Erik Fry Contracting

To Whom It May Concern,September 16,
The following letter is in response to The Revdex.com's complaintID#***
In accordance with your request, I have not personally identified the Client byname, although she has clearly named both me and my companyAs I find the complaintto
be completely without merit, I would request that you, after review, offer me the sameopportunity to refrain from being publicly named and refrain from posting my company'sname
Regarding the "desired settlement";• The cost of door replacement should be shouldered by carpet installers as likelyculprits of that damage, as described below.• The cabinet hardware installation was omitted from the final scope, as describedbelow, and not a liability of my company.• Client is requesting both a refund of her original painting cost, as well as the costto reapplyEven if this claim was justified, that would constitute a doublepaymentThe CBB complaint requested a refund of all monies, including thoseoutside of the contested paint scope and non paint related tasks, plus the cost ofreapplicationThat's just greed
The following is the text body of the "customer's statement of problem" in blacktypefaceI have responded to the best of my ability to each claim in blue typeface
Customer's Statement of Problem:*** *** Contracting was hired to paint the complete interior of my homeAllwood areas (cabinets, doors, bookshelves etc.) were peeling within months ofcompletion of his workIt appears that he did not do the sanding and prep work that hementioned specifically in the contract.All paint work performed by my company was carried out exactly as described inthe proposal, exactly as directed by the paint manufacturer and using the exact productsdescribed in the contractAll wood work was sanded and cleaned with tack cloth thenwith RK(100% solution of isopropyl alcohol as a de-glosser) prior to paintingThecoatings used were Sherwin Williams' hybrid primer and ProClassic satin enamel on trimand woodworkThe ceilings and walls were coated using Sherwin Williams' Emeraldline of interior wall paint in numerous colorsThese are each Sherwin Williams'premium interior paint linesIt should be noted that the new baseboards, about 80% ofthe interior woodwork, were painted, at the client's request, by the client (I assume tosave money).The assertion that my work was improperly performed is in errorI have receiptsfor each productSome were even delivered to the jobsite by my Sherwin Williams paintrep.The Client repeatedly and against instruction, used areas and placed items on/infreshly painted areas well before the manufacturer's stated product cure timeA requestto stay out of the project area and not use the kitchen or baths until the product had curedwas made almost daily after the Client's arrival in townThese requests appear to havebeen repeatedly disregarded by the Client
He also was unable to reinstall new door hardware or cabinet hinges that heapproved for me purchasing for the kitchen cabinets and interior doors
The cabinet hardware purchase was something the Client demanded that she doherself, I assume to save money and accrue airline miles or c.cpointsThe Client, of herown accord and without seeking my approval, purchased special order hardwareinappropriate for and unusable on her cabinets due to existing dimensional tolerances.This caused another delay and expense for the Client and meI told her where she couldsource quality hardwareAll errors made after that point were due to inexperience andlack of knowledge on the Client's part and the demand that she purchase the hardware.The same story played out with the incorrect hardware she sourced for the newly replacedinterior doorsThere was daily complaining from the Client about money she wasspending, yet new services and elective purchases were happily being made daily by theClient throughout the projectThese items were frequently delivered to and creating aspace nuisance on the jobsite
He damaged a brand new interior custom door and hung it anyway and did not tellme it was damaged
My company removed all existing interior doors, transported them to theMedallion manufacturing plant in NW PDX and had the new doors manufactured tomatch size, bore, hinge position routing and swing direction (with a door design out ofthe catalogue, not at all custom) delivered to the house where they were promptly paintedand re-hung, without damageWell before the paint job was complete, the Client chose tohave carpet and flooring installed while the paint job was underwayPainting stopped.The carpet installers removed all new and freshly painted interior doorsUpon my returnto continue painting, after floor covering installationI found one of the doors had a dingin the comerWhen I relayed this to the Client she gave no significant responseInretrospect, I'm not sure if she ever registered anything I relayed to her, based on hercontinued destructive actions and behaviors
He took longer to complete the job that he said that he could have completed in 1-weeks because he went and worked on other jobs. • The week timeline outlined in the contract was made impossible by thecondition of the house.• The carpet, padding and sub floor were saturated with human urine inseveral of the rooms, closets and master bathroomSaturated to the point itwas impossible to work in the space without respirators, protective gearand abatement.• The floorboards in her attic storage space were crumbling and neededremoval and replacement prior to the arrival of her belongings.• The Client decided to add orange peel wall texture to a portion of thehouse as a scope add on.• The furnace was intermittently malfunctioning leaving the workspaceintermittently unheated in February making paint application temporarilyimpossible when the house was not heated to manufacturer'sspecifications.• The seller's contractors were still finishing extensive pre-sale requiredrepairs well past the inception of our contract.• After beginning the paint contract, the Client chose to have all baseboardsremoved and discarded prior to painting as a change order.