To the group, which I have recently found, I hired a grout man, called Grout
Doctor..ha ha to regrout my tile in the kitchen. Keep in mind that my tile
is very small, five by two countertop, with three tiles going up the wall.
This guy comes and gives me a bid for 300 dollars, which I think is
excessive, but I say...OK. He comes and does the counter, a mess, I might
add. Does nothing to the tile going up the wall. When I confronted him and
said you did nothing up the wall, he said..."I did not agree to do that." I
said, what the Hell do you think I was paying you $300.00 for if not to
regrout all my tile in that small area?

Anyway to make a long story short, I put a stop on the check, and he is
coming back on Monday. Since I know nothing about home repair, is the cost
excessive, number one, and do I have to let him come back? I hired him with
the thought in mind that he is going to regrout all of the tile. My problem
is this...He did a terrible job when he first came out, so the odds of him
doing a good job now, are nil. Do I have to let him make good on this
legally? I'm in CA.


Cheri

It's really important for both you and any contractor to be on the same page
regarding the work that is going to be included. The fact that you gave him
a check at all is something of a statement that you felt the job was
completed, unless you paid him in advance. There are certainly lots of less
than quality contractors out there, but at this point you may want to call
him and offer some payment or take it to small claims, where you'll both
loose



"Cheri" gserviceATinreachdotcom wrote in message
...
To the group, which I have recently found, I hired a grout man, called
Grout
Doctor..ha ha to regrout my tile in the kitchen. Keep in mind that my tile
is very small, five by two countertop, with three tiles going up the wall.
This guy comes and gives me a bid for 300 dollars, which I think is
excessive, but I say...OK. He comes and does the counter, a mess, I might
add. Does nothing to the tile going up the wall. When I confronted him and
said you did nothing up the wall, he said..."I did not agree to do that."
I
said, what the Hell do you think I was paying you $300.00 for if not to
regrout all my tile in that small area?

Anyway to make a long story short, I put a stop on the check, and he is
coming back on Monday. Since I know nothing about home repair, is the cost
excessive, number one, and do I have to let him come back? I hired him
with
the thought in mind that he is going to regrout all of the tile. My
problem
is this...He did a terrible job when he first came out, so the odds of him
doing a good job now, are nil. Do I have to let him make good on this
legally? I'm in CA.


Cheri

RBM wrote in message ...
It's really important for both you and any contractor to be on the same
page
regarding the work that is going to be included. The fact that you gave
him
a check at all is something of a statement that you felt the job was
completed, unless you paid him in advance. There are certainly lots of
less
than quality contractors out there, but at this point you may want to
call
him and offer some payment or take it to small claims, where you'll
both
loose


Unfortunately, I did pay him beforehand. I'm new to any sort of outside
help doing work in my house, but I'm learning in a hurry. I already put
a stop on the check, and I'm not going to lift the stop until his work
is at least bearable, so if it comes to that, he'll have to settle for a
lot less, or he'll have to sue me. His choice. I just wondered since
Grout Doctor is a national franchise, if anyone else has had shabby work
done.

Cheri

Cheri

"Cheri" gserviceATinreachdotcom wrote in message
...
To the group, which I have recently found, I hired a grout man, called
Grout
Doctor..ha ha to regrout my tile in the kitchen. Keep in mind that my tile
is very small, five by two countertop, with three tiles going up the wall.
This guy comes and gives me a bid for 300 dollars, which I think is
excessive, but I say...OK. He comes and does the counter, a mess, I might
add. Does nothing to the tile going up the wall. When I confronted him and
said you did nothing up the wall, he said..."I did not agree to do that."
I
said, what the Hell do you think I was paying you $300.00 for if not to
regrout all my tile in that small area?

Anyway to make a long story short, I put a stop on the check, and he is
coming back on Monday. Since I know nothing about home repair, is the cost
excessive, number one, and do I have to let him come back? I hired him
with
the thought in mind that he is going to regrout all of the tile. My
problem
is this...He did a terrible job when he first came out, so the odds of him
doing a good job now, are nil. Do I have to let him make good on this
legally? I'm in CA.


Cheri



Hopefully you've learned a lesson. Get a written quote on all jobs. And
get at least 3 quotes. I'm not familiar with the laws in CA (or anywhere
else sorry to say) so someone else will have to chime in on your situation.
Cheers,
cc

James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote in message ...

Hopefully you've learned a lesson. Get a written quote on all jobs.
And
get at least 3 quotes. I'm not familiar with the laws in CA (or
anywhere
else sorry to say) so someone else will have to chime in on your
situation.
Cheers,
cc

That's great advice. One thing I'm noticing with the high gas prices, is
less and less people want to give you a free estimate, but IMO even if
you have to pay them a little something, it would be cheaper in the long
run.

Cheri

I would never pay anyone in full before the job. You need to check with
someone in Ca. about the legal ramifications of stopping a check


"Cheri" gserviceatinreachdotcom wrote in message
...





