Railing scam?
Please help! I think my $45k job is a scam!
I had a contract for aluminum cable railings to match the windows on my modern home as part of a deck project. When the railings show up- they look like cheap structural steel. I immediately contact the contractor and tell him I don’t like the look of the material and I don‘t want it installed. He comes by and tells me that the aluminum I wanted wont work because it needs to be painted, which I said I didn‘t want, so he switched it to stainless steel. I point out that the metal doesn’t look stainless- it’s dull, with black mill lines etc. A few hours later he shows me some samples of what he said was polished metal- I approved one. But after he left I saw cans of spray paint lying around. They install all the railings without polish…then proceed to spray paint them. I contacted the contractor immediately and say I never approved painting the railings, and that stainless steel shouldn‘t be spray painted. He tries to blame me saying that I was the one who didn’t like the raw metal look and that I approved a painted sample. Ultimately he removes them all, takes them to a shop to be sandblasted, brushed, and clear powder coated. They return with abrasions and visible rust at the weld points. Is he lying about the material? The look is still dull and dark compared to most stainless. It is magnetic. What should I do?
- Also, I asked for mill certificates and he said he didn’t have them but stated in writing that it is 304 steel. My original contract stated aluminum and he changed the material without consulting me and without a work change order- however after that point I requested the handrail be upgraded to metal from wood, so there is a work change order that says “stainless steel railing system”