Buyer Beware!

There once was a couple that bought a small farm. This couple wanted a barn. This couple was very foolish and naive in their dealings with a contractor that led to multiple problems. That lady in the couple mentioned was me, and here is our story. 

Prior to the move, we asked around and received a recommendation for a group to build our barn. They provided us with an estimate and we were excited for them to get started. In between the initial consultation and hiring, we had a few delays in the purchasing of the new property (mostly paperwork issues). When the property sale was finalized and we contacted the crew to hire them for the project, they were booked until the spring. We felt pressured as a lot of our winter plans were dependent on having this outdoor shelter. 

We found another contractor in the area. We didn't do our research on the guy or company because we felt that we were running out of time, and he was promising that the job could be completed by the week of Thanksgiving. This was probably mistake #1. 

During this time, there was a lot of fluctuation in material prices and construction costs were soaring. We decided to cut our desired barn down to the bare minimum that we felt needed to be completed by a professional and elected to do the finishing touches ourselves. We wanted the frame, trusses, roof and gravel extended up the driveway, through the barn and around the perimeter. We were going to consider the contractor to complete the siding and doors as a separate project if the costs and our personal time constraints made it beneficial. The details and costs were discussed. The contractor devised and presented us with a written contract. It listed the items that we wanted included, an initial cost and a maximum cost ($2000 more than the initial cost) if they were to "hit rock" during the process of construction. We agreed to the written contract and the possibility that we may have to pay up to the maximum listed cost if complications arose while placing the posts. 

The contractor reminded us of the rising costs of materials and suggested that we pay the entire initial cost upfront so that we could "lock in" the cost of materials. We agreed as we were very anxious to get started and paid in full in October 2021. He promised to start construction by Thanksgiving 2021. This may have been mistake #2. 

We hired an excavator and had the land prepared for the build. 

November came and went. After contacting the contractor, we were told that he was held up with another project but will "definitely complete the barn in December". 

December came and went. We received multiple excuses. He began to promise to start work on a good weather day but then not show up. When we contacted him about it, he apologized and stated that the weather looked bad for the rest of the week and wouldn't be able to start until the following week. This behavior continued through most of January. My frustration was mounting, and I even considered asking for our money back since no actual work had been performed. Failing to do this was probably mistake #3. 

Meanwhile, believing the contractor when he stated that the barn would be completed in December, we purchased two pygmy goats. The plan was to house them in the barn during the cold winter nights and release them out to open pasture during the days. Without a barn, we had to resort to housing them in our basement overnight. While I'm not opposed to bringing farm animals into the home for emergency care or treatment, the continued housing of these sweet, but smelly, animals in our basement was not pleasant. 

At the end of January, he arranged for the delivery of the lumber. There were many days prior to this one that would have been better weather days, but I was so excited that we had a semblance of progress that I didn't complain. Unfortunately, during the process of delivery, the trailer, and two different trucks became stuck in the mud. The result was extensive ruts and torn up grass. However, I was so excited to see materials for a barn after this long wait that I overlooked it. He promised to smooth it out when they were finished. 

Apparently, according to the contractor, it took a whole month for there to be one weather appropriate day to start the build. We got a post in the ground in February!

 Around this time, I received an unexpected visitor. The gravel guy stated that he wanted to make sure that he knew the location to make the delivery and to ask for my information in order to send us the bill. I informed him that the gravel costs were included in the contract and that we had already paid the contractor in full. He appeared wary of this information and expressed concern about not getting paid. Overlooking this warning sign was probably mistake #4. 

A week later and we were slowly seeing progress. I regained my optimism. This optimism was only slightly hampered when they experienced mechanical issues that took almost two working days to fix. Afterall, growing up on the farm, I was familiar with how mechanical issues could cause delays. 

The gravel was delivered. It wasn't spread out as well as I had hoped but it was early in the process, so I didn't want to be too critical. This was about the time that the contractor informed us that we needed to pay the gravel guy. We reminded him that the gravel was included in the original contract. He denied this. We pulled our copy of the contract and presented it to him. He responded with "Oh, crap! I messed up." I was sympathetic to his plight as this cost was sure to eat into his profits but he was the one that devised the contract. Nothing more was said about the gravel and I assumed that he accepted his mistake and paid for the gravel. Making assumptions was mistake #5.

