JAY STEWART COMPLETE REMODELING & MAINTENANCE

We hired Mr. Stewart to complete our basement in the summer of 2009 and after receiving 2/3 of the money, he just stopped showing up. After several months, we sued him and won a sum against him for work uncompleted and we haven't seen a cent. He even had the gall to call my husband up and ask if he could retrieve one of his tools he left behind. Sure buddy - when we get our money back. Lesson learned the hard way after being out thousands of dollars. Do not hire him!!!!!

There are two contracts involved in the work order above. The first was signed on May 30, 2008 with a $6,500 down payment and the second was signed on June 8, 2008 with a $2,795 down payment. This totals to $9,295. The entire job was to cost $15,860, so he received over half of the total cost before he started. The checks were cashed immediately at a check cashing company because a call came from them asking if they should cash it. First red flag went up with many more to come. It took him until July 26 to start working. There were very many stories and out right lies about the problems he had ordering the materials for the job. This was confirmed by the home improvement store where the garage door was supposedly ordered at the very beginning and it wasn't. He started the small fence on July 26, the first of 8 days he showed up to work out of a total of 78 days. On the 78th day he was told to leave the property at the urging of my lawyer. The second day he showed up to work was August 4th. I told him the fence was crooked, incomplete and every baluster was cracked because he used a nail gun instead of using screws. That day he started to rip moldings off all over the building and I asked him to finish the fence first. I also asked him for a completion date. He returned to work on Aug. 8 and started on the back porch. I asked him to please finish the fence and the front before doing the back. He didn't listen to the request. On Aug. 11 he showed up and erected scaffolding. Aug. 13 was the day I received a call and said he took shingles off one of the dormers. Another job started and no others completed. He said he found rotten wood and would need more money to buy wood. He wanted $750 more. Please notice in the above original work order, the wood was in that contract. On Aug. 14 he appeared and put one foot of vinyl on the front porch. I discussed what was happening with my lawyer and he said not to sign any more contracts or to give him any more money. On Aug. 15 he tore off the old garage door. Another job started and nothing has been finished yet. It is beginning to get very frustrating that everything is torn apart and nothing is going back together. On Aug. 16 he was waiting at the job site for the money. The original contract was produced to show him he already agreed to replace any rotten wood. An argument ensued and he was told to remove his equipment, leave the materials and get off the property. He didn't remove his equipment until 2 days later. The lawyer discovered two different addresses on the contracts. Jay does not live at either address. The lawyer also called all the numbers on the contracts and only one is his. The garage door was just finished by another contractor that cost $416 to get it working. I need to add that when Jay built the new opening, you can only fit a compact car in because the header is very low. This experience was extremely frustrating and deceptive.

Jay's estimate process was pleasant, enthusiastic and timely. However, the workers on the job were inconsistent save for one. We never knew what days they would or would not be working on the house, or who would be working on the house. There were often half week to week long delays. In the end, only 25% of the repointing was done, and not correctly. None of the building was cleaned, the basement joist was not touched. We never saw the door, it is currently not installed. Jay has not returned our calls in the past two months as we have been attempting to resolve the outstanding work issues with him. We paid him both the down payment and the mid-payment in full bank certified checks. We issued a complaint with the BBB, which he also did not respond to. We are in the process of filing complaints with the Attorney General and Bureau of Building Inspectors.