Benny Crook

Mr. Crook worked for me as a handyman in 2011 and in August of 2011, I hired him to build a one-car garage and to screen in a porch. As a handyman, he had always showed up when he said he would and completed everything he did satisfactorily. I had come to trust him. Regarding the garage: Several professionals, including a building inspector I hired to give me a written report, told me the concrete slab the garage rests on should have been partially sunken in the ground and that it might crack if I put my car in it. Almost a year passed before I dared make the attempt last week. The cement ramp is so steep that my car scraped on the underside and I backed the car out after entering only partially. Now that I know I can?t get my car in, regardless of the stability of the foundation, I am hiring someone to build a new ramp. When the garage was ?finished,? in September ?11, after I had just handed him the last half of my payment, Mr. Crook said I might want to call him and have him put gutters on the roof. I hadn?t thought of gutters, figuring the garage had been completed thoroughly, and later hired someone to install gutters and cleats to keep chunks of ice/snow from falling. He had said he would add support under the two back doors, which are 6? above the ground, to hold up metal plates that stick out over the foundation, and that wasn?t done. The electricity for the garage had been hooked up to my dishwasher in the house, and I had to hire an electrician to put in a new circuit breaker. Also, Mr. Crook had told me that in N.C., I wasn?t required to consult with the building department, but I later found out this wasn?t true--for any construction including electricity, the building has to be inspected and follow approved codes. (As a new arrival to NC, I hadn?t known this.) He was supposed to install the 2 solar lights I purchased, but never did this either. When the garage was built, the foundation of the garage slid out when the cement was poured and one side of my garage sticks out beyond the foundation. The OSB on the garage interior moved when the foundation slid and molding had to be added to cover the gaps along the ceiling. (Mr. Crook did point these things out to me and covered the cost of the moldings himself.) I paid Mr. Crook $16,200 for a garage that currently can only function as a shed. Regarding the porch: I hired an electrician make on outlet on the porch, which Mr. Crook had said he would do. The steps leading to the porch, which Mr. Crook originally built, had to be rebuilt: the treads were of different sizes; there was only 1 stringer for the 6? treads and it was cracked; posts supporting the handrails were loose. I paid Mr. Crook $2,200 for work done on the porch. Since I am not including the dimensions of the porch or details on what was done, it no doubt is impossible for you to tell whether the price was reasonable. I just spoke with Mr. Crook on the phone, hoping he would agree to cover the cost of a new ramp, but he hung up on me before I could talk to him about this. He warned me not to make this post, saying he had spoken with his attorney and he told me I would regret it. Then he hung up while I was speaking.