was a ridiculous request, and I told him that I expected them to remove the sand from the property. He said that he would talk to Michael and see what he wanted to do, because there wasn't enough money in the job to haul that away. Per our agreement, I spent all day Sunday removing the pavers and border stones from the area. Monday morning arrived, and Bill was about 30 minutes early. This is the only positive thing I can say about the experience. I commented that he was early, and he said the concrete truck was scheduled for 8am. I thought that was a bit premature, since the sand still needed to be removed, the forms set, etc. but I didn't presume to know the timeline of doing this best. If I did, I'd be doing it myself. When I asked him about removing the sand, he implied that they were going to pour the concrete directly on the sand, and that everything would be fine. I told him that that was not acceptable, and he said that one of the incoming workers would explain. When the rest of the crew arrived, I explained again that the sand must be removed, and they asked where I wanted it piled up in the yard. I reiterated that it was in their contract for all debris to be removed. Bill explained that they would put the sand on a tarp nearby and haul it away once everything was finished. The workers laid out plastic sheeting (presumably to put the sand before removing it for good). At this point Bill disappears. The guys started digging in the sand to find out how deep it was, and I went inside to throw something away. When I came back outside a few minutes later, all of the wheelbarrows, shovels, etc were gone, and one of the workers was grabbing the last of his things. I asked what was going on, and he explained that Bill said to pack up - they weren't doing the job. I went out to the where Bill was parked, and he said that Michael told him that they weren't going to pay for the sand to be removed and had instructed Bill "to just walk away." It apparently doesn't matter that I have a signed contract saying that they would perform the work for a given price. They didn't even entertain the possibility of providing a change order, which was also in their contract, if needed. The bottom line is that they are in breach of contract, and are not reputable. The way the issue was handled after flatly refusing to address it was staggeringly UNPROFESSIONAL. There were no surprises in the installation conditions. Bill saw with his own eyes what the area looked like. I addressed the issue of the sand multiple times, and it always seemed that he was trying to avoid the topic or gloss it over as no big deal. If I hadn't been insistent on the sand removal, I shudder to think that they would have tried pouring the concrete on top of it, and we would have had nothing but problems with it. There would likely be more reliable results having a truck full of circus clowns pull up and handle the construction. This company is profoundly unprofessional, and I urge everyone to avoid doing business with them at all costs.