# Fired for caulking



## pntrmn (Oct 11, 2010)

Has anyone been fired over exterior caulking? I have been recently. I have been a contractor for 20 years. I recently caulked an exterior, cedar siding. I use my finger to smooth caulk around windows and doors. I use a heavy bead so it doesn't bust out. the homeowner said it looked like a 5th grader did it and cancelled our contract. I was floored. never been questioned over caulk in 20 years. Would like your input, this will probably go to court as I didn't give him his deposit of 1400 back.


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## PatsPainting (Mar 4, 2010)

You get any pics of your caulking job?

Pat


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Who knows, we don't know what your caulking looked like, and we don't know what the client was thinking.


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## VanDamme (Feb 13, 2010)

Pics. Would sure help.


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

In Cali it is State law that you must give the contractor the opportunity to fix what ever the issue is. I don't know where your from, rather than fighting you did a good job. Use the "not given the opportunity" bit.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Good point Gabe, I have a feeling that it maybe was not the caulking at all maybe it was the last straw or something. It's kind of hard to believe that the guy would have given up what he put down, or maybe he felt like he got his moneys worth with the work that was already done and he was going to go with another contractor to finish the job. I just can't see it being from one bad work habit.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

I think if someone said my caulking was like a 5th grader there must be something about it that didn't look right. I mean the proof is in the pudding I think.I mean that is pretty bad.


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

As everyone says pics. You could have had boogers everywhere.


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## pntrmn (Oct 11, 2010)

I don't have pics....but just take the word of a 20 year veteran here there was nothing wrong with the caulking. No boogers, 

I have done so many millpacks I can guarantee what good caulking looks like. Theres no margin for error there. 

I can elaborate further as to say we did the house next door previously and the homeowner there was the homeowner from hell. I'm sure that had alot to do with it.

I do like the reply that I should have been given the opportunity to fix it and I offered to dig it out and make it look however he wanted. He declined.

Let's return to the previous question. Has anybody been fired from bad caulking job?

You can look at pics of my jobs at www.ineedabidplease.com


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## ComRemodel (Dec 11, 2007)

From looking at your site I don't think your caulking was the problem, probably an excuse. How much did you complete and how much was still owed to you?


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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

Sometimes you just get an unreasonable customer. It happens to the best of us, and I'm sorry to say it looks like its your turn.

After looking at your site, I also agree it looks like you know what your doing.......

So, I guess the question would be, what did your contract specify regarding caulking?


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## Tonyg (Dec 9, 2007)

I would say there needs to be a clear definition of what exactly is an acceptable caulking job. You should try the PDCA standards or get some info from the manufacturer. You should also have a paint rep visit the site and you should go back to take some pics. At this point it is more about building a legal case and covering your butt.


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## KLaw (May 8, 2009)

pntrmn said:


> Has anyone been fired over exterior caulking? I have been recently. I have been a contractor for 20 years. I recently caulked an exterior, cedar siding. I use my finger to smooth caulk around windows and doors. I use a heavy bead so it doesn't bust out. the homeowner said it looked like a 5th grader did it and cancelled our contract. I was floored. never been questioned over caulk in 20 years. Would like your input, this will probably go to court as I didn't give him his deposit of 1400 back.


Did you have $1400 worth of work in it? If not, then I would refund him the diffrerence and move on. That could alleviate a court case - maybe. If you had more then that into it then I agree with Gabe. You should get the opportunity to make it right - by law.


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## PatsPainting (Mar 4, 2010)

pntrmn said:


> Let's return to the previous question. Has anybody been fired from bad caulking job?



I would be really surprised if anyone else said yes to this.

Pat


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Sometimes you really cant figure people out. It probably was nothing to do with you caulking work, they might have run into money problems and wanted a way out of paying anymore.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

I doubt too that anyone would say yes to that, the Gods just allowed it to happen to you for a lesson or something you must learn before your next mission.


