mistakes on my first house: 1 of many

[Jameson Sullivan]

okay, so I'll start off by saying that this house wasn't a flip. Long term it is a rental for me but it's currently my primary residence and I lived in it throughout the entire rehab process (that's a whole nother post in itself). Anyways, my goal with this project was to get my feet wet, do a full on rehab, learn a lot and refi out most of the money at the end. I'm gonna get back less than I wanted but all in all I am content with this as my first house considering the condition of the house when i bought it ( lots of my family and friends believed it was a bad idea, but considering most of them don't even own personal properly, that's how I knew I was going in the right direction)... the foundation, kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, everything were redone. okay so, there's the backstory of the whole project but I wanted to focus specifically on one big mistake I made through the process: paying a contractor too early.

so I hired a gc for the major project, but in order to save a little bit I went with a less expensive plumber to do the bathroom. I hired him to do the plumbing as well as hang and finish the new drywall and put in a new shower, all of which they assured me they could do. a few weeks went by as they were slowly chipping away at the project, slowly working around the other contractors and whatnot. Things were slow, but good. the project started to come to a close and I noticed the drywall looked about a 6 out of 10 compared to the new drywall hung by the GC's guys but given the price I didn't make a fuss out of it. I was under the impression the job was going to be finished that day and I was heading to work so I paid the final 800 of a 3000 overall bill. I get home from work and the jobs not done. they didn't put the trim on (they claim the other contractors took it and that since it was expensive they wouldn't be able to get more) the sink was loose and shaking around, the shower door was hung inside out (yes, there are stickers that clearly day how it's supposed to sit) and over all it's just not a good job. I contact the plumber and he tells me they will be back to finish it that week. I honestly can't remember if they even came back out but if they did, the job still wasn't finished. So, 1.5 months go by and nothing. I text him and explain to him that i need it done NOW. he says "okay, we will be there friday" on Wednesday of that week he texts me saying that his other job had gone longer than expected and that he wouldn't be able to get there until Monday. in so many words (none of which were vulgar) I told him that that is unacceptable and that if he wasn't going to finish the job I would need a check from him for the unfinished work so I could hire someone else. immediately he calls me apologizing, giving me a story about this that and the other thing about why it's not done. again I told him " the fact you didn't prioritize me is not my problem, it's yours. it needs to be done now"

So he comes out that Friday to say hi and check things out then tells me he doesn't have what he needs to do the job and he will be back Tuesday. okay now the story is current. this Tuesday April 4th is the day he says he will be out here. I'm a nice person and have allowed this to go this far but if I hear more excuses tomorrow I feel like I'm going to come unglued.

A. does any one have advice on what action i shoud take if he does not complete the job tomorrow?

B. the job was paid under the table but he acknowledged a 3000 dollar payment via text, is that enough to use in court if I had to sue?

any additional input is super welcome and I hope my story will help anyone else whos thinning about trying to save a buck going the cheap way.

best regards,

Jameson Sullivan