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Hired a deck builder off Kijiji for $3,000 and half the boards were already warping after one Edmonton winter.
Turns out he used untreated spruce instead of pressure treated lumber and now I'm stuck figuring out if I can take him to small claims court, has anyone else dealt with a contractor ghosting after shoddy work?
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jade_hernandez1mo ago
Going for the cheapest option upfront" is exactly what gets people, man. @martin.jamie you hit it on the head. I had a buddy who went with the lowest bid for his fence and the guy used untreated pine too, and by the second summer it was basically mulch. The worst part is these Kijiji guys know you're not gonna chase them for $3000 through small claims, so they just ghost and set up a new ad. If you do take him to court, make sure you get a written estimate from a real contractor showing what it'd cost to fix it properly, plus those photos with a newspaper or date stamp so he can't say the damage happened after.
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martin.jamie1mo ago
Isn't it wild how people will cut corners on the one thing that actually costs more to fix later, like saving $500 on lumber but ending up with a whole new deck a year later? I've seen this pattern everywhere from decks to car repairs, where folks go for the cheapest option upfront and then get burned when the work falls apart because nobody checks the material specs. Small claims court is worth a shot if you have the contract and photos, just make sure you document everything before the boards get worse.
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