Facts

Plaintiff J. Wilson contracted with defendants architect Richard Landry and his firm, Landry Design Group Inc., to design a single-family resident for construction in Mammoth Lakes. Wilson hired defendants Gerald Laframboise and his company, Laframboise Construction, as the alleged general contractor and framer, along with other subcontractors. The construction occurred between 2004 and 2007.

Wilson filed suit against Landry, Landry Design, Laframboise, Laframboise Construction, Scott Voss Enterprises, the exterior stone installer, KNA Engineering Inc., the engineer, County Class Inc., the window and sliding door installer, RB Welding, the steel fabricator, Mike Kenney Roofing Inc., the roofer, and Malibu Masonry, the exterior stone supplier, for various alleged design and construction deficiencies.

KNA Engineering and RB Welding were dismissed from the case. The remaining defendants filed cross-complaints for contribution and indemnity.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Wilson contended that upon completion, the house had various design and construction deficiencies. This included roof, window, sliding doors, wood siding, exterior stone, siding, and framing problems. Specifically, she contended that the roof failed to shed snow and was not adequately flashed. She further alleged that the interior beams were installed as exteriors, and replacement of the beams was impossible. She claimed that the framing and wood siding were not complete and the sliding glass doors leaked. Finally, she contended that the exterior stone installations failed and needed to be replaced. She argued that the the junctions between these materials resulted in leaks as well.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Landry claimed that the architectural work was good and met all standards of care. Laframboise claimed that he was not the general contractor because plaintiff subcontracted directly with other subcontractors. Voss Enterprises and Kenney Roofing argued their work was satisfactory. Malibu Stone contended that it supplied the requested stone. Country Glass contended that that it was not responsible for any leaking because it was the contractor's responsibility.

Damages

For damages, the plaintiff sought repair costs and loss of funds already used to pay for repairs.

Result

In June 2009, all the defendants settled, except Voss enterprises: Landry settled for $75,000, Laframboise for $235,000, Count Glass for $28,000, Kenney Roofing for $32,500, and Malibu Masonry for $5,000. On Jan. 19, 2010, Voss Enterprises settled for $224,999.

Other Information

Both settlements occurred via mediations conducted by Robert Mann, Esq./AMCC in Los Angeles.