One week into contractor's work, have concerns. Minor or red flags?

[Anonymous]

This past week a contractor began remodeling the back of our basement. Already, we have some concerns. His framing crew put studs very close to a water heater duct where clearance should be 6 inches. Emailed him about it (with photo) and his guys just continued boxing in that area. Also, they did not bother to tuck up many wires into the joists before they put up the framing. Now, they will need to pull pieces down to route the wires, or cut a lot of notches. Also, for the closet around the boiler, they apparently didn't bother to read the label requiring 6 inches clearance and put the wall 4 inches away.

We also don't get why he had the framers come in first when there are all sorts of loose wires that need to be sorted out and some major plumbing work to dig a pan for a new shower, as well as pipes to be moved. It seems like that work should have been at least started first.

I got six bids for this job and his was in the middle. I decided to go with him because he seemed the most careful. I got his name from a Cleveland Park listserv; I talked to two references.

Are these problems serious enough that I should be considering cancelling the job? Part of me says every contractor is going to cut corners and make mistakes, and I just need to stay on top of it and make sure things are done right. The other part of me wonders if I have really screwed up.

[Anonymous]

I'm not trying to make this sound super negative, but it sounds like you are micromanaging him. I think with most things, I tend to defer to the experts and only pipe in, and really question them, when I notice something major. Now maybe this means things aren't done perfectly per instructions (like the four inch issue you mentioned above), but my feeling is I paid these guys so I don't have to worry about this stuff. I wonder if you wouldn't have this issue with most or all contractors. You can always get it inspected by the city when completed, assuming u got a permit.

[Anonymous]

Clearance issues on a boiler and hot water vent duct need to be followed.

Did he pull permits for this, or did you? I'd get those permits even at this date and ask for an inspector out to check the install of framing proximity wise.

In short, no, that raises a red flag. You're wise to speak to him and get needed fix now: it will keep you awake at night knowing gas fired appliances aren't to manufacturer and local code. Not to mention home insurance issues.

[Anonymous]

I'd have concerns as well.

First off, if you ever went to sell the house down the road and stuff isn't up to code, the buyer can insist that you bring it up to code before sale completion. So then basically you're doing the work twice. I have had enough contractors do work in my house that I would have serious issues with this kind of shoddy workmanship. I don't think it's micromanaging – contractors, even good ones, will try to cut corners wherever they can if they can get away with it. I have had contractors price us a job, come in and start the work and then realize the job is much bigger than they accounted for – and start cutting corners so they can still make a profit.

Finally, if they don't respond to your questions, I would also consider this a red flag – get in touch with whoever your foreman is directly, by phone and talk it over. Often, the lead guy subcontracts out to someone new every week and doesn't really have an eye on every single contract they're working on.