Get matched with top garage pros in Traver, CA

"Signed the contract on April 4, 2021 and he handed me the plans on June 3, 2022. It took him 14 months to complete and that is not with full county approval to build. I had already paid him $31,000 and in May 2022 he stated that I would need another $20,000 to get county approval. I told him I was done and just wanted what he had. Original contract stated 3 weeks and I would have 2 plans to choose from and they could be modified. After 3 weeks he stated he needed the deed. I got it for him on the 4th day. He stated he had not started anything yet, so I told him I would like the house to be a little bigger. Add 500sq ft and include an office in 200 - 250 sq ft office in that with the rest being spread out. He presented me with a plan that was 3000+ sq ft. That was way too big and completely off from what I had asked for. I emailed him the exact instructions, drew up exactly what I wanted in the floor plan. He finally got me a workable floor plan on June 11th. Three weeks had turned into 4 months. The rest of the plans were supposed to take a couple months. He would never contact me; I always had to reach out to him to find out where we were at. There were months he never worked on it. I told him I wasn't happy with all the extra time it was taking. I told him I felt my project wasn't important to him. I even offered for him to give the money back if he did not have time for my project and I would go elsewhere. He stated he felt he was getting it done when he could and he would not refund the money. He would tell me that he would call and then didn't for several weeks. He would finally call and tell me he had to finish a couple things. He stated he would call and set up an appointment, but I wouldn't hear from him for several weeks until I reached out. The only times he would contact me would be to tell me I needed to give him money for things that he never mentioned in the beginning, $3500 for a beam plan, $1000 for Sprinkler plans, etc. I mentioned all this to him, he stated it was something I had to pay for and wasn't included in the bill for him. I stated I understood that, but why didn't he ever mention it in the beginning. He said the contract states it wouldn't cover fees and certain other things, but all I knew about was permits. He never informed me of all the extra expenses. He finally set up the outside of the house. I was not given any options of how I wanted it. Windows, doors, roofing all set and unable to change anything. I was not even given 2 different options of what I might like. It was just done. After everything, he still did not submit the plans to the County for approval until at least December, 8 months after we started when this part was supposed to only take 3 months. When he told me that I was going to have to come up with another $20,000 for plans for the Water Well and Septic Tank that are already on the property, I was done. That is when I told him I was not going to build the house here and I just wanted the plans. He finally gave me the plans, but I do not even know if they are complete. He handed me everything without any folders, tubes, nothing. $31,000 to him, $8,000 for extra expenses, $1,700 for permits and he could not even put the documents in containers to keep them from getting ruined. The edges of the plans were already messed up from the rubber bands. He now wants the final $2,800 from the estimate. No, sorry it took me so long. No, let me give you a discount of a few dollars. Just pay up. The original idea was to have them design it, and have his construction company build it, but that is definitely not happening. The topping of all this was that he knew how important getting this house done was. I lost my house in the Creek Fire (California Wild Fire). It was a devastating loss and left my son and I having to live with family. He had bigger projects and it was very apparent my house was not important enough for him to finish timely. I will never work with this company again, and I do not recommend them to anyone else."

"Matthew was helpful and responsive. When there was a minor issue that needed to be fixed, he stood by his work and came out to make the adjustment. Would hire again and recommend highly!"