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## briancreary (Oct 12, 2010)

*agreed*

I'm going to agree with the "something to learn from the situation," comment. Always have everything in writing and be specific. I would certainly tell this guy he has to pay for the time in. And, as far as I know the law about having to give the contractor resonable oportunity to correct is nationwide, not just local. This is because a contract can only be broken if both sides agree to nulify the contract. This guy sounds like he doesn't want to pay-get what he owes you and then get out.


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## Workaholic (Apr 17, 2007)

I have never been fired from a job I was on. I have been burned twice before on a job. 

Without pictures nobody can say for sure if your caulking was the real culprit, more than likely it was an excuse to get out of the situation. You have to ask yourself if there were any red flags given on your end or that you picked up on from him on why he would want to dismiss you from the job.


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## pntrmn (Oct 11, 2010)

Thanks for all the rebuttal guys.....


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## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

maybe you should have watched this first:whistling2:


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## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

I am just kidding so don't go postal!!! But I would suggest you get some pictures as soon as possible.


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

Ron uses a Purdy XL Glide for a duster. Just sayin


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## dvp (Jun 21, 2010)

i got fired from a job once for not caulking inside cabinets, and not sanding inside shelves smooth enough. in reality the work was good, they just didnt like the color they they picked and didnt want to have to pay for color change. the next guy said they just had him change the color. they were filthy rich and the most miserable people i have ever met. i tried to give them their money there deposit back and told them to keep their stupid money. they wound up sending me a check in the mail.for most of the money. I feel sorry for them, cheating some working person out of their money, rather than pay for a color change.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

Insides of open cabs and shelving units always got caulked before painting. And if you do a sample board of the color they want and have them sign and date it...along with your signature, you've got that base covered - just keep the board in your possession so it doesn't magically disappear. The rest is up to your workmanship and abilities.

But you'll always have the customer as you described. I got called once to "fix" a painters "mistakes" on a huge built-in wall unit. The HO told me to give him an estimate and make it right and he was deducting it from the previous guys final check....only one problem; the work was damn near perfect. I pointed it out to the HO and asked point blank what the real reason was...turned out to be the color. Asked if they approved it, and they said yes. Told them I didn't want to get involved with the project and they should get in touch with the previous painter and have him respray it to the color they wanted and to pay the guy what he was owed and any additional charges for the change. He, (the painter), got a hold of me about a week later and thanked me for my honesty with the HO, the change was made and he got paid.


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## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

Wolf,that's awesome! The dishonesty of some people never is amazing to me. I have had customers,even after they have approved a color,want us to re-paint it and can't seem to understand how we could expect them to pay for it.

Yesterday 1 of my crews call me and says the lady says we have the colors reversed even after he showed her the email she sent with the color scheme. 8 gls trim,25 body.
So as you can see she would have to eat the cost of reversal and keep the extra paint.
She decided we were correct!


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## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

I am also dealing with a customer from 2 years ago who had refused to pay her final balance of $750. Her husband is a lawyer so I let it go.
She called to have us come out and do touch ups as part of our warranty she claims she has,which I never gave her.

I was absolutely shocked that she would have the balls to even call! I told her to go pound sand and of course she threatened me with legal action.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

Yeah, sometimes I dont know which is worse; lawyers or their wives. Had one last year who was always making change orders along with "my husband is a lawyer". Kept track of all the change expenses and added them to the final bill. The husband, (lawyer), looks at the bill and says; "You do know I'm an attorney?". My young guy I hired to run the pressure washing end of the business looked at him and asked if he knew Judge XYZ, the lawyer said he did, and my guy says; "That's my Dad." Hell, I didn't even know..... Got the check in full right there.


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## hoz (Sep 27, 2010)

Wolfgang said:


> The husband, (lawyer), looks at the bill and says; "You do know I'm an attorney?".


Standard response, "Yeah, I used to be too, until I found this painting racket."

Attorneys don't faze me, I have 5 attorneys and one judge in the family.


