Just about everyone knows someone that has had a “Horror” story during a building project. As a building contractor, I have had to come to the rescue of many a homeowner that hired someone for a building project that turned out to be a nightmare.

Most of these contractors, or so-called contractors, won over their clients by offering them more than they can actually provide at the price they were charging them.

This is a typical story in that typically, a homeowner gets two or three estimates and instead of using the guidelines set forth by the Better Business Bureau, NARI, The Home Builders Association and other organizations, they usually go for the lowest price. As the story goes, you get what you pay for.

It is so typical that a so-called contractor will ask the homeowner for a down payment of one third to  one half of the entire cost of the building project. A legitimate contractor knows that this is a warning sign!

If the contractor is taking up to one half of the entire cost of the project before he begins the project then what is going to happen we ask you for more money halfway through the project?

When we come in on these projects that are not completed because the homeowner has given the contractor all the money that was allotted for the project, needless to say this is a cause for great stress.

And in addition to this usually, we find that the work is not up to par with the quality that a legitimate contractor would provide. For some people they have to take out additional loans, as family members to help them out, or save up their money and finish the project in stages. This then drags out a job that may have taken only weeks to complete and now stretches that in two months.

So here is your chance to tell us about the horror stories that you or someone you know may have had building a home, putting on in addition or doing any type of remodeling.

My goal is to put the advice out there that would possibly prevent this from happening to others. I am requesting however, that you don’t mention any names. I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble, but what I am trying to do is help educate others on how to prevent a nightmare from happening to them.

There are measures that you can take if you run into a situation like this and through my responses I will try to bring these facts to your attention. So once again, tell me your horror story. I’ll be waiting hear from you.