RBM wrote in message ...
It's really important for both you and any contractor to be on the same
page
regarding the work that is going to be included. The fact that you gave
him
a check at all is something of a statement that you felt the job was
completed, unless you paid him in advance. There are certainly lots of
less
than quality contractors out there, but at this point you may want to
call
him and offer some payment or take it to small claims, where you'll
both
loose


Unfortunately, I did pay him beforehand. I'm new to any sort of outside
help doing work in my house, but I'm learning in a hurry. I already put
a stop on the check, and I'm not going to lift the stop until his work
is at least bearable, so if it comes to that, he'll have to settle for a
lot less, or he'll have to sue me. His choice. I just wondered since
Grout Doctor is a national franchise, if anyone else has had shabby work
done.

Cheri

Cheri

RBM wrote in message ...
I would never pay anyone in full before the job. You need to check with
someone in Ca. about the legal ramifications of stopping a check


I did put a stop on it, and he's coming back tomorrow to do what he was
supposed to do in the first place. It's not that I don't want to pay
him, I do want to pay him...for a decent job.

Cheri

"Cheri" gserviceatinreachdotcom wrote in message
. ..




James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote in message ...

Hopefully you've learned a lesson. Get a written quote on all jobs.
And
get at least 3 quotes. I'm not familiar with the laws in CA (or
anywhere
else sorry to say) so someone else will have to chime in on your
situation.
Cheers,
cc

That's great advice. One thing I'm noticing with the high gas prices, is
less and less people want to give you a free estimate, but IMO even if
you have to pay them a little something, it would be cheaper in the long
run.

Cheri



I still get "free" estimates but the only estimates I'm getting are for a
rather large A/C install so they should give free estimates. For a small
grout job, they may charge a few bucks. I typically do all the work on my
house myself so am really not familiar with the various contracting laws out
there. If someone gives you an estimate but won't write it down, keep
looking!
Good Luck,
cc

I understand that, my concern for you is in having given him a check, then
stopping it. In NY he would have certain legal rights just by having your
"bad" check in his possession. Best all around would be to work it out with
him and be done with him. Under the circumstances you should also have
someone else with you when comes. Good luck



"Cheri" gserviceatinreachdotcom wrote in message
...




RBM wrote in message ...
I would never pay anyone in full before the job. You need to check with
someone in Ca. about the legal ramifications of stopping a check


I did put a stop on it, and he's coming back tomorrow to do what he was
supposed to do in the first place. It's not that I don't want to pay
him, I do want to pay him...for a decent job.

Cheri

RBM wrote in message ...
I understand that, my concern for you is in having given him a check,
then
stopping it. In NY he would have certain legal rights just by having
your
"bad" check in his possession. Best all around would be to work it out
with
him and be done with him. Under the circumstances you should also have
someone else with you when comes. Good luck


Yes, I agree. I just want it over with and get him gone. I'm planning to
have my girlfriend here when he comes, though I must say he is a very
mild mannered, extremely small man, who is in his 70's, so I could
probably take him, if I had to. ;-) Thanks for the good advice, I hadn't
thought of the check thing, since I have no experience with that either.
From here on out, I do the work myself, if possible.

Cheri

"Cheri" gserviceATinreachdotcom wrote in message
...
To the group, which I have recently found, I hired a grout man, called
Grout
Doctor..ha ha to regrout my tile in the kitchen. Keep in mind that my tile
is very small, five by two countertop, with three tiles going up the wall.
This guy comes and gives me a bid for 300 dollars, which I think is
excessive, but I say...OK. He comes and does the counter, a mess, I might
add. Does nothing to the tile going up the wall. When I confronted him and
said you did nothing up the wall, he said..."I did not agree to do that."
I
said, what the Hell do you think I was paying you $300.00 for if not to
regrout all my tile in that small area?

Anyway to make a long story short, I put a stop on the check, and he is
coming back on Monday. Since I know nothing about home repair, is the cost
excessive, number one, and do I have to let him come back? I hired him
with
the thought in mind that he is going to regrout all of the tile. My
problem
is this...He did a terrible job when he first came out, so the odds of him
doing a good job now, are nil. Do I have to let him make good on this
legally? I'm in CA.

Well, if you don't give him a chance, he will probably sue you.
He will say that there was a misunderstanding that he tried to make good on,
but you were a jerk about it.
You will say that his initial work was so bad that you didn't want him back
in the house.
85% chance he will win.

Unless you want to lose the $300, you better give him another chance.

On Sun, 14 May 2006 00:54:40 -0700, "Cheri" gserviceATinreachdotcom
wrote:

is the cost excessive

Not enough info for this one..... 1st- You say your counter top is "2
x 5" (10 sq ft assuming you are talking about 2ft x 5ft) but that
doesn't tell me how much grout. In other words, 10 sq ft of what
sized tile with what size space between tiles. 2nd- you say 3 tile
high on the backboard but didn't say what size tile with what size
space between tile and if that number 5 you mentioned in your message
is a 5ft wide backboard which is three tile of some size high.

