The pool installer relieved himself in my yard! LONG update pg4- #49 FIRED!

[shhh its me]

...he made such a huge mess in the backyard and refuses to clean it up, I have to have someone come in and fix things before the pool is erected.

...He kept telling me that he would grade the piles of dirt that he was piling up all over the yard but then he just left it there.

...He also drove the machine over my concrete patio and cracked the corner right off!

Wait, what? Here's what I'd do - call him and tell him something came up and you have to postpone finishing the install for a week. Then call someone else and have them come out and give you a quote to do it right, including correcting the damage he's done. Finally, call him back and tell him you've decided not to have him complete the job and you'll send him a check for the work he did MINUS the cost of repairing and cleaning up what he ruined. This guy is a jerk. You hired him, not the other way around. He's not doing the job you hired him for, in fact he's breaking things and making a mess in addition to not even doing the work correctly. Get rid of him. 

To be fair , although , I think he sounds bad too.

Clean up may or may not be included in installation. If it's not mentioned I think it may be a bit unprofessional to not mention clean up and not do it and/or it may only be done once.   But if removing the sod wasn't part of the contract then its not part of the contract. 

Breaking the patio is a big deal unless it will be fixed or unless warned"The only way to get back here is to drive over the patio it may break." I'd even give a little break for. "I'm going to use heavy equipment" and the only possible path to drive the equipment is over the patio.  **in many circumstances you must give him a chance to make it right*

Grading may be done near completion.  I would expect grading to be one of last things done.

Scheduling he can put all the restriction in the negotiation phase he wants.

[Marisol]

If things are this bad maybe put some serious thought into firing him.  You've made it clear you do not like him, he is not professional, and you suspect he will not do the job right.  Fire him now before the project has been completed poorly.

I'd even think he owes you money for repairing your broken patio. 

[JenJay]

...he made such a huge mess in the backyard and refuses to clean it up, I have to have someone come in and fix things before the pool is erected.

...He kept telling me that he would grade the piles of dirt that he was piling up all over the yard but then he just left it there.

...He also drove the machine over my concrete patio and cracked the corner right off!

Wait, what? Here's what I'd do - call him and tell him something came up and you have to postpone finishing the install for a week. Then call someone else and have them come out and give you a quote to do it right, including correcting the damage he's done. Finally, call him back and tell him you've decided not to have him complete the job and you'll send him a check for the work he did MINUS the cost of repairing and cleaning up what he ruined. This guy is a jerk. You hired him, not the other way around. He's not doing the job you hired him for, in fact he's breaking things and making a mess in addition to not even doing the work correctly. Get rid of him. 

To be fair , although , I think he sounds bad too.

Clean up may or may not be included in installation. If it's not mentioned I think it may be a bit unprofessional to not mention clean up and not do it and/or it may only be done once.   But if removing the sod wasn't part of the contract then its not part of the contract. 

Breaking the patio is a big deal unless it will be fixed or unless warned"The only way to get back here is to drive over the patio it may break." I'd even give a little break for. "I'm going to use heavy equipment" and the only possible path to drive the equipment is over the patio.  **in many circumstances you must give him a chance to make it right*

Grading may be done near completion.  I would expect grading to be one of last things done.

Scheduling he can put all the restriction in the negotiation phase he wants.

I agree if he stipulated that those things would be done at the end of the job but according to OP he said he'd do it and then refused, so it sounds like he has no intention of following through. I hope you're right, though, and he's just refusing to do it now so that he can take care of everything at once when the job is finished.

OP, if you allow him to finish please have him put in writing that he will clean up the backyard (specify what needs to be done), finish the grading, and repair the patio.

[shhh its me]

...he made such a huge mess in the backyard and refuses to clean it up, I have to have someone come in and fix things before the pool is erected.

...He kept telling me that he would grade the piles of dirt that he was piling up all over the yard but then he just left it there.

...He also drove the machine over my concrete patio and cracked the corner right off!

