Oh no! That tops my contractor stories. Not that I might not have better off if that had happened. Hope you get things going again on a steadier keel.

oh man. Well at least he was considerate enough to keep you posted. Etiquette school anyone? Sorry for making light of it but I guess ya gotta have a sense of humor when you do this remodeling stuff. Remind me of my advise when its my turn to vent.
Hugs coming at you from the web community!

Awh man! I was hoping that you'd update us all - and glad you did. Not so glad about the reason though. Guess he lied about his sister dying? What are you going to do?

Whoops!

Will they let him out on day parole so he can finish your kitchen? :>)

Now, you're on the hunt for a new contractor- bummer!

Sorry to hear about this, but thanks for updating us.

Welcome to the contractor shuffle...I've been through it and am now on number 3.

I wonder why you weren't his one call?

Ouch. Sorry to hear that.

Funny--I WAS my contractor's last call! No kidding. He wasn't my kitchen contractor...was doing deck and dock work at the time.

But guess what? He didn't call me to inform me. He called (with his one call) to beg me to contact his girlfriend to ask her to bail him out. They had had an argument and he thought she'd hang up on him on his one call.

So you guessed it...I called her. Can you say "patsy"???

What a bummer. Sorry to ask, but the curiousity is overwhelming: He's in jail. . . for what? Since when? Did his letter come from him in the correctional facility? (What about this sounds nearly as fishy as his claim of a dying sister?) But, never mind all that, 'cause he's a loser no matter what!

Meanwhile, look at this way -- you have been spared and you have the chance to start over with the right contractor now. Here's a hug and a prayer that things get better for you real quick!

**GROAN*** I'm sorry about this...is he the one who put in those wonderful arches? The same one w/the new girlfriend? [I hope not...]

(((Hugs)))

That stinks-
I feel for you- we were getting our roof replaced last summer, and the contractor never showed. After numerous calls and messages we decided to get other quotes from other roofers who all came in with prices twice the original roofing contractor quoted us. I googled him at work to try and get in touch with him and his obituary popped up. His estate and business were frozen because he didn't have a will.

Gasp! That beats all I've read here! So sorry you are going through this! And what of the sister he "lost"?

Love it, Pamela. Thanks for a good laugh. And best wishes for your kitchen...

Sorry about this, flatcoat. Just remember to stay safe if he ever wants to come and pick up his belongings from your property.

That is the craziest thing I've heard yet. Does he have any recommedations for a replacement?

Flatcoat, I love your house!!! The colors you used in all of your rooms are so nice. I really like your cabinets too. Can you tell me who the manufacturer is?

Didn't see your previous post looking for him but just from what I've read here...

Can't help wondering if dying sister and jail sentence are related? Count yourself lucky. Sandy

''Does he have any recommedations for a replacement? '' Bwahaha. Not sure why your contractor is in jail (DUI? Drugs? Violent Crime? Theft? Too many parking tickets?), but I'm fairly certain that someone who lands his keister in jail is not the right person to be asking for recommendations for his replacement. Bet you're glad you put in new deadbolts.

Is this the guy who made the pretty arches? What happened? Things at your house seemed to be cooking right along and you seemed to really like your contractor. Enquiring minds want to know. :-)

I don't think you're a patsy, Pamela. That was the kind thing to do. I wish you well on your remodel.

Red

That sucks, flatcoat.

Flatcoat... you poor thing! Best wishes to you as you search for another GC to finish! That really stinks!

OMG, Pamela, I am so sorry! I really hope things work out to get this reno done.

Yikes!! I am soooo sorry! Hang in there... Mr. Super Contractor must be out there for you! Give your sweet poochy a hug : ) (Amazing picture of him on the Pepe/Ricky thread.)

Flatcoat, just be glad he didn't ask you to post his bail!

Argh. Well, thanks everyone. I don't know anything more, but for some reason I feel so much better because I now know that SOMETHING caused this.

I am going to see what develops. He has worked here for over four months and is a nice fellow (yup he is the one who made all the pretty arches around my doorways). Innocent until proven guilty, I think ... I will hear him out when he returns. According to his letter, he is being transported back to another city in California and will post bail before returning to the bay area. He said it was for larceny (which my research today suggests is theft of property), from 5+ years back, involving some partners. That's all I know.

I would say that 90% of the project is complete, but unfortunately that means that 10% of *everything* is not complete. It would be easier to bring someone else in at this point if everything were done except for the tiling, for example. But there is still finish work to do on doors, trim, floors, tile, deck, fence, plumbing, electrical ..... I'm going to have a hell of a time trying to find one or two people who could finish this all off reasonably.

If it were earlier in the project, I would most likely just cut him loose. At this point, though, I am tempted to defer intermediate payments and tell him that he gets paid only if/when the very last item on the punchlist is completed, inspections/permits are approved and signed off, and he has removed himself from the premises. And I want some surety from him ... contact information for family, social security number, driver's license (which from now on I will be requesting from anyone I hire). Plus the threat of a report to the contractor licensing board.

WAH ! I REALLY wanted my soapstone in by now :-(

What a messy situation - I'm so sorry this has happened to you! As much as I would want to be finished with this project too, I think I'd be pretty wary of having this guy back in my house.

