WWMD: Contractor poured garage foundation too close to house. (Note: Fuck!)

First, did you hire a general contractor to do the whole job? If so, they are the ones you have to lean on to make it right - They have some responsibility to review the work/do quality control, coordinate subs, and they hold the $ on thier subs, etc

However, if YOU are the general contractor, and you are paying these subs directly, you still should expect it to be made right, but you also need to take some of the responsibility for this fuckup - You would been responsible to supervise and coordinate the work

Otherwise, what DJSapp said

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Originally Posted by WWCD

...and document everything from now on. Send out a fax immediately after each conversation.

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This is very important. Don't let them screw you over on some minor detail because you didn't have documentation of it.

Tell them to just rip the back foundation wall out and extend it and make the garage company pay for the extra materials. That gives you a bigger garage.

It's a win-win.


Make sure the building department will sign off on it.

Oh yeah, and enroll in an evasive driving tactics course on parking in your garage without hitting your house.

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

1) Could, but it's not likely to meet code
2) Also doesn't solve problem of the first 4 feet being too close to the house -- very difficult to cut that out cleanly.

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Nah, both can be done easily. May require drilling and installing rebar or bolts in the rear to tie the slab and pouring a second footing on the front but both can be done and both should be within code. Leaves you with a seam in the garage, though - can you live with that?

Of course a real man would have poured his own slab...

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Originally Posted by grrrr

Nah, both can be done easily. May require drilling and installing rebar or bolts in the rear to tie the slab and pouring a second footing on the front but both can be done and both should be within code. Leaves you with a seam in the garage, though - can you live with that?

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Tell them to get one of these and remove the ramp + 4'

http://www.masonry-saw.com/graphics/...d_c_cc2500.jpg

drill and expoy these into the slab

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/images/ppcl08f1.jpg

pour the rest of your concrete and tell them they should be happy they're not ripping the whole thing out. PM me if you have questions, I've done a lot of this for the city of LA

Technically it is just a slab, not a true foundation. Sorry for my confusion.

We have already paid about half the money (on a credit card) to "Generic Shed Company" for lack of a better name. They hire the cement guys and the cement guys work off of the plans that GSC provides them.

If they dug their heels in and really wanted to play "Fuck You" I guess we could always get Visa to back us up until we were satisfied. That was the only reason we put the deposit on a card instead of cash, honestly.

It sounds like I would be OK with a compromise of chopping the front part of the slab off, pouring an additional 4 feet of slab in the rear (heh,) and then following going the drill & epoxy route, assuming that would be up to code.

I can't wait until they concede and schedule it to all be done in 2008.

Being a homeowner is sick.

Yikes! Not fun.

The great thing is that now you have a reason to be pissed off and act like an ass pretty much whenever you want until the job is done - and probably a few months after.

It's called a monoslab when the footing, stem wall, and slab are all poured at the same time.

Sheeeat, why didn't you say so?

Extend slab in back, set left side door back 4 feet so you can negotiate in and out easily. Pick up four extra feet on right side. I'd have them put the roof over the left side though, to add a quaint appeal for resale value, though.

And I will be by to bless it with a PM Gear sticker next time I'm in town.

Fuck this talk shit. Hire someone to break somekneecaps.

if its up to code etc as is but just in the wrong spot, one compromise could be to SAW CUT the back stemwall out and pour it again 4ft back essentially giving you a 4ft bigger garage (which would only affect the count on everything built on it; lumber, trusses/rafters, siding, roofing etc) but you'd come away with more gear space and a deeper rightside parking stall which would ease the entry (heh) on the left... & if it stays as is you could consider a breezeway connect to the house...?
yeah, shame no one caught it when it was formed
edit: hmmm just read page2.... good luck and what splat said

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Originally Posted by phUnk

I hate to be a dick about stuff like this,

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Expecting to get what you paid for is not being a dick.

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Am I out of line telling them to tear it up and do it right? :mad:

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No, not out of line at all. I haven't read the other responses yet, but if the contractor screwed up, he should make it right. After reading your description, I think he should tear it out and repour it.

I have a small business and do contract work from time to time. I have a reputation for getting it right the first time and always giving the customer exactly what they want. I may sound like a hard ass when I say that you should expect exactly what you paid for and nothing less, but I have deal with the fallout from guys like you are dealing with. It's not that hard. If you can't read a blueprint and follow instructions, you have no business being a contractor.

