I've Been Scammed
Inline Tile and Stone

Contract for Kitchen

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One would think a contract AND plans, would exist for a kitchen remodel costing $56,000 (plus overruns), but they don't exist, and NEVER existed.

I'd like to show copies of a contract or documented change orders for a kitchen costing $56,000 (plus overruns), but documented change orders don't exist, either. In spite of Borad's claims that the signed contract and signed change orders existed on his "crashed" computer, they NEVER existed. Which begs the question: How did a SIGNED contract and SIGNED changes get on his computer? Under normal circumstances these documents are SIGNED AFTER they are printed.

Inspector Gregory Holmes of the CSLB was pretty naive to believe the "crashed computer" story, and Borad must have shed some real tears to get that story through.

One would think that the owner of a 20+ years old business would want to obey the laws to protect his business. I could assume whatever I want to assume, but I have to wonder why a business owner would put his business at risk for a little extra profit.

On the other hand, paperwork takes time; time is money; and money spent on paperwork is less profit. Greed is an American weakness that dominates the construction and remodel business. The other trait that dominates the construction industry is lack of management abilities. Most contractors couldn't manage their way out of a wet paper sack.

So, regardless of what Borad says (he already proved he is a liar), there were NO written change orders for anything added after the original bathroom contract. And there were a LOT OF CHANGES; too many to track without a checklist. Changes were not documented and were not presented with a separate price; therefore the owner (me) was not given a chance to accept or reject them.

Although written plans and written change orders are required by state contractor laws, Borad somehow skated through both the CSLB and the SureTec bonding company without them. But, both the CSLB and SureTec had their mind up as soon as Borad gave them his sob story. It didn't matter that he had no verifiable evidence and I could prove everything I said, they still believed his story as gospel.

As it turns out, not having a written contract and change orders for the kitchen was a big plus for the contractor. If he didn't want to do a task that a consumer would "assume" would be done, such as tile trim, or window trim, or floor trim (transition strips) Borad didn't do it. He simply said "You didn't pay for that."

All the work that Borad left unfinished totalled about $13,000. SureTec, the bonding company, awarded me about $3,100, which included about $500 for a main water valve that failed after less than two years.