Adding AC to central heat

[kim]

My brother-in-law just got central air installed on his heat system. They replaced the furnace too. They did nothing to the duct system. The contract said they would do nothing to the duct system. Many parts are unwrapped.

My question is:
Being proffessionals, shouldn't we be held liable if we do work that causes damage to another part of the system or house. Every proffessional knows unwrapped supply pipes will quickly rust away on an AC system. Low balling a job by not including a critical part seems unethical as well as illegal to me.
Once I went white water rafting with a lawyer friend. He told me the liability waiver, we had to sign, was illegal. He said you can not sign away risks that you do not know about. Same would apply to the above contract.

This guy also put 1 ton worth of duct work on a new 2.5 ton system installed upstairs and overcharged both systems. Every register upstairs is sweating bad. This job has a place in the wall of shame.
I told my brother-in-law, he could sue the guy to complete the upstairs system and might be able to sue him to wrap the downstairs system.

[spike]

No offense kim, but my 1st thoughts are: why didn't he consult with you on the job? (I understand about not actually doing work for family)

[mattm]

That's funny my duct work is 40+ years old and is not insulated. If he wants duct work done I'm sure they will do it for an extra charge.

Has he even tried to get the company to address the concerns?
How do you know the duct work for upstairs is "1 ton and that they're overcharged" ?

Everybodies ready to sue.

[kim]

He did ask me. I would not do the job.

[kim]

Originally posted by mattm
Has he even tried to get the company to address the concerns?
How do you know the duct work for upstairs is "1 ton and that they're overcharged" ?

Everybodies ready to sue.

The guy has not shown up yet. He still may be professional about it.

I can tell a 1 ton system by looking at the duct sizes. Any proffessional can. The difference between a 2 ton duct system and a 2.5 ton duct system is not as easy to tell, but 5 long 6" flex lines will not make a 2.5 ton system work worth a crap. Then using the most restictive boots available simple because they are easiest to install, etc.

Overcharged? Compressor is sweating enough that the ground is wet all around CU.
These things are very obvious to a pro.

I think you should sue if you did not get 1/2 of what you were promised. If I promised to pay you $5000, but didn't would you sue me? This system is going to start doing water damage to his house. Would you chock that damage up to experience and let the quilty party off the hook scot free?
There is nothing wrong with reasonable lawsuits.

[mattm]

I totally agree with you that if something was agreed upon and not done properly that yes it should be made right and it sounds like you know your sh*t. Good thing your brother has a pro on his side to point out the problems. If they removed any insulation from his ducts they should have replaced it. Is his basement conditioned? That's why I made the comment. If it's conditioned space there's no need for the insulation.

[kim]

Basement is not conditioned now but it will be as soon as a hole rusts in the duct pipe. This job is in the south where the dew piont is almost always above 55F. I bet the inspector would not pass that job even if the duct work is not under contract.

My point is: A pro would not have signed that contract. He would know what a crappy job would result. A bet there was a pro that did bid the job right. This hack underbids the job and the HO is left holding the bag. I have bid jobs where the HO showed me a competitors bid that did not even cover all the needed materials.

Yes my brother-in-law did get refferences. Somebody thinks this guy can do a good job. I wonder if he did a bad job for these other people or he was just too lazy to do a good job this time. Maybe my brother-in-law talked him into doing a poor job.
I would walk away before I did a job like that one.

If he gets sued, maybe he will learn to do the right job. Or maybe he will stick to painting and drywall where he can do a good job.

[mattm]

Originally posted by kim
Maybe my brother-in-law talked him into doing a poor job.

Sounds like your not so fond of you brother inlaw. Best of luck Kim.

[spike]

Originally posted by kim
He did ask me. I would not do the job.

I said 'consult', not 'do'

[oil lp man]

He probably got what he paid for.
I'll bet your brother in law thought he was saving a fortune and pulling one over on the AC guy.
Serves him right.

[The Penguin]

Some people have no idea they were ripped off they most likely cannot tell if the job done is good or bad if the end result is that cool air comes out of the vents. Only a professional can tell the difference between a cost job and a well done job. It takes a while sometimes before the evidence shines through.
The only way most people differeniate between quotes is price. they naturally assume that the lowest price is the best price and that all the rest are either ripping them off or supplying unnecessary extras. So sadly some people are burned by their own lack of knowledge. they will spend more time looking for a new tv than rescerching ac

[spotts]

Originally posted by The Penguin
Some people have no idea they were ripped off they most likely cannot tell if the job done is good or bad if the end result is that cool air comes out of the vents. Only a professional can tell the difference between a cost job and a well done job. It takes a while sometimes before the evidence shines through.
The only way most people differeniate between quotes is price. they naturally assume that the lowest price is the best price and that all the rest are either ripping them off or supplying unnecessary extras. So sadly some people are burned by their own lack of knowledge. they will spend more time looking for a new tv than rescerching ac

So true. Good post