Friday, August 14, 2009

I'm stressed!

When we moved into this house a little over a year ago we noticed that our floors, which were stained concrete, were not done properly. There was moisture trapped under the wax, and it was very dull and splotchy and scuffed real easily. They were really driving me crazy and John wasn't hearing the end of it. So he asked around and called a concrete guy to see if he could fix them while we were out of the country.

The guy said he would refinish the floors but he wouldn't strip them because it was such a pain to do and oh-so-time consuming. Well he was right. We spent the two weeks leading up to our trip to Mexico, moving furniture around and stripping the floors square foot by square foot. Can you imagine me, with my 5 kids at home all day long, Ava crawling around everywhere, trying to do this job? It has been stressful to say the least!

I was concerned however, because even after two coats throughout the house, there were still many sticky spots that just wouldn't budge. Because we were still living here, every crumb and blade of grass and cat hair and little paint chips from the stripping gel that inadvertently came off with the paint remover-- were permanently sticking to the floor. I was getting really stressed out about it, so I called the guy to come look at it. He assured me that before they would lay the coat down they would use Xylene, whatever that is and scrape up the remaining areas, and that they would vacuum thoroughly to make sure nothing would be sealed under it.

The night before we left we were up til 1:30 a.m. moving all the furniture off the floor and giving it one last scrub down with a brush before they came that week.

So imagine how horrified I was to walk into my house from our vacation to see that not only did they not remove the sticky parts before applying the sealer and wax, apparently they didn't even vacuum! All the bits of stickiness, paint chips, grass pieces and even a long black string, even lint from the dryer, are permanently imbedded in my floors! Not only that, there are shellacked dog prints in my kitchen! And this morning we are seeing pockets of moisture popping up here and there. The same reason we decided to redo it in the first place. They claim there was a big windstorm and that they had to work with the doors open and that the dog kept trying to come in the house and they were just trying to finish the job before we came home the next day. Um.....HELLO? They had our phone number and they could have easily called and said it was not a good day and they would have to reschedule. They never even called! We have emailed and called back and forth expressing our dissatisfaction, and they are basically saying they did the best they could do considering the circumstances and refuse to even meet us until we fork over half the payment.

I am completely stressed out over this! These people are demanding their payment. In the meantime I looked them up in the Better Business Bureau and found out they have been reported there 4 times! I don't know why we didn't think to look before. I have sent pictures to another concrete business to see what needs to be done, and they said it will definitely need to be restripped, resealed and rewaxed.

Does anyone have some great advice on how to handle this mess?!

Here are some photos of before:(the night before we left...after we stripped the floors)




And after: (I like the before better, don't you?)

Paint chips from the baseboard, stuck in the sticky areas

a piece of dried grass

a long black string

more grass

dryer lint!

cat hairs?

Seriously what should we do?????

18 comments:

No Greater Gift Mom said...

Oh dear. DO NOT pay them a dime! You will probably never see them again if you do. Insist that they come back out and correct the problem (the entire floor:). We own our own business (residential painting) and my husband will not accept ANY payment until the job is complete and the customer is 150% satisfied. If this business is legit, they will be willing to make it right....before payment. Good luck!
In Him,
E

Debbie said...

The before is much better than after! I wouldn't pay them a dime, I'm not even sure I'd let them come back to fix it.
Debbie

Jeremy and Melanie said...

I had no idea it was that bad! How terrible!!!!

La Viajera Insaciable said...

Yikes! What a nightmare! I sure wouldn't pay them anything if I were you.

Anonymous said...

NIGHTMARE. Do NOT pay them. If you have a lawyer friend who can draft a letter stating why you do not intend to pay them and all the other legal-ease stuff, I'd do that. Here, we'd call Clark Howard and sic his crew on them. (Check him out on CNN...they may can tell you what to do) Not sure where you'd go to get help but I definitely wouldn't pay them. Definitely worse than when they began.

Jan

junglemama said...

Ugh-- what a mess! Don't pay and let them know that you will contacting the BBB if they do not come and make it right. The job is horrible!

Cammie Heflin said...

Oh my gosh! That is horrible! I would contact the BBB and not pay anything! I did send you a guys name if you are interested in seeing if he can help, he's really good, an awesome Christian man. Let me know if I can do anything, I'm so sorry! That stinks!

Shea said...

I have been totally taken advantage of by a contractor before. Do NOT pay them anything. Most likely, you will never see them again, my experience. Due to our religious beliefs, we did not sue our contractor, but I told him he should be ashamed of himself. He actually built a wall and put the door in the corner where no furniture could be moved in our out, terrible sheet rock and mudding,a a hole in the all lol. Good luck!

June Berger said...

OH NO! I'm so sorry! The before IS better :o( I agree with the others, I wouldn't pay them a cent until they came back and fixed it. I'd also contact the BBB and possibly a lawyer! I'm sorry I don't have any pearls of wisdom.

Melissa Mc said...

UGH, I am so sorry this happened to you! I have a guy who stained the concrete in our old house. He did a good job. After he finished ours he was going to work on a house that had the same problems with moisture. It even looked the same as your before pictures. I know his family and they go to our church. He has integrity. Call or FB me if you want his number.

markay714 said...

Do not pay them a penny, print out the copy of your blog post with all comments and ask them to come strip it off, redo it right, and then ask you for some money. Let them know that you'll be finding other places to post this if they don't make it right. Nobody would find this acceptable and I'm not thinking I could stomach paying them a nickel if it was me. Thinking they'd have to sue me for it...not thinking they'd win.

RoverHaus said...

Tell them you will pay them in full if they let you come to THEIR house and do their floors for them.

Beth said...

Argh! That is not a good way to be welcomed home! That is outrageous! I'm glad you had the "before" pictures. I agree with everyone--don't pay, and make all contact with the company in writing. I'd see about a lawyer too.

Glad your Mexico trip was so lovely--the pictures are beautiful.

Pan Cratius said...

Looks like the NO PAY is unanimous. I would send them a bill to strip the floor to it's original condition for the next person who comes to do it.

Amy said...

Hi Charissa...
I have to agree with everyone else... I would not have this company come back and do the work - they won't do much better the next time and it will be a royal pain to deal with them.
I might be inclined (if it were me) to possibly call my homeowners insurance... depending on the damage to the floors and if the moisture will cause any structural issues in the near future.... moisture is a huge deal and can lead to mold if not dealt with - even under a sealer on concrete...
As well as the BBB - contact your local homebuilders association and see if this company is a member... if so - write a letter to the homebuilders association regarding the "company" and their treatment. This places a compliant with the HB association... they may not do anything - but it is a larger group of "peers" that will be seeing a bad reference...

Sorry you have to go through this.. it sucks (like their work!)

Hugs

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amy...who wanted 4. said...

I am stressed for you.
YIKES!

Mandy said...

Sorry :(