Wait, what? Here's what I'd do - call him and tell him something came up and you have to postpone finishing the install for a week. Then call someone else and have them come out and give you a quote to do it right, including correcting the damage he's done. Finally, call him back and tell him you've decided not to have him complete the job and you'll send him a check for the work he did MINUS the cost of repairing and cleaning up what he ruined. This guy is a jerk. You hired him, not the other way around. He's not doing the job you hired him for, in fact he's breaking things and making a mess in addition to not even doing the work correctly. Get rid of him. 

To be fair , although , I think he sounds bad too.

Clean up may or may not be included in installation. If it's not mentioned I think it may be a bit unprofessional to not mention clean up and not do it and/or it may only be done once.   But if removing the sod wasn't part of the contract then its not part of the contract. 

Breaking the patio is a big deal unless it will be fixed or unless warned"The only way to get back here is to drive over the patio it may break." I'd even give a little break for. "I'm going to use heavy equipment" and the only possible path to drive the equipment is over the patio.  **in many circumstances you must give him a chance to make it right*

Grading may be done near completion.  I would expect grading to be one of last things done.

Scheduling he can put all the restriction in the negotiation phase he wants.

I agree if he stipulated that those things would be done at the end of the job but according to OP he said he'd do it and then refused, so it sounds like he has no intention of following through. I hope you're right, though, and he's just refusing to do it now so that he can take care of everything at once when the job is finished.

OP, if you allow him to finish please have him put in writing that he will clean up the backyard (specify what needs to be done), finish the grading, and repair the patio.

Well if OP said (for example only) Hey what are you going to do with this sod you just dug up?  and the answer was " Well thats your responsibility . if you want me to remove it it will be $XX extra"  again if there was no mention of sod removal prior , then he would be within his rights to refuse to remove it.  I've never had a pool installed but not all* removal is included with installation as a general rule.  IF this was the case id call around and see what the norm is for pool installers in the area and check the prices. I'd be more upset if the price was the same as the other installers including removal and if their all of their first quotes included it.  IF they all said $YY to install and $XX to clean up sod , I wouldn't blame the installer for my misunderstanding.

*all as in not every contracter includes removal as the basic assumption if it is not specifically spelled out*

[pierrotlunaire0]

For most men, relieving himself is most often a symbol of a full bladder.  If he was really trying to make a statement, he would have done something different. 

His bathroom habits are the least of the problem.  You have a contractor who will do the kind of job that requires you to hire another contractor to clean up after him.

[EMuir]

You need to insist he fixes what he broke, and that he does what the contract says. If that included removing and grading dirt, then make him do it! 

[JeanFromBNA]

...he made such a huge mess in the backyard and refuses to clean it up, I have to have someone come in and fix things before the pool is erected.

...He kept telling me that he would grade the piles of dirt that he was piling up all over the yard but then he just left it there.

...He also drove the machine over my concrete patio and cracked the corner right off!

Wait, what? Here's what I'd do - call him and tell him something came up and you have to postpone finishing the install for a week. Then call someone else and have them come out and give you a quote to do it right, including correcting the damage he's done. Finally, call him back and tell him you've decided not to have him complete the job and you'll send him a check for the work he did MINUS the cost of repairing and cleaning up what he ruined. This guy is a jerk. You hired him, not the other way around. He's not doing the job you hired him for, in fact he's breaking things and making a mess in addition to not even doing the work correctly. Get rid of him. 

I agree with this completely.  Postpone the job.  Get somebody else out to finish the job so that you don't have to re-do it later at greater expense.

[JeanFromBNA]

A lot of contractors who work outside won't use the client's bathroom, nor let their employees use the client's bathroom.  They don't want to be liable if somebody tracks in dirt or something in the house goes missing.  Discreetly relieving themselves outside is common.

[TootsNYC]

His act of peeing in my yard is symbolic of how he thinks he can treat me.  I feel if I don't push back and address some of these issues there will be more serious issues to deal with.

First: I don't think peeing in your yard is cool, but I do agree with others that if he doesn't have a convenient bathroom (i.e., yours) then I'm not sure where he's supposed to go.

