pergola expert witness post by: Jeremy K.
If you love the sight of bushes and vines climbing and crawling on a certain part of your house, you might want to build a pergola.
A pergola is a structure that looks like woven wood and raised by sturdy columns. It used to be a framework for climbing plants. But over the years, pergolas have been used as a stylish shed, a good parking spot, and a barbecue area.
You can build a pergola yourself if you have the skills and time, or you can hire a contractor to do it for you. But to make sure that you won’t have future problems with your pergola, choose who to hire. Choose a licensed contractor and one that has a good reputation.
You Know Your Contractor Did a Bad Job When…
But no matter how reliable a contractor is, mistakes happen, so there are rare times when you won’t see the expected outcome. And in worse cases, the resulting structure can cause danger to you and your family. So if you recently hired a contractor to have a pergola installed in your backyard, it’s always wise to know the signs of a lousy job.
What are these signs?
1. Materials
The materials of your pergola should be in compliance with the state’s quality and safety standards. You’ll know that your pergola is made from sub-standard materials if you see an obvious difference in the texture, appearance, and sturdiness between your pergola and a professionally done pergola.
To make sure that you won’t have a pergola made of sub-standard materials, sit down with your contractor and let him explain what kind of materials they’ll use in the construction.
2. Poor Connections
A pergola is built to be sturdy. To make sure that your pergola is properly constructed, tap or shove one of the columns or parts to check for wobbliness. If there are loosely or poorly connected parts, your pergola is done by an inexperienced contractor.
3. Missing Parts
Every part of the pergola needs to be in place and intact to support all the other parts. If one of these parts is missing, the whole unit will diminish in strength and sturdiness.
What to Do When You Think You’ve Been Rigged
If you think that your contractor did a bad job in setting up or constructing your pergola, it’s time to take action. While a legal action can surely provide an ultimate solution to the issue, it’s best to take the initiative to settle everything off court. If the contractor won’t budge, get an expert witness review, then file a complaint to see if you can get compensation.
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