Debbie & Ron - Thank you for your post. I wish we had seen something like it when we solicited bids last year to build a Lanai addition on our home here. What I felt should have been a 4-6 week job is now stretching into the 8th month and still has a significant way to go before completion. After selecting our contractor and paying 1/3 down, it was then several months before any work actually started.
Once work finally started there was progress for 2-3 weeks and then all workers disappeared, coming back for a day every 2-3 weeks (sometimes 5 weeks between visits). After we threatened legal actions they showed up a few times and promised if we gave them another 1/3 payment they would get things promptly done. BAD MISTAKE (Color me STUPID!) Everyone disappeared again for 6 weeks, Meanwhile the the house remained largely unroofed except for a single layer of tar paper underlayment.
In September this project will have gone on for a year, while all our furniture sits in the yard and is pretty much trashed by now.
Check those references folks, get a clear description of work to be done and an associated schedule. Other than an initial reasonable (10-20% downpayment) do NOT give any "progress" payments until agreed "Description of Work" goals are actually met. Our contractor is one that advertises in TOTV so remember, just because someone runs an ad doesn't mean they are a qualified vendor. Check and double-check to be safe.
Hopefully we might be able to use our Lanai by the time Summer rolls around. Since the grill is one of the things sitting in the yard, it would be nice to enjoy a good steak or Rotisserie chicken again.
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