Lewis Construction And Development

Horribly. I fired this company twice. After approx. four months with little to no progress made, I fired LCD. I was asked to attend a meeting to discuss that decision and after an hour of tearful apologies and excuses from the owner, I agreed to give them another chance. I fired him a second and final time after ANOTHER 3-4 months of delays and excuses and having to pay for additional surveys to be done because the owner of LCD failed to understand the complex issues of permitting in wetland and shoreline properties....in spite of having had it explained to him from our very first meeting and during following conversations. Mr. Lewis told me it was a matter of knowing which people to talk to and which ones to hire for the survey work. He urged me to let him do all that for me because, as a contractor, he could accomplish more than a lay person like me. He also told me on at least three occasions that he was an architect. He told me I was "getting architectural services for contractor prices." I checked with the state's architectural licensing agency. I was told Tim Lewis has no architectural license and therefor should NOT be selling himself as an architect. Eight months in and just one month before I should have been moving into my new home (according to his time estimate) I was being told of yet another delay because LCD had failed to send a letter that had a two week waiting period required along with it. I couldn't take any more so I fired him from the job of building my new home but did let him demolish the old home and reconnect electricity to two out buildings. I did this because he already had the subs lined up and he said it would be a hardship on those subs to lose the work. I learned from those subs, that they would have welcomed the cancellation because they were really busy. When it was all said and done, he charged me more than $38,000. That was AFTER I had to have him remove roughly $15-1800 of charges where I was paying for him to fix his own mistakes and where one of his subs over charged the hours of work performed. I paid for all my permits separately and for the most expensive part of the surveying. I designed my own home on a computer program so all they had to do is make the adjustments to perfect them. I felt those charges were astronomical. I asked him to consider my request to reduce his company's charges by $4K and promptly received an email accusing me of extortion and telling me to be sure and "replay all" so that his lawyer would be copied on everything. I got an attorney, and ended up paying him a total of $35K in stead of the $38K+. I paid that only because the toll it was taking on me was more harmful than the loss of the money. I feel totally screwed by LCD. I lost a year of building time, an inordinate chunk of money and any semblance of faith or confidence I had in contractors.

Based on my experience with Mr. Lewis, I strongly suggest you consider the following prior to entering into any contract with him...as you should with any contractor.  Remember that "Beyond Expectations" - this is Lewis' Corporate motto -  is located along a scale which can move both above your expectations (acceptable) and below your expectations  (unacceptable).   My experience with Lewis Construction turned out very much below expectations.  Yet, in this case, Lewis' motto:  "Beyond Expectations" was truthfully  met.

Keep in mind that Lewis will give you references, some of his past customers, to talk with who he knows will give good reviews.  This may not reflect his overall performance at all, but maybe just a little piece of it.  Some people don't know what they should be getting for their money and if you are in that position or if you just don't need the hassle, simply hire a well known area professional builder who has a history of consistent quality results.  Pay a little more up front, it's worth it just for peace of mind. 

Contrary to Lewis' Internet site description of himself, on my project the President of Lewis Construction, Tim Lewis, handled mostly paperwork  and was not on-site physically working with his hands constructing the residence.

Almost immediately there were problems, mistakes, contract adherence and quality-of-work  issues.  One example:  I  was forced to take over calking the exterior trim and siding, for the entire house,  just to assure the job was done to minimum standards.

A dispute occurred during construction which resulted in initiation of formal binding arbitration.  An expensive, but necessary result of  a disagreement about Lewis' quality of work which I was not prepared to ignore.  The dispute was eventually settled when Lewis' insurance company, not Lewis, paid for replacement of the work in question.

If you hire Lewis to build for you keep a few things in mind:

• Ask lots of questions about all the materials, products and methods Lewis will use in your project and get the answers in writing - do this all the way down to the sub-base for concrete and what kind of concrete mix he will use and where, check with other contractors to validate that materials listed are products of the quality you want for your home and are the correct products for the job.  Then make sure that information becomes part of your contract with him.

• Make sure a contract condition is included so that Lewis must follow manufacturer's installation requirements - this is very important  - if you don't  follow MFG 's requirements, your product warranty may be immediately void.

• Make sure you require all the warranties for all the materials and products to be in your name.  Some suppliers give a warranty, but only to the original purchaser, which would be the contractor unless you buy all the materials yourself.  You could end up not having that 10-year heating and air conditioning manufacturer's warranty if you did not require, by contract, that it be transferred to you upon completion of the job.

• Hold your ground regarding the quality of the work you are willing to accept.  It is your home!  Remember Lewis' promise of "beyond expectations."

• Require a retainage to be held back from each progress payment - see the Washington Department of Labor and Industries web site, Hire Smart, Step-By-Step Model Disclosure Statement, (10 - 15% of the progress payment, 5% an absolute minimum) - this is your insurance that the work will be done properly or the retainage may be used to pay a qualified craftsman to redo the work. 

• Require progress payment requests from Lewis to be presented to you in $12,000 or lower increments - this is because Lewis' bond is only $12,000 and if you pay more and the work is not to standard, you may end up eating the difference if you file against his bond. 

• If Lewis still has an arbitration clause in the contract he presents to you, which he may have rethought by now, remember to look at who pays for what - and keep in mind that he can just turn problems over to his insurance and let them pay his legal and settlement expenses like he did in my dispute.  You probably don't have that kind of insurance.

• If you want, you can demand a standard dispute resolution clause in your contract with Lewis by which disputes are settled in court.  Then if something isn't done right you can immediately file against Lewis' contractor's bond ($12,000), yourself  (it cost about $250, you can get the forms from Washington State Department of Labor and Industries).  It is illegal for a residential construction contractor to work without a bond in Washington State, so this gives you some additional leverage to assure the work is done properly.  I suggest you use it.

  
  
  
  
  

  And, always beware of contractors, who you don't know, who want to be your friend for life.