By mid-March, a large machine was rented and the trusses were being placed. 

For a large machine, I assumed that the rental costs weren't cheap. However, the contractor didn't seem to be concerned as his crew started arriving later everyday and the lunch breaks were gradually being lengthened. I was frustrated at the slow progress but at least there was some progress. 

It was about this time that the contractor offered to put up the siding and doors to the barn. Originally, we had planned on purchasing the materials for the siding/doors and the hubby was going to call in a few guy-friend favors to help with installation. Since the barn build was so far behind and we were feeling the time crunch on other projects, we thought it best to allow the contractor to provide an estimate of the costs. If the estimate was within our budget, we would let him continue the project and just get it done. We were simply ready for completion.

The estimate was over double what we expected it to be for that amount of work and materials. We were told that the costs of the materials had increased and that it was the best that he could do. Prices on all building materials were increasing so we didn't think much about it, but we couldn't afford to extend him this extra contracted work.

We asked for his measurements for the siding and called the metal company (the same company that he purchases his materials). It turned out that the cost of the materials quoted to us from the contractor was twice what the materials cost us from the same metal company. It sounded fishy but we had already determined to end our working relationship after the current contract was completed so we didn't push the issue. 

It was about this time when we were notified that we needed to pay the extra costs associated with "hitting rock" while placing the posts. This was mentioned at the beginning and included in the contract so we prepared a check for the remaining $2000. In addition, we had discussed and added gravel mesh to help prevent runoff. The cost of this mesh was not originally discussed, not included in the contract and therefore we understood that it would be an additional cost. We paid the contactor the $2000 plus the cost of the mesh add-on.

The contractor decided to charge us more than what was listed in the contract because he stated that his equipment rental costs and labor costs exceeded the amount accounted for in the contract. We were sympathetic to his issues, but he was the one that drafted the contract. He was familiar with the possibility of dealing with rock during this construction and had added that contingency into the contract. We don't build barns. We don't know what the costs associated with removing rock may range. We had trusted that the written contract would be upheld and completed as agreed upon. We had paid the full amount on the contract and simply wanted this job done. We had waited for months and were behind on our own projects by not having this structure completed. The hubby pulled our copy of the contract out and showed it to the contractor while explaining that he had been paid in full. It was an unpleasant discussion but we felt that we were heard and understood. 

The contractor left. He returned later one rainy, windy afternoon (an odd time for him) and stated that he needed some equipment for another project. The hubby was home and went outside to talk with him. The contractor stated that he would return in a couple of days as the wind was too dangerous at the moment to finish the roof. It was windy and we agreed to wait for a couple of days. He moved the roofing metal to a spot on the ground and left with his equipment. 

We never saw him again. 

Here's the mess that he left behind:

Long story made short:

    - The contractor ghosted the hubby by refusing to return phone calls and texts for almost two weeks.

    - The gravel guy (whom we never had any direct contact besides the interaction mentioned above) called us to ask for payment for the gravel. We assume that he obtained our number from the contractor. We explained to the gravel guy that we had paid the contractor for the gravel and sent him a copy of the contract with that information. He was not happy but understood our situation and we haven't heard from him again. 

    - I "tricked" the contractor into contacting me by leaving a vague message from a phone number that he didn't recognize. He returned the call within a few hours despite ignoring the hubby. 

    - When caught off guard as to the nature of the call, the contractor provided more empty promises of returning to finish the work and quickly hung up the phone. 

    - The contractor again failed to show up and refused to answer phone calls and texts from my number. 

    - After a multitude of messages, the contractor responded by trying to explain to me how he couldn't finish the work because the hubby was not paying him the proper amount for the work and that he would happily return if I only paid him more money. 

   - I responded with a photocopy of the original contract, the dates and money amounts that we paid to show that we had met our financial obligation and asked that he honor his portion of the contract. 

    - He accused us of "twisting the words of the contract to screw me over" and trying to "beat me out of money for your enrichment". 

