Hidden damages

Make sure you have language in your estimates regarding hidden damages.  Sometimes you open up a wall and find mold, or termite damages.  You need to stop work immediately. You should provide the customer with a new estimate to repair the unseen damages. Now, if it’s mold, you really need to get the customer to hire a company that deals with mold remediation.  Once that is resolved and the customer is given a certificate of completion, you can resume your work. 

You will come across the customer that will say, just cover it up.  I am selling the house.  Don’t do that.  It will come back to haunt you.  This is your reputation.  Explain to the customer that you can’t do that.  If they don’t want to pay to fix it correctly, they can just pay you for the time you have incurred thus far and call it a day. 

Hidden damages need to be managed. You need to create an addendum to the original work order and have this addendum signed along with the additional costs before making any additional repairs.  You need to protect yourself.  This is very important when it comes to setting expectations with the customer. You may even need to collect the extra fees up front before proceeding with the new repairs.