Payment is due immediately upon receipt of the invoice. Job completion means, the space is ready for its intended use, even if some minor tasks, or warranty items remain, and any remaining work, or defects are relatively minor.
Contractor accepts Venmo, Cash, or Zelle. We also accept credit cards on our website with a convenience fee added to cost. We will no longer accept checks - with exceptions made for existing long-standing clients.
Note: To help cover the cost of processing a credit or charge card transaction, and pursuant to section 5-2-212, Colorado Revised Statutes, a business may impose a processing surcharge in an amount not to exceed 2% of the total payment made for goods or services purchased or leased by use of a credit or charge card. The Ernest Carpenter shall not impose a processing surcharge on payments made by use of cash, a check, or a debit card or redemption of a gift card. The cost will be listed as a separate cost, and will only apply if you pay using our website.
Late fee in the amount of 5% of the total cost owed will apply to payments not received within 3 days. Contractor reserves the right to file a mechanics lien if payment is not received. There may be some small warranty items to address after completion, which is common.
Children/Pets. Children and pets must be secured and kept out of our way during the time The Ernest Carpenter is on the job site for the safety of your children, pets and us. We are using tools that can be dangerous and which can cause bodily harm, including death. Please be sure to schedule your tasks to keep your children and pets safe and out of harm's way. Please kennel your pets, or secure in a location that prevents them from leaving the premises and out of our way. Please be sure that children and pets are kept out of the space we are working. Damage done to work that is in progress, and that has to be fixed as a result of children or pets, will be charged as an additional hourly fee. If your pet harms us, or causes harm by being underfoot, we reserve the right to take any action needed including filing a claim with your home-owners insurance for damages.
Personal Belongings. All personal belongings must be removed from the space. The contractor will not take responsibility for damage to personal property that is kept in the space. We will take measures to try to ensure property is covered, but there is no guarantee. We recommend renting a PODS or a U-haul to keep your items safe, and give us a proper working area. We will not conduct work in areas that have not been cleared, and cleaned, if necessary, prior to commencement of work. If we are required to move furniture an additional fee may apply.
Garage/Driveway. During the course of construction a portion of your garage may be needed to store material / make cuts etc. Please understand that if we use the garage to make cuts, it will create sawdust, which is messy, so projects are best kept to the driveway, during times and days that are feasible.
Weather Permitting: Colorado has all four seasons, and every season has something and sometimes we need to bump your date. We never like to do that, and we always try to avoid if at all possible, but sometimes for everyone's safety, and to prevent unnecessary messes, a reschedule is necessary. We will work to get you next on the calendar, even if that means we are bumping everyone down the line. Weather events will ruin our tools, and will ruin your carpet if we have to come in and out. We don't mind using booties, but if we slip and fall and hurt ourselves then the liabilities will be on the homeowner. If we need to use your driveway for cuts, please be sure it is 100% clear of any ice and snow. During the fall and winter months, weather will determine what days we can work. We will not do outdoor work during weather events. Ice, rain, snow, lightening, etc, are all
Tools. For larger projects that extend past a week, we may store our tools at the job site for the course of the project. Please designate an area for the storage of tools during the duration of the project. The garage is usually the best location. We do not authorize the client to use our tools for their own personal use while stored on site. We will not be held responsible for injury or damage caused by unauthorized use of any tools stored on site. Please use safety precautions to prevent injury and keep children and pets away from the tool storage area and any tool that could cause injury. From time to time, our tools are stored on your property if the project is a larger project, and if our tools go missing, or are stolen, we will file a police report, and file a claim with your home owners insurance for their replacement value.
Scaffolding. If we are using scaffolding for your projects, please use safety precautions to prevent injury. Keep children and pets away. We do not authorize the client or their children to climb on the scaffolding, or otherwise use the scaffolding while on site for their own use. We will not be held responsible for injury or damage caused by unauthorized use of the scaffolding equipment.
Demo. Demolition is messy and creates a lot of invisible dust that moves about the house. We try to mitigate the mess as much as possible, but unfortunately the process is unavoidably messy. Be prepared to give your house a good dusting afterwards. We will move all the materials outside and break them down to fit into the Waste Management Bagsters, or dumpster. We can pick up the Bagsters from Lowes or Home Depot, if requested, but if the job requires a dumpster it is the homeowners responsibility to order and have delivered. Usually for small renovation jobs a Bagster is sufficient. Once filled you just call Waste Management and they will schedule a pick up. They hook the bag to a crane and lift it right into the truck.
Caution: As a handyman company, we will use products that are hazardous to health. Please be sure to supply adequate ventilation in those cases. These products include, but are not limited to, Paint, Stain, Paint Stripper, Bondo, Caulk, Glue, cleaning products, etc. Exposure to these fumes can be harmful to your health. This can include: irritation of the eyes, nose, or throat; headache; feeling dizzy or light-headed; nausea; trouble breathing. Typically, it is best to wait for the paint to dry and the fumes to subside to reenter the space, and many products will continue to degass for an extended amount of time. Enter with caution and at your own risk. It is advised to open up windows to allow the fumes to dissipate. People with breathing conditions and elderly people should avoid long exposure to fumes that result from interior painting.