• Prior to painting the Client chose to have all carpet removed and attempturine abatement as a change orderEarlier, all carpet was to stay, until thatwas deemed impossible due to bio hazard.• Prior to painting, the Client requested that all doors be removed andreplaced.All these stated tasks and delays, as well as numerous other scheduling conflicts,had nothing to do with my company's schedule, but rather to do with the Clients attemptat acting as a general contractor (an act that is illegal with three or more contractors in thestate of Oregon).At signing I understood that there was one (1) other contractor scheduled toepoxy the garage floorBefore the paint job was completed, the client had attempted toschedule multiple overlapping visits from electrical contractors, HVAC repair, HVACinstallers, floor covering installers, carpet installers, baseboard installers, bathroomfitters/plumbers, floor epoxy applicators, cable installer and othersThis could easilyhave been defined as breach of contract by the Client regarding reasonable access toproperty for timely completion of The Agreement.She also requested that I be present to receive Amazon deliveries and othervarious deliveriesShe requested that I stop working to move said items into or out of thegarage or house for no compensationFor a time I acquiescedThe Client would talkendlessly to me while I was trying to work, to the point that a request was made to notverbally engage me during work hours (though that request was largely ignored).During the time the paint project was under way; my records show not less thanemail exchanges with the Client in approximately weeksIn the same period Icount well in excess of text exchanges with the ClientThis represents availability tothe Client that I am unlikely to repeat with othersThe reasons the project stretched outby four weeks are listed aboveIn addition; these change orders and schedule extensionswere clearly described in the contract addendums "Exhibits B, C and D" signed off onby the Client and made part of the Agreement
He even told me he was going to work on other jobs
Any statement made about working other jobs was in the context of "I can do fillwork on another job" while allowing other contractors the Client double booked to workat the house, as necessitated by poor Client schedulingAdditionally, the contract theClient signed expressly allows my company to work on multiple jobs at onceI workedon the Clients job almost every day the address was available, including weekends.during the duration of the project
When I text him and emailed him with my displeasure and I included photos ofhis work, he did not respond
The final billing the Client received on March 2nd then accepted and paid(with a check that had insufficient funds and had to be held for a time before deposit)states verbatim;"Upon payment in full, this concludes the January contracted project at *** ** *** ***, OR, as well as the contents of pre-paint task lists #'s and only.It is understood that EFC will return on or near March 11th to complete thepainting of the Dutch door interior, the kitchen/garage man door exterior and the face ofone inaccessible garage cabinet as a separate, hourly paid request.During the projected March 11th visit, post mover touch up will be conductedthroughout the house as a separate, hourly paid request.It is further understood that additional work will be requested almost immediatelyand will be negotiated and compensated separate from this agreement."
The Client never made any March 11th or subsequent request, as outlined above.for me to return and complete or perform additional paint work.It was brought to my attention that she had, during that period, hired hersecondary furniture mover/helper day laborers (not moving company employees) tocomplete some if not all of the incomplete tasks at about a 70% reduced rateTasksspecifically noted as not included in the final billing and tasks to be charged separatelyfor, in the future, if requested.She also hired one of those same laborers to complete her kitchen cabinethardware projectI also understand the Client, for a time, moved in one of her laborers asa housemate in trade for continuous labor (until he became upset with her endlessdemands and left the state)Adjustments were made to my billing to account forincomplete tasksA clearly stated projection for completing incomplete tasks wasincluded in the final billing.Prior to contacting me with any complaints, the Client hired other cheap labor topaint for her and install hardware and cabinet doorsDuring my last visit to the jobInoted canine diarrhea, canine vomit and splattered mud on the trim and lower walls of thekitchenTV room and dining room (I did not enter other rooms on that visit)There weredirty fingerprints on the couple of installed cabinet doors and trim in areas of heavy use.The other, uncured, uninstalled cabinet doors were being handled, moved around anddamaged by parties unknownAt the timethis was an un-cured enamel paint job.The Client was repeatedly warned about not handling or using the kitchencabinets, bathroom showers and wet areas till the paint job was cured, or risk massivedelaminating and overall paint failure(The master bath had a non-functioning exhaustfan as I recallThe other was original 1970's with minimal function).The Client would always assure me she was not using her kitchenEachsubsequent day, howeverthere were obvious signs of cooking, sink use and dirtycookwareDeliveries of meals ready to cook were being delivered to the house regularlyby Blue Apron, food the Client was very excited to cook or risk spoilage.Additionally; after the second time the Client's dog bit me, the Client's dogs hadto be kept outside.The Client ruined several of her own clothes by barging into the active paint area,after being asked repeatedly not to, to look around and talkShe was then guilty ofwiping enamel paint onto her backside, elbows and/or shouldersThis would then bebrought to her attention, while I went looking for the area that she had just damaged, so itcould be repaintedI recall this happening three times I was aware ofNo additionalcharges were added for these damage events
