Nail salon sues contractors over allegedly defective remodel work

Two Chicago contractors are being sued by a nail salon that claims they performed poor work during a remodel project.

Generation Nails-JDS Inc. filed suit July 8 in Cook County Circuit Court against Nghi Le, doing business as Nghi Le's Heating & Air Conditioning, and Phong Tran, alleging breach of contract.

According to the complaint, Generation Nails hired the defendants in April 2013 to convert a former restaurant at 9615 S. Western Ave. into a nail salon. The plaintiff claims it paid the defendants $52,000 for the project, which was completed during the summer before the salon opened in August.

Following the work's completion, the suit states several defects were discovered, including poor quality wood doors and frames, a different ceiling than agreed upon, lighting that wasn't replaced, defectively installed outlets, incorrectly loaded circuits, improperly labeled electrical panels,  doors without lever handles and incorrectly installed tile flooring, among others.

Generation Nails claims none of these defects were corrected by the defendants and in January, a pipe burst as a result of the defendants' failure to replace insulation and caused extensive damage to the salon.

Damages from the burst pipe, as well as the other defects, are in excess of $75,000, but neither the defendants nor their insurance companies have paid out the claim so far, the suit alleges.

The plaintiff is seeking damages, lost revenue, indemnification and any other relief the court deems just. It is represented by Chicago attorneys Daniel S. Kaplan and John E. Murray of Rachlis, Duff, Adler, Peel & Kaplan LLC.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L007175.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it represents only one side of the story.