"SteveB" wrote in message
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"Smitty Two" wrote in message
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In article ,
"MiamiCuse" wrote:

"B King" wrote in message
...
MiamiCuse wrote:
I have a dumb question.

I hired someone to do some major demolition involving pulling out
sheetrock, wood paneling, removal of mirrors, tiles etc...

I specified in the contract that everything needs to be "bloomed
clean"
and "disposed", and for the most part it is, and I don't have a
problem
with that.

However, whenever 2x4s are pulled out from the wall, or sheet rock
pulled
down from the ceiling or wall, or wood paneling removed from concrete
block walls, there are tons of staples, nails, screws still on the
furring strip, or studs or concrete walls. They cannot stay there if
I
hire someone to hang new sheetrock they will have to get them out or
cut
them off. I would assume they should have been removed as part of
demolition, right? It is not explicitely stated in the contract but
I
wonder if this is typical or usual customary.

I am talking about over 1000 SF of ceiling with these every 8 inches
or
so, and many wall surfaces. Who is responsible to take them out?
Should
this be included as part of demo? I would think so but I thought I
asked
before I complain about it.

First, I assume you mean "broom cleaned" instead of "bloomed
clean"....But
then, assumptions are the wrong thing to do, when it comes to a
contract.

Instead of everyone trying to guess or assume exactly the wording of
your
contract. Why not spell it out here? What does your contract say?
There is
a difference between demo work, and prep work.... Are you trying to
get
prep work out of someone for free?

The contract has no specific clause on who ought to remove all the nails
and
screws. The only thing I put in there states:

"Contractor agrees to remove all construction debris and leave the
premises
in broom clean condition upon project completion".

That's why I am trying to understand, when a sheetrock is removed, I
have
screws along every eight inches of every stud. Is removing them part of
the
demo work or part of the prep work for the sheetrock hanging project? I
sort of assumed it's part of demo work, but that may be a wrong
assumption.

Thanks,

MC

My dictionary says that "debris" means the "remains of anything broken
down or destroyed." It doesn't say those remains have to be loose on the
floor. The demolition contractor should remove the screws and nails from
the framing. Since he didn't, he evidently doesn't think he should, and
you're likely in for a fight. So think about what you want and how to
ask for it and what to negotiate for when you meet that resistance.

Two things are obvious. You are an idiot, and you have no experience in
this area.

First, the work was not specified in the contract. So, the workers cannot
be faulted for not having ESP. Where was the owner when all the work was
being performed? There's so many questions when wrecking out something
that it is a good thing for the owner to be there. You avoid such
problems as occurred here. To go back after the people have finished is
obvious inattention by the owner. Besides, the removal of the nails and
preparation for further sheetrocking or covering is something that is prep
work for that crew since improper removal can result in more work for the
next crew to come in. Ripping out furring strips that someone may have to
just put up again in the same place is more money. Again, those guys
should have had their ESP working to know who was coming in next and how
the wall should be in preparation for them. It sounds like the owner is
trying to get something done for free that he should have been on top of.
It would have taken more time, hence more pay for the workers. Why
wouldn't the contractor want to do it?

Steve


Steve:

I was not there during the demo, the demo happened over a two week period
and I was there at the end of each day to observe progress and make sure
mistakes are caught sooner rather than later. There were mistakes made, and
things happened.

I noticed the nails, screws and staples, but I incorrectly assumed along the
way those are final details they will take care of at the end.

I am not asking them to remove the furing strips. I am saying there are
nails, screws and staples sticking out of the furring strips that was used
to hold the sheetrock that was there. If it's only a bunch of them and an
hour or two's work, I would not even question this and would have done it
myself, but we are talking about over a dozen full size walls and about 1000
SF of ceiling. If I get up on the ladder and hold a drill upside down to
remove all the screws that are screwed into the joist, some of those screws
still have "bits" of sheet rock around them, it would take me two days with
a bad back. If I hire a sheetrock installer I am sure he would charge me to
do extra prep of this. I cannot think of anything that would be affected by
it's removal, proper or improper. Again I am not talking about removal of
screws or nails that holds the furrring strips to the concrete block walls,
those are in place and OK. I am talking about the screws and nails that
holds the sheetrock that USED TO BE there. Those are sticking out 1/2" from
the wood. Also removal of baseboards and trim has lots of finished nails.
The boards were pulled out, the finished nails are still on the studs,
header and bottom plates. Again I can go remove those myself, probably not
as bad as the ceiling screws.

I have not bring this to the demo contractor's attention yet, we have a
meeting tomorrow to go over final details, and I intend to discuss it with
him, I just did not want to raise this if this indeed is NOT a standard part
of demo, since it's my first time doing it I honestly didn't know and
ignored to state this in the contract. I assumed removal of sheet rock
means removal of the fasteners that held the sheet rock, just like I assumed
removal of tiles means removal of the grout in between them, but in my
contract I did specifically stated that tile removal include tile removal,
thinset and whatever underneath it all the way to the stud. I just didn't
think of the screws and nails that held the sheetrock and trims.

If it's not standard, typical and usual customary than I guess I learned a
lesson.

MC