I think you're probably going to have to find someone else to finish up anyway. But for both of you I think you should give it one last shot to straighten it out. I agree, letting him know your rights is one thing, but actually suing is an absolutely last resort. You did actually get much of the work you paid for, and it would cost many thousands to pursue the rest. And time. If he has done anything criminal, that's different. I'd sit him down and have as brutally honest a conversation as possible with him. Give him a "golden hour" to tell you everything -- EVERYTHING he needs to tell you. And then you'll figure out what to do. Tell him you just want this solved. You just want the work done. No blame, no emotion, lecturing, no yelling -- you need to HEAR it all. Take out the bid and go line by line. Ask what work he REALLY can do, and what he can't, what's finished, what needs to be done, what's paid for, what's not, what's ordered, what's at his workshop, etc. Tools. If he took any pieces of your house away, like doors or radiators etc., for repair you want to know where they are and get slips. Stuff like that. Then, for what he can do, make a realistic, bite-size schedule for as much as you've paid for. Whatever he hasn't done beyond that, I'd say get someone new. It may become obvious during this conversation what is really going on, if you listen and don't hammer him. Is he overextended? Does he have a substance abuse problem? Did he spend your money on another project? If he needs a small amount of money for materials, I might give him that, but not much more. I understand it's hard out there, and people are stuck. I really feel for them. But that doesn't mean this guy is your responsibility to save. He's got enough of your money. If you absolutely feel the necessity to, if your conscience or your religion compels it, dole out money for one job at a time. Counter. Tile. Bookcase. It also worries me a little that if he disappears, what you might discover months from now. Which is probably part of the reason other contractors don't like to take on half-finished projects. Contractor B finishes up shoddy contractor A's work, and there are problems. Contractor B can't prove he didn't do that particular work, or if he saw it, should have seen the problem and didn't re-do it. I think this is perhaps the hardest issue out there. If you trust your GC, every decision flows from there. But you can do all your research in choosing the best GC, do everything right, and still, it can go wrong. Don't blame yourself. There's really nothing you can write into a contract that can prevent someone from doing this. (I'm not a lawyer, that's just common sense.) Some state Bar Associations or attorney general's offices have some limited free or low cost legal advice (like from young lawyers on certain nights of the week who will tell you what laws/cases apply to your case, but not research it or advise you), or can tell you where to get it. I think this is fairly well-trodden territory in contracts. It might be worth giving them a call. Good luck!

"Here is how it breaks down. $85/hr for labor and shopping time," Is this in addition to that included in the original estimate, and was there a signed agreement for this? "$39 1-time visit charge," Is this for the "pickup" of material you had ordered and payed for? If so, there is legitimacy there. "it appears that I was charged for an additional 20 sq ft of tile due to "breaking during cutting"," This is an arbitrary charge, hidden in "lump sum" bids, and it varies from trade to trade. "I was also charged an additional $220 for "wet saw rental" due to the fact that their wet saw "broke" during use on the project" And if their vehicle had "broke" would you have had to loan or paid for a rental so they then could have continued to increase their bottom line, as well as take the tax advantage? "And $45 for a new mirror that was damaged by the craftsmen during demo!" Were you asked to remove this mirror because of its proximity to the affected wall areas?

Hi, In either case you've got a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem. You'll need at least a concept plan to get a reasonably accurate estimate of construction costs. You'll need to invest some amount of money to develop the plans--whether by an independent architect or design/build firm. The good news is that you don't need a fully detailed, fully-engineered "biddable" set of plans for that. Absent a set of concept plans, you could use cost data published in Remodeling Magazine's Cost-Vs. Value Report to infer the likely cost for your project http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2017/ In our market we've found the cost data to be pretty good for budget purposes. If you go the architect-first route, get your remodeler on board as soon as possible so the design can be informed by real-world cost information. Architects don't typically build stuff, don't write checks for materials and labor, and don't get a heads-up from suppliers about pending price increases. The cost information they'll have is for completed projects. With dimensional lumber prices up as much as 30% in the last year, using even 12 month old cost data is like driving by looking in the rear view mirror. Best wishes for a successful project.

Celadon, thank you for all those details. The design drawing with measurements, placements, etc was made by the contractor. Design elements such as fixtures, handles, and appliances were left up to us to decide on, purchase, and provide. The dispute was over something SO SILLY - Regarding a tall pantry with shorter upper doors and longer base doors- my husband wanted to have longer handles on lower doors rather than small handles on both (which is what our contractor wanted). The contractor did end up placing the long handles, but drilled the holes as if he were placing short handles leaving an uneven space between the upper and lower doors (the upper doors were nearly scraping the handles below). My husband asked for this to be fixed, but the contractor said the holes would still be noticeable so we asked for replacement doors. And that is when the dispute ensued... At that point the contractor decided to end the contract without finishing the job, although his own contract states that neither party can cancel the contract. So, since the job wasn’t complete we are trying to get estimates before we can know what to pay as his final balance. Our primary concern is the damage to the cabinets including the pantry and the 9 cabinets with dents, that they tried to paint over after we pointed them out, but are now just painted dents. This is our first home and first big project. So unfortunately, we did not write out those expectations (lesson learned). The contract does state ”provide and install new cabinets per diagram“ (referring to the design drawing) and I just thought that meant damage-free. Like you said, we are trying to document everything moving forward and getting all paperwork in order. Thank you!