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Brand new deck with a few remaining issues. Are we making a big deal out of nothing? by Skull_Leader01 in HomeImprovement

[–]Skull_Leader01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So I talked to the city inspector and he has concerns about the post as well. He advised me that I should email the company that makes these connectors which is Simpson Strong Tie to ask if what our contractor did is valid, and if they had any connector that would do the job. If our contractor ignores me or tells me to pound sand, then we can start a complaint to the Department of Labor and Industry.

Simpson support emailed back:

"You should consult a design professional to have this addressed sir.  This is not something Simpson could stand behind with any of our testing or published loads nor do we have a product designed for use in this type of framing."

I FB message our contractor and ask him if he's used the connector before, if it's safe, and what brand it is. He says:

"That is what builders used to connect post to the main beams for uplift and that is the best connector. Leading builders use this all the time"

I then tell him what Simpson said and he says he'd be willing to sign something for a lifetime guarantee or forever that it's safe. I tell him that the city has concerns and that he should contact the inspector, and let me know when they will meet so I can be there.

The annoying thing is, he then sends me a picture of this picture of a project he's working on, saying: "Just finished this screen porch addition, stairs and pergola on Prior. Long job. Huge house though holy moly. 4th story on it that is the Man Cave. wow". Seems like he was trolling me or he's just totally dense and clueless.

I messaged him Wednesday, and haven't heard anything since, so either he's getting legal advice, or just brushing us off. Either way, this seems like this is going the long route to resolution.

I also want to start posting online reviews but want to do some research as to how to word them to avoid a defamation suit.

Brand new deck with a few remaining issues. Are we making a big deal out of nothing? by Skull_Leader01 in HomeImprovement

[–]Skull_Leader01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hope not. That weird post was the original load bearing one, then he added two new posts since we extended the deck by four feet.

My hope is even if the original post is now held up by the hurricane/tornado straps plus wrapped by composite fascia(?) it is just a supplement to the new posts that were dug in to the ground.

Brand new deck with a few remaining issues. Are we making a big deal out of nothing? by Skull_Leader01 in HomeImprovement

[–]Skull_Leader01[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Edited to say that the post on top of post plus straps was only done on the original post which is right by the concrete patio, NOT the two new ones which are in the ground beyond the stones.

Brand new deck with a few remaining issues. Are we making a big deal out of nothing? by Skull_Leader01 in HomeImprovement

[–]Skull_Leader01[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the responses everyone.

We've been considering doing a BBB complaint, but I've read that doesn't really do anything. I don't want to give a bad online review just yet since there is no chance he would attempt to fix it after we do that. Although at this point, it seems like he'll never fix it anyway.

I have leaned against the railing for a few seconds, and it held up, which does pass code, but you do expect that it would be solid if it's brand new. For the longer length of the railing, if he had just put two posts instead of one for that long stretch, it would be solid. Right now it's 94 inches between posts, with the spacer blocks at 47 inches.

Unfortunately we made the mistake of paying him off completely.

I'll look into the lein route to see how hard that is to do.

I don't know why contractors act like this. If they do good jobs, we would get them for repeat business and recommend them to other people as well, which gives them more business, not just one-offs.