Contractor claims I owe him.

[Emillio Henry]

Hello everybody, I’m currently undertaking a remodel and unfortunately due to an ever changing figure from the now previous contractor he’s been replaced, however he’s claiming there’s a balance owed.

A couple days ago my contractor said “hey, just so it’s not a surprise I gotta charge a little more again” (now second little extra) I asked him what for this time and he stated a few items that blew me away particularly because the majority of the work stated was specifically mentioned in the scope of work and detailed in the architects drawings.

I then proceeded to ask if there’s anymore surprises I need to know about which he replied with “yeah, I’ve been meaning to tell you” lol

The addition “shed dormer” was a little more

Complicated then originally quoted so because; his words exactly “ i didn’t wanna scare you, and I’ve been meaning to talk to you but it’s gunna cost more”. A few thousand more apparently... contractor had architects drawings two months before work started and now we’re in week 9 and he drops the bomb on me.

We needless to say I asked for an itemized breakdown of work needed to be preformed and a balance of what’s owed and based off of our pay schedule and documents he provided were off by a couple hundred bucks.

He’s claiming I owe more money for work performed and never agreed upon.

We do not have a contract, simply a scope of work and receipts of payment.

What actions should I take to protect myself from any type of recourse for example a lien?

The county that we both live in does not require carpenters to be licensed btw. I believe this guy just bit of more then he could chew and now that the rug was pulled from under him he wants money.

Thank you all I’m advance I appreciate any insight into this matter.