Booties: While we don't mind using shoe or boot booties while on your job site, please be advised that is does increase risk of harm and can lead to workers getting hurt. If the homeowner requires the worker to wear booties, and any and all liabilities due to wearing booties will be the responsibility of the homeowner. Work boots are treaded to prevent slippage, and booties prevent that safety measure. Work boots are treaded primarily to provide traction, stability, and slip resistance on varied, hazardous surfaces. Also, please note, if we are carrying items in, and out of the house we will not be able to remove the booties at the door, so we may still track dirt, or debris into the house.
The Ernest Carpenter reserves the right to place a mechanic lien on the clients home or business, for the total cost of the bid, to include, design, labor, materials including un-returnable items, delivery charges, haul-off fees, or any other charges disclosed on the bid or on this site, and will charge the maximum allowed by law, or 24% per annum, plus the cost of any fees incurred to collect.
If the contractor does not receive final payment within 3 days of receipt of final invoice, then on the 4th day the contractor will send the owner a notice of intent to lien 10 days before recording the mechanics lien claim. The lien position will be determined based on current lien standings, but will always fall into the next lien standing. If the client has no standing liens, the mechanics lien will rise to 1st position.
§ 38-22-101. Liens in favor of whom - when filed - definition of person
(1) Every person who furnishes or supplies laborers, machinery, tools, or equipment in the prosecution of the work, and mechanics, materialmen, contractors, subcontractors, builders, and all persons of every class performing labor upon or furnishing directly to the owner or persons furnishing labor, laborers, or materials to be used in construction, alteration, improvement, addition to, or repair, either in whole or in part, of any building, mill, bridge, ditch, flume, aqueduct, reservoir, tunnel, fence, railroad, wagon road, tramway, or any other structure or improvement upon land, including adjacent curb, gutter, and sidewalk, and also architects, engineers, draftsmen, and artisans who have furnished designs, plans, plats, maps, specifications, drawings, estimates of cost, surveys, or superintendence, or who have rendered other professional or skilled service, or bestowed labor in whole or in part, describing or illustrating, or superintending such structure, or work done or to be done, or any part connected therewith, shall have a lien upon the property upon which they have furnished laborers or supplied machinery, tools, or equipment or rendered service or bestowed labor or for which they have furnished materials or mining or milling machinery or other fixtures, for the value of such laborers, machinery, tools, or equipment supplied, or services rendered or labor done or laborers or materials furnished, whether at the instance of the owner, or of any other person acting by the owner’s authority or under the owner, as agent, contractor, or otherwise for the laborers, machinery, tools, or equipment supplied, or work or labor done or services rendered or laborers or materials furnished by each, respectively, whether supplied or done or furnished or rendered at the instance of the owner of the building or other improvement, or the owner’s agent; and every contractor, architect, engineer, subcontractor, builder, agent, or other person having charge of the construction, alteration, addition to, or repair, either in whole or in part, of said building or other improvement shall be held to be the agent of the owner for the purposes of this article.
(2) In case of a contract for the work, between the reputed owner and a contractor, the lien shall extend to the entire contract price, and such contract shall operate as a lien in favor of all persons performing labor or services or furnishing laborers or materials under contract, express or implied, with said contractor, to the extent of the whole contract price; and after all such liens are satisfied, then as a lien for any balance of such contract price in favor of the contractor.
(3) All such contracts shall be in writing when the amount to be paid thereunder exceeds five hundred dollars, and shall be subscribed by the parties thereto. The contract, or a memorandum thereof, setting forth the names of all the parties to the contract, a description of the property to be affected thereby, together with a statement of the general character of the work to be done, the estimated total amount to be paid thereunder, together with the times or stages of the work for making payments, shall be filed by the owner or reputed owner, in the office of the county clerk and recorder of the county where the property, or the principal portion thereof, is situated before the work is commenced under and in accordance with the terms of the contract. In case such contract, or a memorandum thereof, is not so filed, the labor done and materials furnished by all persons shall be deemed to have been done and furnished at the personal instance of the owner, and such persons shall have a lien for the value thereof.
(4) For the purposes of this article, the value of labor done shall include, but not be limited to, the payments required under any labor contract to any trust established for the provision of any pension, profit-sharing, vacation, health and welfare, prepaid legal services, or apprentice training benefits for the use of the employees of any contractors, and the trustee of any such trust shall have a lien therefor.
(5) All claimants who establish the right to a lien or claim under any of the provisions of this article shall be entitled to receive interest on any such lien or claim at the rate provided for under the terms of any contract or agreement under which the laborers were furnished or the labor or material was supplied or, in the absence of an agreed rate, at the rate of twelve percent per annum.
(6) For purposes of this article, “person” means a natural person, firm, association, corporation, or other legal entity; except that it shall not include a labor organization as defined in section 24-34-401(6), C.R.S.