[Hobie]

Some guys prefer to take the smaller jobs and bang them out en masse. Lower level of quality expectation.

[Hobie]

The point of a lawyer letter is a shot across the bow by a big gun. Boards quickly realize they don’t have the funds or if they actually speak to their council and find out they don’t have specific enough rules, policies in place to defend.

[Hobie]

Kiki: reading your op, unless they have published rules stating House Plan X must have Color scheme a, b or c they cannot make the your choice of an approved color.

You have picked from an approved published list.

Paint and send a letter stating there is no rule or policy that you have violated and will be painting per your original ARC submission and expect written approval in 10 days. Any further discussion by the ARC will be interpreted as harassment.

Done.

[Hobie]

3D: A lot depends on the history of enforcement and how specific the ARC rules are written. For example, in RSF, the Art Jury ( same as an ARC ) has language to not have ‘linear’ rows of plantings. Most tracts do not go into this level of detail and if they don’t have a written rule or history, then challenges usually tips in favor of the owner.

It is conceivable that in this case the ARC is trying to prevent same color schemes in adjacent homes.

All said, the lawyer letter is the most effective way of responding to any HOA complaints.

[Hobie]

JC: I get your character and personality and I’m sure you are very sweet. But… you are in a tight spot right now.

IMO you have a case against your neighbor. If you win, you will recover atty fees in addition to the repair costs.

Please speak with a real estate atty who has litigation experience ( not transactional- ie drafting contracts ) This consult is free. He/she will advise if it is worth pursuing at this point or you simply have to bit the bullet and pay for repair yourself.

You have one shot at collecting against neighbor — when the house sells. You must prevent the sale by filing a lawsuit in Superior Court and gain an injunction to cloud title and stop the sale.

Guy is very motivated to sell as he will be shipping out soon so you have to act quickly.

Please, skip the mediator. They are simply running out the clock until the guy leaves. At that point, you are SOL.

Even if you ‘win’ in small claims or mediate some deal, trying to collect from someone that is moving away will be a literal nightmare for you and probably will result in nothing collected.

Again, I get you are a nice person but signage and pinging a realtor won’t be effective. Call atty tomorrow and get advice and let them do the heavy lifting. It is time to stand up and be strong. You can do this!

[Hobie]

JC: Seriously, you must hire a lawyer and file an action immediately. This will cloud the title and force disclosure. Small claims will not.

[Hobie]

Another tactic is to get them to add your color scheme to the master list. Make friends with the crazy lady ‘color specialist’ or whatever and find out the process they used to determine the approved colors.

Maybe a simple letter from an architect supporting your position and including something like “it will enhance property values” would do the trick.

Options…

[Hobie]

Piggybacking on Coronita comments, use the words ‘ arbitrary, selective enforcement ‘ in your letter.

” While other homes currently are painted similarly, your decision appears to be arbitrary. By denying my color scheme it appears the ARC committee is selective in its enforcement of it’s policies.”

Take a look at your HOA budget, you know the thing that gets mailed every year and gets tossed the same day. Look for their legal budget line item. Usually, the budget number is vastly under estimated for any kind of legal involvement.

So as C mentioned, your legal threat carries a lot of weight.

Another tactic is to paint your colors and stall them off when they try to enforce. 1. getting bids 2. new painter quit 3. painted new wrong color 4. covid quarantine.

Get the idea!! Of course, this tactic you will have to comply to their colors however.

[Hobie]

pf: regarding membrane- the most important thing is the perfectly flat floor. It cost $$ for this prep but once it is done, you will never have to do it again. You can easily check the installers work by laying a 8′ straightedge on the floor and look for light under it. You should not see any light or low spots. Have your installer do it for you. He will be proud of his work and that you care. This is the single biggest thing with respect to E floors creaking.

Weather you use cork, foam, rubber is kinda a coin toss for your underlayment. Your budget will determine. Some E floors come with preattached 1/16″ high density foam to the planks. Others prefer using 1/8 rubber.

Vapor barriers under E floors are simple. Just heavy plastic with taped seams. Be sure this is flat too. No big wrinkles. No sand or rock poking through the plastic.

Btw, it is good practice to perform a moisture test on your concrete slab before and work is started. Better to find out if you have excess moisture now than after a new floor goes in.

[Hobie]

Ditto here. Before Covid and the riots, I rented a Uhaul from Seattle to San Diego for $89! Total, no mileage fees! Guy told me they needed trucks in SD as ‘everyone’ is going to Texas.

The rental rates mapped on a map would be an interesting ongoing database.

[Hobie]

I suspect your tile was not installed on a cement board base. Glue down hardwood upstairs is very common and will actually strengthen the floor by bonding the subfloor to ply to wood floor.

Engineered is very susceptible to water damage. The water will soak in at the edges and warp upward. The finish, however seems to hold up well to the sun.

[Hobie]

Go with engineered due to your Voc concerns.

True hardwood is much more expensive than engineered. It needs a proper vapor barrier and typically a plywood base to nail floor and glue into. Hardwood has a solid ‘feel’ and is quieter. Due to the added subfloor and floor thickness, the doors have to be bottom trimmed, dishwasher may not fit, etc. They used to do no glue tongue and groove floors in very old houses– remember the squeaky floors?.. Depending on the wood, it can be pre-finished or sanded and finished in place. You will not like the dust and voc from wood staining finishing in place.

Engineered has many more design options and is fast to install and fast to replace. Solid option, pun intended.

Installer is the key to any floor. And, you must have a excellent concrete prep before installing. The concrete must be ground and leveled perfectly. If you don’t, the floating floor will have dips and ‘cracking sounds’ when you walk on it.

Absolutely- walk on a floor installed by your prospective installer before hiring.

[Hobie]

JC: I suggest dropping the mediator and continue w small claims. Get large (8×10) pics showing contractor damaging pipe and practice your persuasive speech laying out your claim in ~5min. Bring in the higher estimate of a repair.

Draw a easy to read timeline of events for judge to see. Dates,times phone calls, letters: who said what and when.

Something to keep in mind is small claims courts tend to like to see actual cost receipts. ie. you pay for the fix and are suing for reimbursement.

I would wait until you have a judgement, and he does not pay, before contacting his CO.

You also need to prove $600 repair did nor fix problem. ie Statement from plumber or better yet, bring him into court.

[Hobie]

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[Hobie]

@OCR: Would it be fair to say that the CDC reported Covid death totals are including the subacute and even chronic factors?

[Author]

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