Alderman Lynburg Houchens, JR

Mr. Houchens worked for us under the umbrella of Virginia Home Consulting. Worst contractor I have ever worked with. Handed them the initial check on May 2 (after it had taken a while to get a proposal and start date). Crews did not show up when promised, rarely came before 10, and worked only 3-4 hours until the last couple of days of the project, I would be told one thing, and find out something else was true. I had to call regarding the work permit and inspections, and would be told one thing by the contractor and another by the agency providing the permit.. We asked for a plastic layer between the upper deck and the concrete board ceiling of the room below to avoid leaks, and were told it was not necessary. Needless to say, there are leaks.. Contractor seemed completely unaware (or simply didn't care) about the required 4 inch or less gaps on steps/risers and railings. Stairs were not built to code and a less than optimal solution was come up with to bring them to code without having to rebuild them. It took 7.5 weeks to get the project done as is. I warned them that the railings on the deck were too high from the deck flooring, which was ignored, and again a makeshift work-around had to be put into place. After having multiple days of no-shows, or work not done because one person had the credit card and didn't leave needed supplies for the work, I had to call the company owner and be very explicit about how extremely unhappy I was. Penny blamed her foreman for the problems, and he blamed his workers. This call did result in a few full workdays. We were promised work would be completed by 6/22/18, which it mostly was. They worked until after 8pm that day trying to get everything done, which resulted in some shoddy work. Caulking was done, though it was a wet day so there wasn't a chance for it to dry, which has caused some problems. There has been water running down the posts on the inside of the lower room in addition to the leaks in the ceiling. We have been told that someone came and re-caulked, but did not see any evidence of it. There is still water running down the inside posts. one of the posts has never managed to completely dry out. There is a gutter along the front edge of the deck, and water is pouring down the screens from the gaps between the gutter and the structure it is attached to. Very much not happy about the whole thing. Now, 3 months later, we requested a second inspection. There are code violations. The stairs are held to the house wall by 3 masonry nails. Joist hangers were not nailed in and are coming off of the joists. My new contractor (who was called in after lack of response from Mr. Houchens or Va. Home Consulting" found a number of things he considered to be safety or structural concerns. He also pointed out that there is a good probability that the problems we are having with water pouring into the porch below is because Mr. Houchens and crew put the corrugated tin between the upper deck and the lower porch ceiling in upside down. Needless to say we are extremely unhappy and looking at taking further actions.