Legal Question in Construction Law in California

I bought a townhouse in Santa ana in July. I fired a lisenced contractor to fix the house. Part of the agreement is to fully replace the bath tub and replace with standing shower with new tiles , pipes and shower head assembly and remove the old diswahser and put a new one that I will buy. After he copmlete the job , a week later the dishwasher leake water all over the floor I have never been able to use the new dishwaher. And also every time i take shower the waker leaks and drop from the roof of my kitchen. I called him but he never answer, He always answer my call before during construction and before the final payment. What can I do? I plan to certified mail him and give him a week to reply if not . I will hire another contractor to fix the problem and file a small claim lawsuit to make him pay for all expenses. Do I have a good chance to win so I can make decision to start lawsuit? Thanks fpr you professional advises. Duke


Asked on 11/23/09, 7:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

It's never easy to predict the outcome of a lawsuit, but it sounds like you would have a pretty good one. You are following the law by giving him the chance to repair before hiring another contractor, so that is good. You need, to be prepared, however, for more than a small claims lawsuit. If your shower has been leaking throught the floor pan and into the structure, you probably now have water damage and possibly mold in the kitchen ceiling/bathroom floor. You may also have water damage under your dishwasher. So your lawsuit may be bigger than the $7,500 limit of small claims. One other thing you need to do is contact the place you bought the dishwasher and have them determine whether it is the machine or the installation that is causing that leak. You don't want to sue the contractor for what might be a warranty repair on the machine you provided. If the shower is leaking through the floor and out the ceiling below in the kitchen, though, that is pretty clearly defective installation. One last thing you should do is file a complaint with the Contractors State License Board. www.cslb.ca.gov

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Answered on 11/28/09, 8:27 pm


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