Talk to the owner, get what you paid for. It's not being a hard ass, it's expecting them to do what they said they would do.

phUnk it seems to me that you are in the right. If my company had fucked this up we would fix it witout question, but we may be the exception to the rule. My .02, go for the complete new slab with the doweled on compromise as the back up. It is a good way to go with the hand you have been dealt, assuming that it is code compliant. If you let them go with the doweled slab, it may eliminate the 2008 scenario.

Good luck man. Sorry about it, that sucks, but the existing situation as detailed is simply unacceptable.

That sucks man.

Just curious... how come you didn't notice this when they were setting the forms up to pour the slab? Something like, "Hey fucksticks... wrong spot."

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Originally Posted by MonkeyMan

That sucks man.

Just curious... how come you didn't notice this when they were setting the forms up to pour the slab? Something like, "Hey fucksticks... wrong spot."

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I hung around in the morning to answer any questions the foreman had, but then I had to go to work.

Stupid work.

If they're being giant cocks be sure to point out that you put the deposit on the Visa card and you'll fight to get it back. Schedule another company to come by for an estimate on the garage when your talking to giant shed inc. about how to fic it.

Sell your cars and commute by bicycle. Then all you have to worry about is fitting your tree-trunk legs through the doors of your house...or put out an APB on "Red Death" to make getting into your garage easier. I dare you.

I was gonna say make them rip it out and do it right, but then Trackhead convinced me that we're going extinct, so who really cares?

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Originally Posted by iceman

I was gonna say make them rip it out and do it right, but then Trackhead convinced me that we're going extinct, so who really cares?

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I've had a few good laughs from this. Like Splat says, things tend to work out.

Hit the ramp switch and you should be all good.

I thought it was supposed to be called the Batcave! Where's the turntable thingy?
http://tetongravity.com/forums/attac...1&d=1154387286

time to open a can of whoop ass - I'll bring you a spare can as well.

feeling your pain brother, feeling it. homeowner land can blow.

nothing but repeated donkey punches till it's fixed

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Originally Posted by DJSapp

Tell the contractor they fucked the pooch on this and you want it totally replaced. Be a dick, they will balk but you have their money. Demand a complete removal and replacement and bring them to the barganing table. You have the concrete, and you have their money, they did not deliver what was promised, so they need to do what it takes to make it right. Odds are they will be willing to sawcut and demo the ramp and extra 4' and pour you a new ramp and complete the 4' gap behind the existing slab. If they offer this, make sure they drill and epoxy dowels in the connection.

DO NOT PAY THEM UNTIL YOU ARE HAPPY.

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I agree with this and most others here. Make them redo it and don't pay them a cent until they do. Contractors are animals (at least that's how we refer to them in the mining industry) they will rob you blind if given the chance.

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Originally Posted by phUnk

Technically it is just a slab, not a true foundation. Sorry for my confusion.

We have already paid about half the money (on a credit card) to "Generic Shed Company" for lack of a better name. They hire the cement guys and the cement guys work off of the plans that GSC provides them.

If they dug their heels in and really wanted to play "Fuck You" I guess we could always get Visa to back us up until we were satisfied. That was the only reason we put the deposit on a card instead of cash, honestly.

It sounds like I would be OK with a compromise of chopping the front part of the slab off, pouring an additional 4 feet of slab in the rear (heh,) and then following going the drill & epoxy route, assuming that would be up to code.

I can't wait until they concede and schedule it to all be done in 2008.

Being a homeowner is sick.

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Screw the retrofit.... especially if you are staying in the house for a while...

Seriously, if the concrete guys have any questions, they need to call the supplier of the plans, and if the plan supplier can't answer their questions, then they shouldn't be in business. If you have it on a cc, you are a little safe, just call the shed company, as they are your prime contractor, and deal directly with them. Tell them they screwed up, if they point you towards the concrete sub, tell them to go screw themselves, as you paid them, then threaten to have the cc company to back out the charges, as you did not get what you paid for. They should respond to that. If they are still being tools, just go through with your threat, and deal with the couple headaches. It's worth it, there is no reason to do something like that wrong. I deal with a lot of these people all the time, and unfortunately, they screw up a lot. They should be used to redoing it.

Several people in this thread have mentioned pulling the cc payment. Bad idea at this point. There are other courses of actions, and odds are that cc payment was made before the concrete was even mixed. There are other paths to leverage these fuckers. Now as for the 2008 thing, was there any schedule in the contract that you signed? If so, there's a nice little thing called liquidated damages you can go after. Reread your contract carefully.

Oh yeah, and do all the good documentation stuff (phone, fax, email, converstaions, etc.)

Residential contractors blow.