Falkner v. Stubbs

119 So. 3d 1043, 2012 WL 695448, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 126
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 6, 2012
DocketNo. 2010-CA-01664-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 119 So. 3d 1043 (Falkner v. Stubbs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Falkner v. Stubbs, 119 So. 3d 1043, 2012 WL 695448, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 126 (Mich. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

ISHEE, J„

for the Court:

¶ 1. In 2000, William Martin (Martin) Falkner and his wife, Valerie J. Falkner (the Falkners), hired John E. Stubbs to build a basement, prior to the Falkners building a log cabin above the basement on their land in Chickasaw County, Mississippi. Stubbs and the Falkners entered into an oral contract for Stubbs to complete the basement for a set fee of approximately $25,000. However, after completing the basement, the Falkners requested that Stubbs continue to work on the log cabin. Stubbs complied and stated the work would cost between $150,000 and $200,000. After the basement was completed and work on building the log cabin had begun, the Falkners instructed Stubbs and his workers to permanently vacate the premises. Stubbs complied and requested payment from the Falkners for the remainder of his expenses, including labor and materials. The Falkners refused, and Stubbs eventually filed a contractor’s lien in Chickasaw County Chancery Court on the Falkners’ property. He later filed the instant action in Chickasaw County Circuit Court seeking reimbursement for his losses. After a bench trial on the matter, the circuit judge ruled Stubbs was entitled to $60,723.53 from the Falkners. Aggrieved, the Falkners appeal. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. Stubbs, a certified public accountant (CPA) by trade, developed an interest in construction at a very young age. He was raised on a farm outside of Ripley, Mississippi, where he helped his father build barns and various other farm buildings through tutelage from Stubbs’s father and grandfather who was a carpenter. When Stubbs became a teenager, he also worked for his uncle who was a general contractor.

¶ 3. Despite Stubbs’s exposure to the field of construction at a very young age, he became a CPA in his adult years but maintained construction work as a hobby. Before retiring from the practice of accounting in 1996, Stubbs discovered Polys-teel, a stay-in-place insulated concrete form which allowed structures to be built of solid concrete reinforced with rebar. In [1045]*1045February 1997, Stubbs attended a Polys-teel training program and later bought his own Polysteel franchise to become an official distributor.

¶ 4. One of his first independent projects with Polysteel was the August 1997 construction of his family’s home — a structure measuring almost 10,000 square feet under the roof, including porches, garages, and living spaces. At the time of at trial, Stubbs and his family had lived in the house for approximately twelve years without any problems. Between the time of his home’s construction and his introduction to the Falkners, Stubbs built many other structures using the Polysteel, including several basements. Stubbs testified his fee schedule included $25 an hour for labor plus the cost of materials.

¶ 5. In 2000, Stubbs was training Mike Bruce in Saltillo, Mississippi, in the use of Polysteel for Bruce’s basement. Bruce and Martin worked together, and Bruce introduced Martin to Stubbs during the construction of Bruce’s basement. Martin discussed with Stubbs and Bruce his plans to build a log cabin for himself and his wife using logs he had collected over the years as a forester. Martin indicated he would like to build a basement under the home and inquired with Stubbs as to the use of Polysteel in the basement. Martin and Stubbs agreed to meet again once Martin finalized the log cabin house plans.

¶ 6. Sometime later, Martin called Stubbs and met him at Stubbs’s office in Ripley, Mississippi. The plans Martin showed Stubbs did not include a basement. However, after reviewing the plans, Stubbs determined a basement could be put in place using Polysteel. After explaining how Polysteel worked, Martin also became interested in using Polysteel in the construction of one partition wall inside the home. Stubbs studied the plans in detail and explained to Martin that log cabins are typically more expensive to build than standard homes. According to Stubbs, he quoted Martin a price between $45 and $75 per square foot based on construction industry standards in the area. Stubbs also claims he advised the Falkners the price would also vary depending on the finishes and fixtures the Falkners chose. Since Martin planned on completing some of the work on the home himself, Stubbs told Martin the approximately^, 000-square-feet home would cost anywhere between $150,000 and $200,000, including the basement. Martin, however, asserts Stubbs quoted him $100,000 for completion of the entire home.

¶ 7. With regard to the basement alone, Stubbs estimated Martin’s cost around $25,000. Stubbs agreed to build the basement for no more than $25,000. Although specifics as to the price and billing were not discussed in detail, Martin hired Stubbs to construct the basement out of Polysteel. Stubbs’s work included construction of the basement floor, perimeter walls, and one interior wall using Polys-teel. Excavation, electrical wiring, and plumbing were to be handled by Martin. Work on the basement began in May 2000.

¶ 8. Stubbs received an up-front payment of $7,000 for costs associated with ordering Polysteel. Thereafter, Stubbs periodically submitted “request draws” from Martin and kept records of his and his two workers’ daily times as well as all invoices. Stubbs’s fee was $25 an hour plus travel costs.

¶ 9. After the basement space had been excavated from the Falkners’ land but pri- or to the pouring of the concrete floor, plumbing had to be completed. Although Martin originally stated his father was a plumber and would handle the basement plumbing, the plumbing was not installed in time to pour the concrete floor. As such, Stubbs installed the basement’s floor [1046]*1046drain and completed plumbing for the basement’s bathroom. He also installed the piping for the basement’s water line.

¶ 10. Other changes to the initial agreement between Martin and Stubbs began to arise. For example, Martin increased the height of the basement, necessitating the purchase and installation of more Polysteel and waterproofing materials. Martin also decided to insert another Polysteel wall on the inside of the basement by the garage, to insulate the wall, and to install french doors on the wall. Martin later requested a wall be removed from the inside of the basement which required the insertion of a steel beam to support the floor above the basement. Martin also asked Stubbs to install the main floor of the home above the basement. These changes along with others made by Martin cost Stubbs extra time and money not initially accounted for in the $25,000 quote.

¶ 11. Work on the basement was completed approximately six weeks after the project began, at which point Stubbs had not been paid the full amount of $25,000. However, Martin asked Stubbs if he would continue assisting him in the completion of the home at the cost of Stubbs’s actual time and material expenses. Throughout the process of building the home, Martin continued to insist he would hire or enlist other workers to finish the home if Stubbs would continue work on it while he did not have other ongoing Polysteel projects. Stubbs agreed to continue helping Martin for an undetermined amount of time for the cost of Stubbs’s time and materials.

¶ 12.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
119 So. 3d 1043, 2012 WL 695448, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/falkner-v-stubbs-missctapp-2012.