Puzzled

There are so many emotions and questions about this situation. I swing between and I've been having medieval thoughts about justice. I'd like to have his gonads on a silver tray. I'd like him to be drawn, quartered and hanged by his own entrails. I had Western thoughts about justice too.

And then there are the questions. Why? Why us? We're good people. We try to use our powers for good. At least, Himself does. Is this punishment? Am I guilty of hubris because I wanted a pretty pot? What's the lesson? We trusted the wrong person? How easy it is to be taken to the cleaners? Were we given a quest to prevent this from happening to anyone else?

What puzzles me most is why did he do this? Doesn't he care about his reputation? He has committed fraud, misrepresented himself. Not only could he lose his license and livelihood, but he could spend some time in jail. His wife is part of the name on the invoices which means she's responsible for 50% of his actions. If he didn't care about himself, one would think he would care about what happens to his wife. Did he think we would say "oh well, boys will be boys" and not pursue matters? I'm pretty sure the money we paid is gone, but we can sue to attach a lien to his home, his truck, his tools.

I doubt the answer to the questions will ever be known. Time to get our sass up, and move on. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Friday,The Building Inspector

As LDH suggested Himself called the town building inspector. He came to inspect the bathroom and brought a stop Work Order. He was very sympathetic with our plight and he would try to help us out.

He was not happy as we related the details of the job. Contrary to what the contractor told us, we were supposed to have a building permit. Like LDH, the inspector scowled and grimaced at the work. It was not up to state code. He became incensed when he learned the contractor performed all the electrical and plumbing work. His license doesn't allow him to do that kind of work. And the building inspector will see he no longer has a license.

We will have to apply for a building permit. Once the permit is issued, we can contact a plumber to take care of leaks the building inspector found and to call an electrician to check the electrical work.

As to arbitration, he didn't think we qualified because we did not have a building permit. I think we'll still try to pursue this avenue. What's the worse that can happen but that our request is denied. We'll wait to see what the building inspector turns up and then decide whether we should sue the pants off contractor.

Day 39 - The Crusader

I called Lambie's husband to see what we could do. He graciously offered to help us out of this mess and to take on the contracting. He even came over last night to do a walk through.

He looked. He scowled. He took photographs. The laundry drain ended in the bay over my computer workstation in the basement. Good thing we didn't move the washer upstairs! Wires coiled in the ceiling and not run to the circuit box. Fortunately, they weren't live. The news just kept going down hill. Shoddy work, work not done up to code. Poor LDH, he didn't want to make us feel bad. I'm glad he told the truth. Too bad more contactors weren't like him.

There were rays of sunshine poking through the bad news. The disaster was fixable. The contractor hadn't really done any major plumbing. The sink, toilet and shower were in their orignal spots and they work. He didn't think everything had to come down, but some might. The blueboard used is not rated for tile work so, tiles might come down and mold might grow behind. He might have to remove the shower, and no guarantee the walls won't crack. As I told him, in for a penny, in for a pound.

We felt a little better after LDH left. He didn't think it would cost as much as we already paid out, though this is one expensive bathroom for a little dollhouse. He could fix the bathroom, make it better, stronger, faster. Well, maybe not quite like that, but he said it would look nice which is all we wanted in the first place.