Discussions

Some advice please. We just completed a bathroom reno. Despite my begging for photos and/or links to the bathtub choices before the job began, the contractor just chose his own choice of tub and installed it. I hate the bathtub. It is shallow and made for someone 3’ tall. My old bathtub was way better. I think this tub is made more as a showering tub because the soap shelf is way up high and there are no shelves for shampoo, etc. I used to enjoy having a bath but now it is so stressful and makes me so angry. I was so looking forward to having a new tub and now I am devastated. There were other items in the project as well where we specifically requested certain items (eg. toilets) and he put in what he wanted. He also damaged some of our property and left the house in a mess during and after he was done the reno. Honestly we just wanted him out of our house. I know we should not have paid the bill but we have already paid the bill. What should we do?

Any paper trail of this? Also take pictures of the damages. You can probably sue the contractor for damages depending on your contract.

Sent you a pm

Sound like us . We got a guy to do ours and a friend said he was very good . He did a new bathroom for us witch turned out good at the end but it took him about 2 months to do . The guy never came till after lunch and then would stay a couple hrs and then go home each day . Towards the 2nd of it i was so mad couldn't wait for him to finish and get out . Never would I get him again . Lesson learned

A bathroom/bathtub reno isn't just something you do every 6 months or a year and happen overnight... Why would you let someone else to pick out your tub? Why wouldn't you have said something and have it changed out before the project continued or was completed? A tub usually lasts a long time so research yourself, try it out (dry) if there are display models. Even if there was a delay or additional cost (shouldn't be if you didn't ok it) it would still be better and cheaper than dealing with something you hate for years and years or redoing it again... I do renos and have the customer make these calls and I also keep records to prove that they got what they requested... Sometimes a customer changes their mind and it is just as important for the contractor to be protected.

We went through this with an entire build, involved a lawyer, and succeeded! (Well, as best we could. When lawyers are involved, no one wins, because there are now legal costs. This is what our lawyer actually said). You either need to start a small claims court process, or approach a lawyer and ask what the fee is to get them to send a letter to the contractor on your behalf. Of course you need to consider the legal costs and your time against the costs you spent with the contractor and if it's even worth your while. Good luck!

a hard lesson learned...when I re did my bathroom I bought all the fixtures I wanted and had them installed for that reason.  
 
You may get a moral victory if youre able to prove you had these stipulations in your contract, but moneywise the previous poster is correct the only winners will be the lawyers. You will likely have to pay out of pocket to get a new contractor to come put a different tub in or accept your bath the way it is.