Question

Bob's brother , Steve, planned to visit over Labor Day weekend , on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday . Together they planned to build a deck in Bob's backyard . Bob ordered the lumber , concrete , nails, and other supplies to be delivered on Friday . He also arranged to rent a saw for the weekend (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) at a cost of $20 per day. When he went to pick up the saw, the store had already rented it. He drove all over town trying to borrow another saw, using up a $40 tank of gas, but could only get one for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, at a cost of $50 per day. Because they couldn't work on Saturday without a saw, Bob had to hire Mac at a cost of $80 to work for him on Tuesday, and, of course, Bob had to take off from work on Tuesday, losing $ 160.00 in wages. Calculate the damages to which Bob is entitled . How much is he entitled to (give a specific dollar amount)? Why? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Bob is entitled to $230 in damages.

To arrive at this answer, we can add up all the costs that Bob incurred due to the saw rental issue and hiring Mac.

First, Bob had arranged to rent a saw for three days at a cost of $20 per day, so the total cost was supposed to be $60. However, since the store had already rented it out, Bob had to drive around and spend $40 on gas, which brings the total cost up to $100. Then, he had to rent a saw for three days (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday) at a cost of $50 per day, which comes to a total of $150.

In addition to the saw issue, Bob had to hire Mac to work for him on Tuesday, at a cost of $80. Bob also lost a day of wages when he took off from work on Tuesday, which was worth $160.

Therefore, the total damages that Bob is entitled to are $100 (for the wasted saw rental and gas) + $150 (for the new saw rental) + $80 (for hiring Mac) + $160 (for lost wages) = $490. However, since Steve was planning to help Bob build the deck, and Bob hired Mac to take his place, Steve should be responsible for half of the damages. So Bob is entitled to half of $490, which is $245.

In summary, Bob is entitled to $230 ($245 - $15 for the gas he would have used if the saw was available as planned) because he incurred additional costs due to the saw rental issue and had to hire someone else to help him build the deck.