    - I explained that a written contract was designed to eliminate confusion between two parties and that he designed the contract, we fulfilled our portion of the obligation of that contract and simply expected him to do the same. I attempted to appeal to his moral character and honor to stand by his spoken and written word.  

   - At this point, he still would not admit that he wasn't coming back to finish the work but was only waiting on us to pay him more money. I stepped away from the conversation. 

    - A day or two later, he reached out with "And for the record, you have a building constructed, you have rock installed, you have half a roof installed with the other half in your possession. So to obviously say I'm not an honest moral man with no integrity that has taken your money and run off leaving you with unfinished job is a complete joke". Within the same text, he offered to let us pay him an additional $3950 to complete the work on the roof (no mention of completing the gravel work, clean up, etc.) and he would have it done by the end of the next week. I may be slow at times, but I feel as if I had heard similar lines to these promises before? 

I felt that we were at an impasse. He wasn't going to return to work if we didn't pay him more money and we couldn't trust that he wouldn't cash the check and run off again. It was finally over. 

This closure came at the same time that the hubby required hernia surgery. With the unexpected costs of fixing an incomplete barn, upcoming medical bills, loss of income with hubby on medical leave and his inability to complete this physical work while recovering, we sadly accepted that the barn was a failure on our part. We simply couldn't do it. It sat unfinished. 

A week before hubby was able to return to work, we received some other devastating medical news regarding the pregnancy. I'm not ready to divulge details at the moment but it was enough that we had to reevaluate a lot of things in our short and long-term plans. The unfinished barn no longer ranked high on the list. 

This is the part of the story where all seemed lost and the whole world felt as if it were crashing around our feet. In a way, it was.

While we were struggling to make it through the day-to-day events, two sets of superheroes came to our rescue. My parents and the hubby's parents decided to take over the barn project. They had every right to say "I told you so" or to let us deal with the consequences of our mistake by letting the half-finished barn fall apart while we ignored it. But they didn't do any of that. 

They secretly worked out a deal to fix this mistake for us. They: 

    - brought equipment to finish the project

    - filled in the holes left by the contractor

    - ordered more gravel and leveled it out using their equipment

    - interviewed and hired a truly reputable group of people to help finish the job

     - oversaw the construction

     - discussed options with the new builders as it required fixing newly discovered problems created by the previous contractor

     - paid for everything without letting us even know the true financial costs (we hope to pay them back one day)

Their goal was for us to focus on the medical issues in order to bring their newest granddaughter into the world safely without dealing with outside distractions. They succeeded in their part of the deal and we are still working on our part. We now have a fully functioning and beautiful barn. 

We discovered that the original contractor had taken shortcuts and/or made mistakes that would have cost us a lot of money in the long run. While we were filled with anger and frustration, the fact that the original contractor walked away saved us a lot of future problems:

   - The original contractor didn't set up the interior braces properly, nor to code, so the structural integrity may have had issues in the future. The construction was stopped at a point where this issue could be fixed by the new builders. 

   - The measurements that the contractor gave us for the metal siding (that we planned to install ourselves) was incorrect and short by 9 inches. This seemed like a true financial loss until the builders and my dad were able to find clear siding/roofing material that matched the grooves of the already purchased siding. This was placed in the top 9 inches of missing siding space and has allowed for some natural light inside the barn. This solution was discussed and fixed with minimal effort from the hubby or myself. 

    - The remaining roofing material and some large portions of the completed roof contained holes and dents left by the previous contractor. This could have led to rust and leaking issues if not corrected. The worst portions of the roof were replaced with new metal. The damaged metal is being repurposed for another project. Again, we simply heard about the problem and the solution and never had to participate. 

Looking back, this was a difficult time with not only financial but also emotional implications. We were duped, betrayed and swindled out of our money. Yet, we learned that even as adults, we can rely on our parents to bail us out when we screw up and the world feels like it is crushing us. They couldn't fix the medical issues that we are facing, it's in God's hands, but they swooped in and saved us from ourselves.

We didn't deserve this, and I have no idea how we will ever repay them. I only hope that my children feel that they will be able to rely on us in the same way that we have been able to depend on our parents......even when they are old and should have known better.