If I were quoting this job, I would quote it on exactly how much grout
area needs regrouted (a factor of tile size / square footage) and how
hard it will be to clean out the old grout (a factor of the space
between each tile). Also, if the old grout is epoxy based, then the
cost goes up further.

Grouting is not that big a deal but cleaning out the old grout is and
the size of the deal it is is in direct relationship to how small the
space between the tile is and if I am having to dig out an epoxy based
grout.

Regards.....

Toller wrote in message ...

Well, if you don't give him a chance, he will probably sue you.
He will say that there was a misunderstanding that he tried to make
good on,
but you were a jerk about it.
You will say that his initial work was so bad that you didn't want him
back
in the house.
85% chance he will win.

Unless you want to lose the $300, you better give him another chance.

I've already decided to do that. I just want it over.

Cheri

Cheri writes:

Since I know nothing about home repair, is the cost
excessive, number one, and do I have to let him come back?

No. Don't allow him back. You will not get it done on the 2nd try.

Sounds like this guy is in the business of stonewalling disputes with
suckers, not actually delivering value for money.

There is no magic way to "doctor" grout. There isn't even a good way to
remove and replace it.

Cheri writes:

Grout Doctor is a national franchise,

Means nothing. It could be a national franchise for a vaguely scammish
line of business. Like duct cleaning.

Mapigonehome writes:

Stopping a check freely given, for services rendered, is called "Theft
of Service" in Texas and is prosecuted, if he files on you.

That's not the case. OP sez he paid in advance. Stopping a check for
nonconforming work is thus a civil dispute.

Cheri wrote:

Toller wrote in message ...

Unless you want to lose the $300, you better give him another chance.

I've already decided to do that. I just want it over.

Also take good photographs of the work he did and of the tile he didn't
touch. I emphasize "good" -- you want photos where the shoddiness of
the work will clearly be visible to anybody.

Because Grout Doctor is a franchise, why not contact them at
1-877-GROUT and the FTC (www.ftc.gov) and complain about the work?
Also contact any local TV station's consumer reporter and file a
complaint with www.bbb.org.. And next time, pay with a credit card
because it's a lot easier to get your money back that way than with a
check.

On Sun, 14 May 2006 00:54:40 -0700, "Cheri" gserviceATinreachdotcom
wrote:

To the group, which I have recently found, I hired a grout man, called Grout
Doctor..ha ha to regrout my tile in the kitchen. Keep in mind that my tile
is very small, five by two countertop, with three tiles going up the wall.
This guy comes and gives me a bid for 300 dollars, which I think is
excessive, but I say...OK. He comes and does the counter, a mess, I might
add. Does nothing to the tile going up the wall. When I confronted him and
said you did nothing up the wall, he said..."I did not agree to do that." I
said, what the Hell do you think I was paying you $300.00 for if not to
regrout all my tile in that small area?

Anyway to make a long story short, I put a stop on the check, and he is
coming back on Monday. Since I know nothing about home repair, is the cost
excessive, number one, and do I have to let him come back? I hired him with
the thought in mind that he is going to regrout all of the tile. My problem
is this...He did a terrible job when he first came out, so the odds of him
doing a good job now, are nil. Do I have to let him make good on this
legally? I'm in CA.


Cheri


What you did is called "Theft of Services" and there are criminal
penalities and jail time associated with it. You can read about
yourself in the Criminal Code of your state.

I'd go out of my way to make this go away.

You are looking at huge legal fees to get this straightened out if
you can't fix this yourself.

..

wrote in message ...


And I'm in Canada, so I can't tell you much about California law.

I can, however, tell you about home repair/improvement franchises
generally. Generally, they are pretty pathetic. Worse than
having Home Depot do installs .... you pay more .. you get less.

Generally, these guys are hacks ... if they were any good, they
wouldn't be working for $25 an hour.

The franchise holder ( a fellow in his seventies, I think you said)
will likely get less than two thirds of that $300. Here, a good
tilesetter earns 60 dollars an hour from contractors ... more from
homeowners. So that $200 he's earning shouldn't be buying more
than a couple of hours. That he will come back to try to earn that
$300 tells you he's a hack.

Yours is a small job ... nobody is going to come and look at it and
give you a free estimate.

You have a few options ... settle with the guy ... give him a couple
of hundred and tell him to go away ... or have him finish what he
started and pay him the three hundred. Whichever you agree on.

Then either live with the result ... or find yourself a good
tilesetter. Pay him to look at the job and tell lyou what to do.

Ken

Actually, he came back today and ended up doing a decent job, not great,
but decent. I can live with it at any rate. We were quite civil to each
other during the process, I lifted the stop on the check, and all is
well. Thanks to everyone who answered.

Cheri