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Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a dad who’s a contractor? I think so. I have had an impossible time finding a contractor I can trust to get the job done and done right, so having a family member who could handle the work would be like a dream come true.

If your dad was a contractor but you thought he was too busy to help you with a construction project, would you wait until he had free time to take on the project, or would you hire someone else?

In this story, one homeowner is in this situation, and she decides to hire someone else. She didn’t think much of it until she sent her dad a picture of the construction project to share her excitement.

Instead of being happy for her, he expressed concern. Now, she’s in a tough spot wondering if she should follow through with the construction project or fire the contractor and hire her dad.

Let’s read all about it.

WIBTA If I backed out of a job with a contractor part way through?

My father is a general contractor and usually I go to him for advice on my home improvement projects.

The current project is widening my narrow driveway, and I had mentioned this to him, but not specified that I was looking to get it done in the next week or so.

OP chose a contractor.

I thought he was busy with work, and so I called around to get quotes from concrete pourers. I went with one that was $3,300 for ~470sqft and who asked if I wanted rebar.

I said I didn’t think that was necessary, as I wasn’t going to be parking heavy vehicles on it.

They came by yesterday and spent about 2.5 hours grading the area and setting up a wood frame, and I gave them a deposit of $300.

Today I sent my parents a picture of the front of the house saying how excited I was to get the driveway poured tomorrow.

Dad was concerned.

My dad immediately calls me and asks why the frame is so shallow, why isn’t there any base material, and why there isn’t any wire framing set up.

I told him I didn’t know all those things were needed.

And he said that without them the driveway would likely crack within a few years. He said that for the price I’m paying he would have come out to do it properly and questioned if the contractor was actually licenced (as it wasn’t on the paperwork I was given).

OP isn’t sure what to do.

I asked these things of the contractor, who insisted that they install driveways like this all the time, and that they were licenced.

I’m stuck here uncertain if I want to proceed, and feeling like an idiot for getting into something that I didn’t fully understand.

A part of me wants to cancel and pay my father to do the work, but I feel like I would be a jerk for having the contractor start the job and then not following through.

Yikes! I wouldn’t want to pay for shoddy work, but is the dad overreacting? Let’s see what Reddit has to say.

This person thinks it’s okay to only pay for the work that’s already been complete.

Another person points out where OP went wrong.

Another person thinks it’s okay to cancel the job.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a mom who wants her daughter to help pay for her own cell phone, but her daughter says she can’t force her to get a job.

This person thinks she still needs to pay.

I wonder if she could talk to the contractor and tell him she talked to her dad and realized that she actually does want rebar after all. Perhaps the contractor could keep the job but do the work so that it’ll last longer.

She probably should’ve waited for her dad’s help. Being impatient and not knowing what you’re talking about can be a huge waste of time and money.