Dealing with a botched (and fixed) remodeling job

In a recent letter to the Asking Eric advice column in the Chicago Tribune, a homeowner wrote that her walls and ceiling had been painted the wrong colors. The store gave the wrong paints to the painter, who didn’t check the cans. 

“Who’s at fault here?,” she asked. “Is this just a live and learn situation?”

While saying the store may have gotten the paint codes wrong, Eric blamed the painter: “He should have checked the product he was receiving before he left the store. . . . He should have offered to fix his mistake, if not for free, then for a discount.”

Eric added, however, that “sometimes mistakes can’t be painted over.” I’ve lived with those kinds of mistakes. 

When the builders of a closet made an opening an inch too wide, I figured all I could ask was that they hang the doors so that the gap would be on the less noticeable side. When an appliance installer chipped the granite counter while removing the old dishwasher, I accepted the excuse that the dishwasher was wedged in because a new floor had been put on top of the old. 

At the same time the letter to Eric appeared, I was dealing with an unsatisfactory remodeling job. 

Anticipating knee replacement surgery, I wanted to have an opening cut into the bathtub to turn it into a walk-in shower. The job would include sealing off whirlpool jets and refinishing the tub. 

I hired a company recommended by a manufacturer of tub cutout inserts. When its representative Larry visited here, he said that my tub was too deep to use a premade insert and required custom panels over the opening. 

The refinishing was done beautifully, but the opening, with ill-fitting panels, looked makeshift.

Since I’d not asked to see photos of a custom cutout, I figured that I bore some blame. I wondered along with Eric’s correspondent: “Is this just a live and learn situation?”

Urged on by friends, I emailed Larry, including photos, two days after the work was finished. He agreed that the job was unsatisfactory and said his boss, Don, would offer me options. While waiting for Don’s call, I found the website of the TubcuT with photos of “seamless cutouts with a factory appearance.” I emailed the photos to Larry as examples of cutouts done well.

I expected Don to offer to redo the opening, but because I didn’t have confidence in the result, I decided to hire TubcuT to fix the problem. I’d chalk up the extra $1,500 as live and learn. 

It was a pleasant surprise when Don asked how much TubcuT would charge to redo the opening and offered to refund me the amount. Maybe he was worried about his company’s reputation, maybe he’s just a good guy. I was relieved to not have to negotiate. 

The redone cutout looks good. 

My tub now looks much like the one
in this photo from TubcuT's website. 

What have I learned from the incident?

• Take more care in vetting contractors, including learning their specialties. I realize now that the first company specializes in refinishing; the few cutout photos on its website show bulky premade inserts. When Larry said that my tub required a custom cutout, I should have asked to see examples. TubcuT specializes in inserts finished so that the tub looks like it came from the factory with the opening.

• Speak to at least two contractors. Other companies came up on a Google search; I didn’t have to go with the first one. I mistakenly assumed that for this job there was little difference between contractors except price, and Don’s price seemed reasonable.

• Know what the finished job should look like. If I’d been sure of that, I would have said something to the workman before he left my place. 

• Don’t shy away from expressing dissatisfaction. I can express concerns without coming across as unreasonable or argumentative. 

• Figure out how I want the problem fixed. Not knowing how a custom cutout should look, I fretted about a solution. Should I accept a discount and live with the unsightly tub? Should I let Larry’s company try to fix it when I doubted it could? The thought of hiring someone else didn’t immediately occur to me. It was several days before I looked for other companies, found TubcuT, and saw its photos. 

• I was lucky. A different company might have been less fair than Don about a refund. More reason to be better informed before hiring.