I then sent him a pre-complaint notice that I was contacting the OregonConstruction Contract BoardHE still ignored me and did not stand behind his work andrefused to even have a conversation about his work
As outlined above, I was not allowed to finish certain aspects of the originalagreementbut was replaced by other painters, voiding any warranty I'm able to give onmy work.It should also be noted that several more times than she attempted to contact meabout the work, she repeatedly emailed me the same news article referencing a brainfunction stimulant that was being recommended by Stephen Hawking as beneficial tobrain functionI have to assume that this was some sort of jab or slight taking aim at mybrain functionThose correspondences and her pre-complaint letter had thus turned topersonal attacks on my character and snide insinuations about my intellect that wereunrelated to the job in any way.The job was deemed complete and accepted with disclaimers, as per the finalbilling, by the ClientThe areas I did complete are no doubt flawless unless damagedafter my exitI did not respond to the pre-complaint notice regarding my paint jobbecause it was no longer my paint jobit was an unenforceable threat and it containedpersonal character attacks and a statement by the Client that she was retired (not true) andhad plenty of time to file paperwork with the soul purpose of making my life difficult.My legal advisor recommended I cease contact with the Client and put myself atno further liability by working for the ClientWhen I contacted the CCB they said therewas no open claim against my license and that I would do best to wait for a formalcomplaint to be filedTo my knowledge there has never been a formal complaint filedwith the CCBIt seems quite likely that the Clients claim is unenforceable in the eyes ofthe CCB, hence her attempt to tarnish my company name via The Better BusinessBureau
I am in the process of having all the interior areas prepped and repainted which isadded labor, materials and hassles for me
I expect that if further painting is underway by a third or fourth painter, it will beimpossible to back up the Clients claims whether valid or notI'll also note that the Clientis asking for the relevant portion of the contract total to be reimbursed as well as the costof reapplicationThat would be a sum that far exceeds the cost of the contested portion ofthe contract
I will probably have to have the door rebuilt, repainted and reinstalled
This is a point that should have been brought up with her carpet installers inMarch of 2016, when the damage was brought to her attentionIt is also the lowest costsolid core door which would mean a replacement not a rebuildThe door is milled to thedoor jam specs and would not require any formal installation beyond hardware andinserting hinge pins
I had to hire others to install the kitchen cabinet hinges and to put the door knobson the doors.Kitchen cabinet door hardware installation was a task agreed upon, by the Clientand the Contractor as being omitted from the final scope of our agreement and to becompleted by her laborer/housemate (at a lower cost than I would have charged)Theneed for new hardware and a different installer was caused solely by the Client'serroneous purchase and an inability by me to spend any more time on the project that hadgone way overtimeOvertime caused and accepted by the Client in each of the amendedproject scope exhibits attached to and made part of the Contractor/Client Agreement.The jobsite is a minute commute, each way, for meI estimate unpaid hoursjust in additional commuting to the jobsite due to time over run on this project
He refuses to answer my communications
I was in continuous contact with the Client during our AgreementUpon herarrival in Oregon I provided her with a temporary bedI loaned/gave her cutlery andglassware to make her temporary accommodations in the garage as comfortable aspossible (accommodations she chose herself after being asked to move out by our mutualacquaintance, accommodations she repeatedly stated that she was enjoying, ''likecamping out" she said, and a bed returned to me with permanent damage to and partsmissing from the spring supports).I recommended various local services to help with her extensive needsMy wifeand I provided a Thai dinner and a bottle of wine as a welcome on her first night in town.After well over 800+ electronic interactions and an unknown number of phonecalls with the client, it was impossible for me to provide the Client any further services.It became apparent that the Client had an unrealistic vision of her home remodel ;all stated contractors were expected to be in and out of her house, tasks and schedulesunrealistically overlapping, in a handful of weeks with she herself acting as the generalcontractor, coordinated by text and email while she drove north on 1-from California.Once I submitted my final billing with disclaimers and learned that I had beenreplaced with other laborers for all painting and outstanding tasks, I felt it best to ceaseconducting business with the Client.The failure she describes to her woodwork enamel is exactly consistent with thefailure she was repeatedly warned about if she chose to ignore the manufacturer'sspecifications and Contractor's repeated requests regarding cure time, physical contactand exposure to moistureThe areas she complained about are directly adjacent to herstove, sink and shower, areas that were already receiving moisture and heat fluctuationsas well as likely careless physical contact, prior to my last visit.I have a copy of the pre-complaint letter sent to the CCB and me in June of 2016.as well as line by line responses to the slightly varying complaint contained thereinIfyou require that document you are free to request it in any follow up you may deemnecessary
Best Regards,*** ***Eric Fry Contracting(503) 358-9439***Lead Renovator Certificate