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Lori_Courtney · Feb 12, 2008, 01:42 PM

In July of 2007 we hired a contractor to do siding, roof and windows, contract stated it would take 2-8 weeks. Since our house was built in 1950's, we decided to remodel the inside, so, expecting the outside to take 2-8 weeks, we gutted the inside of our house. My daughter and I moved in with my parents and my husband had to live on the property (in a VW Bus! ) because of the neighborhood we live in. It is now FEBRUARY and they are just now getting done! Does anybody know or has anybody ever sued for loss of use of property? Also, the person we hired to do the inside only had the month of November open to do our remodel, now we have lost out on that!

RickJ · Feb 12, 2008, 01:58 PM

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JudyKayTee · Feb 12, 2008, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by Lori_Courtney

In July of 2007 we hired a contractor to do siding, roof and windows, contract stated it would take 2-8 weeks. Since our house was built in 1950's, we decided to remodel the inside, so, expecting the outside to take 2-8 weeks, we gutted the inside of our house. My daughter and I moved in with my parents and my husband had to live on the property (in a VW Bus!!) because of the neighborhood we live in. It is now FEBRUARY and they are just now getting done!! Does anybody know or has anybody ever sued for loss of use of property? Also, the person we hired to do the inside only had the month of November open to do our remodel, now we have lost out on that!!

Was the time frame a specific condition of the contract, such as a time is of the essence clause?

If you "expected" the work to be done in 2 to 8 weeks without a guarantee (or time is of the essence clause) I very much doubt you can claim damages because, in theory, you should have waited until the outside was done before beginning the inside. If, of course, you relied on a provision of the contact concerning the time frame, yes, you have been damaged by the delay. You can always argue you lost money and were inconvenienced by the length of time this has taken but it would be your word against his word and basically the "job" is ruled by the contract, which may or may be silent (not address this issue).

It's a late lesson now but that "time" frame written into the contract can save a lot of grief.

Fr_Chuck · Feb 12, 2008, 04:15 PM

Often expected time frame takes a lot longer, in my last flip, my 8 week estimate ended up taking about 4 months.

But a lot will depend on what the contract said, did it give an exact time frame to be done, a date to be completed, and was there any penalty to be paid if the work was not done by then. Like so many dollars a day for every day not finished.