Coleman Construction

I live in an older model mobile home that I have had lots of work done in over the years, but, of course more repairs are always needed. When I took out a factory installed bedroom vanity, I discovered a hole in the floor that crossed under the bedroom wall and extended under the cabinets of the floor in bathroom. I called and made an appointment with Coleman Construction for them to come and give me an estimate on the work I wanted done. Mr. Coleman said he would be out Friday the 23rd at 4pm. 4pm came on Friday and no Mr. Coleman. I called at 4:30 and he said he was just leaving to come out to my house. He and one of his workers eventually arrived at my house. I showed them my primary concerns of the holes in the floors. When I showed them the one in the bathroom, I also told them that I wanted those old cabinets taken out and new ones installed. Mr. Coleman also noticed that the light fixture in the bathroom needed repair and said he could fix that too. I told him that the one in the hallway was the same to which he said he could fix it as well. Then I showed them that I needed more cabinet space in my kitchen and Mr. Coleman said that they could install cabinets there also. I also showed Mr. Coleman a window in the back bedroom that needed replacing and he said they could do that too. These were the things that I showed him I needed done. He said they could do it for $3800.00. He asked me if I wanted them to get started and I said yes. He told me that the bedroom and the bathroom needed to be cleared out so they could get started. He told me since Monday was Memorial Day, they wouldn't be out that day but would be here Tuesday morning. They arrived a little before 9 on Tuesday morning. He showed me the invoice. It had the above assigned tasks to accomplish as well as "Cost allowed for bathroom and kitchen cabinets 525.00. & Cost allowed for bedroom tile 225.00. Does not include hardware, paint of cabinets." Then the last line of the writing of the initial invoice was "Total cost of labor and materials $3,800." and then I signed the invoice where he had the X mark for the owner. It was eight empty lines beneath the "Total cost..." line. When I had cleaned out the area under the cabinets to prepare for them coming Tuesday morning, I thought since the lines for the wash machine ran through there that the cabinets I wanted would not be something I could have, So I told Mr. Coleman on Tuesday morning that I didn't think I could get cabinets I wanted bc of the wash machine lines. He said he would see what he could move. I told him ok but I didn't want to get too much more than that 3800 and he said he wouldn't. They began work of removing carpet and fixing hole in floor of bedroom. I went to my part-time job at the home improvement store. They came by later to purchase materials there like I asked them to since I could use my employee's discount. I made the purchases for the bathroom cabinets and plumbing replacements and he said he would take them off the original estimated cost. When I got home that night, there was a note on the front door not to turn on water. Wed morning he apologized for that and said they had worked until 6:30 but just had to shut it down and go on home. Also Wed morning he showed me the condition of the floor where the cabinets had been and the only solid thing that was there was the linoleum. I thought that was part of the original 3800.00 to fix floor in bathroom. One of his men had asked me about the pipes in the bathroom and I said to fix such things if he finds them. I went to work Wed and they came to the store and I walked with them showing them the countertop I wanted and the sink and the faucet for the bathroom. I went to flooring dept and picked out tile. Now the countertop, sink and faucet were not part of the original estimate, but I didn't want the old stuff to go back on the new cabinets. They also got the tiles and the kitchen cabinets. He asked me to get two receipts. The tile expenses separated from the items connected to the countertop, sink, faucet and kitchen cabinets. He said that purchase was above the original estimate and was mine, but he needed the receipt for the tiles. Wed night when I came home from work the bathroom floor was fixed, new plumbing was installed, one cabinet was in place and I had water. Thursday they worked on applying the tiles in the bedroom, finishing up the cabinets in the bathroom and installing the cabinets in the kitchen. Before I left for work on Thursday, Mr. Coleman told me he needed to talk to me before I left because they would be done today. He showed me the invoice with the amount due for the job. There were now things added between that total cost line and my signature, as well as additions added to the tasks to perform lines at the top. One of the additions was on the line that said "Does not include hardware or paint of cabinets" there was a comma and added to that line was ", or kitchen cabinets." After having spent twelve hundred dollars for materials, I still had an amt due of over 4 thousand for the job. I was in shock. He explained that the floor in the bathroom was a "buger" and that fixing plumbing and installing the countertop, sink and faucet increased the cost. Before I went to work I paid him what I could that day and asked if I would have my water back on when I got home and he said yes. I called the bank to borrow more. When I got home from work, I saw that the mirror and the medicine cabinet had been removed and not replaced and furthermore I had no water. I saw him Friday morning and he said he was on his way to the hardware store and then out to my house. He said he had bought the wrong thing for the hookup and they would be at my house once he got the right line from the hardware store. They did make it out here and finished it up. He asked me if I could square up with him now and I paid him for the remainder of the bill.