Three years ago I poured a 40-yard slab for a warehouse in Columbus and watched it turn into a nightmare because I skimped on the vapor barrier

Last week I finally wrapped up a lawsuit from that job after the floor delaminated due to moisture coming up through the slab, and now I won't even look at a bid without triple-checking the spec for vapor retarders, how do you guys handle owners who push back on adding that cost?

2 comments

2 Comments

simonb9220d ago

Owners always push back on vapor barriers because they don't see the point of spending money on plastic they can't see. Best way I've found is to pull up photos of delaminated floors right there in the meeting and ask them if they want to save fifteen cents a foot now or spend two hundred thousand on a lawsuit later. Lay it out as a math problem - show them the cost of the barrier versus the cost of ripping out and redoing a slab. Most of them cave when you put the numbers side by side and make it clear you won't warranty the work without it.

jordan_young20d ago

Had a buddy who skipped the barrier and ended up paying for a whole new slab six months later.