Our condo association hired B&R to work on our three-story brownstone, including stripping paint off to restore to it's original brick and repointing of the entire building. After a previous contractor could not strip the paint, I had Bill Richardson do a test patch to prove he could strip everything off. He did a test patch and was confident. What was supposed to be a 3 week project dragged on into the 4th month. He and his men were on site every day for the first two weeks. Then they were showing only once every other week, or once a week if we were lucky.
Four months in, he said he under estimated the budget for the project, so he had to work other projects to fund our project. We agreed to pay in more in advance to finish the project. Once again, his men showed every day. But once again, after a week, they stopped showing up.
Don't let Bill's "nice guy" personality fool you. Underneath, he has a very ugly side. I found out the hard way when we got in two arguments where he had the nerve to curse me out saying it was my fault for holding up the project (we paid more in advance, they wanted more than originally agreed). Also do not let him and his wife, Barb (as others mentioned) play you with the "good guy, bad guy" game.
Bill Richardson eventually sent one of his guys to collect a $700 check to continue working. They packed up the day after and never showed up again. Yes, they walked away with our money.
We did our homework and found out that he is not a licensed contractor in the state of PA, though he claims he is licensed (and displayed on his truck). We checked with the PA Attorney General and verified his business is not licensed with their office.
As others mentioned, pay the 15-25% extra and hire a better contractor. We hired another contractor after to clean up his mess and they were done in 3 days!!! You have been warned, trust our words. Do not use him just to save a little money. Do not be fooled by his nice guy personality.
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