Typical renovation timelines & General Contractor communication

[Eric Yee]

Hi BiggerPockets community,

I contracted a project with Ideal Renovations back in July 2019. This is my first renovation project ever. The contract included: a bedroom to bathroom conversion, recessed lighting on the second and first floor, new kitchen, new powder room, and new vinyl plank flooring throughout the first floor. My general contractor said everything would be completed by Thanksgiving, 12/28/2019. He told me that there were some issues getting a permit but after a few months said that it was issued around October. He unfortunately convinced me to give him 2/3 of the project cost.

It is now towards the end of January and he’s only demolished the third floor bathroom, installed new water and drain lines, and put a sub floor down. That’s it. I’ve also been asking for a schedule since the start of the project. He’s given me a 1-2 week schedule twice but has never completed any of the work on the schedule timeframe. He’s also had excuse after excuse for not providing a schedule or not showing up to my house to perform work. He rarely answers my calls, texts, or emails. What do I do here???

Since this is my first renovation project, is this typical? Given the size of my project, how long should this project take?

Is this the typical interaction model with general contractors? I’m in business so I expect proper communication of project progression but I’m not getting it from my general contractor.

All of your responses and opinions are appreciated.

- Eric