DAG-Wood Products Ltd.

Deck stairs not built to code and contractor states I told him to do it that way!Oct 2014 [redacted] from Dagwood Products built me deck stairs finishing them off with left over composite decking from our front deck. I asked that the stairs have 11 inches deep treads (the same as the front steps). He informed me that I didn't have enough material left over to do them that wide and that they need to be narrower to which I agreed. June 2015 after I feel down them I found out that they were not built to code, either in tread depth, height or rise and after bringing that to his attention after I feel down them he is saying that "I told him to build them THAT narrow because I did not want to spend extra money in buying more materials and that he was just following instructions" and that he said that he told me that they were not going to be to code and that I agreed. [redacted]. I knew that they were not going to be gracious and wide like the front but I did NOT and would NEVER agree to have our stairs built below code! July he said that he would redo them to get them to code but that he would charge me $1040 because I asked him to build them below code. I emailed him and said that I would NOT pay for the construction to bring them up to code but I would pay for the extra composite material that he would need. He refuses. I paid him $700 for this job. He wrote in his reply email in July that people ask him all the time build things 'below building code' and that his spiel is to warn them that if something happens that he is not responsible. He NEVER told me that these stairs were not going to be to code. Our new home (1 year old) was built by the most expensive TOP home-builder in Saskatoon ([redacted]) because of the fact we wanted to ensure the TOP quality in this home so the fact that I would tell him to build them below code is ridiculous and an insult! Desired SettlementWe either want our money back so that we can have someone built them to code OR our money back.Business Response [redacted] approached us as a private customer & requested we build her back deck stairs after she had a Saskatoon Contractor build her home.We supply stairs and railings for this Contractor on a full time basis.The front exterior stairs were clad in a composite material and was billed through the Contractor who supplied us with the composite material. The Contractor had extra material left over upon which Lori then called us a few months after as stated previously. I personally went to the site and measured her back stairs and to look at what she had for material. I told her that she did not have sufficient material and in order to build a set of stairs to match the front she would require more at an additional cost for the material but the labour to build the stairs would stay the same.She asked me if I could make the stairs work with what was there because she felt it was too expensive to purchase additional material.I told her that we could make her stairs to the bare minimum code requirements at 8.25" run (a difference of 4" from the front stairs); she told me to go ahead.We built the stairs and installed them upon which she promptly paid her bill on Oct 4 2014. [redacted] contacted us in June 2015 to request that we repair her stairs and that her friends had told her they were incorrect. I went to her home within 48 hrs and noticed that one of the issues she had concerns about was that her patio stones had settled and the stairs fell 2". The other concern was that stairs were not as wide as the ones in the front which I had already previously explained to her why. I told her that I would be happy to enlarge the stairs and to correct the sunken patio blocks (which had nothing to do with the stairs) for her but that it would now cost her more money as labour was involved in addition to the extra material. I provided her with a quote upon which she denied.[redacted] told me that it was my responsibility to correct this and that it should not cost her anything as it should be a customer service call. She also informed me that it is my responsibility to ensure her house is safe. ([redacted]) I reciprocated my offer once more and that I would not be doing the work for free.That was the last conversation I had with her until this. [redacted]Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)I do agree that Dag-wood told me that they would not be able to match the over-sized wide stairs like the front of my home due to not having enough material however I was NEVER informed or agreed to them being built BELOW building standards. Dag-wood keeps on stating (and insisting) that the stairs meet the minimum 'building code' but after I feel down them I went to city hall and paid $100 to pull a permit to have a city building inspector come out to inspect them and write a report because I needed the governing building code enforcements to put in writing what their findings were regardless of what Dag-Wood keeps on insisting. He came out 2 weeks ago and called me after the inspection ([redacted]) stating that the stairs definitely do NOT meant even the 'minimum building code' on both tread size as well as risers and that they will need to be completely replaced in order to pass inspection now. Now I will need to pay someone to come and rip down the stairs, buy entirely new composite decking as our homebuilder stated that the ones on there probably can not be reused due to nail hole positions. This will probably run me approximately $2000. for labor and materials. [redacted]