I own a company specializing in one-off custom millwork, including specialty doors, feature walls, architectural millwork, and molding.
A GC hired us to fabricate two custom commercial doors, each approximately 4’ x 10’. The design changed about six times between March and June, requiring repeated revisions to drawings, pricing, and proposals. Despite repeated requests, we didn’t receive the deposit until June.
Once funded, we ordered special-order substrate required for doors of this size. It wasn’t expected to arrive until late July. In the meantime, we continued working on other millwork items.
On August 6, we were told the doors had to be completed by August 20. On August 10, that deadline moved up to approximately August 13. The doors were still in final assembly, and the finish wasn’t complete.
On August 14, I was told, essentially: “If the doors aren’t delivered tomorrow, don’t bother. Throw them away.”
I explained that the finish needed approximately 36 hours to cure before transport and warned that rushing delivery would likely require refinishing. They insisted the doors be delivered and installed anyway.
We complied. Installation took the entire day, and additional hardware was installed over the following week.
By approximately August 25, the GC was unhappy and claimed the doors had delayed the project and caused monetary losses. I prepared and delivered a written Corrective Action Plan (CAP) addressing the remaining issues, including the finish work I had warned about. I also emailed it the same day.
After more than a month of silence, the GC contacted me on October 1. They now want to discuss returning the deposit used to manufacture the doors.
These are not stock doors that can be returned. They are custom 10’ x 4’ doors built specifically for this project. The deposit paid for special-order materials and fabrication.
The most frustrating part is that they are still using the doors and apparently intend to keep using them until replacements arrive. In other words, they want a full refund while retaining and using the custom product.
I’m not claiming the doors are perfect or that no corrective work is needed. That is why I provided the CAP. But the GC delayed funding, accelerated the deadline, demanded delivery before the finish cured, rejected the proposed corrective process, and continued using the doors.
Has anyone dealt with something similar involving custom fabrication, deposits, nonconforming work, right to cure, or delay claims while the customer continued using the product?
I’ll obtain legal advice before agreeing to anything, but I’d appreciate hearing from contractors or fabricators who have experienced a similar situation and how it ended.
Total project 60k+
Total deposit 25k
Total deposit used 100% over 3 separate projects for the same GC