Second: this is a needlessly complicated way of looking at this issue--for you. Why make it harder on yourself or more serious than it (necessarily) is? It's symbolic to you; he may or may not have thought it through at all. In fact, I highly doubt he knows you were watching him urinate.

What kind of "serious issues" do you anticipate? For the life of me, I can't think of the kind of escalation you seem to have in mind as a logical consequence of such an (admittedly, careless) act. He still wants to get paid, and has some stake in quality workmanship and future business, does he not?

If you are fearful of serious property damage, or theft, or defecation, or ... whatever it is that you feel a need to take a stand against, why not fire him right now?

Well, she's already had property damage. He broke the corner of her patio by being careless of her stuff. He disregards her schedule and pushes her around, verbally.

So I totally get why this seems like the core of the issue for the OP.


However, I think that addressing the other issues is a stronger leg to stand on.

If he has any sort of boss, go straight to that person. If he *is* the boss, tell him, "any recommendation I ever give you is going to be contingent on your working with me instead of pushing me around. And I'm not happy that you broke my patio, because there was CERTAINLY room for you to drive around it instead of over it. I'm getting a bid for a repair, and I expect you to pay it."

Though--honestly?

Do this:

...he made such a huge mess in the backyard and refuses to clean it up, I have to have someone come in and fix things before the pool is erected.

...He kept telling me that he would grade the piles of dirt that he was piling up all over the yard but then he just left it there.

...He also drove the machine over my concrete patio and cracked the corner right off!

Wait, what? Here's what I'd do - call him and tell him something came up and you have to postpone finishing the install for a week. Then call someone else and have them come out and give you a quote to do it right, including correcting the damage he's done. Finally, call him back and tell him you've decided not to have him complete the job and you'll send him a check for the work he did MINUS the cost of repairing and cleaning up what he ruined. This guy is a jerk. You hired him, not the other way around. He's not doing the job you hired him for, in fact he's breaking things and making a mess in addition to not even doing the work correctly. Get rid of him. 

I agree with this completely.  Postpone the job.  Get somebody else out to finish the job so that you don't have to re-do it later at greater expense.

[bloo]

For most men, relieving himself is most often a symbol of a full bladder.  If he was really trying to make a statement, he would have done something different. 

His bathroom habits are the least of the problem.  You have a contractor who will do the kind of job that requires you to hire another contractor to clean up after him.

I mostly agree with this. We have one bathroom. My DH and DS urinate outside on a fairly regular basis. However, they do try to make sure they are not seen. That your contractor was careless enough o be seen may be symbolic of a full bladder and lack of discretion.

Yeah, his tinkling is the least of the problem.

[JoieGirl7]

A lot of contractors who work outside won't use the client's bathroom, nor let their employees use the client's bathroom.  They don't want to be liable if somebody tracks in dirt or something in the house goes missing.  Discreetly relieving themselves outside is common.

Where I am that is not the case at all. It is considered extremely unprofessional behavior.

Had he done it along one of our town's parks or greenways which are much more heavily wooded and secluded than my yard, he could have been arrested for it.

[TootsNYC]

A lot of contractors who work outside won't use the client's bathroom, nor let their employees use the client's bathroom.  They don't want to be liable if somebody tracks in dirt or something in the house goes missing.  Discreetly relieving themselves outside is common.

Where I am that is not the case at all. It is considered extremely unprofessional behavior.

I don't know that I personally would ever be able to say that about where I live.
I don't hire enough workers, or speak with them in enough detail, to think that I have anything remotely like a random sampling of statistically significant size.

(Well, where *I* am, I can tell you that workmen don't pee in their customers' yards. But that's because, well, us customers don't *have* yards.)

[ladyknight1]

In my area, unless you allow workers to use the residence bathrooms, you have to rent a portable toilet.

[Deetee]

Sorry if you already answered this, but did you invite him to use your bathroom?

[JoieGirl7]

Sorry if you already answered this, but did you invite him to use your bathroom?

No.  And it's not something I have ever had to do and I have had plenty of contractors.

They either ask or they go use a bathroom somewhere else depending on their own policies.

And if neither of those things are an option, the contract will require a port a potty to be on site.