RTS Construction, Inc.

This contractor is extremely unethical. I paid him for a kitchen remodel and an addition. He was unethical with change orders and charged for things we had discussed and were in the drawings. He put a wall in the wrong place in the kitchen which I told him several times he was putting in the wrong place but he wouldn't listen and did it anyway. Then when my island wouldn't fit he made me pay to move the wall and wouldn't continue with the work until I paid him. He installed a kitchen floor wrong - 1,000 sq ft , which needs to be replaced, he installed the wrong size window in the addition. It was supposed to be matching and it is a lot smaller and is not level with the other window which are both on the front of the house. He changed a ridiculous change order for tiling a bathroom and then the tile job was so terrible the building inspector told me it looked like I tried to tile myself. I have to have all of the tile ripped out and redone. I paid him 95% of the contract and would not pay him the remaining 5% - for work that wasn't complete as well as the tile - until he agreed to fix the window and the tile. The window was already paid for. He refused to agree to fix anything until I paid the rest of the money - again for the remainder of the bathroom which wasn't even completed yet. I kicked him off the job and now have to pay a new contractor to redo the new bathroom and to replace the window. I will also have to pay to replace the kitchen floor. Stay away from this contractor.

We meet with Russ from RTS Construction of Altamont. He provided an estimate for the job and we hired him. Basically he did not honor his estimate and stated that estimates are not relevant. We received half of the work for the estimate provided. Also we were charged with daily hours were the crew did not work and even had text messages from Russ that they were not showing up those days. We were threatened with lawsuits if Russ was not paid. Over the past 40 years we have built several homes and worked with many contractors. Never have we dealt with any person like Russ Stouffer. He is not an honest person and not willing to even talk to you because he knows it is wrong and dishonest. What a way to make money!

His estimate was way beyond inappropriate for a kitchen remodel in this area and for the sqft of the kitchen for a gut job . I got 10 bids in the area , and none of them even came close to his quote. He was recommended by someone I know. So I was surprised when he tried to justify the cost. It seems he threw a number out there to see if I would bite. Quoted 40,000 for labor and materials , this did not inlude the cost of cabinets and countertops. That would have made this project , with cabinets/countertops approximately half the cost I paid for the house , it’s a small home. When I threw a number about it costing at most 10to 15 k less with my estimate for scope of work, he agreed my estimate was accurate but I had asked him to do work in the dining space also ( that was part of the kitchen space ) which was the project... opening a non low bearing wall to expand the kitchen . I did not get a good feeling about him when he did his estimate saying , “oh I don’t know what will happen once this wall is opened , could be lots of problems to deal with...”leaving me to think he would probably add more costs later. , or over inflate his estimate but not take away costs. His bid was not broken down with labor , or costs of materials. I also found it troubling he didn’t measure or ask how many cabinets I needed installed to arrive at that estimate.

Contractor got us by offering a 5 or 10 percent discount and a good price for the work. In the end we didnt get either. Contractor states he gave discounts in work he preformed but there is absolutely no evidence of that. He negligently damaged part of our house and even admitted to personally doing it but refuses to repair it. He has stated to repair that damaged area is an extra cost. This area was in now way shape or form damaged prior. Keep in mind this wasnt a small job It was extremely expensive. We expected high quality work for the amount we spent but we didnt get it. He certainly talked a good talk but failed to actually do it. Spoke to several other contractors and they all say they would repair that damaged area no questions asked. One even asked if he used a chainsaw to do the demolition because the damage he caused looked horrible. He is also trying to charge for services not provided. He was caught lieing about what a subcontractor had stated about work that he was to give an estimate for. Now he is also trying to charge extra for things required by code to obtain final inspection approval. Keep in mind prior to a complaint to the town the work that's is needed was included in the price we paid but now is extra He has made statements and about how work is included and then seems to "forget" and now says it cost extra. This had happened a few times over the entire build. We unfortunately had to get our attorney involved and he still refuses to make things right. I will never recommend this contractor and wish we never hired him. I feel bad for those who might hire him in the future. Also speaking to others in the business they have stated they have heard negative things about him and his work. Oh I almost forgot we caught him overcharging for product and he had to correct it once we questioned him about it. I wish I could post pics but it seems they dont have an option for it.

My experience with them has been excellent. They are very reliable. The price is fair. They do an excellent job.