Best of luck to you.

I don't know. He's been working in your house for 4 months and you've never had an integrity problem with him plus he does great work. Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes they can even get one trouble with the law. It sounds like he had a dispute with previous partners that led to some bad judgement on his part and it's finally catching up with him. Partnership breakups can get as nasty as a bad divorce. I'd try to find out more about it and take it from there. But I wouldn't automatically assume he's a criminal or has future criminal intentions.

Personally, I'd be down there bailing him out myself just to get the job done!!!

Whatever happens, flatcoat, I hope things get better for you soon. Your house looks great so far and will be fabulous when it's finished. In addition, you'll have a great story...and in the end, life's all about the stories.

How terrible. I'm so sorry you're at a standstill now because of all this. As cheri said, it sounds like a partnership dispute gone real sour but you are wise to take precautions. When work was going on at my house, one of the workers got a call on his cell from his wife and he started yelling and screaming at her - just that little thing really made me nervous. I hope things get back on track for you real soon. Your contractor is probably embarrassed that you had to know about this - maybe that will motivate him to do an extra great job on the remainder of the work.

Oh flatcoat, I am so sorry! I just read through all this and my immediate and initial reaction was concern for the GC (and you too, naturally!). Having followed your project and your (previously) good relationship with him, plus the beautiful work he's done left me giving him more than the benefit of the doubt. As an armchair judge I'm still feeling as if he's in a pickle but not in a dangerous-to-you pickle. Frustrating-to-you, yes!

Back in 2003 we started a retaining wall project (this is when we lived in Woodside on the peninsula) and, after our first payment, our contractor disappeared. I was furious and after much research (calling the police and local hospitals) found that he'd had a brain aneurysm which left him in a vegetative state. I was still furious, though, because we were out that money and had to start from scratch. I ended up having a miscarriage during this whole fracas and while intellectually I know the stress from this whole thing didn't cause it, in my heart I still blame it.

This is my long-winded way of saying that, like others before me, I completely empathize.

I wish nothing but the easiest and least stressful of times to come for you! When you have parties in your completed home you are going to have some colorful stories to tell, that is for sure.

Very sorry this has happened. I've been following along. This is is starting to read like a novel. Here is hoping for a quick dramatic upturn and then that things get real boring real quick.

flatcoat, the police report and (at least portions of) the court file is public record. Before you go further down the road with him, I strongly suggest you take a look at a copy of the police report and as much of the court file -- at least the complaint -- as you can.

"Personally, I'd be down there bailing him out myself just to get the job done!!!"

Cheril27, Although you may have said this in jest, I'd be careful about bailing a "stranger" out of jail. The premium on the bail amount is usually 10%, and I used to think it was like insurance, that 10% is all I would be out if the person jumped bail. Not true, the bail company comes after you for the remaining 90% if the person does not appear or is not apprehended. (Fortunately, this didn't happen in my case.)

Our framer was supposed to come out one more time. He'd called a month before we needed him to see if we were ready. When we called him, his wife said he "wasn't available", but his crew was! His crew, who he was always yelling at, included his 25 year old son, who had previously missed a day of work on our job because he was jailed for a DUI. We never did find out what happened to the framer. Since things have been really slow here for the building trades, our builder/consultant and another contractor who'd helped us with other things and were familiar with our job helped us finish up.

The original framer's work had not been without problems. He arrived the day they were supposed to frame the interior walls of the first floor without the plans. I loaned him mine, and asked him to return them. At the end of the day I found them blowing around the house. He made several obvious mistakes that day, among them, framing a wall across where the stairs to the 2nd floor were supposed to be, framing a wall where the door between the back hall and eating area was supposed to be, framing 2 sets of double pocket doors to the dining room 4" too narrow, centering once set of these doors on the wall, and the master bedroom door on its wall, instead of where I had them drawn (his comment--"But that's where most people put them!"--DUH--try LOOKING AT THE PLANS!!!), cutting the stair stringer the wrong size, and not supporting the main sets of 2x4s that supported the dormers. These are only the most obvious mistakes. I quickly changed from checking his work at the end of the day to checking it at lunch, too, to catch his mistakes. One day he walked off the job, and told DH he wouldn't continue unless I was not there. I was happy to stay home where it was warm in the dead of winter, and let DH continue doing the checking!

We ended up paying another carpenter and a builder who was our consultant to go through and check all of the framer's work. I'm including all of this as a caution to anyone having anything structural being done in their kitchen. If you have ANY doubts, find someone else to check out the work. It's difficult to switch contractors mid-stream because a new one usually doesn't want to take on the responsibility of what's already been done, especially if it may be hidden by later work.

flatcoat, I can empathize with what you're going through and know how upset you must be, but at least you are very fortunate that your contractor did good work!

Anne

I've been there. One of the guys who does work on my house was found in civil contempt last year and jailed for 6 months. He was supposed to be at my house the day after his court date, and his SO called me to let me know what happened. And in the process his wrist was hurt so now he needs surgery (no, I'm not a sucker, I saw the hand). I'm holding off on doing the work until he is available. He's that good, and I trust him that much.

Did he leave his tools? Look through them and find a heavy-duty file, bake it in a cake and go pay him a visit. You want to get your house done, don't you?