Legal Question in Consumer Law in Pennsylvania

We had a contractor paint the interior of our home. After they completed the job, we noticed that our brand new laminate floors (2 weeks old) were scratched. The contractor agreed to compensate us (he is insured) for the damaged floors, and we quickly received an estimate for the cost to replace the damaged flooring.

When we shared the estimate with the contractor, he readily agreed to pay the flooring company in advance or have us send him the bill once the work has been completed.

We really don't want to have to go through replacing the floors again, but we'd like to be compensated for the damage that was incurred to the brand new floors. Our question is: Can we request monetary compensation, or does the law require us to have the damage repaired to be compensated.


Asked on 7/16/10, 1:21 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Rachel Hunter

Its up to the contractor. I suppose he is suspicious and just does not want to buy you a trip to Aruba or something and he wants to guarantee that the work will be done since the floors were damaged. You can always ask if he will give you funds in lieu of paying for the work. If he wants to protect himself, you should sign what is called a release. Once you sign and accept the funds, you cannot come back and ask for more. So if the floors are damaged more than you thought or replacing the floors reveals more damage, it will be too late.

Read more
Answered on 7/16/10, 10:22 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Consumer Law questions and answers in Pennsylvania