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"First consulted CT Stavely, Inc/Chris Stavely to construct a 2100 sq ft home on my lot summer of 2017. We agreed upon adding a basement and changing from hardie-plank siding to vinyl, for an estimated cost of 286,000. He estimated the basement/foundation would be 43,800, which included 3 concrete patios/porches, garage floor and basement. While going through invoices, I saw that he was going over budget for the foundation and it still was incomplete. I contacted the builder and he said he wasn't aware he was overbudget, but would review his invoices. After reviewing invoices, he gave me several reasons, including that the building supply company omitted items from his estimate, and that the excavation crew "over-dug" the basement and made it unlevel, requiring "double" gravel and concrete for the basement floor. By this point, I'd already paid him approx. $66,000, which was more than $20,000 over the estimate for the basement/foundation part of the home. The foundation was substantially incomplete, with no gravel in the patios for backfill and the patios and garage floors were not poured with concrete. We had numerous discussions about it. He said much of the remainder of the estimate he gave me was on the "high side" so he could absorb some cost in materials to offset the overage for the foundation. I pressed him to give me a final number for the house. At our last meeting in February 2018, he said the house would cost $290,000 to finish,which was more than he quoted for everything in the beginning, even though I'd already paid him $66,000. Also, the original agreement was for 10ft basement wall height. He reduced it to 9ft and had poured the concrete slab for the basement floor before telling me of the change. His reasoning was that the excavation crew was afraid they'd hit rock if they dug 1 foot deeper, though he said they did not hit rock. I accepted this and told him it should save me money anyway, which he agreed. When I told him we could not continue with construction since he was so far overbudget (and had not even completed the foundation), he gave me over $20,000 in invoices to he wanted paid. Now, I have to spend several more thousand dollars just to complete the foundation work, including several hundred tons of gravel, concrete for patios and excavation work."