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## VanDamme (Feb 13, 2010)

Wolfgang said:


> Insides of open cabs and shelving units always got caulked before painting. And if you do a sample board of the color they want and have them sign and date it...along with your signature, you've got that base covered - just keep the board in your possession so it doesn't magically disappear. The rest is up to your workmanship and abilities.
> 
> But you'll always have the customer as you described. I got called once to "fix" a painters "mistakes" on a huge built-in wall unit. The HO told me to give him an estimate and make it right and he was deducting it from the previous guys final check....only one problem; the work was damn near perfect. I pointed it out to the HO and asked point blank what the real reason was...turned out to be the color. Asked if they approved it, and they said yes. Told them I didn't want to get involved with the project and they should get in touch with the previous painter and have him respray it to the color they wanted and to pay the guy what he was owed and any additional charges for the change. He, (the painter), got a hold of me about a week later and thanked me for my honesty with the HO, the change was made and he got paid.


Got a call like this a few years back. Lady got my name from someone and called about her painter doing her exterior. Wanted me to come look and give my opinion and price.

Told her I would come look (for free) but I wouldn't give her a price unless the job was really sub-standard.

I expected the job to be really bad, but after a thorough walk-around, the guy was doing a really good job.

Even after I passed that on to the owner, she still wanted a price from me to take over the job. After she asked for the third time, I finally gave her a price so high, that I would have made great money AND I would have been able to pay the original painter off. 

I didn't hear back! LOL!


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

VanDamme said:


> Got a call like this a few years back. Lady got my name from someone and called about her painter doing her exterior. Wanted me to come look and give my opinion and price.
> 
> Told her I would come look (for free) but I wouldn't give her a price unless the job was really sub-standard.
> 
> ...


Good for you, thats what I would have done. There should have been a service charge for coming out, right?


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## WisePainter (Dec 27, 2008)

i have husband lawyer clients and they lurve me.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

When I think of all the lawyer and MD clients I've had there were only two who ever gave me the "better than thou" grief...both were lawyers. Any time I took on a job that involved a lawyer, I made sure I was on top of the game. Turned down a few too because of the attitudes....


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## briancreary (Oct 12, 2010)

*Legaleeze*



aaron61 said:


> I am also dealing with a customer from 2 years ago who had refused to pay her final balance of $750. Her husband is a lawyer so I let it go.
> She called to have us come out and do touch ups as part of our warranty she claims she has,which I never gave her.
> 
> I was absolutely shocked that she would have the balls to even call! I told her to go pound sand and of course she threatened me with legal action.


Hey I think 18 months is the standard "Statute of Limitation," in most states. Also, her husband being a lawyer, they should know that "workmanship," is so vague that it's almost impossible to prove unless it is absolutely horrible. It is also on the homeowner to prove this not the contractor. I wouldn't talk any law with them though. It's funny but what you say to a person face to face and what you say over the phone are two different things. Over the phone is "missuse of a recording device," by law if they want to try and sue for harrasment or threats (never happened to me but my brother's a cop). I wouldn't go any further with these folks. :no:


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## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

WisePainter said:


> i have husband lawyer clients and they lurve me.


 :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:


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## WisePainter (Dec 27, 2008)

aaron61 said:


> :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:



i realize it isn't as fabulous as spending 10's of thousands of dollars on Graco stuff, but hey, i'm only wise after all...


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## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

WisePainter said:


> i realize it isn't as fabulous as spending 10's of thousands of dollars on Graco stuff, but hey, i'm only wise after all...


You are more than Wise,you are "The Wise":thumbsup:


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## Rcon (Nov 19, 2009)

Interesting - I've done work for 3 lawyers this season...not one of them came out and told me they were lawyers - I had to find out by googling them. Never had an issue with any of them either. Maybe it's a geographical thing.


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## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

Rcon said:


> Interesting - I've done work for 3 lawyers this season...not one of them came out and told me they were lawyers - I had to find out by googling them. Never had an issue with any of them either. Maybe it's a geographical thing.


 I don't believe so.I think it's more of a personality thing.


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