WANDERING BEAR MASONRY

He acted and talked as though he knew almost every trade. He disappeared with my money leaving my yard a mess! I have found out he has an extensive criminal history and is considerd a very dangerous individual.

On June 15th I signed a contract with him and paid him $1800 to purchase lumber. The contract called for 1/2 down by July 1st. I told him that was not possible and he agreed that I could pay him when I got the money. On July 4th I paid him $800 and on August 17th I paid him another $1710, this amounts to $11510. The only material that was purchased by him was $702 worth of OSB sheeting. He borrowed my trailer to pick up the sheeting and it sat on the trailer for 6 weeks. I was told to go pick up lumber myself on another trailer, and I was not able to do that b/c the lumber was too large for my trailer. I left a message with him about this. On August 4th he came with an assistant and drilled 12 holes and filled them with concrete. The total of all materials used was $746.80. He has not returned since August 4th. We had discussed the contract which clearly states that it would be refinished with a wood interior. He insists that it would be drywall on the ceiling, even though there is not mention of drywall in the contract. I received a call from him telling me he would contact me on Monday August 24th I received a message from him. He stated that he was not interested in finishing the cabin and that I was not to call him, or harass him and to call an attorney and let a judge decide. It is not harassment to call my contractor that has over $10,000 of my money and nothing to show for it. I contacted the department of Labor and Industry and on Monday August the 25th they were supposed to go to his job site and check out his employees and such. After I had another discussion with the Department of Labor he called me and told me he would have me and my ranch. He seems to prey on women when there was no man involved.

From my viewpoint, the only real plus was the ability of the builder to find bargains and to come up with creative ideas. He kept asking for money up front, including 70% down when the contract was written. He had no insurance (it had lapsed), did not have workmen's comp and had a license only as a mason. Instead of the max of one month for the first part of the project, it took approximately three. There were days when no one showed up. When asked about that, his response was that we were paying him for the job, not by the hour. He would come when he wanted. Co-workers did not seem to have much experience. He did not bring a port-a-john, and we expected they would all use our bathroom. That didn't happen very often, and consequently our lawn smelled horrendous when they left.