COLONIAL RESTORATION

The house, an 1800s Victorian cottage, was moved onto our property and the sub-contractors who leveled it and put it back together did a great job, but everything spiraled downward after that. We went on vacation in September, and by email the contractor promised roofing and sheetrock would be completed by the time we came back. When we returned after five weeks away, there was no roof, no sheetrock, and very little other work had been done. After an argument regarding the lack of progress, the contractor presented us with a list of extra work he said he performed and wanted to charge us an additional $6100 (charges were NOT discussed in advance and NOT signed for). The progress picked up and roof was installed but not before a hard rain that resulted in warping the wood floors. By late December, the house was still not finished and relations with the contractor had deteriorated to heated arguments about work not done. He refused to finish the kitchen saying it was not included in the contract, but who in their right mind would do a complete remodel and not include the kitchen? On January 4, contractor declared in email that he would do no more work until we agreed to pay the additional $6100.00 in writing and sign a Change Order. We refused to sign it since any additional charges were not discussed with us prior to work being done. He wanted to get the final draw on our loan, but the painting was not finished, plumbing and electrical was far from complete, there was no air conditioner, septic system or hot water heater, the floors were unfinished, the trim painting was sloppy or not done, the antique bathtub was in the front yard, the roof was leaking and so much more was not done or not completed to our satisfaction. After more heated discussion with contractor and meetings with the bank, we had to finish the house with our own money as the bank froze the interim construction funds until the contractor would release us from the contract (which he would not do). As we worked on the house and paid others to do work, we discovered sloppy workmanship and more problems: there was texture and/or paint overspray on the doors and the bathtub/shower enclosures; the cabinets and doors had many paint runs; exterior paint had been used on some of the interior surfaces; there were electrical wires all over the attic that were not run to the breaker box; there was no insulation in the attic; interior door knobs and hardware had been spray painted and were rusted; exterior door locks and hardware had been removed and not returned or replaced; there were no thresholds on the wood floors; one of the insulated glass panels on the front door had been damaged and had several inches of water and condensation in it; there were no electrical plugs, switches or plates; there was no 220 wiring for laundry and kitchen appliances; and the list goes on. After five months of worry and work we spent over $25,000 to finish the house. We then attempted to close the interim construction loan into a permanent mortgage. The contractor refused to sign the contractor's affidavit at the title company that would release us from the contract and allow us to close. After weeks of negotiation and attorney fees, he finally agreed to sign the form only after we paid him an additional $4500. This contractor turned our retirement dream house into a total nightmare.